The impudence of his coming here, directly against my orders,
too." "My dear sir, calm yourself, and think nothing of it; it's of no
consequence whatever." "No consequence; where is that blunderbuss of yours? Do you mean to tell
me that mutiny is of no consequence? Give me the blunderbuss." "But, my clear sir, we only keep it _in terrorem_, and have no bullets." "Never mind that, we can cram in a handful of nails, or brass buttons,
or hammer up a few halfpence--anything of that sort will do to settle
his business with." "How do you get on, old Tarbarrel?" said Jack, putting his head in at
the door. "Are you making yourself comfortable? I'll be hanged if I
don't think you have a drop too much already, you look so precious red
about the gills. I have been getting on famous, and I thought I'd just
hop up for a minute to make your mind easy about me, and tell you so." It was quite evident that Jack had done justice to the good cheer of the
lawyer, for he was rather unsteady, and had to hold by the door-post to
support himself, while there was such a look of contentment upon his
countenance as contrasted with the indignation that was manifest upon
the admiral's face that, as the saying is, it would have made a cat
laugh to see them. "Be off with ye, Jack," said the lawyer; "be off with ye. Go down stairs
again and enjoy yourself. Don't you see that the admiral is angry with
you." "Oh, he be bothered," said Jack; "I'll soon settle him if he comes any
of his nonsense; and mind, Mr. Lawyer, whatever you do, don't you give
him too much to drink." The lawyer ran to the door, and pushed Jack out, for he rightly enough
suspected that the quietness of the admiral was only that calm which
precedes a storm of more than usual amount and magnitude, so he was
anxious to part them at once. He then set about appeasing, as well as he could, the admiral's anger,
by attributing the perseverance of Jack, in following him wherever he
went, to his great affection for him, which, combined with his
ignorance, might make him often troublesome when he had really no
intention of being so. This was certainly the best way of appeasing the old man; and, indeed,
the only way in which it could be done successfully, and the proof that
it was so, consisted in the fact, that the admiral did consent, at the
suggestion of the attorney, to forgive Jack once more for the offence he
had committed. CHAPTER XCVI. THE BARON TAKES ANDERBURY HOUSE, AND DECIDES UPON GIVING A GRAND
ENTERTAINMENT. [Illustration]

It was not considered anything extraordinary that, although the Baron
Stolmuyer of Saltzburgh went out with the mysterious stranger who had
arrived at the Anderbury Arms to see him, he should return without him
for certainly he was not bound to bring him back, by any means whatever. Moreover, he entered the inn so quietly, and with such an appearance of
perfect composure, that no one could have suspected for a moment that he
had been guilty really of the terrific crime which had been laid to his
charge--a crime which few men could have committed in so entirely
unmoved and passionless a manner as he had done it. But he seemed to consider the taking of a human life as a thing not of
the remotest consequence, and not to be considered at all as a matter
which was to put any one out of the way, but as a thing to be done when
necessity required, with all the ease in the world, without arousing or
awaking any of those feelings of remorse which one would suppose ought
to find a place in the heart of a man who had been guilty of such
monstrous behaviour. He walked up to his own apartment again, and retired to rest with the
same feeling, apparently, of calmness, and the same ability to taste of
the sweets of repose as had before characterized him. The stranger's horse, which was a valuable and beautiful animal,
remained in the stable of the inn, and as, of course, that was
considered a guarantee for his return, the landlord, when he himself
retired to rest, left one of his establishment sitting up to let in the
man who now lay so motionless and so frightful in appearance in one of
the ice-wells of the mysterious passage leading from the base of the
cliff, to the grounds of Anderbury House. But the night wore on, and the man who had been left to let the stranger
in, after making many efforts to keep himself awake, dropped into sound
repose, which he might just as well have done in the first instance,
inasmuch as, although he knew it not, he was engaged in the vain task of
waiting for the dead. The morning was fresh and beautiful, and, at a far earlier hour than a
person of his quality was expected to make his appearance, the baron
descended from his chamber; for, somehow or other, by common consent, it
seems to be agreed that great personages must be late in rising, and
equally late in going to bed. But the baron was evidently not so disposed to turn night into day, and
the landlord congratulated himself not a little upon the fact that he
was ready for his illustrious guest when he descended so unexpectedly
from his chamber as he did. An ample breakfast was disposed of; that is to say, it was placed upon
the table, and charged to the baron, who selected from it what he
pleased; and when the meal was over the landlord ventured to enter the
apartment, and said to him, with all due humility,--

"If you please, sir, Mr. Leek, who has the letting of
Anderbury-on-the-Mount, that is, Anderbury House, as it is usually
called, is here, sir, and would be happy to take your orders as to when
you would be pleased to look at those premises?" "I shall be ready to go in half a hour," said the baron; "and, as the
distance is not great, I will walk from here to the mansion." This message was duly communicated to Mr. Leek, who thereupon determined
upon waiting until the baron should announce his readiness to depart
upon the expedition; and he was as good as his word, for, in about
half-an-hour afterwards, he descended to the hall, and then Mr. Leek was
summoned, who came out of the bar with such a grand rush, that he fell
over a mat that was before him, and saluted the baron by digging his
head into his stomach, and then falling sprawling at his feet, and
laying hold of his ankle. This little incident was duly apologised for, and explained; after which
Mr. Leek walked on through the town, towards Anderbury-on-the-Mount,
followed by the illustrious personage whom he sincerely hoped he should
be able to induce to take it. It was a curious thing to see how they traversed the streets together;
for while the baron walked right on, and with a solemn and measured
step, Mr. Leek managed to get along a few paces in front of him,
sideways, so that he could keep up a sort of conversation upon the
merits of Anderbury House, and the neighbourhood in general, without
much effort; to which remarks the baron made such suitable and dignified
replies as a baron would be supposed to make.