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Show 132 H!CII i\IW HUHDI::). tl1ey did not slec1) wit./1 HS lnst lliglJt, T :un pcr.su:ulcd thnt ouc or both of them were in the room. I l1enrd n light step at miduigbt, or fancied it; :md fOund my overcoat tmucd this morn· ing upon the dtair." "'l'hc chnmbcrmnid, or Guffy for the Loots. You nrc tho most suspicious fellow, Dick, nnrl, somehow, you hatCd thcr.c two poor devils from the very ii rst moment you lnicl eyes on them. 1\ow, d- n 'em, for n1y part, l ne,·cr ga,·c 'em a second thong}Jt. I could have licked citilcr, or both, and when thnt ch.'ll) with t /10 hook.nosc bcgnn to swagger about, I felt monstrous like doiug it. But he was a poor shotc, and the less snicl and thougllt of him the better. 1 should JJot care much to meet him if he had cnrried tho pistols quite off, and presented tl1em to me, muzzle-stuffed, at tlw next turning." "llc mny yet do so," was my calm reply . "At le:tst it will do us no harm to prepare for all events. Let us clear the town, nncl when we once get well hidden in tile woods, we'll take counsel of our lnndlord, and see to our priming." ""\Vhy not do it now 1" " Por tho best of reasons-there me eyes on us, and some of ~h em may be unfriendly. Better tl1nt tl1cy should supl)OSe us 1gnorant :md unprepared, if they meditate evil." u As y ou pl_ense, but I would not be :.ts jealous aml sus1)icious as you arc, D1ck, not for all I 'm wortli." "It may be worth that to you to Lccome so. But riUe on; t ho fcrrym:m lialloos, and bcckon9 11s to haBten. There nrc other travellers to cross. l'm sorry for it. "\Yo wnnt no more company.'' "Ay, but we clo, Dick. T he more the merrier, sny I. If there's u (~ozen, no harm, so they be not in our wny in entering land. I lLiw _good compa11y. A hearty j oke, or a good story, sets me lauglnng all the day. None of your travellers th<lt Heed to be b:nvled at to. ride up, and open their ovens; 11o11e of your sobcr-s1ded, clrawlmg, croaking metl10dil:its, for me-your fellows that preach against good ]i,·ing, yet cat of the fat of tho ~and whenever they can get it, nnd never refuse a. collection, 10wever sma11 t ho n.mount. If I Jwte any two-lccrged creature that calls himself human, it is your canting fellow,~flat preaches pennywor tl1 s of' mor:dity, nnd practises pouncls of sin ; that says AM.OKG PITS AND 'l'llAPl"ALLS. 133 n long grarc nt suppt.•r, till the meat grows cold, mill th_at sn~110 nicrht iuYciglcs your d tambcrm:tid into the hl:tnk('ls h<'i-nde l1 1tn. I ~·ouldn't tbiuk so mut h of the sin if it wasn't for tl•c hypo_crisy. It 's hnd cuough to love the mcnl; but to 1ncach over Jt, L{'forn C'ating, is a shnmc ns well as a sin. None ·lmt yOt:r ~nraks do it; fel lows whom you might snfcr trust with your soul than with your pmse. 'J'h{'y couhl do little lil'\I'Hl to the one, but th<'y'd make oil' with the otl•er. :None of those cha}lS for me, Dick; yet gi ''e me as many trnYellers as yon })lease. IT ere seem to be sevNnl going to cross; all wagoners but one, and he seems just one of tl1e scamps l 've been tnlki~g of- a short, chuuky, black-coated little body: ten to one Ius nose turns up like a pH:;-pnppy's, and he talks through it." I t was in such careless mood and with such loose speech thnt my compnnion b{'guiled the time between our lcaYiHg the l~otel aml reaching the flat which was to convey us across the nv?r. \ Vil\inrn wns in tl1c very best of spirits, aml these prom}lted lnm to :l frredom of speech wl.ich might be supposed to denote some laxity of lllOrals; and yet his morals were unquestion~blc. Il;deed, it is not uufrequcntly the case that :\ looseness of speech IS associntcll with a r igid practice of propriety. A conscionsllCSS of pnrity is very apt to prom11t a license of spce~h in him who possf'sscs lt; while he, on the other l•all!l,_who .Js most _apt to induJo-c in vice, will most usually proYe h nnscH most Clrcnmspcct\ n spe{'ch. Vice, to be successful, cnlls for continual circumspection; and in no respect docs it cxl•ibit th is qHnlity more strikingly than in the utterance of its sentiments. 'I'hc fnm.ily of Joe Smface is a singulnrly numerous one. My compnmon was 11o Joe Surf1.1Ce. H e carried his chnracter in his looks, in his speech, :mel in his actions. \ Vhcn you saw the looks, heanl the speech, :md witnessed the actions, you hml him before you, without pos~ibility or 11rospect of change, for good aml for evil; ::md, to elevate still more highly the c1uuacter wl1ich I admired, and the man I couhl not but love, I will add that l1e was only too apt to extenuate the motives of others by a r eference to l1is uwlt. H e had no doubts of the integrity of his fellow - no fears of wrm'g at his hancl; was born with a nature as cl('ar n.s the sunlight, as confiding as tlte winds, aml had seen too little of the worlll, at the period of wl1ich I speak, to lwve had ex peri- |
