To casual inquiries he shook his head; to more direct ones he
only sighed heavily and applied himself to his liquor. Curiosity
increased with numbers as the day wore on, and the steward, determined to
be miserable, fought manfully against an ever-increasing cheerfulness due
to the warming properties of the ale within.
"I 'ope you ain't lost nobody, Sam?" said a discomfited inquirer at last.
Mr. Wilks shook his head.
"You look as though you'd lost a shilling and found a ha'penny," pursued
the other.
"Found a what?" inquired Mr. Wilks, wrinkling his forehead.
"A ha'penny," said his friend.
"Who did?" said Mr. Wilks.
The other attempted to explain and was ably assisted by two friends,
but without avail; the impression left on Mr. Wilks's mind being that
somebody had got a shilling of his. He waxed exceeding bitter, and said
that he had been missing shillings for a long time.
"You're labourin' under a mistake, Sam," said the first speaker.
Mr. Wilks laughed scornfully and essayed a sneer, while his friends,
regarding his contortions with some anxiety, expressed a fear that he was
not quite himself.
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