Allardyce, pipe in hand, with his wife and Mistress Lucy close
behind him.
"How d'ye do, sir?" says I, advancing, feeling my face glow with
pleasure at seeing my kind friends again as much as any other
emotion, I am sure.
"Come back for a job, Joe?" cries Mr. Allardyce, gripping my hand
heartily. "Ah! you impostor! We know all about you, you young dog,
don't we, madam? Joe! Humph!"
"You can't shorten it like that, sir," said I, laughing, and giving
a hand to the ladies in turn.
And I don't know whether 'twas due to the suit of clothes, but
certainly I felt, as I shook hands with Mistress Lucy, none of the
shamefaced awkwardness that had overcome me when I stood before her
in rags and she called me "poor man."
They had me into the room where I had begged work of Mr. Allardyce,
and despatched Susan (still giggling) to bespeak a meal of Martha
the cook.
"And you must give an account of yourself, Mr. Bold," says Mr.
Allardyce, putting out a chair for me and pushing a pipe into my
hand.
"With all my heart, sir," said I, "but first will you please
enlighten me as to how you know my name?"
"Why we learned it a month after you left us," he replied. "'Twas
Roger found it out.
"He is not here, hang it!" he said, his face falling a little. "We
could not keep him at home after you had gone, and now he's
carrying an ensign in the foot regiment of General Webb.
"Well, 'twas he found out all about you. Having set his heart on
going into the army, he must needs go into Shrewsbury to take
lessons in fencing from a Captain Galsworthy he had heard of.
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