"The consternation into which the town was thrown is said to have been tremendous."
"That's false," interrupted the captain, removing his pipe while he spoke. "The word ain't appropriate. The men of Arbroath doesn't know nothin' about no such word as 'consternation '. They was surprised, if ye choose, an' powerfully enraged mayhap, but they wasn't consternated by no means,"
"Well, I don't insist on the point," said the lieutenant, "but chroniclers write so——"
"Chroniclers write lies sometimes," interrupted the captain curtly.
"Perhaps they do; but you will admit, I dare say, that the women and children were thrown into a great state of alarm."
"I'm not so sure of that," interposed Ruby. "In a town where the men were so bold, the women and children would be apt to feel very much at their ease. At all events, I am acquainted with some women who are not easily frightened."
"Really, I think it is not fair to interrupt the story in this way," said Minnie, with a laugh.
"Right, lass, right," said the captain. "Come, leftenant, spin away at yer yarn, and don't ventur' too much commentary thereon, 'cause it's apt to lead to error, an' ye know, as the poet says—
'Errors in the heart breed errors in the brain,
An' these are apt to twist ye wrong again.'
I'm not 'xactly sure o' the precise words in this case, but that's the sentiment, and everybody knows that sentiment is everything in poetry, whether ye understand it or not. Fire away, leftenant, an' don't be long-winded if ye can help it."