f my strength I would
fling him downstairs, and into the kennel. Will you tell him so for me,
Dorothy?"

And I raised up in bed, shaken with anger against the man. In a trice
she was holding me, fearfully.

"Richard, Richard, you will open your wound. I pray you be quiet."

"And Mr. Allen has the impudence to ask to see me!"

"Listen, Richard. Your anger makes you forget many things. Remember that
he is a dangerous man, and now that he knows you are in London he holds
your liberty, perhaps your life, in his hands."

It was true. And not mine alone, but the lives and liberty of others.

"Do you know what he wishes, Dorothy?"

"No, he will not tell us. But he is greatly excited, and says he must
see you at once, for your own good. For your own good, Richard!"

"I do not trust the villain, but he may come in," I said, at length.

She gave me the one lingering, anxious look, and opened the door.

Never had I beheld such a change in mortal man as there was in Mr.
Allen, my old tutor, and rector of St. Anne's. And 'twas a baffling,
intangible change. 'Twas as if the mask bad been torn from his face,
for he was now just a plain adventurer that need not have imposed upon
a soul. The coarse wine and coarse food of the lower coffee-houses of
London had replaced the rich and abundant fare of Maryland. The next
day was become one of the terrors of his life. His clothes were of poor
stuff, but aimed at the fashion. And yet--and yet, as I looked upon
him, a something was in his face to puzzle me entirely. I had seen many
stamps of men, but this thing I could not recognize.

He stepped forward with all of his old confidence, and did not regard a
farthing my cold stare.

"'Tis like gone days to see you again, Richard," he cried. "And I
perceive you have as ever fallen into the best of hands."

"I am Mr. Carvel to my enemies, if they must speak to me at all," I
said.

"But, my dear fellow, I am not your enemy, or I should not be here this
day. And presently I shall prove that same." He took snuff. "But first
I must congratulate you on coming alive out of that great battle off
Flamborough. You look as though you had been very near to death, my lad.
A deal nearer than I should care to get."

What to say to the man! What to do save to knock him down, and I could
not do that.

"There can be no passing the time of day between you and me, Mr. Allen,"
I answered hotly. "You, whose machinations have come as near to ruining
m