The Count of Nideck

"Bah! I will risk all that!" he exclaimed; "the worst they could do would be to hang me."

"But that would be a good deal for an honest man to suffer."

"As well die one way as another. In this case, you are suffocated, that's all. I would as lief die that way as to receive a blow on my head, or a stroke of apoplexy, or give up smoking, drinking, and a good digestion."

"My dear Gideon, that sounds odd, coming from a graybeard."

"Graybeard or not, that is the way I look at it. I always keep a bullet in my rifle at the service of the witch; from time to time, I renew the priming, and if ever the occasion offers--" He