the
anpost--the tithe and the hundred-tax. The poor man's salt-box and
flour-bin shall be as free as the nobleman's cellar. Ha! what sayest
thou?'

"'It is but just,' said our hero.

"'Ay, but they give us such justice as the falcon gives the leveret!'
roared the orator. 'Down with them, I say--down with every man of them!
Noble and judge, priest and king, down with them all!'

"'Nay,' said Sir Overbeck Wells, drawing himself up to his full height,
and laying his hand upon the hilt of his sword, 'there I cannot follow
thee, but must rather defy thee as traitor and faineant, seeing that
thou art no true man, but one who would usurp the rights of our master
the king, whom may the Virgin protect!'

"At these bold words, and the defiance which they conveyed, the rebels
seemed for a moment utterly bewildered; but, encouraged by the hoarse
shout of their leader, they brandished their weapons and prepared to
fall upon the knight, who placed himself in a posture for defence and
awaited their attack.

"There now!" cried Sir Walter, rubbing his hands and chuckling, "I've
put the chiel in a pretty warm corner, and we'll see which of you
moderns can take him oot o't. Ne'er a word more will ye get frae me to
help him one way or the other."

"You try your hand, James," cried several voices, and the author in
question had got so far as to make an allusion to a solitary horseman
who was approaching, when he was interrupted by a tall gentleman a
little farther down with a slight stutter and a very nervous manner.

"Excuse me," he said, "but I fancy that I may be able to do something
here. Some of my humble productions have been said to excel Sir Walter
at his best, and I was undoubtedly stronger all round. I could picture
modern society as well as ancient; and as to my plays, why Shakespeare
never came near _The Lady of Lyons_ for popularity. There is this little
thing----" (Here he rummaged among a great pile of papers in front of
him.) "Ah! that's a report of mine, when I was in India. Here it is. No,
this is one of my speeches in the House, and this is my criticism on
Tennyson. Didn't I warm him up? I can't find what I wanted, but of
course you have read them all--_Rienzi_ and _Harold_, and _The Last of
the Barons_. Every schoolboy knows them by heart, as poor Macaulay would
have said. Allow me to give you a sample:--

"In spite of the gallant knight's valiant resistance the combat was too
unequal to be sustained. His sword