"'One more question, Captain Branscome,' said he. 'This Captain
Coffin, as you call him--is he, to the best of your knowledge, an
honest man?'
"I answered that I had heard question of Coffin's sanity, but never
of his honesty.
"'His sanity, eh?' said the Major; and I could see he was hung in
stays, but he picked up his wind after a second or two, and paid off
on another tack. 'Well, well,' he said, 'we'll drop talking of this
Coffin, and turn to the business that brings you here. What is it?
For I take it you've walked all the way from Falmouth for something
more than the sake of a chat over old times.'
"I remember, ladies, the words he used, though not the tone of them.
To tell the truth, though my ears received 'em, I was not listening.
I stood there, wishing myself a hundred miles away; but his manner
gave me no chance to fob him off with an excuse, or pretend I had
dropped in for a passing call. There was nothing for it but to out
with my story, and into it I plunged somehow, my tongue stammering
with shame. He listened, to be sure, but without offering to help me
over the hard places. Indeed, at the first mention of my poverty, I
saw all his first suspicions--whatever they had been--return and show
themselves in his blind eyes.
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