"Well, I'll send it, just to please you. Here, Sam Fraser, take this fish to Mr. S——, with my compliments."
Sam went, and returned with a comic smile on his face.
"Well, Sam, did he condescend to take the wages of our iniquity?"
"Ay, Sir, and returns you his best thanks. He has given Geordie Muckleroy a shilling to clean the fish for him, though it is Sunday. I think if you watch the stove, he will be cooking it himself before long."
"The devil he will! Mrs. Lyndsay, you are a witch. I could have taken my oath that he would not have touched it with a pair of tongs."
"Captain, you know little of human nature."
"But the fellow is so religious."
"So fanatical, you should say. That man never felt the sweet influences of Christianity. He deals in words—not deeds. See, here he comes! with a piece of the fresh fish to broil for his dinner. Let us go down into the cabin; the sight of us might chance to spoil his appetite."[C]
[C] A fact.