Page 178 (1/2)

And, after a while, Barnabas found voice, though his voice was very

hoarse and uneven

"I think," said he slowly, "yes, I thinkon your villain's back, Mr Quigly"

But, even as Barnabas advanced with very evident purpose, a tall

figure stood fraly,--pray what is all this?" a chill, incisive voice

de

curiously at the speaker A tall, slender e,--a ,

and devoid of hair as it was of wrinkles; an arresting face, with

its curving nostrils, thin-lipped, close-shut ht eyes; quick eyes, that glinted

between their red-rimmed, hairless lids, old in their experience of

men and the ways of men For the rest, he was clad in a rich yet

sober habit, unrelieved by any color save for the glea seals at

his fob, and the snowy lace at throat and wrist; his hair--evidently

a wig--curled low on either cheek, and his hands ell cared for,

with long, prehensile fingers

"You are Jasper Gaunt, I think?" said Barnabas at last

"At your service, sir, and you, I know, are Mr Barnabas Beverley"

So they stood, fronting each other, the Youth, unconquered as yet,

and therefore indo eyes old in