“‘Yees, yees; she vas here sex months.’
“‘No; not for six months,—three weeks.’
“‘Yees; all de same.’
“‘Did you see her lately?’
“‘Yees, dis mornin’.’
“‘This morning! was she here this morning?’
“‘Yees; she come here vith a captain of Cuirassiers—ah! droll fellow dat!’
“‘That’s a lie anyhow,’ said I, ‘my young gentleman;’ and with that I planted my fist between his eyes, and laid him flat on the floor. Upon my conscience you would have thought it was murder I had done; never was there such yelling, and screaming, and calling for the police, and Heaven knows what besides; and sure enough, they marched me off between a file of soldiers to a place like a guard-room, where, whatever the fellow swore against me, it cost me a five-pound note before I got free.
“‘Keep a civil tongue in your head, young man, about Mrs. Blake, anyway; for by the hill of Maam, if I hear a word about the Cuirassier, I’ll not leave a whole bone in your skin.’
“Well, sir, I got a roast chicken, and a dish of water-cress, and I got into a bed about four feet six long; and what between the fleas and the nightmare, I had n’t a pleasant time of it till morning.