"Adventures come without being sought, and you may find yourself in the thick of one, before you have an idea of what you are doing.

But mind, if you do get into any adventure and need assistance, you are bound to let us help you.

That is the compact we made, two months ago.

We agreed to stand by each other, to be good comrades, to share our last sous, and naturally to give mutual aid under all and every circumstance." Desmond nodded.
"At any rate, O'Neil, adventures cannot be so common as you represent, since neither of you, so far, has called upon me for aid or assistance." "Have you heard the last piece of court scandal, Kennedy ?" O'Sullivan asked, as the three friends sat down to breakfast together, a few days later.
"No; what is it ?" "Well, it is said that a certain damsel--her name is, at present, a secret--has disappeared." "There is nothing very strange about that," O'Neil laughed.
"Damsels do occasionally disappear.

Sometimes they have taken their fate into their own hands, and gone off with someone they like better than the man their father has chosen for them; sometimes, again, they are popped into a convent for contumacy.
Well, go on, O'Sullivan, that cannot be all." "Well, it is all that seems to be certain.