Four or five men were standing together round the door of the house which was at the bottom of the court, facing the entrance from the street. The men were all listening to one other man, better dressed than the rest, who was telling his audience something, in a low voice, in which they were apparently very much interested.
On entering the passage, Arthur was passed by a stranger with a knapsack in his hand, who was evidently leaving the house.
′No,′ said the traveller with the knapsack, turning round and addressing himself cheerfully to a fat, sly-looking, bald-headed man, with a dirty white apron on, who had followed him down the passage. ′No, Mr. landlord, I am not easily scared by trifles; but, I don′t mind confessing that I can′t quite stand THAT.′
It occurred to young Holliday, the moment he heard these words, that the stranger had been asked an exorbitant price for a bed at The Two Robins; and that he was unable or unwilling to pay it. The moment his back was turned, Arthur, comfortably conscious of his own well-filled pockets, addressed himself in a great hurry, for fear any other benighted traveller should slip in and forestall him, to the sly-looking landlord with the dirty apron and the bald head.
′If you have got a bed to let,′ he said, ′and if that gentleman who has just gone out won′t pay your price for it, I will.′
The sly landlord looked hard at Arthur.
′Will you, sir?′ he asked, in a meditative, doubtful way.
′Name your price,′ said young Holliday, thinking that the landlord′s hesitation sprang from some boorish distrust of him. ′Name your price, and I′ll give you the money at once if you like?′
′Are you game for five shillings?′ inquired the landlord, rubbing his stubbly double chin, and looking up thoughtfully at the ceiling above him.
Arthur nearly laughed in the man′s face; but thinking it prudent to control himself, offered the five shillings as seriously as he could. The sly landlord held out his hand, then suddenly drew it back again.
′You′re acting all fair and above-board by me,′ he said: ′and, before I take your money, I′ll do the same by you. Look here, this is how it stands. You can have a bed all to yourself for five shillings; but you can′t have more than a half-share of the room it stands in. Do you see what I mean, young gentleman?′
′Of course I do,′ returned Arthur, a little irritably. ′You mean that it is a double-bedded room, and that one of the beds is occupied?′
The landlord nodded his head, and rubbed his double chin harder than ever. Arthur hesitated, and mechanically moved back a step or two towards the door. The idea of sleeping in the same room with a total stranger, did not present an attractive prospect to him. He felt more than half inclined to drop his five shillings into his pocket, and to go out into the street once more.
′Is it yes, or no?′ asked the landlord. ′Settle it as quick as you can, because there′s lots of people wanting a bed at Doncaster to- night, besides you.′
Arthur looked towards the court, and heard the rain falling heavily in the street outside. He thought he would ask a question or two before he rashly decided on leaving the shelter of The Two Robins.
′What sort of a man is it who has got the other bed?′ he inquired.
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