aveller was scarcely noticed, until he had divested himself of
his old, many-caped cloak, and demurely taken a seat in the room. The
hostler having reappeared, and talked a little Dutch to the host, that
worthy turned to the traveller--

"Good even'ns, thravel'r!"

"Yes, sair;" pleasantly responded the Frenchman, "a little."

"You got a hoss, eh?" continued the landlord.

"Yes, sair, I vish ze hostlair to give mine hoss plenty to eat--plenty
hay, plenty oats, plenty watair, sair."

"Yaw," responded the landlord, "den, Jacob, give'm der oats, and der
hay, and der water;" and, with this brief direction to his subordinate,
the landlord turned away from the way-worn traveller to resume his
conversation with his more, apparently, influential friends. The old
Frenchman very patiently waited until the discussion should cease, and
the landlord's ear be disengaged, that he might be apprized of the fact
that travellers had stomachs, and that of the old French gentleman was
highly _incensed_ by long delay, and more particularly by the odorous
fumes of roast fowls, ham and eggs, &c., issuing from the inner portion
of the tavern.

"Landlord, I vil take suppair, if you please," said he.

"Yaw; after dese gentlemans shall eat der suppers, den somesing will be
prepared for you."

"Sair!" said the old Frenchman, firing up; "I vill not vait for ze
shentilmen; I vant my suppair now, directly--right away; I not vait for
nobody, sair!"

"If you no like 'em, den you go off, out mine house," answered the old
sour krout, "you old barber!"

"Bar-bair!" gasped the old Frenchman, in suppressed rage. "Sair, I vill
go no where, I vill stay here so long, by gar, as--as--as I please,
sair!"

"Are you aware, sir," interposed the legal gentleman, "that you are
rendering gross and offensive, malicious and libellous, scandalous and
burglarious language to this gentleman, in his own domicile, with malice
prepense and aforethought, and a ----"

"Pooh! pooh! _pooh!_ for you, sair!" testily replied the Frenchman.

"Pooh? To me, sir? _Me, sir?_" bullyingly echoed Blackstone.

"Yes, sair--pooh--_pooh!_ von geese, sair!"

It were vain to try to depict the rage of wounded pride, the insolence
of a travelling _barber_ had stirred up in the very face of the man of
law, logic, and legal lore. He swelled up, blowed and strutted about
like a _miffed_ gobbler in a barn yard! He tried to cork down his rage,
but it bursted forth--

"You--you--you in