It made me feel so very small and inferior, and no
woman likes that. It's not nice."
"Or natural," said I.
"I see you're unmistakably awake, sir!" was the tart reply. She rose and
took short turns up and down the cell and went on: "But why slip into
jail, Master Wheatman? Why did you not tell father who you were and what
you had done for me?"
"And so prove at once to the authorities in the town that he was not what
he pretended to be!"
"Ho!" she said, and stopped short.
"Our idea was, I think, to free the Colonel, if we could."
"Yes." She was not gloating now, but wondering.
"Well, madam, I found him free, and the only advantage I can see in your
plan is, that I should have had him as a companion in jail. Whereas now
I've mended my night's sleep with a refreshing nap, and Master Freake has
so lucidly explained things to the Mayor that Timothy of the long coat is
kicking his heels at the top of the stairs, and wondering how much longer
you're going to be. Shall we once more breathe the upper air, as Virgil
would put it? This hole is as bad as a corner in his under-world.
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