Still he was not persuaded; for, from time to time, he roused
himself, and lifting his head cast suspicious glances at our
party. But the two strollers, who were now in their element,
played their parts with so much craft and delicacy, and with such
an infinity of humour besides, that everything he overheard
plunged him deeper in the slough. They knew something of local
affairs, and called one another Mayor very naturally; and
mentioning their wives, let drop other scraps of information
that, catching his ear, made the wretched man every now and then
sit up as if a wasp had stung him. One story in particular which
the false Mayor told--and which, it appeared, was to the
knowledge of all the country round the real Mayor's stock
anecdote--had an absurd effect upon him. He straightened
himself, listened as if his life depended upon it, and when he
heard the well-known ending, uttered, doubtless, in something of
his old tone, he collapsed into himself like a man who had no
longer faith in anything.
Presently, however, an effort of common-sense would again
disperse the fog.
Pages:
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104