f nature; he wore a white neck-handkerchief,
a deep waistcoat, and a long black coat, with very wide skirts; his
breeches, of an olive green colour, corresponded in material with the
gaiters which protected his sturdy legs, without reaching entirely to
the knee, but allowing the strings belonging to his upper garment to
display themselves in long unstudied bows; in fact, the dress and whole
_tournure_ of Murphy exactly accorded with the idea of what in England
is styled a "gentleman farmer." Now, the personage we are describing,
though an English squire, was no farmer. At the moment of Rodolph's
appearance in the yard, Murphy was in the act of depositing, in the
pocket of a small travelling _caleche_, a pair of small pistols he had
just been carefully cleaning.

"What the devil are you going to do with those pistols?" inquired
Rodolph.

"That is my business, my lord," replied Murphy, descending the carriage
steps; "attend to your affairs, and I will mind mine."

"At what o'clock have you ordered the horses?"

"According to your directions,--at nightfall."

"You got here this morning, I suppose?"

"I did, at eight o'clock. Madame Georges has had ample time to make all
the preparations you desired."

"What has gone wrong, Murphy? You seem completely out of humour. Have I
done anything to offend you?"

"Can you not, my lord, accomplish your self-imposed task without
incurring so much personal risk?"

"Surely, in order to lull all suspicion in the minds of the persons I
seek to understand and fully appreciate, I cannot do better than, for a
time, to adopt their garb, their language, and their customs."

"But all this did not prevent you, my lord, last night (in that
abominable place where we went to unkennel Bras Rouge, in hopes of
getting out of him some particulars relative to that unhappy son of
Madame Georges), from being angry, and ready to quarrel with me, because
I wished to aid in your tussle with the rascal you encountered in that
horrid cut-throat alley."

"I suppose, then, Murphy, you do not think I am capable of defending
myself, and you either doubt my courage or the strength of my arm?"

"Unfortunately, you have given me too many reasons to form a contrary
opinion of both. Thank God! Flatman, the Bertrand of Germany, perfected
you in the knowledge of fencing; Tom Cribb taught you to box; Lacour, of
Paris, accomplished you in single-stick, wrestling, and slang, so as to
render you fully provided