"We are not," I answered hotly, "if we are men. There may be no legal
way in which we can beat this villain, but there is an illegal one,
unless we are already too late, and I propose to use it, whether you
join me or not."

"You have a plan? What is it?"

"The only one feasible. I thought of its possibility before on the
boat, when a suspicion of this situation first came to me. You are
sure the girls are still at the plantation house? that they know
nothing of this condition?"

"I have reason to believe so. Delia was buying provisions at the
Landing yesterday; I talked with her a moment."

"And you said that Kirby and Carver were only in town for one night,
leaving the next morning on a keel-boat for St. Louis. Probably they
did not visit the plantation at all, unless it was to scout around. My
idea is they were not quite ready to take possession; that they have
gone to St. Louis to file the papers, and will come back with officers
prepared to execute them. This means that we must work fast to get out
of their way."

"What do you propose doing?"

"Let me ask a question first. Is it true that Eloise Beaucaire is
heiress to fifty thousand dollars through her mother's estate?"

"Yes, I invested most of it."