'

'I have heard you much spoken of, Master Will,' returned the other; 'much
spoken of, and well. And though I have both hands full of business, I
wish to drink a bottle of wine with you in your arbour. Before I go, I
shall introduce myself.'

Will led the way to the trellis, and got a lamp lighted and a bottle
uncorked. He was not altogether unused to such complimentary interviews,
and hoped little enough from this one, being schooled by many
disappointments. A sort of cloud had settled on his wits and prevented
him from remembering the strangeness of the hour. He moved like a person
in his sleep; and it seemed as if the lamp caught fire and the bottle
came uncorked with the facility of thought. Still, he had some curiosity
about the appearance of his visitor, and tried in vain to turn the light
into his face; either he handled the lamp clumsily, or there was a
dimness over his eyes; but he could make out little more than a shadow at
table with him. He stared and stared at this shadow, as he wiped out the
glasses, and began to feel cold and strange about the heart. The silence
weighed upon him, for he could hear nothing now, not even the river, but
the drumming of his own arteries in his ears.

'Here's to you,' said the stranger, roughly.

'Here is my service, sir,' replied Will, sipping his wine, which somehow
tasted oddly.

'I understand you are a very positive fellow,' pursued the stranger.

Will made answer with a smile of some satisfaction and a little nod.

'So am I,' continued the other; 'and it is the delight of my heart to
tramp on people's corns. I will have nobody positive but myself; not
one. I have crossed the whims, in my time, of kings and generals and
great artists. And what would you say,' he went on, 'if I had come up
here on purpose to cross yours?'

Will had it on his tongue to make a sharp rejoinder; but the politeness
of an old innkeeper prevailed; and he held his peace and made answer with
a civil gesture of the hand.

'I have,' said the stranger. 'And if I did not hold you in a particular
esteem, I should make no words about the matter. It appears you pride
yourself on staying where you are. You mean to stick by your inn. Now I
mean you shall come for a turn with me in my barouche; and before this
bottle's empty, so you shall.'

'That would be an odd thing, to be sure,' replied Will, with a chuckle.
'Why, sir, I have grown here like an old oak-tree; the Devil himself
c