rld might have been
deprived of one or both these knights-errant, had not General Macleaver,
at the desire of his majesty, interposed, and found means to bring
matters to an accommodation.

In the afternoon the society was visited by the major's cousin and her
daughters, who no sooner appeared than they were recognised by our
adventurer, and his acquaintance with them renewed in such a manner as
alarmed the delicacy of Captain Minikin, who in the evening repaired to
the Count's apartment, and with a formal physiognomy, accosted him in
these words: "Sir, I beg pardon for this intrusion, but I come to consult
you about an affair in which my honour is concerned; and a soldier
without honour, you know, is no better than a body without a soul. I
have always admired that speech of Hotspur in the first part of Henry the
Fourth:

By Heaven, methinks it were an easy leap,
To pluck bright honour from the pale-fac'd moon;
Or dive into the bottom of the deep,
Where fathom-line could never touch the ground,
And pluck up drowned honour by the locks--

"There is a boldness and ease in the expression, and the images are very
picturesque. But, without any further preamble, pray, sir, give me leave
to ask how long you have been acquainted with those ladies who drank tea
with us this afternoon. You'll forgive the question, sir, when I tell
you that Major Macleaver introduced Mrs. Minikin to them as to ladies of
character, and, I don't know how, sir, I have a sort of presentiment that
my wife has been imposed upon. Perhaps I may be mistaken, and God grant
I may. But there was a je ne sais quoi in their behaviour to-day, which
begins to alarm my suspicion. Sir, I have nothing but my reputation to
depend upon, and I hope you will excuse me, when I earnestly beg to know
what rank they maintain in life."

Fathom, without minding the consequence, told him, with a simper, that he
knew them to be very good-natured ladies, who devoted themselves to the
happiness of mankind. This explanation had no sooner escaped from his
lips, than the captain's face began to glow with indignation, his eyes
seemed bursting from their spheres, he swelled to twice his natural
dimensions, and, raising himself on his tiptoes, pronounced, in a strain
that emulated thunder, "Blood! sir, you seem to make very light of the
matter, but it is no joke to me, I'll assure you, and Macleaver shall see
that I am not to be affronted with impun