"Go on—go on," they cried; "where was the house and what happened?"
"I know!" said Sweetheart; "it was the house of Julia Mannering, and her lover—"
"Oh, bother her lover," cried Hugh John, impatiently; "we don't want to hear about how they lived happy ever after. Tell us about the gipsy, Meg Merrilies—"
"And about Dirk Hatteraick!" said Sir Toady Lion, getting his word in. "I just love Dirk!"
"And how many people he killed wif his big knife, and if he was burnt up alive in the fire!" For Maid Margaret also delights in the most gory details, though she would not willingly tread upon a worm.
"Yes, go on, tell us all—everything that happened!" said Sweetheart.
"But do skip the lovering parts," cried the boys in chorus.
So within these statutes of limitation I had perforce to recommence, without further preface, telling the fourth and last tale from Guy Mannering.