The Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain Rogers, by W.W. Jacobs

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Title: Captain Rogers
The Lady of the Barge and Others, Part 7.

Author: W.W. Jacobs

Release Date: April 22, 2004 [EBook #12127]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN ROGERS ***

Produced by David Widger

THE LADY OF THE BARGE

AND OTHER STORIES

By W. W. Jacobs

CAPTAIN ROGERS

A man came slowly over the old stone bridge, and averting his gaze from
the dark river with its silent craft, looked with some satisfaction
toward the feeble lights of the small town on the other side. He walked
with the painful, forced step of one who has already trudged far. His
worsted hose, where they were not darned, were in holes, and his coat and
knee-breeches were rusty with much wear, but he straightened himself as
he reached the end of the bridge and stepped out bravely to the taverns
which stood in a row facing the quay.

He passed the "Queen Anne"--a mere beershop--without pausing, and after a
glance apiece at the "Royal George" and the "Trusty Anchor," kept on his
way to where the "Golden Key" hung out a gilded emblem. It was the best
house in Riverstone, and patronized by the gentry, but he adjusted his
faded coat, and with a swaggering air entered and walked boldly into the
coffee-room.

The room was empty, but a bright fire afforded a pleasant change to the
chill October air outside. He drew up a chair, and placing his feet on
the fender, exposed his tattered soles to the blaze, as a waiter who had
just seen him enter the room came and stood aggressively inside the door.

"Brandy and water," said the stranger; "hot."

"The coffee-room is for gentlemen staying in the house," said the waiter.

The stranger took his feet from the fender, and rising slowly, walked
toward him. He was a short man and thin, but there was something so
menacing in his attitude, and something so fearsome in his stony brown
eyes, that the other, despite his disgust for ill-dressed people, moved
back uneasily.

"Brandy and water, hot," repeated the stranger; "and plenty of it. D'ye
hear?"

The man turned slowly to depart.

"S