k-boots, which were
said by Vanseddars himself to be he finest pair that ever went out of
his shop, square-toed, double-soled--alas! alas!'

'Strange that you should have been picked up by the son of the very man
to whom you had a letter.'

'The working of Providence,' Saxon answered. 'I have two-and-twenty
other letters which must all be delivered by hand. If you will permit me
to use your house for a while, I shall make it my headquarters.'

'Use it as though it were your own,' said my father.

'Your most grateful servant, sir,' he cried, jumping up and bowing
with his hand over his heart. 'This is indeed a haven of rest after the
ungodly and profane company of my brothers. Shall we then put up a hymn,
and retire from the business of the day?'

My father willingly agreed, and we sang 'Oh, happy land!' after which
our visitor followed me to his room, bearing with him the unfinished
bottle of usquebaugh which my mother had left on the table. He took it
with him, he explained, as a precaution against Persian ague, contracted
while battling against the Ottoman, and liable to recur at strange
moments. I left him in our best spare bedroom, and returned to my
father, who was still seated, heavy with thought, in his old corner.

'What think you of my find, Dad?' I asked.

'A man of parts and of piety,' he answered; 'but in truth he has brought
me news so much after my heart, that he could not be unwelcome were he
the Pope of Rome.'

'What news, then?'

'This, this!' he cried joyously, plucking the letter out of his bosom.
'I will read it to you, lad. Nay, perhaps I had best sleep the night
upon it, and read it to-morrow when our heads are clearer. May the Lord
guide my path, and confound the tyrant! Pray for light, boy, for my life
and yours may be equally at stake.'

Chapter VI. Of the Letter that came from the Lowlands

In the morning I was up betimes, and went forthwith, after the country
fashion, to our quest's room to see if there was aught in which I could
serve him. On pushing at his door, I found that it was fastened, which
surprised me the more as I knew that there was neither key nor bolt upon
the inside. On my pressing against it, however, it began to yield, and
I could then see that a heavy chest which was used to stand near the
window had been pulled round in order to shut out any intrusion. This
precaution, taken under my father's roof, as though he were in a den of
thieves, angered me, and I