wever, there was a change of incident at last.
The jailer brought in an old man, and said to him--
"The villain is in this room--cast thy old eyes about and see if thou
canst say which is he."
Hendon glanced up, and experienced a pleasant sensation for the first
time since he had been in the jail. He said to himself, "This is Blake
Andrews, a servant all his life in my father's family--a good honest
soul, with a right heart in his breast. That is, formerly. But none are
true now; all are liars. This man will know me--and will deny me, too,
like the rest."
The old man gazed around the room, glanced at each face in turn, and
finally said--
"I see none here but paltry knaves, scum o' the streets. Which is he?"
The jailer laughed.
"Here," he said; "scan this big animal, and grant me an opinion."
The old man approached, and looked Hendon over, long and earnestly, then
shook his head and said--
"Marry, THIS is no Hendon--nor ever was!"
"Right! Thy old eyes are sound yet. An' I were Sir Hugh, I would take
the shabby carle and--"
The jailer finished by lifting himself a-tip-toe with an imaginary
halter, at the same time making a gurgling noise in his throat suggestive
of suffocation. The old man said, vindictively--
"Let him bless God an' he fare no worse. An' _I_ had the handling o' the
villain he should roast, or I am no true man!"
The jailer laughed a pleasant hyena laugh, and said--
"Give him a piece of thy mind, old man--they all do it. Thou'lt find it
good diversion."
Then he sauntered toward his ante-room and disappeared. The old man
dropped upon his knees and whispered--
"God be thanked, thou'rt come again, my master! I believed thou wert
dead these seven years, and lo, here thou art alive! I knew thee the
moment I saw thee; and main hard work it was to keep a stony countenance
and seem to see none here but tuppenny knaves and rubbish o' the streets.
I am old and poor, Sir Miles; but say the word and I will go forth and
proclaim the truth though I be strangled for it."
"No," said Hendon; "thou shalt not. It would ruin thee, and yet help but
little in my cause. But I thank thee, for thou hast given me back
somewhat of my lost faith in my kind."
The old servant became very valuable to Hendon and the King; for he
dropped in several times a day to 'abuse' the former, and always smuggled
in a few delicacies to help out the prison bill of fare; he also
furnished the current
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