“And your companions, where are they?”
“Oh, my companions have remained on board; they are sailors without the least instruction.”
“Whilst you——” said Monk.
“Who, I?” said the patron, laughing; “I have sailed about with my father, and I know what is called a sou, a crown, a pistole, a louis, and a double louis, in all the languages of Europe; my crew, therefore, listen to me as they would to an oracle, and obey me as if I were an admiral.”
“Then it was you who preferred M. Lambert as the best customer?”
“Yes, certainly. And, to be frank, my lord, was I wrong?”
“You will see that by and by.”
“At all events, my lord, if there is a fault, the fault is mine; and my comrades should not be dealt hardly with on that account.”
“This is decidedly an intelligent, sharp fellow,” thought Monk. Then, after a few minutes, silence employed in scrutinizing the fisherman,—“You come from Ostend, did you not say?” asked the general.
“Yes, my lord, in a straight line.”