When all this was settled, a bowl of excellent punch was introduced, with some capital Havanah cigars. We talked of matters in no way connected with the business of the following morning; and the time slipped away without any piquette, till, on looking at my watch, I found it was ten o'clock. Then, telling Mr. Byles to have me called in ample time, I retired to bed.
There are moments when thought, having done all its serviceable work, had better be dismissed altogether. It is a happy art--and every man should strive to acquire it--to be able so to dismiss thought, when its results are arrived at, and it can be no longer serviceable. Resolving to consign the future to the future, I lay down and slept profoundly, till the negro boy appointed to attend upon me entered the room early on the following morning.
It was hardly daylight when my little black attendant brought a glass of mint-julep to my bed-side, and told me it was time to rise; and I had hardly refused the beverage, which I did not choose to take that morning, of all others, when Zed hobbled in with his white wool, and his face as polished as an ebony cabinet, all glowing with excitement. I understood quite well that he knew all about the business in hand, and he seemed to look upon himself as a sort of squire to a knight arming for the tilt-yard, eager and anxious for his master to do great deeds, and never for a moment doubting his success.
The morning was a dull and cheerless one, though it was warm enough. The sky was covered; and a thin, white mist hung over the ground, not sufficient to hide objects, even at two or three hundred yards' distance, but sufficient to render them somewhat hazy and indistinct. In fact, it was a morning quite in harmony with the business I was about.
However, I was soon dressed and in the drawing-room, where I found Billy Byles already up and waiting for me.
"I hope you have taken your mint-julep," he said; "it will steady your hand."
"Thank you," I answered; "my hand is quite steady enough, and I don't think brandy would make it any firmer."
"Well, come and take some breakfast, at all events," said my host; "never fight upon an empty stomach."
"I have been obliged to do so before now," I answered; "but I will take some breakfast if we have time; for, to say truth, I am very hungry."