was still somehow discernible; while from amidst them came
a hissing voice, which said--

'Who comes?'

'Yellow-cap!'

'The number?'

'Seven!'

'The time?'

'Five!'

'Pass!' said the voice.

And immediately (though how it happened he could not tell) Raymond
found himself in a square, low-ceilinged, comfortable room, with a
large lamp burning in the centre of the table, around which were
seated six men, each with a long pipe in his mouth and a tankard of
ale before him.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE MAGIC EYE.

The six men arose, and each in turn, and then all together, uttered
the words--

'Welcome, Yellow-cap!'

Then he among them who had the biggest nose and the most sweeping
moustachios came forward, made Raymond a grave salute, and, taking him
by the arm, led him to a chair at the head of the table.

'The tale of the Seven Brethren is at last complete,' said he.

'Hear! hear!' gruffly responded the others.

'Brother Yellow-cap,' continued the first speaker, 'let me introduce
you to our Brotherhood. I am the Prime Maniac. He on your right is the
Chancellor of the Jingle. Next to him is the Home Doggerel. At the
foot of the table is the First Lord of the Seesaw. The Foreign
Doggerel is next on the left. Next again the Lord Privy Gander. One
and all of us are bound to aid you, abet you, and obey you, so long as
you own and wear the yellow cap. Once more, welcome, Yellow-cap!'

'Welcome!' chimed in the Brethren; and they raised their tankards to
their lips and emptied them at a draught.

'We do not call one another by our titles,' said the Lord Privy
Gander.

'Nor by our names,' added the Chancellor of the Jingle.

'Nor by our surnames,' pursued the Home Doggerel.

'But by our nicknames,' observed the Foreign Doggerel.

'By the mystic syllables repeated,' said the First Lord of the Seesaw.

Hereupon a curious ceremony took place. Beginning with the Lord Privy
Gander, and so on in regular order to the First Lord of the Seesaw,
each brother in rapid succession spoke his own nickname, with the
following result.

'Ruba!' said the Lord Privy Gander.

'Dubb!' said the Chancellor of the Jingle.

'Dubsix!' said the Home Doggerel.

'Menin!' said the Foreign Doggerel.

'Atub!' said the First Lord of the Seesaw.

'Gyp is my nickname,' remarked the Prime Maniac, 'because the verse
had not feet enough to go all round. Did you ever hear anything like
this before?'

'I fancied at one moment th