Among these, the chief was Dr Gray,
who was an enemy to every thing that approached
to fanfaronade, and knew enough of the world to
lay it down as a sort of general rule, that he who
talks a great deal of fighting is seldom a brave
soldier, and he who always speaks about wealth is
seldom a rich man at bottom. Clerk Lawford was
also shy, notwithstanding his _communings_ with
Hillary upon the subject of his intended purchase.
The coolness of the Captain's old employer towards
him was by some supposed to arise out of certain
circumstances attending their former connexion;
but as the Clerk himself never explained what
these were, it is unnecessary to make any conjectures
upon the subject.
Richard Middlemas very naturally renewed his
intimacy with his former comrade, and it was from
Hillary's conversation, that he had adopted the
enthusiasm respecting India, which we have heard
him express. It was indeed impossible for a youth,
at once inexperienced in the world, and possessed
of a most sanguine disposition, to listen without
sympathy to the glowing descriptions of Hillary,
who, though only a recruiting captain, had all the
eloquence of a recruiting sergeant. Palaces rose
like mushrooms in his descriptions; groves of lofty
trees, and aromatic shrubs unknown to the chilly
soils of Europe, were tenanted by every object of
the chase, from the royal tiger down to the jackall.
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