"Had the messenger been old Landless Jock, I had known down whose Scottish throat it had gone, but this one is surely too young for such tricks.

See that you spill it not by the way, Master Sholto," he called out after him, as that youth betook himself up to the chamber of the ambassador of France.
At the shut portal he paused and knocked.

His hand was on the pin to enter with the tankard as was the custom.

But the door opened no more than an inch or two, and the dark face of the cropped servitor appeared in the crevice.
"In a moment, sir," he said, and again vanished within, while a strong animal odour disengaged itself almost like something tangible from the chinks of the doorway.
Sholto stood in astonishment with the _eau de vie_ in his hand, till presently the door was opened again very quickly.

The form of the servitor was seen, and with a swift edging motion he came out, drawing the door behind him as before.