ending over Fletcher, and then saw
the eyes of the dying man open and the lips of the dying man move. He
was conscious that the sergeant made some notes in a pocket-book, and
that all three men eyed him closely. The sergeant stepped toward him and
placed his hand on his shoulder, and obedient to the touch, he arose and
went with him out into the night.

CAPTAIN ROGERS

A man came slowly over the old stone bridge, and averting his gaze from
the dark river with its silent craft, looked with some satisfaction
toward the feeble lights of the small town on the other side. He walked
with the painful, forced step of one who has already trudged far. His
worsted hose, where they were not darned, were in holes, and his coat and
knee-breeches were rusty with much wear, but he straightened himself as
he reached the end of the bridge and stepped out bravely to the taverns
which stood in a row facing the quay.

He passed the "Queen Anne"--a mere beershop--without pausing, and after a
glance apiece at the "Royal George" and the "Trusty Anchor," kept on his
way to where the "Golden Key" hung out a gilded emblem. It was the best
house in Riverstone, and patronized by the gentry, but he adjusted his
faded coat, and with a swaggering air entered and walked boldly into the
coffee-room.

The room was empty, but a bright fire afforded a pleasant change to the
chill October air outside. He drew up a chair, and placing his feet on
the fender, exposed his tattered soles to the blaze, as a waiter who had
just seen him enter the room came and stood aggressively inside the door.

"Brandy and water," said the stranger; "hot."

"The coffee-room is for gentlemen staying in the house," said the waiter.

The stranger took his feet from the fender, and rising slowly, walked
toward him. He was a short man and thin, but there was something so
menacing in his attitude, and something so fearsome in his stony brown
eyes, that the other, despite his disgust for ill-dressed people, moved
back uneasily.

"Brandy and water, hot," repeated the stranger; "and plenty of it. D'ye
hear?"

The man turned slowly to depart.

"Stop!" said the other, imperiously. "What's the name of the landlord
here?"

"Mullet," said the fellow, sulkily.

"Send him to me," said the other, resuming his seat; "and hark you, my
friend, more civility, or 'twill be the worse for you."

He stirred the log on the fire with his foot until a shower of sparks
wh