"Half-past four," said Mr. Howard, looking at his watch, and with difficulty suppressing a yawn.
"For I felt sure of winning—and so did he," continued Frank Curtis. "Well, I soon disposed of my two bottles of Port, and the General drank his one like a Trojan. To work we went again—two more for me, and another for him. Then I proposed cigars, because I knew that I could stand smoking better than him. He agreed; and we puffed away like two factory-chimnies. At last he showed signs of distress——"
"Ah! got quite groggy, like a prize-fighter at the fortieth round," observed Mr. Howard.
"Exactly," said Frank: "and so by the time I had finished my sixth bottle of Sherry, and the Field-Marshal had only got half-way through his third, he was completely sewn up. I pocketed the five hundred napoleons, as a matter of course—rang the bell to desire the waiter to take the Admiral off to bed—and then went and did the amiable at an evening party, where no one could tell that I had ever been drinking at all."
"And so you think that a very pleasant adventure, Master Frank?" said Sir Christopher. "Now, for my part, I leave guzzling and hard-drinking to those vulgar citizens the other side of Temple Bar. Do you know, Howard, that I really believe it was the most fortunate day of my life when I lost the election for Portsoken? If I had become an Alderman——"
"You would have looked the Alderman to perfection, Sir Christopher," observed the lawyer.
"Well—well—I might have been dignified on the bench—or I might not," said the knight complacently: "that is a mere matter of opinion—although I have been told by a friend who is not accustomed to flatter, that I have more sense—sound sense, I mean—in my little finger, than all the Aldermen and Common Councilmen put together. But it was fortunate for me—very fortunate—that I escaped from the vulgar contact of those citizens."
At this moment a servant entered the room, to announce that a gentleman desired to speak to Sir Christopher Blunt.
"Show him up—show him up," cried the knight. "I have no secrets that my nephew and solicitor may not hear."
The domestic retired; and in a few minutes he re-appeared, ushering in Rainford by the name of Captain Sparks.