John Effingham."
"Impossible! No man can be such a fool, or quite so great a miscreant!"
"I should rather think, my child," added the milder father, "that
injustice has been done Mr. Dodge. No person, in the least approximating
to the station of a gentleman, could even think of an act so base as this
you mention."
"Oh! if this be all your objection to the tale," observed the cousin, "I
am ready to swear to its truth. But Eve has caught a little of Captain
Truck's spirit, of mystifying, and is determined to make a character by a
bold stroke in the beginning. She is clever, and in time may rise to be
a quiz."
"Thank you for the compliment, cousin Jack, which, however, I am forced to
disclaim, as I never was more serious in my life. That the letter was
read, Nanny, who is truth itself, affirms she saw. That Mr. Dodge has
since been industriously circulating the report of my great good fortune,
she has heard from the mate, who had it from the highest source of
information direct, and that such a man would be likely to come to such a
conclusion, you have only to recall the terms of the letter yourself,
to believe."
"There is nothing in my letter to justify any notion so silly."
"An Active Inquirer might make discoveries you little dream of, dear
cousin Jack.
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