to be the case with men of vulgar minds. He might have been misled by the
narrative of the pirate, but it was his own opinion that he had not been.
The man was a Scot, prudent, wary, and sagacious; and in the revelations
he made he appeared to be governed by a conviction that his own course was
run, and that it was best that his secret should not die with him. Daggett
had rendered him certain services, too, and gratitude might have had some
influence.

"My mind has been much exercised with this matter of the hidden gold,"
resumed the deacon, after the long pause already mentioned. "You will
remember that there may be lawful owners of that money, should Gar'ner
even succeed in finding it."

"'T would be hard for 'em to prove their claims, sir, if what McGosh told
me was true. Accordin' to his account, the gold came from all
sides--starboard and larboard, as a body might say--and it was jumbled
together, and so mixed, that a young girl could not pick out her lover's
keepsake from among the other pieces. 'T was the 'arnin's of three years
cruisin', as I understood him to say; and much of the stuff had been
exchanged in port, especially to get the custom-house officers and king's
officers out of its wake. There's king's officers among them bloody
Spaniards, Deacon Pratt, all the same as among the English."

"Be temperate in your language, friend; a rough speech is unseemly,
particularly of the Lord's day."

Daggett rolled the tobacco over his tongue, and his eyes twinkled with a
sort of leer, which indicated that the fellow was not without some humour.
He submitted patiently to the rebuke, however, making no remonstrance
against its reception.