“Bravo!” shouted the company; “and worth as much again, coming from such a source. Old C——y himself could not have proposed a nobler sentiment. Pity it won’t be published; it would make him immensely popular!”
“Pray, don’t pass him the bottle,” cried my friend; “he is done up for to-day. I never knew a Bostonian to talk of raising the price of labour except when he was drunk.”
“Nor I either,” cried the doctor. “I always heard them boast that no Jew could live amongst them, because they cheated him.”
“Then let us vote him drunk, and fine him an extra bottle,” said the doctor.
“He will never forgive you that,” observed my friend.
“Call for the wine,” cried the Bostonian; “call for it instantly,—we must drink it on the spot.”
“We shall not have time for it,” observed my friend; “for, if we do not quit this very moment, the negroes will drive us away in order to set the table for tea.”
“You touched the bright side of his character,” whispered the doctor to my friend as he was slowly rising from the table. “He has the most irresistible aversion to spending money; but, when caught in a trap like this, I don’t know a person who can affect so much generosity.”
FOOTNOTES:
[2] This is generally done by gentlemen in the absence of footmen.