Here  we  are  ;  I  wonder  if  Miss  Patty  has  heard  of  the  vic-
tory?" '

They    turned    down    the    little    passage-entrance    pf   the


A   STORM   BKBWS    AND   BEEAKS.  163

"  Choughs "  as  he  spoke,  followed  by  most  of  the  crew,  and
by  a  tail  of  youngei-  St.  Ambrosians,  their  admirers,  and  the
bar  was  crowded  the  next  moment.  Patty  was  there,  of  course,
and  her  services  were  in  great  requisition  ;  for  though  each  of
the  crew  only  took  a  small  glass  of  the  old  ale,  they  made  as
much  fuss  about  it  with  the  pretty  barmaid  as  if  they  were
drinking  hogsheads.  In  fact,  it  had  become  clearly  the  cor-
rect thing  with  the  St.  Ambrosians  to  make  much  of  Patty  ;
and,  considering  the  circumstances,  it  was  only  a  wonder  that
she  was  not  more  spoilt  than  seemed  to  be  the  case.  Indeed,
as  Hardy  stood  up  in  the  corner  opposite  to  the  landlady's
chair,  a  silent  onlooker  at  the  scene,  he  couldn't  help  admit-
ting to  himself  that  the  girl  held  her  own  well,  without  doing
or  saying  anything  unbecoming  a  modest  woman.  And  it
was  a  hard  thing  for  him  to  be  fair  to  her,  for  what  he  saw
now  in  a  few  minutes  confirmed  the  impression  which  his
former  visit  had  left  on  his  mind — that  his  friend  was  safe  in
her  toils  ;  how  deeply,  of  course,  he  could  not  judge,  but  that
there  was  more  between  them  than  he  could  approve  was  now
clear  enough  to  him,  and  he  stood  silent,  leaning  against  the
wall  in  that  furthest  corner,  in  the  shadow  of  a  projecting
cupboard,  much  distressed  in  mind,  and  pondering  over  what
it  behooved  him  to  do  under  the  circumstances.  With  the  ex-
ception of  a  civil  sentence  or  two  to  the  old  landlady,  who  sat
opposite  him  knitting,  and  casting  rather  uneasy  looks  from
time  to  time  toward  the  front  of  the  bar,  he  spoke  to  no  one.
