“This house belongs to a great villain, one James Holmes, does it not?” demanded Boyd.

“Yes, sir,” he whispered.

“How do you come to keep an ordinary here?”

“The town authorities required an ordinary. I took it in charge, as they desired.”

“Oh! Where is this rascal, Holmes?”

“Gone below, sir, some time since.”

“I have heard so. Was he not formerly Colonel of the 4th regiment?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And deserted his men, eh? And they made him Lieutenant-Colonel below, did they not?”