Returning, he handed Wilkinson his hat, and hoped he was none
the worse of his ducking. The schoolmaster took the wide-awake, but gave
no answer. Then the lawyer invited him to take his place in the boat,
when the storm burst.
"Am I a fool, Mr. Coristine, an abject, unthinking, infatuated fool, to
entrust my comfort, my safety, my life, to a man without the soul of a
man, to a childish, feeble-minded, giggling and guffawing player of
senseless, practical jokes, to a creature utterly wanting in heart,
selfish and brutal to a degree?"
"Oh, Wilks, my dear boy, this is too bad. I had nothing in the mortal
world to do with your tumbling out of the old dug-out, 'pon my honour I
hadn't."
"Kindly keep your silence, sir, and do not outrage my sufficiently
harrowed feelings by adding worse to bad. I shall go to the inn on
_terra firma_, and leave you in charge of what you seem so able to
manage in your own clownish, pantomimic way. Be good enough to bring my
fish, and do not distinguish yourself by upsetting them into their
native element." With these words, and in great apparent scorn, the
draggled dominie took his course along the bank and soon disappeared
from view.
Pages:
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221