med to.

'Is that all?' he repeated, 'yes, that's all, sir. And enough too, I
think.'

'I think so too. My horse, young man! He is but a hack hired from a
roadside posting house, but he must carry me to London to-night.'

'To-night!' said Joe.

'To-night,' returned the other. 'What do you stare at? This tavern
would seem to be a house of call for all the gaping idlers of the
neighbourhood!'

At this remark, which evidently had reference to the scrutiny he had
undergone, as mentioned in the foregoing chapter, the eyes of John
Willet and his friends were diverted with marvellous rapidity to the
copper boiler again. Not so with Joe, who, being a mettlesome fellow,
returned the stranger's angry glance with a steady look, and rejoined:

'It is not a very bold thing to wonder at your going on to-night. Surely
you have been asked such a harmless question in an inn before, and in
better weather than this. I thought you mightn't know the way, as you
seem strange to this part.'

'The way--' repeated the other, irritably.

'Yes. DO you know it?'

'I'll--humph!--I'll find it,' replied the man, waving his hand and
turning on his heel. 'Landlord, take the reckoning here.'

John Willet did as he was desired; for on that point he was seldom slow,
except in the particulars of giving change, and testing the goodness of
any piece of coin that was proffered to him, by the application of his
teeth or his tongue, or some other test, or in doubtful cases, by a long
series of tests terminating in its rejection. The guest then wrapped his
garments about him so as to shelter himself as effectually as he could
from the rough weather, and without any word or sign of farewell betook
himself to the stableyard. Here Joe (who had left the room on the
conclusion of their short dialogue) was protecting himself and the horse
from the rain under the shelter of an old penthouse roof.

'He's pretty much of my opinion,' said Joe, patting the horse upon the
neck. 'I'll wager that your stopping here to-night would please him
better than it would please me.'

'He and I are of different opinions, as we have been more than once on
our way here,' was the short reply.

'So I was thinking before you came out, for he has felt your spurs, poor
beast.'

The stranger adjusted his coat-collar about his face, and made no
answer.

'You'll know me again, I see,' he said, marking the young fellow's
earnest gaze, when he had sprung into the saddle.

'The