And between you and me, my dear, the poor old Admiral seems a
little bit jealous of his reputation. And what do you think he said
before he went, which shows his high opinion of his own abilities?
Tugwell said something in his rough and ready way, which, I suppose, put
his mightiness upon the high ropes, for he shouted out in everybody's
hearing, 'I'll tell you what it is, my man, if you can get her off, by
any of your'--something I must not repeat--'devices, I'll give you fifty
guineas, five-and-twenty for yourself, and the rest to be divided among
these other fellows.' Then Zebedee pulled out a Testament from his
pocket, for he is a man of deep religious convictions, and can read
almost all the easy places, though he thinks most of the hard ones, and
he made his son Dan (who is a great scholar, as they say, and a very
fine-looking youth as well) put down at the end what the Admiral had
said. Now, what do you think of that, dear Mrs. Stubbard?"
"I think," replied that strong-minded lady, "that Tugwell is an arrant
old fox; and if he gets the fifty guineas, he will put every farthing
into his own pocket."
"Oh, no! He is honest as the day itself. He will take his own
twenty-five, and then leave the rest to settle whether he should share
in their twenty-five. But we must be quick, or we shall lose the sight.
Quite a number of people are come from inland. How wonderfully quickly
these things spread! They came the first day, and then made up their
minds that nothing could be done, and so they stopped at home.
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