"Is that you, James? Come in!--come in! Keep the mare in hand, Burke. Steady, now, James! Let me hold the rug and give you a hand down. She's a little rogue, and might be making a bolt for her stable. Well, you're as welcome as the flowers in May! Come in!--come in!" It was over in a flash--the arrival, the tempestuous greeting, the hard grip of Asshlin's hand; and the two men were facing each other in the candle-lit hall. "Well, you're welcome, James!" Asshlin repeated. "You're welcome! Let me have a look at you. I declare it's younger you are!" He laid his hand heavily on the other's shoulder, and uttered this obvious untruth with all the warmth and conviction that Irish imagination and Irish hospitality could suggest. "But you're perished after the long drive! Burke!" he called through the open door. "Burke, when you're done with the mare come round and carry up Mr. Milbanke's baggage. Now, James!" He wheeled round again, catching up a silver candlestick from the hall table. "Now, if you come upstairs, I'll show you where we're going to billet you." With long, hasty steps he crossed the hall, his tall figure casting gaunt shadows on the bare and lofty wall. "We're a trifle unsophisticated here," he went on with a loud, hard laugh. "But at least we'll give you enough to eat and a bed to lie on. After all, a decent dinner and a warm welcome are the bone and sinew of hospitality the world over. Unless they include a drop of something to put life into a man----" He paused, turning round upon his guest. "By Jupiter, that reminds me! Have a small drink before we go another step, just to take the cold out of you?" Milbanke, who was close behind him, glanced up. He saw his host's face more clearly than he had seen it in the hall. His answer when it came was hurried and a little confused. "No, Denis. No," he said. "Nothing; nothing, I assure you." Asshlin laughed again. "Still the same stickler?" he said. "How virtues cling to a man!" He turned and began to mount the stairs. Then, reaching the first door on the wide corridor, he paused. "Here's your habitation," he said. "Burke will bring up your belongings and get you whatever you want. We dine in a quarter of an hour." He nodded; and was turning away, when a fresh thought struck him. "You may as well take this candle," he said; "we haven't arrived at the civilisation of gas. You might stumble over something, looking for the matches. This is practically a bachelor establishment, you know--without any bachelor comforts." Once more he laughed; and, thrusting the candle into his guest's hand, hurried away across the landing.