buncliy feet, with very ineffectual legs, low shoul-
ders, a sunken chest, a hollow cavity under the
waistcoat, little, weak eyes that seem set in blad-
ders, straggling hair, rusty whiskers, black, and
yellow teeth, and long, skinny, disagreeable fingers ;
beside, he is knock-kneed, shuffling in gait, and'
always leans on one side when he walks. Unchari-
table people say he leans on the side where his
interests lie, but Captain Belgrave will not believe
a word of it. Oh ! no ; Mewker is a different man
from that. He is a member of the church, and
sings in the choir. He is executor of several
estates, and of course takes care of the orphans
and widows. He holds the church money in trust,
and of course handles it solely to promote its
interests. And then he is so deferential, so polite,
BO charitable. "Never," says the Captain, "did I
hear him speak ill of anybody, but he lets me
into the worst points of my neighbors by jest tech-
ing on 'em, and then he excuses their fibles, as if
he was a kind o' sorry for 'em ; but I keeps my eye
onto 'em after the hints he give me, and he can't
blind me to thsm.'"

Harriet Lasciver, formerly Miss Mewker, is a
widow, perfectly delicious in dimples and dimity,



Captain Belgeave. 291

fond of high life and low-necked dresses, music,
birds, and camelias. Captain Belgrave has a great
fancy for the charming widow. This is a secret,
however. You and I know it, and so does Mewker.
II.
