here till Mr Granville
comes!'

"`What do you mean?' exclaimed the fellow. `I've as much right to be
here as you have, for the matter of that, at this hour.'

"`Very _well_, then,' said Waterford, as cool as a cucumber, `we'll all
three stay here. Eh, Cruden?'

"`I'm game,' said I.

"He evidently didn't like the turn things were taking, and changed his
tack.

"`Come, don't play the fool!' he said coaxingly, `The fact is, I
expected a letter from a friend, and as it was very important I came to
get it. It's all right.'

"`You may think so,' said Waterford; `you may think it's all right to
come here on tiptoe at midnight with a false key, and steal, but other
people may differ from you, that's all! Besides, you're telling a lie;
the letter you've got in your pocket doesn't belong to you!'

"It was rather a rash challenge, but we could see by the way his face
fell it was a good shot.

"He uttered an oath, and advanced threateningly towards the door.

"`Sit down,' said Waterford, `unless you want to be tied up. There are
two of us here, and we're not going to stand any nonsense, I can tell
you!'

"`You've no right--'

"`Sit down, and shut up!' repeated Waterford.

"`I tell you if you--'

"`Cruden, you'll find some cord in one of those drawers. If you don't
shut up, and sit down, Durfy, we shall make you.'

"He caved in after that, and I was rather glad we hadn't to go to
extremes.

"`Hadn't we better get the letter?' whispered I.

"`No; he'd better fork it out to Granville,' said Waterford.

"He was wrong for once, as you shall hear.

"Durfy slunk off and sat down on a chair in the far corner of the room,
swearing to himself, but not venturing to raise his voice above a growl.

"It was now about half-past twelve, and we had the lively prospect of
waiting at least eight hours before Granville turned up.

"`Don't you bother to stay,' said Waterford. `I can look after him.'

"But I scouted the idea, and said nothing would induce me to go.

"`Very well, then,' said he; `we may as well get on with our writing.'

"So we pulled our chairs up to the table, with a full-view of Durfy in
the corner, and tried to continue our lucubrations.

"But when you are sitting up at dead of night, with a prisoner in the
corner of the room cursing and gnashing his teeth at you, it is not easy
to grow eloquent either on the subject of `A Day in a Sub-sub-Editor's
Life,' or `Early Rising.' And so we found. We