hamberlain bent almost double, and retired,
closing the door softly behind him. And so great had been my surprise
over these last acquirements of the captain that until now I had had no
breath to expostulate.

"I must have my fling, Richard," he answered, laughing; "I shall not be a
gentleman long. I must know how it feels to take your ease, and stroke
your velvet, and order lackeys about. And when my money is gone I shall
be content to go to sea again, and think about it o' stormy nights."

This feeling was so far beyond my intelligence that I made no comment.
And I could not for the life of me chide him, but prayed that all would
come right in the end.

In less than an hour Davenport himself arrived, bristling with
importance, followed by his man carrying such a variety of silks and
satins, flowered and plain, and broadcloths and velvets, to fill the
furniture. And close behind the tailor came a tall haberdasher from Bond
Street, who had got wind of a customer, with a bewildering lot of ruffles
and handkerchiefs and neckerchiefs, and bows of lawn and lace which (so
he informed us) gentlemen now wore in the place of solitaires. Then came
a hosier and a bootmaker and a hatter; nay, I was forgetting a jeweller
from Temple Bar. And so imposing a front did the captain wear as he
picked this and recommended the other that he got credit for me for all
he chose, and might have had more besides. For himself he ordered merely
a modest street suit of purple, the sword to be thrust through the
pocket, Davenport promising it with mine for the next afternoon. For so
much discredit had been cast upon his taste on the road to London that he
was resolved to remain indoors until he could appear with decency. He
learned quickly, as I have said.

By the time we had done with these matters, which I wished to perdition,
some score of applicants was in waiting for me. And out of them I hired
one who had been valet to the young Lord Rereby, and whose recommendation
was excellent. His name was Banks, his face open and ingenuous, his
stature a little above the ordinary, and his manner respectful. I had
Davenport measure him at once for a suit of the Carvel livery, and bade
him report on the morrow.

All this while, my dears, I was aching to be off to Arlington Street,
but a foolish pride held me back. I had heard so much of the fashion in
which the Manners moved that I feared to bring ridicule upon them in poor
MacMuir's clothes. But pres