“Ah! he 's come, is he? So much the better,” muttered Repton, “we may want his calm, clear head to assist us here; not that we shall have to fear a contest,--there is no enemy in the field,--and if there were, Val Repton is ready to meet him!” And the old man crossed his arms, and stood erect in all the consciousness of his undiminished vigor. “Here he comes at last,--I know his step on the stair.” And he flung open the door for Massingbred. “I read failure in your flushed cheek, Massingbred; failure and anger both, eh?” Massingbred tried to smile. If there was any quality on which he especially prided himself, it was the bland semblance of equanimity he could assume in circumstances of difficulty and irritation. It was his boast to be able to hide his most intense emotions at moments of passion, and there was a period in which, indeed, he wielded this acquirement. Of later times, however, he had grown more natural and impulsive; he had not yet lost the sense of pain this yielding occasioned, and it was with evident irritation that he found Repton had read his thoughts. “You perceive, then, that I am unsuccessful?” said he, with a faint smile. “So much the better if my face betrays me; it will save a world of explanation!” “Make your report, sir, and I'll make the tea,” said Repton, as he proceeded to that office. “The fellow was in bed,--he refused to see me, and it was only by some insistence that I succeeded in gaining admittance. He has had leeches to his temples. He was bruised, it seems, when he fell, but far more frightened than hurt. He looks the very picture of terror, and lies with a perfect armory of pistols beside his bed. Scanlan was there, and thought to remain during our interview; but I insisted on his withdrawing, and he went. The amiable attorney, somehow, has a kind of respect for me that is rather amusing. As for Merl, he broke out into a vulgar tirade of passion, abused the country and the people, cursed the hour he came amongst them, and said, if he only knew the nature of the property before he made his investment, he 'd rather have purchased Guatemala bonds, or Santa Fé securities. “'Then I have come fortunately,' said I, 'for I bring you an offer to reimburse all your outlay, and to rid you of a charge so little to your inclination.' “'Oh! you do, do you?' said he, with one of his cunningest leers. 'You may not be able, perhaps, to effect that bargain, though. It's one thing to pay down a smart sum of money and wait your time for recovering it, and it's another to surrender your compact when the hour of acquisition has arrived. I bought this reversion--at least, I paid the first instalment of the price--four years ago, when the late man's life was worth twenty years' purchase. Well, he 's gone now, and do you think that I 'm going to give up my claim for what it cost me?'