Bunce
gave himself but little time and less trouble for reflection. The
prospects of fortune which the landlord had magnified to his vision,
were quite too enticing to be easily resisted by one whose _morale_ was
not of a sort to hold its ground against his habitual cupidity and
newly-awakened ambition; and having provided everything, as agreed upon,
necessary for the accommodation of the jailer and his assistant, Bunce
sallied forth for the more important purpose of getting his company.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
SACK AND SUGAR.
The task of getting the desired guests, as Munro had assured him, was by
no means difficult, and our pedler was not long in reporting progress.
Tongs, a confirmed toper, was easily persuaded to anything that
guarantied hard drinking. He luxuriated in the very idea of a debauch.
Brooks, his brother-in-law, was a somewhat better and less pregnable
person; but he was a widower, had been a good deal with Tongs, and, what
with the accustomed loneliness of the office which he held, and the
gloomy dwelling in which it required he should live, he found it not
such an easy matter to resist the temptation of social enjoyment, and
all the pleasant associations of that good-fellowship, which Bunce had
taken care to depict before the minds of both parties.
Pages:
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808