"Be off with you, ragamuffin!" growled the majordomo.
"Be quick; open the gates!" replied the carter, swinging his whip threateningly.
"Go away!" The majordomo spun on his heels contemptuously.
"I will skin you alive," vowed the carter, striking the iron with the butt of his whip, "if you do not open these gates immediately. Open!"
There was real menace this time. Could the fellow be crazy? The majordomo concluded to temporize.
"My good man," he said conciliatorily, "you have brains. You ought to know that his excellency will receive no man in your condition. If you do not stop hammering on those bars, I shall send for the police."
The carter thrust a hand through the grill. There was a ring on one of his fingers.
"Imbecile, set your eye on that and admit me without more ado!"
The majordomo was thunderstruck. Indeed, a blast from the heavens would have jarred him less.
"Open, then!"