ated Mr. Jellicorse to a gaze
of this sort; and the lawyer, whose wrath had been feigned, to rouse the
other's, and so extract full information, began to feel his own temper
rise. And if Jack had known when to hold his tongue, he must have had
the best of it. But the lawyer knew this, and the soldier did not.

"Master Jellicorse," said the latter, with his forehead deeply wrinkled,
and his eyes now opened to their widest, "in saying of that you make
a liar of yourself. Lease or no lease--that you do. Leasing stands for
lying in the Bible, and a' seemeth to do the same thing in Yorkshire.
Fifty wives, and a hundred children! Sir Duncan hath had one wife, and
lost her, through the Neljan fever and her worry; and a Yorkshire lady,
as you might know--and never hath he cared to look at any woman since.
There now, what you make of that--you lawyers that make out every man
a rake, and every woman a light o' love? Get along! I hate the lot o'
you."

"What a strange character you are! You must have had jungle fever, I
should think. No, Diana, there is no danger"--for Jack o' the Smithies
had made such a noise that Mrs. Jellicorse got frightened and ran in:
"this poor man has only one arm; and if he had two, he could not hurt
me, even if he wished it. Be pleased to withdraw, Diana. John Smithies,
you have simply made a fool of yourself. I have not said a word against
Sir Duncan Yordas, or his wife, or his son--"

"He hath no son, I tell you; and that was partly how he lost his wife."

"Well, then, his daughters, I have said no harm of them."

"And very good reason--because he hath none. You lawyers think you are
so clever; and you never know anything rightly. Sir Duncan hath himself
alone to see to, and hundreds of thousands of darkies to manage, with
a score of British bayonets. But he never heedeth of the bayonets, not
he."

"I have read of such men, but I never saw them," Mr. Jellicorse said,
as if thinking to himself; "I always feel doubt about the possibility of
them."

"He hath ten elephants," continued Soldier Smithies, resolved to crown
the pillar of his wonders while about it--"ten great elephants that come
and kneel before him, and a thousand men ready to run to his thumb; and
his word is law--better law than is in England--for scores and scores of
miles on the top of hundreds."

"Why did you come away, John Smithies? Why did you leave such a great
prince, and come home?"

"Because it was home, Sir. And for s