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"Have you any business that will detain you in port ?**

"I mean to leave to-morrow morning."

"Have you any Maltese passengers ?"

"None."

"Do you sail for any particular port in Sicily ?”

"I intend to make for the port of Messina.”

"Will you earn a hundred ducats ?"

"Magnificent question! I should not have the slightest objection-always providing the affair does not compromise me."

"In no way."

"What is to be done?"

"You must bring your vessel to St. John's Point to-night. At one o'clock in the morning you must send your boat ashore. A passenger will be waiting on the Point. He will say to you, 'Sicily; you will reply to him, 'Malta.' You wi"! take him on board, and disembark him at the first port in Sicily.”

"Well, that is all very simple," replied I; "and you say that for this easy service- 19

"Four hundred ducats will be paid. Here are two hundred: count them." The strange lady took them out of her purse, and threw them on the table. "When you reach port, the passenger himself will pay you the remaining two hundred." "Well, I suppose I must give you some kind of acknowledgment—a little bond

"Wherefore? You are either an honest man, or you are not. If you are an honest man, your word will suffice; if you are not, why, I am in no position to establish my claim in any court of law."

"How is it you have selected me?"

"I was walking, to-day, about the harbour. I knew no one of whom to ask the service which I claim from you. I saw you pass: I saw you enter your boat, and row straight for this vessel, and I concluded you were the captain of it. I waited till night I took a boat-and here I am."

"Well, I think you have found a frank and honest man."

"That is all I want," replied the lady, extending her hand to me. pretty little hand it was, in truth-one I had a strong desire to kiss.

"It is agreed," I said; "you have my word."

"You have not forgotten the pass-words?"

"Sicily,' and 'Malta.'"

"That's right. At one o'clock, at St. John's Point."

"At one o'clock."

And a

The strange lady went into the boat, and was rowed ashore. St. John's Point is a kind of cape running into the sea, at the southern end of Malta, about four miles and a-half distant from the town itself. The distance from where we lay was about five or six miles; the wind was contrary; we should have to row the whole distance; so you may guess there was no time to lose.

At half-past twelve we were half-a-mile from St. John's Point. Not wishing to approach nearer, for fear of being seen, I reefed sails, and sent Pietro ashore

with the boat. I saw him row away, and disappear in the darkness. A quarter of an hour afterwards he reappeared. The passenger was seated in the stern of the boat; everything had thus passed off well. I had caused our state cabin to be got ready for the stranger's reception, and sent there my own mattress. In order not to appear curious, I went between-decks while he was coming aboard. Our passenger went straight to his cabin, without glancing at a single soul, or uttering a syllable. About five minutes later, Pietro came in to me.

"Well, Pietro, how have things gone?"

"Marvellously well!" he replied; "he was there, waiting with the woman who had come on board, and appeared very glad to see me; for hardly had he caught sight of me, than he hurriedly embraced the woman, and ran forward, coming up to his knees in water. Then we exchanged the pass-words, and he got into the boat. As long as the lady could see us, she remained waving her handkerchief on shore."

"Have you seen our passenger ?"

"No; he hid himself in his cloak; but, from his voice and figure, I should say he was a young man—the lover of the lady, probably."

It was about half-past two in the morning-the wind blowing a beautiful breeze-a splendid moon overhead-and Malta already far behind us; and I was pacing backwards and forwards on the deck, thinking of my wife, and of the friends I was going to meet, when suddenly I saw the cabin-door open, and the passenger step out. His first glance was to assure himself as to where we were. Malta appeared behind us like a black speck; and, at the sight, he seemed to breathe more freely. I now remembered the precautions he had taken in coming on board; and, to relieve him, I walked towards the hatchway, and was about to go. below, when, taking two or three steps forward, he said— "Captain !"

I started. It seemed that I had heard that voice before, as in a dream: I turned round quickly.

"Captain!" he continued, walking towards me," do you think, if this wind holds, we shall reach Messina by to-morrow evening?"

By degrees, as he approached, I thought I could recognise his features as I had before recognised his voice. Suddenly he stopped and stared at me fixedly, and as if petrified. Little by little, as the distance between us decreased, my recollection returned, and my suspicions were changed into certainties. As for him, it was plain he wished himself anywhere but where he was. There was no mode of flight, however: we had the sea all round us, and land was distant more than three leagues. Nevertheless, he staggered back, till the cabin-door prevented his further retreat. I continued to advance till we were brought face to face. We stared at each other a moment without saying a word, he pale and haggard, I with a savage smile on my lips. At length he broke the silence.

