Knox paused and expressed his opinion of the security by a
pitying smile. "But if," he resumed, "this man be not even your
friend, then, my dear sir, I can merely wonder."

For a moment my father seemed about to argue with him, but checked
himself.

"None the less the man is very far from being my friend," he answered
quietly.

"But surely--surely, sir, you cannot be doing this in any hope to
recover what he already owes you! That were indeed to throw the
helve after the hatchet. Nay, sir, it were madness--stark madness!"

My father glanced at my uncle Gervase, who stood pulling his lip;
then, with an abrupt motion, he turned on Mr. Knox again.

"You have seen him? You delivered my letter?"

"I did."

"What was his answer?"

Mr. Knox shrugged his shoulders. "He jumped at it, of course."

"And the boy, here! What did he say about the boy?"

"Well, to speak truth, Sir John, he seemed passably amused by the
whole business. The fact is, prison has broken him up. A fine
figure he must have been in his time, but a costly one to maintain
. . . as tall as yourself, Sir John, if not taller; and florid, as
one may say; the sort of man that must have exercise and space and a
crowd to admire him, not to mention wine and meats and female
society. The Fleet has broken down all that. Even with liberty I
wouldn't promise him another year of life; and, unless I'm mistaken,
he knows his case. A rare actor, too! It wouldn't surprise me if
he'd even deceived himself. But the mask's off. Your offer
overjoyed him; that goes without saying. In spite of all your past
generosity, this new offer obviously struck him for the moment as too
good to be true. But I cannot say, Sir John, that he made any
serious effort to keep up the imposture or pretend that the security
which he can offer is more than a sentimental one. Not to put too
fine a point on it, he ordered in a couple of bottles of wine at my
expense, and over the second I left him laughing."

My father frowned. "And yet this man, Mr. Knox, is an anointed
king."

"Of Corsica!" Mr. Knox shrugged his shoulders. "You may take my
word for it, he's an anointed actor."

"One can visit him, I suppose?"

"At the most the turnkey will expect five shillings. Oh dear me yes!
For a crowned head he's accessible."

My father took me by the arm. "Come along, then, child. And you,
Gervase, get your business through with Mr. Knox and follow us, if
you can, in ha