Dogs -- Fiction; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Fiction; Historical fiction; Seafaring life -- Fiction
Mr Vanslyperken walked away from the syndic's house with the
comfortable idea that one side of him was heavier than the other by one
hundred guineas. He also ruminated; he had already obtained three
hundred pounds, no small sum, in those days I or a lieutenant. It is
true that he had lost the chance of thousands by the barking of
Snarleyyow, and he had lost the fair Portsmouth widow; but then he was
again on good terms with the Frau Vandersloosh, and was in a fair way of
making his fortune, and, as he considered, with small risk. His mother,
too, attracted a share of his reminiscences; the old woman would soon
die, and then he would have all that she had saved. Smallbones
occasionally intruded himself, but that was but for a moment. And Mr
Vanslyperken walked away very well satisfied, upon the whole, with his
_esse_ and _posse_. He wound up by flattering himself that he should
wind up with the savings of his mother, his half-pay, the widow's
guilders, and his own property--altogether it would be pretty
comfortable. But we leave him and return to Corporal Van Spitter.
Corporal Van Spitter had had wisdom enough to dupe Vanslyperken, and
persuade him that he was very much in love with Babette; and
Vanslyperken, who was not at all averse to this amour, permitted the
corporal to go on shore and make love. As Vanslyperken did not like the
cutter and Snarleyyow to be left without the corporal or himself, he
always remained on board when the corporal went, so that the widow had
enough on hand--pretending love all the morning with the lieutenant, and
indemnifying herself by real love with the corporal after dusk. Her fat
hand was kissed and slobbered from morning to night, but it was half for
love and half for revenge.
But we must leave the corporal, and return to Jemmy Ducks. Jemmy was
two days in the cave before the arrival of the boat, during which he
made himself a great favourite, particularly with Lilly, who sat down
and listened to his fiddle and his singing. It was a novelty in the
cave, anything like amusement. On the third night, however, Sir R.
Barclay came back from Cherbourg, and as he only remained one hour,
Jemmy was hastened on board, taking leave of his wife, but not parting
with his fiddle. He took his berth as steersman, in lieu of Ramsay, and
gave perfect satisfaction. The intelligence brought over by Sir Robert
rendered an immediate messenger to Portsmouth necessary; and, as it
would create less suspicion, Moggy was the party now entrusted in lieu
of Nancy, who had been lately seen too often, and, it was supposed, had
been watched, Moggy was not sorry to receive her instructions, which
were, to remain at Portsmouth until Lazarus the Jew should give her
further orders; for there was one point which Moggy was most anxious to
accomplish, now that she could do it without risking a retaliation upon
her husband, which was, to use her own expression, to pay off that
snivelling old rascal, Vanslyperken.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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