ng the extremities should not pay in my case, as well as in other
people's."

He then placed his legs across the chair which Mullins brought him, and,
folding his arms so as exactly to imitate the attitude of his opposite
neighbour, sat for some minutes gazing out of the window with a
countenance of mock solemnity. Finding this did not produce any effect
on Oaklands, who, having slightly raised his eyes when Lawless first
seated himself, immediately cast them upon the book again, Lawless
stretched himself, yawned, and once more addressed Mullins.

"Shocking bad sunset as ever I saw--it's no go staring at that. I must
have a book--give me the Byron."

To this Mullins replied that he believed Mr. Oaklands was reading it.

"Indeed! the book belongs to you, does it not?"

Mullins replied in the affirmative.

"Have you any objection to lend it to me?"

Mullins would be most happy to do so.

"Then ask the gentleman to give it to you--you have a right to do what
you please with your own property, I imagine?"

It was very evident that this suggestion was not exactly agreeable to
Mullins; and although his habitual fear of Lawless was so strong
as completely to overpower any dread of what might be the possible
consequences of his act, it was not without much hesitation that he
approached Oaklands, and asked him for the book, as he wished to lend it
to Lawless.

On hearing this Oaklands leisurely turned to the fly-leaf, and, having
apparently satisfied himself, by the perusal of the name written
thereon, that it really belonged to Mullins, handed it to him without a
word. I fancied, however, from the stern expression of his mouth and a
slight contraction of the brow, that he was not as insensible to their
impertinence as he wished to appear.

Lawless, who had been sitting during this little scene ~54~~with his
eyes closed, as if asleep, now roused himself, and saying, "Oh, you have
got it at last, have you?" began turning over the pages, reading aloud a
line or two here and there, while he kept up a running commentary on the
text as he did so:--

"Hum! ha! now let's see, here we are--the 'g-i-a-o-u-r,'--that's a
nice word to talk about. What does g-i-a-o-u-r spell, Mullins? You don't
know? what an ass you are, to be sure!--

'Fair clime, whose every season smiles
Benignant o'er those blessed isles'--

blessed isles, indeed; what stuff!--

''Tis Greece, but living Greece no more;'