answer."

Maggot and his friend consented to this delay, and left the room.

No sooner were they gone than the old gentleman called his wife, who
naturally exclaimed in great surprise on beholding the table covered
with such costly trinkets--

"Where _ever_ did you get these, Tom?"

Mr Donnithorne explained, and then asked what she thought of Maggot's
proposal.

"Refuse it," said she firmly.

"But, my dear--"

"Don't `but' about it, Tom. Whenever a man begins to `but' with sin, it
is sure to butt him over on his back. Have nothing to do with it, _I_
say."

"But, my dear, it is not dishonest--"

"I don't know that," interrupted Mrs Donnithorne vigorously; "you think
that smuggling is not dishonest, but I do, and so does the minister."

"What care _I_ for the minister?" cried the old gentleman, losing his
temper; "who made _him a_ judge of my doings?"

"He is an expounder of God's Word," said Mrs Donnithorne firmly, "and
holds that `Thou shalt not steal' is one of the Ten Commandments."

"Well, well, he and I don't agree, that's all; besides, has he never
expounded to you that obedience to your husband is a virtue? a
commandment, I may say, which you are--"

"Mr Donnithorne," said the lady with dignity, "I am here at your
request, and am now complying with your wishes in giving my opinion."

"There, there, Molly," said the subdued husband, giving his better half
a kiss, "don't be so sharp. You ought to have been a lawyer with your
powerful reasoning capacity. However, let me tell you that you don't
understand these matters--"

"Then why ask my advice, Tom?"

"Why, woman, because an inexplicable fatality leads me to consult you,
although I know well enough what the upshot will be. But I'm resolved
to close with Maggot."

"I knew you would," said Mrs Donnithorne quietly.

The last remark was the turning-point. Had the good lady condescended
to be _earnest_ in her entreaties that the bargain should not be
concluded, it is highly probable her husband would have given in; but
her last observation nettled him so much that he immediately hoisted a
flag of defiance, nailed it to the mast, and went out in great
indignation to search for Maggot. That individual was not far off. The
bargain was completed, the jewels were locked up in one of the old
gentleman's secret repositories, and the fishermen, with ten pounds
apiece in their pockets, returned home.

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