rights also are respected his rights would be a long drop and a stone cracked sir answered and then changing his manner suddenly he laid his hand upon my uncle s sleeve come come i was his friend as well as you said he but we cannot alter the facts and it is rather late in the day for us to fall out over them your invitation holds good for friday night � certainly i shall bring with me and finally arrange the conditions of our little very good sir i shall hope to see you they bowed and my uncle stood a little time looking after him as he made his way amidst the crowd a good nephew said he a bold rider the best pistol shot in england but a dangerous man i chapter x the men of the ring it was at the end of my first week in london that my uncle gave a supper to the fancy as was usual for gentlemen of that time if they wished to figure before the public as and of sport he had invited not only the chief fighting men of the day but also those men of fashion who were most interested in the ring mr lord say and sir sir john colonel sir thomas the hon and many more the rumour that the prince was to be present had already spread through the clubs and invitations were eagerly sought after the and horses was a well known sporting house with an old prize for landlord and the arrangements were as primitive as the most could wish it was one of the many curious fashions which have now died out that men who were from luxury and high living seemed to find a fi in life by descending to the lowest so that the night houses and gambling in stone garden or the often gathered illustrious company under their smoke blackened it was a change for them to turn their backs upon the cooking of and of or the of old q and to dine upon a porter house washed down by a pint of ale from a pot a rough crowd had assembled in the street to see the fighting men go in and my uncle warned me to look to my pockets as we pushed our way through it within was a large room with faded red curtains a floor and walls which were covered with prints of and race horses brown liquor stained tables were dotted about in it and round one of these half a dozen formidable looking men were seated while one the of all was perched upon the table itself swinging his legs to and fro a tray of small glasses and stood beside them the boys were thirsty sir so i brought up some ale and some whispered the landlord i thought you would have no objection su quite right bob how are you all how are you how are you ah i am very glad to see you the fighting men rose and took their hats off except the fellow on the table who continued the men of the ring to swing his legs and to look my uncle very coolly in the face how are you pretty tidy ow are you say su when you speak to a said and with a sudden of the table he sent flying almost into my uncle s arms see now none o that i said i ll learn you manners joe which is more than ever your father did you re not black jack in a ken but you are noble slap up and it s for you to behave as such i ve always been reckoned a like sort of man said thickly but if so be as i ve said or done what i t ought to there there that s all right cried my uncle only too anxious to smooth things over and to prevent a quarrel at the outset of the evening here are some more of our friends how are you how are you colonel well you are looking vastly better good evening i trust lady was none the worse for our pleasant drive ah you look fit enough to throw your hat over the ropes this instant sir i am glad to see you you will find some old friends here stone amid the stream of and who were into the room i had caught a glimpse of the sturdy figure and broad good humoured face of champion the sight of him was like a of south down air coming into that low oil smelling room and i ran forward to shake by the hand why master � or i should say mr stone i suppose � you ve changed out of all knowledge i can t hardly believe that it was really you that used to come down to blow the when boy jim and i were at the well you are fine to be e what s the news of s oak i asked eagerly your father was down to chat with me master and he tells me that the war is going to break out again and that he hopes to see you here in london before many days are past for he is coming up to see lord and to make inquiry about a ship your mother is well and i saw her in ch on sunday and boy champion s good ed face clouded over he d set his heart very much on here to night but there were reasons why i didn t wish him to and so there s a shadow us the men of the ring it s the first that ever was and i feel it master between ourselves i have very good reason to wish him to stay with me and i am sm e that with his high spirit and his ideas he would never 