"Beautiful, Mrs. Shelfer. But see about my box." "Surely, surely, Miss Vaughan. But it was very pretty, like a valentine, don’t you think it was now?" "Where is it?" "Downstairs, Miss, in my little parlour." "Then send it up at once, by one of the men." Presently Balaam came up, looking askance at Judy, and with the mahogany box under his right arm. He touched his dirty hat, for Mrs. Shelfer had filled him by this time with the wonders of my wealth, and then he looked doubtfully, and with sorrow, at his burden. "Put it here if you please," and I pointed to some chairs, "the dog will not touch you while I am here. Now what is the amount of this execution?" "Debt fifteen pounds, Miss; expenses up to five o’clock, four pound ten." "Here is the money. Now give me a receipt." "No, Miss! You don’t mean to pay all!" "Of course, I do." "Then, Miss, I beg your pardon, but I can’t allow you. I has a duty to my employer, and I has a duty to the public too, not forgetting Mrs. Shelfer, and Charley an old friend, and all so handsome in the way of victuals. And I’m sure she wouldn’t wish you to be cheated, Miss. Pay ten pounds for the debt, Miss, and that’s a deal more than it cost them or they expects to get. ’Twixt you and me, Miss, every stick of this here furniture is in a dozen bills of sale already; and we comes here more for practice like, than for anything else." In short, I paid 10*l.* for the debt, and 4*l.* for the expenses: whereupon Balaam looked at me with a most impressive and confidential glance. "Now, Miss, you won’t think me rude; but you have come down so handsome, I can tell you something as you may like to know. I’ve seed the very moral of that sword of yours before." "Are you certain? Pray where was it?" I trembled with excitement. "It was in a place in Somers-town, Miss; where I made a levy, some eight year agone." "What was the name of the people?" "Dallyhorse, or Jellycorse, or something of the sort. Foreigners they was, and they had only just come to this country. But I can tell you the name more shipshape from the books. Ah, the very moral of it; only there warn’t no serpent." "Do you know what has become of them?" "No that I don’t, and don’t want to come across them again. A mean set of mongrel parlywoos; I got starved amost. But I did hear they was riding the high horse now, and something about court." "Are you quite sure that the weapon was exactly like this? Look at this again." "Miss, I can take my oath it was the fellow pea, all but the little snake, and he ain’t a fixture, I don’t believe. I would have sworn it was the very same, only you tells me not. I noticed it most particular; for I never see one like it, though I have had a sight of foreign weapons in my hands ere now. And the gent had got it put away so; we come across it only through a cat as happened to be confined--" "And what became of it? Did your employer have it?"