CHAPTER 6.
AN ASSAULT Surely after all, The noblest answer unto such Is perfect stillness when they brawl--_Tennyson_ I have more than once brought up the name of Mr.Maskew; and as I shall have other things to tell of him later on, I may as well relate here what manner of man he was.

His stature was but medium, not exceeding five feet four inches, I think; and to make the most of it, he flung his head far back, and gave himself a little strut in walking.

He had a thin face with a sharp nose that looked as if it would peck you, and grey eyes that could pierce a millstone if there was a guinea on the far side of it.

His hair, for he wore his own, had been red, though it was now grizzled; and the colour of it was set down in Moonfleet to his being a Scotchman, for we thought all Scotchmen were red-headed.

He was a lawyer by profession, and having made money in Edinburgh, had gone so far south as Moonfleet to get quit, as was said, of the memories of rascally deeds.