wo in deep gutteral tones unmistakably
German in their accent, to the other who stood shaking the wet off his
coat into the leaping flames of a small wood fire that burned on the
hearth before us.

"'O, she'll do without my bothering,' was the sullen return. 'I'm wet
through.'

"The elder man, a large powerfully framed fellow of some fifty years or
so, frowned. It was an evil frown, and the younger one seemed to feel
it. He immediately tossed his coat onto a chair and left the room.

"'Boys are so obstropolous now-a-days,' remarked his companion to me
with what he evidently intended for a conciliatory nod. 'In my time they
were broke in, did what they were told and asked no questions.'

"I smiled to myself at his calling the broad shouldered six-footer who
had just left us a boy, but merely remarking, 'He is your son is he
not!' seated myself before the blaze which shot up a tongue of white
flame at my approach, that irresistibly recalled to my fancy the
appearance of the girl who had gone out a moment before.

"'O, yes, he is my son, and that girl you saw here was my daughter; I
keep this inn and they help me, but it is a slow way to live, I can tell
you. Travel on these roads is slim.'

"'I should think likely,' I returned, remembering the half dozen or so
hills up which I had clambered since I took to my horse. 'How far are we
from Pentonville?'

"'O, two or three miles,' he replied, but in a hurried kind of a way.
'Not far in the daytime but a regular journey in a night like this?'

"'Yes,' said I, as the house shook under a fresh gust; 'it is fortunate
I have a place in which to put up.'

"He glanced down at my baggage which consisted of a small hand bag,
an over-coat and a fishing pole, with something like a gleam of
disappointment.

"'Going fishing?' he asked.

"'Yes,' I returned.

"'Good trout up those streams and plenty of them,' he went on. 'Going
alone?'

"I did not half like his importunity, but considering I had nothing
better to do, replied as affably as possible. 'No, I expect to meet a
friend in Pentonville who will accompany me."

"His hand went to his beard in a thoughtful attitude and he cast me
what, with my increased experience of the world, I should now consider a
sinister glance. 'Then you are expected?' said he.

"Not considering this worth reply, I stretched out my feet to the blaze
and began to warm them, for I felt chilled through.

"'Been on the road long?' he now asked,