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 you know," he said with amiable self-congratulation.

"But it will make him more dangerous than ever," said the Esmeralda in a tone of extreme disquiet.

"Not a bit of it. It will cool his ardor—so don't you worry about it, my dear child," he said firmly and kissed her.

The dripping bathers climbed stiffly over the fountain's rim, Hilary Vance explaining in a roar that if Señor Perez continued to annoy the Esmeralda, this evening bath would become his nightly practice, Señor Perez threatening Hilary Vance in a scream with assassination, the duel, and the law.

It was the keen eye of Mr. James which marked the policeman arriving in tardy haste. He shoved Hilary Vance's hat into his hand and cried, "Bolt, man! Bolt! Off you go, Pollyooly!"

Hilary Vance left the Square in immense bounds; Pollyooly ran lightly toward the other corner. Señor Perez turned on Mr. James and threatened him. He was being very shrill and idiomatic in broken English and Montevidean when the eager policeman arrived.