f others.
Meanwhile Mayfair had leaped over the low paling of the little front
garden, and stood now close to the house. With an admirable imitation of
the prelude of a guitar, he began to sing,--

"Come dearest Lilla,
Thy anxious lover
Counts, counts the weary moments over--"

As he reached thus far, a shutter gently opened, and in the strong
glare of the moonlight some trace of a head could be detected behind the
curtain. Encouraged by this, the singer went on in a rich and flowery
voice,--

"Anxious he waits,
Thy voice to hear
Break, break on his enraptured ear."

At this moment the window was thrown open, and a female voice, in an
accent strongly Scotch, called out, "Awa wi' ye,--pack o' ne'er-do-weels
as ye are,--awa wi' ye a'! I 'll call the police." But Mayfair went
on,--

The night invites to love,
So tarry not above,
But Lilla--Lilla--Lilla, come down to me!

"I'll come down to you, and right soon," shouted a hoarse masculine
voice. Two or three who had clambered over the paling beside Mayfair now
scampered off; and Mayfair himself, making a spring, cleared the fence,
and ran down the road at the top of his speed, followed by all but Tony,
who, half in indignation at their ignominious flight, and half with some
vague purpose of apology, stood his ground before the gate.

The next moment the hall door opened, and a short thickset man, armed
with a powerful bludgeon, rushed out and made straight towards him.
Seeing, however, that Tony stood firm, neither offering resistance nor
attempting escape, he stopped short, and cried out, "What for drunken
blackguards are ye, that canna go home without disturbing a quiet
neighborhood?"

"If you can keep a civil tongue in your head," said Tony, "I 'll ask
your pardon for this disturbance."

"What's your apology to me, you young scamp!" cried the other, wrenching
open the gate and passing out into the road. "I'd rather give you a
lesson than listen to your excuses." He lifted his stick as he spoke;
but Tony sprang upon him with the speed of a tiger, and, wrenching the
heavy bludgeon out of his hand, flung it far into a neighboring field,
and then, grasping him by the collar with both hands, he gave him such
a shake as very soon convinced his antagonist how unequal the struggle
would be between them. "By Heaven!" muttered Tony, "if you so much as
lay a hand on me, I 'll send you after your stick. Can't