Page:Marriott Watson--Galloping Dick.djvu/68

 do very much worse.” He nodded. “And with good honest fare,” says I, “and the price of a flask now and then.” He nodded again, frowning more than ever. “And on a particular private service, a guinea from one’s master.” He drew up his red head, staring at me haughtily. “Specially,” I went on, “for a secret service to carry letters”

To say the truth I had wellnigh forgot the premier business of my adventure; so tickled was I to put this egregious fellow upon prickles. But at my last words, and ere the full sentence was off my lips, he turned of a sudden deathly pale, stuck his hand again to his sword, and took a fit of shivers.

“Damnation!” he cried, all in a blaze of fury.

He squinted abominably as his eyes racked me, and one hand crept in a tremor to the cuff of his jacket. Now, I am a man of speedy wits, as indeed ’tis needful in my trade, and in a flash I was aware that I had come upon some more desperate affair than I had imagined. Moreover, the real meaning of his appearance