"You shall see," replied the Resurrection Man. "Now let us fill our glasses, and blow a cloud till Moll comes back."
The Rattlesnake mixed fresh supplies of grog; and the two men lighted their pipes.
"How the rain does beat down," observed the Buffer, after a pause.
"And the wind sweeps along like a hurricane," said the Resurrection Man. "By the by, this is New Year's Day. What different weather it is from what it was last New Year's Day."
"Do you recollect what sort of weather it was last New Year's Day?" demanded the Buffer.
"Perfectly well," answered the Resurrection Man; "because it was on that evening that I and the poor Cracksman helped young Holford over the Palace wall."
"And that venture turned out no go, didn't it?" asked the Buffer.
"It failed because the young scamp either turned funky or played us false, I never could make out which. But I have an account to settle with him too; and the first time I meet him I'll teach him what it is to humbug a man like me."
There was a pause, during which the two men smoked their pipes with all the calmness of individuals engaged in virtuous and innocent meditation; and the Rattlesnake added fresh fuel to the fire, the flames of which roared cheerfully up the chimney.
"Come, sing as a song, Meg," cried the Buffer, breaking a silence which had lasted several minutes.