"Papa might have said _yes_, and told Dick to imitate me," thought Arthur; and he went on with his reading, feeling very much ill used. "Mr Marion would like to speak to you, sir," said the landlord, coming in just then. "What, Will?" cried Dick eagerly. "No, Master Richard. I shouldn't have called him Mr Marion," said the landlord, smiling. "It's the old gentleman. May I show him in, sir?" "Yes, certainly;" and Uncle Abram came in, looking like a Finnan haddock in a glazed hat, for on account of the weather the old man was clothed from head to foot in yellow oilskins, and shone and twinkled with the drops of spray. "Sarvant, sir," he said, making dabs with his shiny sailor's hat as if to knock the drops off. "Sarvant, young gentleman,"--this was to Arthur, who rose and bowed stiffly--"how do, Master Dick, how do?" Uncle Abram beamed and shook Dick's hand heartily, seeming loth to loose it again, but he relented and turned to Mr Temple. "You'll excuse me, sir, for coming when you're busy; but it's to help a neighbour out of a difficulty." "Subscription?" said Mr Temple. "Subscription?" said Uncle Abram, dragging a great silk handkerchief from inside his oilskin and wiping the drops of spray from his face. "It was about your lodgings here, sir." "My lodgings?" said Mr Temple. "Yes, sir. You see neighbour here didn't like to speak to you 'bout the matter, and I said I would. Fact is, four fish-buyers from London come down here to stay with him every year regular all through the season, and you've got their rooms." "Oh! I have their rooms?" said Mr Temple. "That's it, sir, that's it," said Uncle Abram; "and when neighbour let 'em to you he thought you only wanted 'em for a few days." "And I've been here for a few weeks." "Toe be sure," said Uncle Abram. "And he wants me to turn out, eh?" said Mr Temple rather sternly, while Dick's countenance fell. "Turn out arn't the word, sir," said Uncle Abram. "We don't do that sort o' thing to gentlemen down here in the west countree. Man to man-- give and take--do to one another as you'd like one another to do unto you. That's our motter down here, sir. And neighbour he told me his difficulty. `Nice gentleman, Mr Temple,' he says. `Master Arthur a bit stiff, but Master Dick--there,' he says, says neighbour, `you know what Master Dick be.' And I said I did, and I went home and had a chat with my nevvy Will, and then I attacked the missus, and here I be." "So I see," said Mr Temple rather dryly; "but really, Mr Marion, you haven't explained yourself very clearly." "I s'pose not," said Uncle Abram in a troubled way. "That's just like me. I never do. Getting old, you see." "Am I to understand that you are an ambassador from the landlord, and that he wants us to go?" "Well, something of that sort, sir," replied Uncle Abram, who was very busy wiping drops from his forehead that were not spray. "When do these fish-buyers come?" "To-day, sir."