, glass of water for the
Secretary of the Mowbray Temperance and Teatotal. Sing it out. I like
titled company. Brush!"

"And so you can give us some information about this--"

"Be back directly." exclaimed their host: and darting off with a swift
precision, that carried him through a labyrinth of tables without the
slightest inconvenience to their occupiers. "Beg pardon, Mr Morley,"
he said, sliding again into his chair; "but saw one of the American
gentlemen brandishing his bowie-knife against one of my waiters; called
him Colonel; quieted him directly; a man of his rank brawling with
a help; oh! no; not to be thought of; no squabbling here; licence in
danger."

"You were saying--" resumed Morley.

"Ah! yes, about that man Hatton; remember him perfectly well; a matter
of twenty or it may be nineteen years since he bolted. Queer fellow;
lived upon nothing; only drank water; no temperance and teetotal then,
so no excuse. Beg pardon, Mr Morley; no offence I hope; can't bear
whims; but respectable societies, if they don't drink, they make
speeches, hire your rooms, leads to business."

"And this Hatton--" said Gerard.

"Ah! a queer fellow; lent him a one-pound note--never saw it
again--always remember it--last one-pound note I had. He offered me an
old book instead; not in my way; took a china jar for my wife. He kept a
curiosity shop; always prowling about the country, picking up old books
and hunting after old monuments; called himself an antiquarian; queer
fellow, that Hatton."

"And you have heard of him since?" said Gerard rather impatiently.

"Not a word," said their host; "never knew any one who had."

"I thought you had something to tell us about him," said Stephen.

"So I have; I can put you in the way of getting hold of him and anything
else. I havn't lived in Mowbray man and boy for fifty years; seen it
a village, and now a great town full of first-rate institutions and
establishments like this," added their host surveying the Temple with a
glance of admiring complacency; "I say I havn't lived here all this time
and talked to the people for nothing."

"Well, we are all attention," said Gerard with a smile.

"Hush!" said their host as a bell sounded, and he jumped up. "Now
ladies, now gentlemen, if you please; silence if you please for a song
from a Polish lady. The Signora sings English like a new-born babe;"
and the curtain drew up amid the hushed voices of the company and the
restrained clatter