"Listen," says Jack.
"'Whether a gentleman riding abroad in naught but his hat and shirt is a sufficiently laughable matter, or an object of derision, depends altogether upon the point of view, and I must leave your friends, namely, Sir Richard Eden and Mr. Bentley, to decide. There remains now but one more undertaking, that of putting you all—together and at the same time—at a disadvantage, which I shall confidently hope to perform so soon as Dame Fortune will permit.
"'I am returning their pistols to Sir Richard Eden and Mr. Bentley to-night.
"'Trusting that you and yours are blooming in all health, I beg to subscribe myself,
"'Your most obedient, humble servant to command,
"'Horatio Tawnish.'"
"Tawnish?" says I.
"Tawnish," says Bentley.
"Tawnish!" says Jack. "Devil take him!"
"By heaven!" says I, remembering the grim, determined figure of the highwayman, "by heaven, he has a man's body beneath his silks and laces after all."