the twilight had entirely closed in, that he troubled his head much on
the matter. But while the horses were putting to, he summoned the
postboys to him; and after regarding their countenances with the eye
of a man accustomed to read physiognomies, he thus eloquently addressed
them,--

"Gentlemen, I am informed that there is some danger of being robbed
between this town and Salthill. Now, I beg to inform you that I think it
next to impossible for four horses, properly directed, to be stopped by
less than four men. To that number I shall probably yield; to a less
number I shall most assuredly give nothing but bullets. You understand
me?"

The post-boys grinned, touched their hats; and Mauleverer slowly
continued,--

"If, therefore,--mark me!--one, two, or three men stop your horses, and I
find that the use of your whips and spurs are ineffectual in releasing
the animals from the hold of the robbers, I intend with these pistols--
you observe them!---to shoot at the gentlemen who detain you; but as,
though I am generally a dead shot, my eyesight wavers a little in the
dark, I think it very possible that I may have the misfortune to shoot
you, gentlemen, instead of the robbers! You see the rascals will be
close by you, sufficiently so to put you in jeopardy, unless indeed you
knock them down with the but-end of your whips. I merely mention this,
that you may be prepared. Should such a mistake occur, you need not be
uneasy beforehand, for I will take every possible care of your widows;
should it not, and should we reach Salthill in safety, I intend to
testify my sense of the excellence of your driving by a present of ten
guineas apiece! Gentlemen, I have done with you. I give you my honour