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 of freedom from that man's presence. I can stand it no longer; I feel my reason slipping from me. Have I not heard that there are in New York creatures who are willing, on the payment of a certain stipulated sum, to guarantee to chastise a person so as to disable him for a definite period, without doing him permanent injury? You must know some such disreputable characters. Procure me some wretches of this sort!'

"Elmer replied that such creatures do, indeed, exist. He called them—what did he call them?"

"Gunmen?" suggested Cleggett.

"Yes, thank you. He brought two of them to me whom he introduced as"

She paused. "The names escape me," she said. She called: "Elmer, just step here a moment, please."

Elmer, who was still putting ice into the oblong box, moodily laid away his tools and approached.

"What were the odd names of your friends? The ones who—who made the mistake?" asked Lady Agatha, resuming her seat.

Elmer rolled a bilious eye at Cleggett and asked Lady Agatha, out of that corner of his mouth nearer to her: