success; but the other walked deliberately round, and, barring the
passage to the door, stood with his arms crossed before him.

"You think I don't know you, but I do; I heerd of you eight weeks ago; I
knew you was comin', but darm me all blue if you shall have it. Come out
into the orchard; come out, I say, and let's see who's the best man.
_You_ think you 'll come here and make this like the Astor House, don't
ye? and there 'll be five or six hundred every night pressing up to the
bar for bitters and juleps, just because you have the place? But I say
Dan Heron ain't a-goin' to quit; he stands here like old Hickory in the
mud-fort, and says, try and turn me out."

By the time the altercation had reached thus far, Layton saw that a
crowd of some five-and-twenty or thirty persons had assembled outside
the door, and were evidently enjoying the scene with no common zest.
Indeed, their mutter-ings of "Dan 's a-givin' it to him," "Dan 's full
steam up," and so on, showed where their sympathies inclined. Some,
however, more kindly-minded, and moved by the unfriended position of
the stranger, good-naturedly interposed, and, having obtained Layton's
sincere and willing assurance that he never harbored a thought of
becoming proprietor of the Temple, nor had he the very vaguest notion of
settling down at Bunkumville in any capacity, peace was signed, and Mr.
Heron consented to receive him as a guest.

Taking a key from a nail on the wall, Dan Heron preceded him to a small
chamber, where a truckle-bed, a chair, and a basin on the floor formed
the furniture; but he promised a table, and if the stay of the stranger
warranted the trouble, some other "fixin's" in a day or two.

"You can come and eat a bit with me about sun-down," said Dan, doggedly,
as he withdrew, for he was not yet quite satisfied what projects the
stranger nursed in his bosom.

Resolved to make the best of a situation not over-promising, to go with
the humor of his host so far as he could, and even, where possible,
try and derive some amusement from his eccentricities, Layton presented
himself punctually at meal-time. The supper was laid out in a large
kitchen, where an old negress officiated as cook. It was abundant and
savory; there was every imaginable variety of bread, and the display of
dishes was imposing. The circumstance was, however, explained by Heron's
remarking that it was the supper of the officers of the detachment they
were eating, a sudden call