" And theer's another
gentleman, Mr. Lancy Doane, Esquire. He turns pious, and says, "Aw'm
goin' for a coast-guardsman." What does the King on his throne say? 'E
says, "Theer's the man for me."'"
But aw says, "Aw've doone, aw've doone wi' Mr. Lancy Doane, Esquire, and
be damned to 'im!" He! he! Theer's a fancy sitovation for ye. Mr. Thomas
Doane, Esquire, smuggler and outlaw, an' Mr. Lancy Doane, Esquire,
coast-guardsman. Aw've doone. Ho! ho! That gits into my crop.'
"I tell you these things, Cousin Fanny, because I'm doubtin' if you ever
heard them, or knew exactly how things stood that night. I never was a
friend of Lancy Doane, you understand, but it's only fair that the truth
be told about that quarrel, for like as not he wouldn't speak himself,
and your father was moving in and out; and, I take my oath, I wouldn't
believe Faddo and the others if they was to swear on the Bible. Not that
they didn't know the truth when they saw it, but they did love just to
let their fancy run. I'm livin' over all the things that happened that
night--livin' them over to-day, when everything's so quiet about me here,
so lonesome. I wanted to go over it all, bit by bit, and work it out in
my head, just as you and I used to do the puzzle games we played in the
sands. And maybe, when you're a long way off from things you once lived,
you can see them and understand them better.
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