"I understand you, sir. You are in bad health, which makes you nervous."

"Yes--yes. Heaven forgive me, but if you, Mr. Jailer, and the good lady
here will keep within call, in case of accidents, I don't mind if I do
remain and exhort these men, for a short time," said the old man.

"Of course we will. Come, Mrs. Condiment, mum! There's a good bench in
the lobby and I'll send for my old woman and we three can have a good
talk while the worthy Mr. Gray is speaking to the prisoners," said the
warden, conducting the housekeeper from the cell.

As soon as they had gone the old man went to the door and peeped after
them, and having seen that they went to the extremity of the lobby to a
seat under an open window, he turned back to the cell, and, going up to
Hal, said in a low, voice:

"Now, then, is it possible that you do not know me?"

Hal stopped twiddling his fingers and looked up at the tall, thin,
stooping figure, the gray hair, the white eyebrows and the pale face,
and said gruffly:

"No! May the demon fly away with me if I ever saw you before!"

"Nor you, Dick?" inquired the old man, in a mild voice, turning to the
one addressed.

"No, burn you, nor want to see you now!"

"Steve! Steve!" said the old man, in a pitiful voice, waking the sleeper.
"Don't you know me, either?"

"Don't bother me," said that worthy, giving himself another turn and
another settle to sleep.

"Dolts! blockheads! brutes! Do you know me now?" growled the visitor,
changing his voice.

"Our captain!"

"Our captain!"

"Our captain!" they simultaneously cried.

"Hush! sink your souls! Do you want to bring the warden upon us?"
growled Black Donald, for it was unquestionably him in a new
metamorphosis.

"Then all I have to say, captain, is that you have left us here a blamed
long time!"

"And exposed to sore temptation to peach on me! Couldn't help it, lads!
Couldn't help it! I waited until I could do something to the purpose!"

"Now, may Satan roast me alive if I know what you have done to turn
yourself into an old man! Burn my soul, if I should know you now,
captain, if it wa'n't for your voice," grumbled Steve.

"Listen, then, you ungrateful, suspicious wretches! I did for you what
no captain ever did for his men before! I had exhausted all manner of
disguises, so that the authorities would almost have looked for me in an
old woman's gown! See, then, what I did! I put myself on a month's
regimen of vegetable diet, and ke