My lord may well call me an earnest fellow. In support of the great
Protestant principle of having plenty of that, I'll,' and here he beat
his club upon the ground, 'burn, fight, kill--do anything you bid me, so
that it's bold and devilish--though the end of it was, that I got hung
myself.--There, Muster Gashford!'
He appropriately followed up this frequent prostitution of a noble word
to the vilest purposes, by pouring out in a kind of ecstasy at least
a score of most tremendous oaths; then wiped his heated face upon his
neckerchief, and cried, 'No Popery! I'm a religious man, by G--!'
Gashford had leant back in his chair, regarding him with eyes so sunken,
and so shadowed by his heavy brows, that for aught the hangman saw of
them, he might have been stone blind. He remained smiling in silence for
a short time longer, and then said, slowly and distinctly:
'You are indeed an earnest fellow, Dennis--a most valuable fellow--the
staunchest man I know of in our ranks. But you must calm yourself;
you must be peaceful, lawful, mild as any lamb. I am sure you will be
though.'
'Ay, ay, we shall see, Muster Gashford, we shall see. You won't have to
complain of me,' returned the other, shaking his head.
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