Alick, on the
other hand, was not only a skulker in the brain, but took a
humorous and fine gentlemanly view of the transaction. He would
speak to me by the hour in ostentatious idleness; and only if the
bo's'un or a mate came by, fell-to languidly for just the necessary
time till they were out of sight. 'I'm not breaking my heart with
it,' he remarked.
Once there was a hatch to be opened near where he was stationed; he
watched the preparations for a second or so suspiciously, and then,
'Hullo,' said he, 'here's some real work coming--I'm off,' and he
was gone that moment. Again, calculating the six guinea passage-
money, and the probable duration of the passage, he remarked
pleasantly that he was getting six shillings a day for this job,
'and it's pretty dear to the company at that.' 'They are making
nothing by me,' was another of his observations; 'they're making
something by that fellow.' And he pointed to the Devonian, who was
just then busy to the eyes.
The more you saw of Alick, the more, it must be owned, you learned
to despise him. His natural talents were of no use either to
himself or others; for his character had degenerated like his face,
and become pulpy and pretentious. Even his power of persuasion,
which was certainly very surprising, stood in some danger of being
lost or neutralised by over-confidence.
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