saying that he would stand in a puddle all night if by doing so he might prove that he loved him, and Dubois entreated him to believe him when he said that to sit with him under a cold September moon talking of the dear dead days would be a bliss that he could not forego. But the comedian's jokes soon began to seem idle and flat, and the ladies proposed to walk on in front, leaving the gentlemen to get their friend home as best they could. 'You're thinking of your beds,' Dick cried, and that reminded him that the hotel-keeper had told him that he shut his doors at eleven and would open them for no one before morning. 'What are we to do?' asked Leslie; 'it's very cold.' 'We'll ring him up,' said Dubois. 'But if he doesn't answer?' suggested Bret. 'I'll jolly soon make him answer,' said Dick. 'Now then, Hayes, wake up, old man, and push along.' 'Pou-sh-al-long! How can--you--talk to me like that? Yer--yer--shunting me--me--for one of those other fellows.' 'We'll talk about that in the morning, old man. Now, Mortimer, you get hold of his other arm and we'll run him along.' Mr. Hayes struggled, declaring the while he would no longer believe in the world's friendship; but with Montgomery pushing from behind, the last hundred yards were soon accomplished, and the drunken burden deposited against the wall of the passage. Dick pulled the bell; the whole party listened to the distant tinkling, and after a minute or two of suspense, Mortimer said: 'That won't do, Dick; ring again. We shall be here all night.' Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, went the bell, and a husky voice, issuing from the dark shadow of the wall, said: 'I rang for another whisky, waiter, that's all.' 'The still-room maid has gone to sleep, sir,' Mortimer answered; and the bell was rung again and again, and whilst one of the company was pulling at the wire, another was hammering away with the knocker. All the same, no answer could be obtained, and the mummers consulted Leslie and Bret, who proposed that they should seek admittance at another hotel; Dubois, that they should beg hospitality of the other members of the company; Montgomery, that they should go back to the theatre. But the hotel-keeper had no right to lock them out, and they had a perfect right to break into his house, and the chances they ran of 'doing a week' were anxiously debated as they searched for a piece of wood to serve as a ram. None of sufficient size could be found, much to the relief of the ladies and Dubois, who strongly advised Dick to renounce this door-smashing experiment. 'Oh, Dick, pray don't,' whispered Kate. 'What does it matter; it will be daylight in a few hours.' 'That's all very well, but I tell you he has no right to lock us out; he's a licensed hotel-keeper. Are you game, Mortimer? We can burst in the door with our shoulders.'