he ran his eye hastily over it, and with a groan
of anguish, sank back upon the bench.

The person who manifested this violent emotion, was a young man, dressed
in a mean and tattered garb, his face begrimed corresponding with that
of the motley crew by which he was surrounded. He was a perfect stranger
to the others present, and had not participated in their previous
conversation, nor been personally addressed by any of them.

Bloody Mike, the landlord, deeming this a fit opportunity for the
exercise of his authority, growled out, in a ferocious tone--

'And who the devil may ye be, that makes such a bobbaboo about a letter
that a _kinchen_ stales from a lady's work bag? Spake, ye blasted
scoundrel; or wid my first, (and it's no small one) I'll let daylight
thro' yer skull! And be what right do ye snatch the letter from Ragged
Pete? Answer me _that_ ye devil's pup!'

All present regarded the formidable Irishman with awe, excepting the
stranger, who gazed at him in contemptuous silence. This enraged the
landlord still more, and he cried out--

'Bad luck to ye, who are ye, at all at all? Ye're a stranger to all of
us--ye haven't spint a pinney for the good of the house, for all ye've
been toasting yer shins furnist the fire for two hours or more! Who
knows but ye're a police spy, an officer in disguise, or--'

'Oh, _slash yer gammon_, Bloody Mike,' exclaimed the stranger, speaking
with a coarse, vulgar accent--'I know you well enough, tho' you don't
remember _me_. Police spy, hey? Why, I've just come out of _quod_
myself, d'y see--and I've got _tin_ enough to stand the rum for the
whole party. So call up, fellers--what'll ye all have to drink?'

It is impossible to describe the effect of these words on everybody
present. Bloody Mike swore that the stranger was a 'rare gentleman', and
asked his pardon; Ragged Pete grasped his hand in a transport of
friendship; the young thief declared he was 'one of the b'hoys from
home;' the negro and the prostitute crawled from under the table, and
thanked him with hoarse and drunken voices; the vagabond and
well-dressed man on the table, both rolled off, and 'called on.' And the
stranger threw upon the counter a handful of silver, and bade them
'drink it up.'

Such a scene followed! Half pints of 'blue ruin' were dispensed to the
thirsty throng, and in a short time all, with two or three exceptions,
were extremely drunk. The negro and the prostitute resumed their places
under