eck, "what a relief it is to have you back again. It has been
terrible for you."

"It hasn't been very pleasant, Aunt," he replied cheerfully, "but it is
all right now, and certainly I ought not to grumble. I have had better
luck than I deserved. I was a fool to go there, but I did not think that
there was any real chance of the revenue people coming down upon us. It
was thought they had been thrown off the scent altogether."

"What a dreadful face you have got, Julian!"

"Oh, that is nothing, Aunt; it will go off in a few days, and until it
has I must either stay indoors or keep out of the town altogether."

"I am afraid tea won't be ready for a few minutes, Julian. You see I
have had such a very short notice."

"I can hold on comfortably, Aunt; besides, I have got to have a change
and a wash. That is of more importance than tea just at present."

After the meal was over, Frank gave the details of the examination, the
narrative being very frequently stopped by exclamations and questions on
the part of Mrs. Troutbeck.

"I have never heard of such a wicked thing. The idea of that man
charging you with attempting to murder him! Julian, he ought to be
punished for it."

"I fancy he has been punished, Aunt. I don't see how he is to keep his
commission as a justice after what was said in court. Still, it is a bad
thing for me. I was discharged, but it will always be against me. If I
ever get into any sort of trouble again, people will say: 'Ah, yes; he
was charged with attempting murder when he was a young fellow, and
although he was lucky enough to get off then, there must have been
something in it. He is evidently a man of ungovernable temper.'"

"But, my dear Julian, everyone knows that you have a very sweet temper."

"I was not in a sweet temper then at any rate, Aunt."

"Of course not, Julian. I should not have been so myself if anyone had
hit me such a terrible blow as that in the face."

Her nephews both laughed, for they had never seen her ruffled out of her
usual serenity.

"Well, Aunt, don't let us talk any more about it," Julian said. "I would
give a good deal if it hadn't happened. As it is, one must make the best
of it, and I hope that it will be forgotten in time. I wish now that I
had gone into the army, but it is too late for that. I shall think over
what I had best take to. I should certainly like to get away from here
until it has blown over altogether."

On the following morning Frank met C