I left thee and went out into the street I was accosted by a
little gentleman clad in black."

"Indeed!" cried the lady; "and had he but one eye, and did he
carry a gold-headed cane?"

"Exactly," said Jonathan; "and he claimed acquaintance with
friend Jeremiah Doolittle."

"He never knew him!" cried the lady, vehemently; "and I must tell
you that he was a villain named Hunt, who at one time was the
intimate consort of the pirate Keitt. He it was who plunged a
deadly knife into his captain's bosom, and so murdered him in
this very house. He himself or his agents, must have been
watching my gate when you went forth."

"I know not how that may be," said Jonathan, "but he took me to
his apartment, and there, obtaining a knowledge of the trust thou
didst burden me with, he demanded it of me, and upon my refusing
to deliver it to him he presently fell to attacking me with a
dagger. In my efforts to protect my life I inadvertently caused
him to plunge the knife into his own bosom and to kill himself."

"And what then?" cried the lady, who appeared well-nigh
distracted with her emotions.

"Then," said Jonathan, "there came a strange man--a
foreigner--who upon his part assaulted me with a pistol, with
every intention of murdering me and thus obtaining possession of
that same little trifle."