of great mildness, or rather of kindness--

"You will be given a night in the guard-house, friend, should the patrol
find you here;--there is a dollar,--go, and get a better place to sleep
in, and something to eat!"

"I swallow all my food, captain, without chewing," returned the
vagabond, with the low exultation of an accomplished villain, as he
eagerly seized the silver. "Make this Mexican twenty, and I will sell
you a secret."

"Go, go," said the other with a little of a soldier's severity,
returning to his manner. "Go, before I order the guard to seize you."

"Well, go I will;--but if I do go, captain, I shall take my knowledge
with me; and then you may live a widower bewitched till the tattoo of
life is beat off."

"What mean you, fellow?" exclaimed Middleton, turning quickly towards
the wretch, who was already dragging his diseased limbs from the place.

"I mean to have the value of this dollar in Spanish brandy, and then
come back and sell you my secret for enough to buy a barrel."

"If you have any thing to say, speak now," continued Middleton,
restraining with difficulty the impatience that urged him to betray his
feelings.

"I am a-dry, and I can never talk with elegance when my throat is husky,
captain. How much will you give to know what I can tell you; let it be
something handsome; such as one gentleman can offer to another."

"I believe it would be better justice to order the drummer to pay you a
visit, fellow. To what does your boasted secret relate?"

"Matrimony; a wife and no wife; a pretty face and a rich bride: do I
speak plain, now, captain?"

"If you know any thing relating to my wife, say it at once; you need not
fear for your reward."

"Ay, captain, I have drove many a bargain in my time, and sometimes I
have been paid in money, and sometimes I have been paid in promises; now
the last are what I call pinching food."

"Name your price."

"Twenty--no, damn it, it's worth thirty dollars, if it's worth a cent!"

"Here, then, is your money: but remember, if you tell me nothing worth
knowing, I have a force that can easily deprive you of it again, and
punish your insolence in the bargain."

The fellow examined the bank-bills he received, with a jealous eye, and
then pocketed them, apparently well satisfied of their being genuine.

"I like a northern note," he said very coolly; "they have a character
to lose like myself. No fear of me, captain; I am a man of honour, and
I shall not