shop, and was at no loss to guess that something extraordinary must
be in progress when two such bitter enemies met together.



CHAPTER III.



WHAT CAME OF MR WALKER'S DISCOVERY OF THE "BOOTJACK."

It is very easy to state how the Captain came to take up that proud
position at the "Bootjack" which we have seen him occupy on the
evening when the sound of the fatal "Brava!" so astonished Mr.
Eglantine.

The mere entry into the establishment was, of course, not difficult.
Any person by simply uttering the words "A pint of beer," was free
of the "Bootjack;" and it was some such watchword that Howard Walker
employed when he made his first appearance. He requested to be
shown into a parlour, where he might repose himself for a while, and
was ushered into that very sanctum where the "Kidney Club" met.
Then he stated that the beer was the best he had ever tasted, except
in Bavaria, and in some parts of Spain, he added; and professing to
be extremely "peckish," requested to know if there were any cold
meat in the house whereof he could make a dinner.

"I don't usually dine at this hour, landlord," said he, flinging
down a half-sovereign for payment of the beer; "but your parlour
looks so comfortable, and the Windsor chairs are so snug, that I'm