Wharton was poking up the fire
and pitching on a log of wood. He flung off his greatcoat and sat down
with his feet to the blaze. I sat down beside him and waited, thinking
him a sufficiently peculiar man.
"You are not famous, Mr. Ritchie," said he, presently.
"No, sir," I answered.
"Nor particularly handsome," he continued, "nor conspicuous in any way."
I agreed to this, perforce.
"You may thank God for it," said Mr. Wharton.
"That would be a strange outpouring, sir," said I.
He looked at me and smiled.
"What think you of this paragon, General Wilkinson?" he demanded
suddenly.
"I have Federal leanings, sir," I answered
"Egad," said he, "we'll add caution to your lack of negative
accomplishments. I have had an eye on you this winter, though you did
not know it. I have made inquiries about you, and hence I am not here
to-night entirely through impulse. You have not made a fortune at the
law, but you have worked hard, steered wide of sensation, kept your mouth
shut. Is it not so?"
Astonished, I merely nodded in reply.
"I am not here to waste your time or steal your sleep," he went on,
giving the log a push with his foot, "and I will come to the point. When
I first laid eyes on this fine gentleman, General Wilkinson, I too fell a
victim to his charms. It was on the eve of this epoch-making trip of
which we heard so glowing an account to-night, and I made up my mind
that no Spaniard, however wily, could resist his persuasion.
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