"Stop a bit," said the landlady; "I believe that young man is my own long-lost son that I haven't seen since he was seven years old. Didn't you hear him call me 'Moggles'?"
Gray laughed again. "That's a trick," he said; "his name is George Early. You've made a mistake."
"Erny good boy," said George. "Three bad men take Erny away."
Urged by his wife, the landlord now promptly claimed George as his lost son, and said he should resist any attempt at removal. Gray and his colleagues carried on a wordy war, and offered all kinds of proof of their own avowals, while George sat and stroked the landlady's hand.
"I declare to you that his name is George Early," said Gray, vehemently.
"Want Billy-Gee," said George.
"That settles it," cried the innkeeper, suddenly. "There's no fraud about that. He's our boy right enough."
By the time that Caroli arrived George was safely settled in the landlord's best parlour, undergoing the ordeal of comparison with his twin-brother Albert, a sportive young man, full of strange oaths, and inclined to doubt the genuineness of his newly-found brother. George bore his ill nature with good humour, and played the lunatic quite successfully. If he could keep the protection of the landlord and his wife, he did not doubt that some avenue of escape would open before long. Fortunately, the obstreperous Albert was leaving early the next morning for a few weeks, and George would have the field to himself.
The four conspirators had engaged rooms in the inn for the night, but George managed to put his newly-found parents on their guard against any efforts at kidnapping.
"He can sleep in the little room next to Albert, and leave the door open," said the fond mother. "And then Albert can lock the door when he goes off in the morning."