basket, uncorked
it, and pouring the contents into two large glasses, handed me one, and
motioning me to sit down, placed himself by me; then, emptying his own
glass at a draught, he gave a kind of grunt of satisfaction, and fixing
his eyes upon the opposite side of the bar, remained motionless, without
saying a word, buried apparently in important cogitations. With respect
to myself, I swallowed my ale more leisurely, and was about to address my
friend, when his niece, coming into the bar, said that more and more
customers were arriving, and how she should supply their wants she did
not know, unless her uncle would get and help her.

"The customers!" said the landlord, "let the scoundrels wait till you
have time to serve them, or till I have leisure to see after them." "The
kitchen won't contain half of them," said his niece. "Then let them sit
out abroad," said the landlord. "But there are not benches enough,
uncle," said the niece. "Then let them stand or sit on the ground," said
the uncle, "what care I; I'll let them know that the man who beat Tom of
Hopton stands as well again on his legs as ever." Then opening a side
door which led from the bar into the back yard, he beckoned me to follow
him. "You treat your customers in rather a cavalier manner," said I,
when we were alone together in the yard.

"Don't I?" said the landlord; "and I'll treat them more so yet; now I
have got the whiphand of the rascals I intend to keep it. I dare say you
are a bit surprised with regard to the change which has come over things
since you were last here. I'll tell you how it happened. You remember
in what a desperate condition you found me, thinking of changing my
religion, selling my soul to the man in black, and then going and hanging
myself like Pontius Pilate; and I dare say you can't have forgotten how
you gave me good advice, made me drink ale, and give up sherry. Well,
after you were gone, I felt all the better for your talk, and what you
had made me drink, and it was a mercy that I did feel better; for my
niece was gone out, poor thing, and I was left alone in the house,
without a soul to look at, or to keep me from doing myself a mischief in
case I was so inclined. Well, things wore on in this way till it grew
dusk, when in came that blackguard Hunter with his train to drink at my
expense, and to insult me as usual; there were more than a dozen of them,
and a pretty set they looked. Well, they ordered about in a