report) with a few flourishes suggested by the various hearers from time
to time, he had come by degrees to tell it with great effect; and 'Is
that all?' after the climax, was not what he was accustomed to.

'Is that all?' he repeated, 'yes, that's all, sir. And enough too, I
think.'

'I think so too. My horse, young man! He is but a hack hired from a
roadside posting house, but he must carry me to London to-night.'

'To-night!' said Joe.

'To-night,' returned the other. 'What do you stare at? This tavern
would seem to be a house of call for all the gaping idlers of the
neighbourhood!'

At this remark, which evidently had reference to the scrutiny he had
undergone, as mentioned in the foregoing chapter, the eyes of John
Willet and his friends were diverted with marvellous rapidity to the
copper boiler again. Not so with Joe, who, being a mettlesome fellow,
returned the stranger's angry glance with a steady look, and rejoined:

'It is not a very bold thing to wonder at your going on to-night. Surely
you have been asked such a harmless question in an inn before, and in
better weather than this. I thought you mightn't know the way, as you
seem strange to this part.'

'The way--' repeated the other, irritably.

'Yes. DO you know it?'