“Sir, the ale is both honoured and honourable,” replied the host.  “I can assure you many a high gentleman tastes it at the Green Dragon.”

Bidding his servant lead the horse up and down before the door, Wilton slowly entered the well-sanded passage, and passed through the doorway of a room to which the landlord pointed.  The moment he entered, he heard voices speaking very loud, there being nothing apparently between that and the adjoining chamber but a very thin partition of wood-work.  The landlord hemmed and coughed aloud, and Wilton made his footfalls sound as heavily as possible, but all in vain:  the person who was speaking went on in the same tone; and before the landlord could get out of the room again and down the passage to the door of the next chamber, which was some way farther on, Wilton distinctly heard the words, “Nonsense, Sir George! don’t attempt to cajole me!  I tell you, I will have nothing to do with it.  To bring in foreigners is bad enough, when we are quite strong enough to do it without:  but I will take no man’s blood but in fair fight.”

“Well!” exclaimed the other, in the same loud and vehement manner—­“you know, sir, I could hang you if I liked!”

At that moment the door was evidently opened, and the landlord’s voice, exclaiming, “Hush! hush!” was heard; but he could not stop the reply, which was,—­

“I know that!  But I could hang you, too; so that we are each pretty safe.  This is that villain Charnock’s doing.  Tell him I will blow his brains out the first time I meet him, for spoiling, by his bloody-minded villany, one of the most hopeful plans—­”

But the landlord’s “Hush! hush!” was again repeated, and the voices were thenceforth moderated, though the discussion seemed still to endure some time.

Wilton’s curiosity was now more excited than ever; and when the landlord brought him a foaming jug of ale, together with a long Venice glass having a wavy pearl-coloured line up the stalk, he asked the simple question, “Is Mr. Green here?”

On this the landlord put down his head, saying, in a low voice, “The Colonel will be with you directly:  he expects you, sir.”

“The Colonel!” thought Brown—­“this is a new dignity.  However, with his state and station I have little to do, if I could but discover my own.”

At the end of about five minutes the conversation in the other room ceased, and in a moment or two more the door was opened, and Green made his appearance.  We have so accurately described him before that we should not pause upon his appearance now, had there not been a great change in his dress, which had such an effect as to render it scarcely possible to recognise him.

Now, instead of a military-looking suit of green, he had on a long-waisted broad-cut coat of black, with jet buttons; a light-coloured periwig filled full of powder; black breeches and silk stockings, and a light black-hilted sword.  In fact, he bore much more the appearance of a French lawyer of that day than anything else.  The features, indeed, were there; but it was wonderful what the highly-powdered wig had done to soften the strong-marked lines of his face, and to blanch the weather-beaten appearance of his complexion.