If Brandon had supposed the stranger would prove an unwelcome visitor to his father, he would have been undeceived if he could have been present at the interview between them.
"What, Kirby!" said the squire, as the new arrival entered his study.
"Yes, it is I, captain," answered Peter Kirby, sinking into an arm-chair. "You seem comfortably fixed here."
"Yes; I have tried to make myself comfortable."
"And I understand you go by the name of squire?"
"How did you learn that?"
"From a boy who guided me here."
"I hope you did not express any surprise."
"Oh, no! I did nothing to arouse suspicion. Are you a justice of the peace?"
"Yes."