narrow court, on the wall of
which was painted a long hand in faded flesh-color, pointing, with a
lean forefinger, to this inscription:

THE TWO ROBINS.

Arthur turned into the court without hesitation to see what The Two
Robins could do for him. Four or five men were standing together round
the door of the house, which was at the bottom of the court, facing the
entrance from the street. The men were all listening to one other man,
better dressed than the rest, who was telling his audience something, in
a low voice, in which they were apparently very much interested.

On entering the passage, Arthur was passed by a stranger with a knapsack
in his hand, who was evidently leaving the house.

"No," said the traveler with the knapsack, turning round and addressing
himself cheerfully to a fat, sly-looking, bald-headed man, with a
dirty white apron on, who had followed him down the passage, "no, Mr.
Landlord, I am not easily scared by trifles; but I don't mind confessing
that I can't quite stand _that_."

It occurred to young Holliday, the moment he heard these words, that the
stranger had been asked an exorbitant price for a bed at The Two Robins,
and that he was unable or unwilling to pay it. The moment his back was
turned, Arthur, comfortably conscious of his own well-filled pockets,
addressed himself in a great hurry, for fear any other benighted
traveler should slip in and forestall him, to the sly-looking landlord
with the dirty apron and the bald head.

"If you have got a bed to let," he said, "and if that gentleman who has
just gone out won't pay your price for it, I will."

The sly landlord looked hard at Arthur. "Will you, sir?" he asked, in a
meditative, doubtful way.

"Name your price," said young Holliday, thinking that the landlord's
hesitation sprang from some boorish distrust of him. "Name your price,
and I'll give you the money at once, if you like."

"Are you game for five shillings?" inquired the landlord, rubbing his
stubby double chin and looking up thoughtfully at the ceiling above him.

Arthur nearly laughed in the man's face; but, thinking it prudent to
control himself, offered the five shillings as seriously as he could.
The sly landlord held out his hand, then suddenly drew it back again.

"You're acting all fair and aboveboard by me," he said, "and, before
I take your money, I'll do the same by you. Look here; this is how it
stands. You can have a bed all to yourself for five shillings,