Black Donald snuck into Capitola’s chamber near the end of the The Hidden Hand. Upon startling and then terrifying Capitola, his actions were not nearly as menacing as his intentions. They engaged in strategic war of words as Capitola tried to maneuver the conversation but Black Donald was in no mood to bargain. Black Donald had little interest in anything material that Capitola offered him to leave. He kept trying to sexualize the conversation as his intention was clearly to prey on the younger woman. Capitola had a moment of glory when she lucked into catching Black Donald in the trap door which threw him to the bottom of the dungeon. This is fitting space for Black Donald to end up in as the mysterious dungeon has a supernatural feeling to the readers and Capitola.
Capitola went her entire time at Hurricane Hall without venturing to the bottom of the terrifyingly dark pit. She slept through an entire night before mustering the courage to admit to anyone the events of the night before so someone would go down to locate Black Donald. It seems amazing that Capitola escaped her close encounter with Black Donald unscathed. In fact, Black Donald’s actions model how a Confidence Man may have behaved in such a situation. David W Maurer explains their methods in The Big Con, the Story of the Confidence Man describing “Although the confidence man is sometimes classed with professional thieves, pickpockets, and gamblers, he is really not a thief at all because he does not steal.
