“'He did, no doubt of it.'
“'And was n't it my doing?'
“'Upon my conscience, I can't deny it.'
“'Well, then, I won the wager, that's clear.'
“'Oh! I see now,' said my grandfather; 'that was the wager, was it? Oh, bedad! I think you might have given me odds, if that was our bet.'
“'Why, what did you think it was?'
“'Oh, nothing at all, sir. It's no matter now; it was another thing was passing in my mind. I was hoping to have the honor of making his acquaintance, nattered as I was by all you told me about him.'
“'Ah! that's difficult, I confess,' said the captain; 'but still one might do something. He wants a little money just now. If you could make interest to be the lender, I would n't say that what you suggest is impossible.'
“Well, ma'am, it was just as it happened before; the old story,—more parchment, more comparing of deeds, a heavy check on the bank for the amount.
“When it was all done, M'Claverty came in one morning and in plain clothes to my grandfather's back office.