And if anything
were needed to commend the writer to the deepest good will of the
reader, it was found in the fact that this enterprise sprang from warm
zeal for the commerce of Springhaven. The Leda had been ordered on
Friday last to protect the peaceful little fishing fleet from a crafty
design for their capture, and this she had done with good effect, having
justice on her side, and fortune. The particulars of the combat were not
so clear, after the captain's three fingers were gone; but if one made
proper allowance for that, there was not very much to complain of.
The Admiral considered it a very good report; and then put on his
spectacles, and thought it still better.
"Why! why! why!" he said--for without affectation many officers had
caught the style of His then Gracious Majesty--"What's this? what's
this? Something on the other side, in a different man's handwriting, and
mighty difficult to read, in my opinion. Stubbard, did you ever see such
a scrawl? Make it out for me. You have good eyes, like a hawk, or the
man who saw through a milestone. Scudamore, what was his name? You
know."
"Three fingers at five pounds apiece per annum as long as he lives!"
Captain Stubbard computed on his own: "fifteen pounds a year perhaps for
forty years, as you seem to say how young he is; that comes to just 600
pounds, and his hand as good as ever"--("I'll be hanged if it is, if he
wrote this!" the Admiral interjected)--"and better, I must say, from a
selfish point of view, because of only two nails left to clean, and
his other hand increased in value; why, the scale is disgraceful,
iniquitous, boobyish, and made without any knowledge of the human frame,
and the comparative value of its members.
Pages:
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194