Page:The Semi-detached House.djvu/211

 mouse caught in a boat-trap, from which he will never emerge alive, notwithstanding the continual struggle he appears to keep up.

"Well; every man to his taste," said Captain Hopkinson, "but so far as safety goes, commend me to a gale off Cape Horn. There is less chance of drowning, at all events. I must go home. Pray does your Lordship know anything of a Baron Sampson who threatens me with a neighbourly visit this morning?"

"Nothing beyond his name, which figures in every corner of the paper, wherever there is a subscription or a company. He is supposed to be worth millions, but latterly I have learnt to mistrust that kind of reputation. I should not mind detaching his grey horses from the vulgar carriage, containing his flashy-looking wife, and leading them into my own stables; but I had rather have nothing else to say to him."

"Well, I hope he makes short visits, for I must be in town by three."