"Speak as well as he know how. Nick never been to school. Call 'e squaw, good squaw. What want more?"
"Get out! If ye come a foot nearer, I'll be at ye, like a dog upon a bull, though ye gore me. What brought ye into this paiceful sittlement, where nothing but virtue and honesty have taken up their abode?"
What more Mike might have said is not known, as Nick caught a sign from the captain, and went loping across the flat, at his customary gait, leaving the Irishman standing on the defensive, and, to own the truth, not sorry to be rid of him. Unfortunately for the immediate enlightenment of Mike's mind, Joel overheard the dialogue, and comprehending its meaning, with his native readiness, he joined his companion in a mood but little disposed to clear up the error.
"Did ye see that crathure?" asked Mike, with emphasis.
"Sartain--he is often seen here, at the Hut. He may be said to live here, half his time."
"A pritty hut, then, ye must have of it! Why do ye tolerate the vagabond? He's not fit for Christian society."
"Oh! he's good company, sometimes, Mike. When you know him better, you'll like him better. Come; up with the bundles, and let us follow. The captain is looking after us, as you see."
"Well may he look, to see us in sich company!--Will he har-r-m the missus?"
"Not he. I tell you, you'll like him yourself when you come to know him."
"If I do, burn me! Why, he says himself, that he's Ould Nick, and I'm sure I never fancied the crathure but it was in just some such for-r-m. Och! he's ill-looking enough, for twenty Ould Nicks."