nseless.

CHAPTER XIII. A NEXT MORNING

I could not awake on the day after the _fete_, I was conscious that
Nixon was making a considerable noise,--that he shut and opened doors
and windows, splashed the water into my bath, and threw down my
boots with an unwonted energy; but through all this consciousness of
disturbance I slept on, and was determined to sleep, let him make what
uproar he pleased.

"It 's nigh two o'clock, sir!" whispered he in my ear, and I replied by
a snort.

"I 'm very sorry to be troublesome, sir; but the master is very
impatient: he was getting angry when I went in last time."

These words served to dispel my drowsiness at once, and the mere thought
of my father's displeasure acted on me like a strong stimulant.

"Does papa want me?" cried I, sitting up in bed; "did you say papa
wanted me?"

"Yes, sir," said a deep voice; and my father entered the room, dressed
for the street, and with his hat on.

"You may leave us," said he to Nixon; and as the man withdrew, my father
took a chair and sat down close to my bedside.

"I have sent three messages to you this morning," said he, gravely, "and
am forced at last to come myself."

I was beginning my apologies, when he stopped me, and said, "That will
do; I have no wish to be told why you overslept yourself; indeed, I have
already heard more on that score than I care for."

He paused, and though perhaps he expected me to say something, I was too
much terrified to speak.

"I perceive." said he, "you understand me; you apprehend that I know of
your doings of last night, and that any attempt at excuse is hopeless.
I have not come here to reproach you for your misconduct; I reproach
myself for a mistaken estimate of you; I ought to have known--and if you
had been a horse I would have known--that your crossbreeding would tell
on you. The bad drop was sure to betray itself. I will not dwell on
this, nor have I time. Your conduct last night makes my continued
residence here impossible. I cannot continue in a city where my
tradespeople have become my guests, and where the honors of my house
have been extended to my tailor and my butcher. I shall leave this,
therefore, as soon as I can conclude my arrangements to sell this place:
you must quit it at once. Eccles will be ready to start with you this
evening for the Rhine, and then for the interior of Germany,--I suspect
Weimar will do. He will be paymaster, and you will conform to his wishes
s