"Ay," interposed Lord Champernoun, "and thou shalt take my young grandson Gilbert with thee, Grenville. I had rather he learned seamanship under thee than under any other man in all Her Majesty's service."
At this moment there was a knock at the library door, and Timothy Trollope entered, followed by Jacob Hartop.
CHAPTER IX.
CONCERNING A STOLEN LETTER.
TIMOTHY had given the old man a pair of cloth shoes in place of the mud-covered boots that he had worn on his walk from the village, and had himself changed his rough outdoor clothes for a suit of dark-blue frieze.
"What have we here?" questioned the baron, turning in his chair and looking towards the door.
"'Tis Master Jacob Hartop, my lord," answered Timothy, "the same who was robbed yesternight."
"That matter is settled, for the men are arrested," said his lordship with a wave of his thin white hand that was meant for a dismissal. "I have now no need of the man's evidence. You had best take him down to the town and let Justice Oldfield examine him." His eyes rested upon Hartop for a moment. "Yet stay," he added. And then, addressing Hartop, he said: "Art thou a man of Devon, prithee?"