"Now she looks quite nice," (he pronounced it ni-i-ishe) "doesn't she? You may make tracksh, young woman; go, will you?" "I feel so much better," said the old lady when they were alone, "pray go on." "You do--quite--ever so much better. _Shall_ I go on?" "Pray do, sir." "Well now, see, if I do, there must be no more of that, old lady. If you can't talk of the governor, we'll just let him alone," said Levi, sturdily. "For God's sake, sir, if you mean my husband, tell me all you know." "All aint a great deal, ma'am; but a cove has turned up who knew him well." "Some one who knew him?" "Just so, ma'am." He balanced whether he should tell her that he was dead or not, but decided that it would be more convenient, though less tragic, to avoid getting up a new scene like the other, so he modified his narrative. "He's turned up, ma'am, and knew him very intimate; and has got a meogny" (he so pronounced mahogany) "desk of his, gave in charge to him, since he could not come home at present, containing a law paper, ma'am, making over to his son and yours some property in England." "Then, he is not coming?" said she. "Not as I knowzh, ma'am." "He has been a long time away," she continued. "So I'm informed, ma'am," he observed. "I'll tell you how it was, and when he went away." "Thank ye, ma'am," he interposed. "I've heard--melancholy case, ma'am; got seven penn'orth, didn't he, and never turned up again?" "Seven what, sir?" "Seven years, ma'am; seven penn'orth we call it, ma'am, familiar like." "I don't understand you, sir--I don't know what it means; I saw him sail away. It went off, off, off." "I'll bet a pound it did, ma'am," said Mr. Levi. "Only to be for a very short time; the sail--I could see it very far--how pretty they look on the sea; but very lonely, I think--too lonely." "A touch of solitary, ma'am," acquiesced Levi. "Away, in the yacht," she dreamed on. "The royal yacht, ma'am, no doubt." "The yacht, we called it. He said he would return next day; and it went round Pendillion--round the headland of Pendillion, I lost it, and it never came again; but I think it will, sir--don't you? I'm sure it will--he was so confident; only smiled and nodded, and he said, 'No, I won't say good-bye.' He would not have said that if he did not mean to return--he could not so deceive a lonely poor thing like me, that adored him." "No, he couldn't ma'am, not he; no man could. Betray the girl that adored him! Ba-a-ah! impossible," replied Mr. Levi, and shook his glossy ringlets sleepily, and dropped his eyelids, smiling. This old girl amused him, her romance was such a joke. But the light was perceptibly growing more dusky, and business must not wait upon fun, so Mr. Levi said-- "He'sh no chicken by this time, ma'am--your son, ma'am; I'm told he'sh twenty-sheven yearsh old--thatsh no chicken--twenty-sheven next birthday." "Do you know anything of him, sir? Oh, no, he doesn't," she said, looking dreamily with her great sad eyes upon him.