CHAPTER III. "Tricks had he in him, that gentlemen have." 'Good Sir, why do you start and seem to fear SHAKESPEARE. IF Blandford found the attendance of Peter not precisely the ministration calculated to inspire the confidence that leads to comfort, or to leave him in the vein to conjure up the crowning zest of bachelors' fare;" if, but in day dreams of the past, when the glass shone brighter for the lips that pressed it, "Hang the fellow," thought Frank, "it is the very look, the same malicious leer, with which a graceless urchin views the bird just limed, doubting if he shall keep the pretty trembler caged, or twist its little neck." Peter hurried on, and, having arrived at the far end, opened the narrow door, and holding up the candle, exhibited the bed within. Frank stood confounded with astonishment! a second thought, however, seemed to set the matter right. "What! you are showing me your own room, Peter! I suppose my Uncle places you here, as a guard upon the property?" "A guard!"—and the fellow, smiling, showed his teeth in silent derision. "A guard!-No, Sir, Master knows better;if so be that thieves got on the wrong side of these locks, whoever slept here would be little baulk!-I guess, they'd just slit his gullet, and leave him to whistle through the hole!—This room be yourn, Sir." "This! this infernal kennel!" "Kennel!'-Lord love ye,-Master says that every dog knows his own,'-you called it 'my place' just now, Sir! Master says it's snug as a wren's nest. Ay, ay, he's and kindling blushes on lovely cheeks grew deeper than the rosy tinted wine;-if these fire side delights were wanting, the aspect of his dormitory was something worse. The bed room, if such it might be termed, was absolutely nothing more than a sort of square box, partitioned off with naked deals from the second flat, or floor of the warebouse. The place was originally intended for the office of a book-keeper, and was a sorry hole even for such a purpose. As Peter showed the way, coughing with the cold, and sheltering the light with his hand to guard it from the wind, the wide and indistinct space of the flat, half lost in shadow, and here and there built up from floor to ceiling with goodly sacks, casks, and bales of merchandise, had withal an air of opulence, rude, but substantial; it was the gold of commerce in its native mine! and Frank thought of the Arabian Tales, and of the riches of Damascus. In the mean while Still, as he sat fancying figures in the fire, and striving to persuade himself that habit might eventually render the desolate chamber around even something like a home, an annoying irksomeness remained, and he was but too happy to be disturbed from these melancholy musings by the rude rattling of the luggage, as Peter let it down rather roughly at his side, and then without a word retired. A second summons brought back this most forbidding of all servitors. On the order, too, Peter re-appeared a second time with supper, viz. a prime Stilton and Burton ale; and here, again, was consolation, for these viands spoke well of his uncle's ménage, and they happened to be Blandford's fancy; but still there was something in the eye of the surly Peter, as he came and went with the glum self-importance of a verger on duty, that did not please him half so well. |