XVI
A JURY OF ONE
When Northcote returned with the basket heavily
laden in one hand, and a frying-pan, aggressively
new, in the other, his dismal chamber had
already been transformed, for a fire was burning
bravely, a kettle was singing upon it, the pool of
water in the corner had been mopped up, the floor
had been visited with a brush, and books and papers,
two tables, and three chairs had received wholesome
discipline from a duster.
"I could have done it all as well myself," said Northcote, surveying this transformation with grim eyes, "although I do not deny it has the efficient professional touch. But I would have you to know I am a man of my hands. I am also a man of affairs. I have purchased extensively; and I am proud to say the best goods in the cheapest markets. I have ordered a ton of coal, although where we are going to put it I don't quite know. Now, these things I surrender to your care; and in half an hour you will have the goodness to serve up a royal breakfast for two persons. In the meantime I will have a shave and a tub."
The young man's operations behind the curtain were conducted on an extensive scale, to judge by the noise and splashing that accompanied them. Yet presently he emerged with a well-scraped chin, a skin glowing with cleanliness, his ragged mass
