"No, I don't think it's grief," said Jack; "it strikes me it's rum-and-water."
"Alas, alas, I never could have imagined he could have fallen into that habit of yours; he always seemed so far from anything of this kind."
"Ay, ay, sir," said Jack, "I know'd you'd be astonished. It will be the death of him, that's my opinion; and the idea, you know, Master Charles, of accusing me when he gets drunk himself."
"I believe that is a common delusion of intemperate persons," said Charles.
"Is it, sir; well, it's a very awkward I thing, because you know, sir, as well as most people, that I'm not the fellow to take a drop too much."
"I cannot say, Jack, that I know so much, for I have certainly heard my uncle accuse you of intoxication."
"Lor', sir, that was all just on account of his trying it hisself; he was a thinking on it then, and wanted to see how I'd take it."
"But tell me of Flora; are you quite certain that she has had no more alarms from Varney?"
"What, that ere vampyre fellow? not a bit of it, your honour. Lor' bless you, he must have found out by some means or another that I was on the look out, and that did the business. He'll never come near Miss Flora again, I'll be bound, though to be sure we moved away from the Hall on account of him; but not that I saw the good of cruising out of one's own latitude, but somehow or another you see the doctor and the admiral got it into their heads to establish a sort of blockade, and the idea of the thing was to sail away in the night quite quiet, and after that take up a position that would come across the enemy on the larboard tack, if so be as he made his appearance."
"Oh, you allude to watching the Hall, I presume?"