netta, the sermon which he brought would have been the one to preach,
and that about Caesar might have stopped at home; for no sooner did the
widow begin to look about, taking in the congregation with a dignified
eye, and nodding to her solvent customers, than the wrath of perplexity
began to gather on her goodly countenance. To see that distinguished
stranger was to know him ever afterward; his power of eating, and of
paying, had endeared his memory; and for him to put up at any other
house were foul shame to the "Cod Fish."

"Hath a' put up his beastie?" she whispered to her eldest daughter, who
came in late.

"Naa, naa, no beastie," the child replied, and the widow's relish of
her thumb was gone; for, sooth to say, no Master Rideout, nor any other
patron of free trade was here, but Geoffrey Mordacks, of York city,
general factor, and universal agent.

It was beautiful to see how Dr. Upround, firmly delivering his text, and
stoutly determined to spare nobody, even insisted in the present
case upon looking at the man he meant to hit, because he was not his
parishioner. The sermon was eloquent, and even trenchant. The necessity
of duties was urged most sternly; if not of directly Divine institution
(though learned parallels were adduced which almost proved them to be
so), yet to every decent Christian citizen they were synonymous with
duty. To defy or elude them, for the sake of paltry gain, was a dark
crime recoiling on the criminal; and the preacher drew a contrast
between such guilty ways and the innocent path of the fisherman. Neither
did he even relent and comfort, according to his custom, toward the end;
that part was there, but he left it out; and the only consolation for
any poor smuggler in all the discourse was the final Amen.

But to the rector's great amazement, and inward indignation, the object
of his sermon seemed to take it as a personal compliment. Mr. Mordacks
not only failed to wince, but finding himself particularly fixed by the
gaze of the eloquent divine, concluded that it was from his superior
intelligence, and visible gifts of appreciation. Delighted with
this--for he was not free from vanity--what did he do but return the
compliment, not indecorously, but nodding very gently, as much as
to say, "That was very good indeed, you were quite right, sir, in
addressing that to me; you perceive that it is far above these common
people. I never heard a better sermon."

"What a hardened rogue you are