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 made his first appearance in the little Soho café, for it was so unexpected that it took her off her guard.

"If he goes on sticking to it like this, you'll have to marry him to get rid of him," said the Honorable John Ruffin.

"I wouldn't marry him for one of his silly palaces in every country in the world!" cried the Esmeralda. "Why, he'd probably murder me out of jealousy before we'd been married a week. Look how he scowls when he sees me with you—with anybody."

"Yes; I've noticed that the presence of Pollyooly affects him painfully," said the Honorable John Ruffin pensively. "And those scowls do belie that tender heart of his about which he writes to you."

"It's all very well to laugh," said the Esmeralda unhappily. "But I'm getting more and more uneasy about him. He won't go on in this peaceful way much longer—I know he won't. I've heard stories about him. You don't know what Montevideo is."

Her tone grew more and more anxious; she looked almost scared.

"My dear child, I'd no notion that the brute was worrying you like this," said the Honorable John Ruffin with a sudden earnestness; and he regarded