In fact, a sense of something whimsical in their companionship seemed to
have taken entire possession of his rude brain. The bare fact of being
patronised by a great man whom he could have crushed with one hand,
appeared in his eyes so eccentric and humorous, that a kind of ferocious
merriment gained the mastery over him, and quite subdued his brutal
nature. He roared and roared again; toasted Mr Tappertit a hundred
times; declared himself a Bulldog to the core; and vowed to be faithful
to him to the last drop of blood in his veins.
All these compliments Mr Tappertit received as matters of
course--flattering enough in their way, but entirely attributable to his
vast superiority. His dignified self-possession only delighted Hugh the
more; and in a word, this giant and dwarf struck up a friendship which
bade fair to be of long continuance, as the one held it to be his right
to command, and the other considered it an exquisite pleasantry to
obey. Nor was Hugh by any means a passive follower, who scrupled to act
without precise and definite orders; for when Mr Tappertit mounted on an
empty cask which stood by way of rostrum in the room, and volunteered a
speech upon the alarming crisis then at hand, he placed himself beside
the orator, and though he grinned from ear to ear at every word he said,
threw out such expressive hints to scoffers in the management of his
cudgel, that those who were at first the most disposed to interrupt,
became remarkably attentive, and were the loudest in their approbation.
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