“Not I,” said Colonel Preston.  “I don’t like the idea of carrying firearms about with me.  They might go off by mistake.  I was reading in a daily paper, recently, of a case where a man accidentally shot his son with the pistol he was in the habit of carrying about with him.”

“There is that disadvantage, to be sure,” said Fairfax.  “So, he has no pistol.  He is quite in my power,” he said to himself.  “It’s a good thing to know.”

“By the way,” he asked, merely to keep up the conversation, “are you a family man, Colonel Preston?”

“Yes, sir; I have a wife, and a son of fifteen.”

“You have the advantage of me in that respect.  I have always been devoted to business, and have had no time for matrimony.”

“Time enough yet, Mr. Fairfax.”

“Oh, yes, I suppose so.”

“If you are going to settle down in our neighborhood, I can introduce you to some of our marriageable young ladies,” said Colonel Preston, pleasantly.

“Thank you,” said Fairfax; in the same tone.  “I may avail myself of your offer.”

“Won’t you take supper at my home this evening?” said the colonel, hospitably.  “I shall be glad to introduce Mrs. Preston.  My son is at boarding school, so I shall not be able to let you see him.”

“Have you but one child, then?”

“But one.  His absence leaves us alone.”

Godfrey’s absence would have been lamented more by his father, had his character and disposition been different.  But he was so arrogant and overbearing in his manners, and so selfish, that his father hoped that association with other boys would cure him in part of these objectionable traits.  At home, he was so much indulged by his mother, who could see no fault in him, as long as he did not oppose her, that there was little chance of amendment.

So they rode on, conversing on various topics, but their conversation was not of sufficient importance for me to report.  At length they entered on a portion of the road lined on either side by a natural forest.  Fairfax looked about him.

“I suppose, Colonel Preston, these are the woods you referred to?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How far do they extend?”

“About a mile.”

They had traversed about half a mile, when Fairfax said: 

“If you don’t object, Colonel Preston, I will step out a moment.  There’s a tree with a peculiar leaf.  I would like to examine it nearer to.”

“Certainly, Mr. Fairfax,” said the colonel, though he wondered what tree it could be, for he saw no tree of an unusual character.

The chaise stopped and Fairfax jumped off.  But he seemed to have forgotten the object of dismounting.  Instead of examining the foliage of a tree, he stepped to the horse’s head, and seized him by the bridle.

“What are you going to do, Mr. Fairfax?” asked Colonel Preston, in surprise.

By this time Fairfax had withdrawn a pistol from his inside pocket, and deliberately pointed it at his companion.