f you live as long, which ain't
likely."

"He talks like a clergyman," said Mrs. Silk, in a stage whisper.

Mr. Wilks nodded, and despite his hostess's protests rose to go. He
shook hands with her and, after a short but sharp inward struggle, shook
hands with her son. It was late in the evening as he left, but the
houses had not yet been lit up. Dim figures sat in doorways or stood
about the alley, and there was an air of peace and rest strangely and
uncomfortably in keeping with the conversation to which he had just been
listening. He looked in at his own door; the furniture seemed stiffer
than usual and the tick of the clock more deliberate. He closed the door
again and, taking a deep breath, set off towards the life and bustle of
the Two Schooners.

[Illustration: "He set off towards the life and bustle of the Two
Schooners."]

CHAPTER X

Time failed to soften the captain's ideas concerning his son's
engagement, and all mention of the subject in the house was strictly
forbidden. Occasionally he was favoured with a glimpse of his son and
Miss Kybird out together, a sight which imparted such a flavour to his
temper and ordinary intercourse that Mrs. Kingdom, in unconscious
imitation of Mr. James Hardy, began to count the days which must elapse
before her niece's return from London. His ill-temper even infected the
other members of the household, and Mrs. Kingdom sat brooding in her
bedroom all one afternoon, because Bella had called her an "overbearing
dish-pot."

The finishing touch to his patience was supplied by a little
misunderstanding between Mr. Kybird and the police. For the second time
in his career the shopkeeper appeared before the magistrates to explain
the circumstances in which he had purchased stolen property, and for the
second time he left the court without a stain on his character, but with
a significant magisterial caution not to appear there again.

[Illustration: "For the second time he left the court without a stain on
his character."]

Jack Nugent gave evidence in the case, and some of his replies were
deemed worthy of reproduction in the Sunwich Herald, a circumstance which
lost the proprietors a subscriber of many years' standing.

One by one various schemes for preventing his son's projected alliance
were dismissed as impracticable. A cherished design of confining him in
an asylum for the mentally afflicted until such time as he should have
regained his senses was sp