Page:Lady Barbarity; a romance (IA ladybarbarityrom00snai).pdf/319

 thing of delicacy on the side of both. But in regard to talk it was plain that I must look for no assistance from my visitor, who appeared to be of the essence of discretion. Besides he was far too occupied in running his eyes about the room, apparently with the object of making a complete inventory of all the articles therein. At last I spoke:

"You are Mr. Snark, I understand?" I said, somewhat clumsily, I fear.

"Call me plain Snark," says he, with his horrid little eyes glistening at a golden candlestick.

"Well, Mr. Plain Snark," I nervously began, and then stopped and whispered urgently to Mrs. Emblem: "For heaven's sake stay here and keep your eye upon him! If I were to be left alone with him I'm certain that inside twenty minutes he would strangle me, pawn the furniture, and sell my body to the surgeons!"

The ears of my visitor were so acute, it seemed that they must have caught a hint of what I said, for he looked at me and remarked with considerable emphasis and pride:

"Snark mayn't be a picture-book to look at, not a Kneller as it were, but he's a bit of a hartiss in 'is 'umble way. And modest too is good old Snark. He'd no more use cold cream and lavender for to beautify his skin than he'd rob an orphing boy."

Yet as he spoke his eyes still travelled over me and my belongings in a fashion that made me wish already that I could forget him as one does an evil dream. But there was most instant business to