"You are Captain Giuseppe Arena," he said to me in a heavy tone.

"And you are the assassin, Gaetano Sferra!" replied I.

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Captain!" said he, "you are an honest man-have mercy on me. Do not give me up."

"I give you up!"

"On arriving at Sicily, I will double the sum you have been promised." "I have received two hundred ducats to conduct you to Messina-you are to give me another two hundred on disembarking. I will take nothing more."

"And you will fulfil your promise to put me on shore safe and sound?"

"I will put you ashore without one hair of your head being touched. But, once there, we will settle a little account between us. I will repay your stab with a stab before we part."

"Will you kill me, captain ?"

"Wretch !" said I-"I leave murder to such caitiffs as yourself!"

"Well, what do you intend to do?"

"I intend, as you play so well with the knife, that we shall play together; all the chances are on your side: you have already had the first cut."

"But I cannot use the knife myself."

"Bah! enough of that!" replied I, opening my shirt and displaying my breast. "You must not tell me that; besides, it is not very difficult."

"What if I refuse?"

"Ah! if you refuse, that's another thing. I shall put you ashore as I have said. I will give you an hour to reach the mountains, after which I will inform the authorities, and then you'll have to look after yourself; for, if you are taken, you will be hanged, you know."

"And if I accept your challenge, and kill you?"

"If you kill me, well-there will be an end of our duel!"

"Will they not pursue me?"

"Who? my friends?"

"No-the authorities."

"Tush! is there a single real Sicilian who would inform against you because you had killed me in fair fight?"

“Well, I will fight !" he said.

"Good night, then; we will talk over this at Contessa, or at Scalletta. Till then, the ship is yours, seeing that you pay for it. You may pace my deck in perfect ease. As for myself, I am off to my berth."

I went down the hatchway, woke Pietro, and told him all that had passed. The day after the next, at two o'clock in the afternoon, we arrived at Scalletta, and Gaetano Sferra, myself, and two of my men, got into the boat. When we landed, my men placed themselves one on each side of Gaetano, in order to guard against his escape. Our passenger saw the meaning of this movement.

"Your precautions are unnecessary," said he. "I am ready to fight this duel either with sword, pistol, or knife."

"Then," said I," you will give me your word that you will not attempt to escape ?"

"I give it."

I made a sign to my men, and they allowed him to walk alone. We continuerl our journey, and in ten minutes we arrived at the little tavern of my friend Matteo, called the Golden Anchor.

"Good day, Matteo," said I to the host. "To come to the point at oncethis gentleman and myself have had a few words together, and we should like to indulge in a little knife exercise. I suppose you can accommodate us with a

room ?"

"Two, my boys !" said old Matteo.

"Thanks! One will suffice. Now, should anything unpleasant occur, you will know what to say. This gentleman and myself were at dinner; we had a dispute; we played with knives, and so on. And mind, if one of us is killed, it

was he who was quite in the wrong. Now, old fellow, prepare the dinner. Run, Pietro, and buy two knives exactly alike; you know the kind of weapon we want. You, Nunzio, will go in search of the curé. By-the-bye," said I to Gaetano Sferra, who had listened to all this with the greatest indifference, "I give you notice that I shall require a mass; it can't be said till to-morrow morning; but I shall want it, nevertheless. Now, in order that I may not have any advantage over you, have you any request to make in that way? Fra Girolamo says the best masses."

"Thank you,” replied Gaetano; "but I hope you don't think I believe in that stupidity! You believe in it-so much the worse for you!"

Pietro and Nunzio went out, each to execute the commission with which he was charged. I remained alone with Gaetano Sferra and old Matteo.

"Now, sir," said I to Gaetano, "if you have nothing to communicate to a priest, you have doubtless something to settle with the world—you have a father, a mother, a lady-love. Matteo, some ink and paper. Write, as I do, to your dearest friend; and, if I kill you, on my honour your letter shall be delivered.” "Oh, that's another thing. There you are right," replied Gaetano, taking ink and paper from old Matteo. Pietro returned with the knives just as we had finished. "Now," said Gaetano Sferra, "when you please, I am ready." "Everything is prepared," said old Matteo, returning to his kitchen. "Let us go upstairs, then," said I to Gaetano.

