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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
198
The
acquaintance
between
the
banker
and
the
silversmith,
which
had
come
about
in
the
way
already
stated,
soon
ripened
into
friendship.
They
had,
in
a
greater
or
less
degree,
a
common
interest
in
the
matter
of
the
stolen
note,
but
they
soon
found
out
that
there
was
other
common
ground
for
the
growth
of
amity
between
them--they
were
both
disciples
of
Izaak
Walton.
It
became
the
custom
of
the
silversmith
to
visit
at
the
house
of
his
friend
in
the
west
every
season,
when
the
two
men
would
go
out
fishing
together
in
the
neighbouring
streams,
enjoying
each
other's
society,
and
frequently,
no
doubt,
going
over
again
the
old
story
of
the
lost
letter.
One
day,
during
such
a
visit,
the
silversmith
went
out
alone
to
try
a
stream
not
many
miles
distant
from
his
friend's
residence,
and
while
so
engaged
a
heavy
shower
swept
across
the
scene.
The
angler
sought
shelter
in
a
roadside
inn,
from
which,
as
it
happened,
he
was
not
far
distant.
The
house
was
well
known,
and
the
proprietor
was
of
the
half-farmer,
half-publican
type,
the
business
of
innkeeper
in
such
a
situation
not
affording
a
sufficient
living
by
itself.
Feeling
somewhat
peckish,
the
visitor
called
for
lunch.
He
was
waited
upon
by
the
landlord
in
person.
While
the
bread
and
cheese
and
cider
were
being
carried
in,
the
landlord
apologised
for
the
absence
of
the
female
folks,
who
were
for
the
moment
engaged
elsewhere;
and
during
this
brief
conversation,
the
silversmith
(still
instinct
with
professional
taste)
studied
a
bunch
of
heavy
seals
hanging
from
a
watch
in
the
landlord's
fob.
The
landlord
perceived
that
these
articles
had
attracted
the
stranger's
notice,
and
when
he
again
came
into
the
room
the
fact
was
observed
by
the
other
that
they
had
been
left
aside
or
placed
out
of
sight.
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