“Look here, Ned,” cried the boy, flushing; “do you want to offend me?”
“Offend you, sir? Why, of course not. I said it to please you.”
“Well, it doesn’t please me a bit,” cried Jack. “I don’t like flattery, so don’t do it again.”
“Why, that ain’t flattery, sir,” cried the man indignantly; “that’s plain honest truth, sir, and it was because I felt so proud of you.”
“Why?” said Jack sharply.
“Because of what you used to be a bit ago, sir. Why, a couple of months back I wouldn’t have believed it, for you were just like a great—”
The man’s tongue had run away with him, and he now pulled up short.
“Well, like a great what?” said Jack.
The man set his teeth hard and compressed his lips now it was too late.
“Why don’t you speak, sir?”