I have found a gentleman, and must sup with him before I make terms." This address seemed to please him.

He shuffled across the room to a sideboard, and produced a plate of biscuits, another of dried figs, a glass, and two decanters.
"Sherry and Madeira," he said.

"There is also a cold pie in the larder, if you care for it." "A biscuit will serve," I replied.

"To tell the truth, I'm more for the bucket than the manger, as the grooms say: and the brandy you were tasting just now is more to my mind than wine." "There is no water handy." "I have soaked in enough to-night to last me with this bottle." I pulled over a chair, laid my pistol on the table, and held out the glass for him to fill.

Having done so, he helped himself to a glass and a chair, and sat down facing me.
"I was speaking, just now, of my late butler," he began, with a sip at his brandy.