We proceeded upstairs; Gaetano leading the way, and walking with a firm step. I was convinced that he was a brave man.

As Matteo had stated, a table was prepared for us, dinner was laid out. Pietro deposited a knife at each end of the table.

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If you know any one in this town, and would like to have him for a second, send for him; we will wait."

"I know no person, captain. Besides, these two worthy fellows are here," replied Gaetano, pointing to Pietro and Nunzio, the pilot. They will serve as seconds for both of us."

This coolness of manner astonished me. Since I had become better acquainted with the man, I had lost a great portion of my desire for revenge. I resolved to make an attempt at reconciliation.

“Listen!” said I. "There is evidently some mystery in all this affair, which I do not know, nor can I guess. You are not a murderer. Why did you stab me? Why select me for a thrust from your unlucky knife? Be frank—tell me all. Should you tell me that you have been goaded on by some fearful necessity— some strange fatality, stronger than man's will-why, then all will be cleared up, and our affair will terminate."

Gaetano reflected an instant, then, with a sombre air, replied—

"I can tell you nothing-the secret is not mine alone. It could not have been chance that brought us together. What is written is written; and these things must be accomplished. Let us fight !"

In short, he would listen to nothing.

Each of us in turn got into our cask. But when it was Gaetano's turn to have his left arm tied behind his back, as mine had been, he pretended that this embarrassed him, and requested to have his arm free. It was immediately untied. We commenced the duel.

FRAUDS, FAIR AND UNFAIR.

WHAT is a fraud? Obtaining money under false pretences. Undoubtedly. But may not the obtaining of anything under false pretences be called a fraud? We think so. The monosyllable is convenient; it means a great deal, and it has become familiar. From the wolf in sheep's clothing of fable-book, to Sir John Dean Paul of banking notoriety, we have always had plenty of this melodramatic stuff, called "fraud," to contend with. Fraud really seems to be inherent in the human race; and, indeed, a small dash of it spices the daily intercourse of man with man, and prevents one person mistaking another for an angel. We do not object to trade with a man who drives a close bargain; we have a good deal of admiration for him who keeps his weather eye open, and presses the whole world into his service to attain his ends; and, although we fight shy of an unmitigated scamp, we have an instinctive admiration-whether high or low-of cleverness. Many, many times more than once have we been victimized by a species of eccentric fraud, which has made us smart a little at first, but which has afforded us so much amusement afterwards, that we have laughed heartily with those who won at our expense.

It is, perhaps, a thing not generally known, that the way to succeed in any undertaking is, first, to find out the elements of success in those that have flourished in the path you are about to tread-then, go ahead.

In the rolls of antiquity it is recorded, that when men and women gave over wearing velvet, cloth, and brown russet boots and shoes for the black polished leather even yet so common, the genius who invented blacking made a large fortune therefrom. And this is how he did it. He published himself to the world at large, as the firm of "Night and Swallow," who made and sold a jet polish for boots and shoes, "one trial of which would suffice to prove," &c., &c. As good as his word was the blacking-maker; and a man could, by the aid of his brilliant jet, convert the leg of his Wellington boot into a mirror, at which he might shave himself, if it pleased him so to do. But the public do not rush to buy a new thing merely because it is new; the English public is far more conservative than some fussy old fogies think it. "Night and Swallow" took this view of the matter; and it happened, in consequence, that one fine morning, in different parts of London, footman John Thomas, boots of the Swan, the head ostler of the Saracen's Head, and sundry servant-maids, were ordering, amongst other things, at their respective oil-shops, dozens, half-dozens, quarter-dozens, and single bottles of Night and Swallow's "most beautiful blacking." Of course, the oil-shop-keeper soon supplied it, not a little pleased to procure a new and profitable article in such great demand. The inventive genius who set these inquiries in motion was, as we have seen, both Night and Swallow; and he was also foreman, journeyman, and traveller to his own firm. He was one of those fortunate travellers who happened to solicit "orders" at the very shops where his article had been inquired after but a few hours before. He paid handsome fees to his boot-cleaning, plush-wearing emissaries to "hold their own," and drop into every conceivable shop where the celebrated jet was not kept, and ask for the same. Thereby hangs a tale of— a grand success. But, in order that the writer of this narrative may not be charged with advocating a very shocking morality, it should be remarked that

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