g but comfortable in his
mind. That Corporal Van Spitter should assert that he saw the devil at
his shoulder, was a matter of no small annoyance any way; for either the
devil was at his shoulder or he was not. If he was, why then it was
evident that in consequence of his having attempted murder, and having
betrayed his country for money, the devil considered him as his own, and
this Mr Vanslyperken did not approve of; for, like many others in this
world, he wished to commit every crime, and go to heaven after all. Mr
Vanslyperken was superstitious and cowardly, and he did believe that
such a thing was possible; and when he canvassed it in his mind, he
trembled, and looked over his shoulder.

But Corporal Van Spitter might have asserted it only to frighten him. It
was possible--but here again was a difficulty: the corporal had been his
faithful confidant for so long a while, and to suppose this, would be to
suppose that the corporal was a traitor to him, and that, upon no
grounds which Vanslyperken could conjecture, he had turned false: this
was impossible--Mr Vanslyperken would not credit it; so there he stuck,
like a man between the horns of a dilemma, not knowing what to do; for
Mr Vanslyperken resolved, had the devil really been there, to have
repented immediately, and have led a new life; but if the devil had not
been there, Mr Vanslyperken did not perceive any cause for such an
immediate hurry.

At last, an idea presented itself to Mr Vanslyperken's mind, which
afforded him great comfort, which was, that the corporal had suffered so
much from his boat adventures--for the corporal had made the most of his
sufferings--that he was a little affected in his mind, and had thought
that he had seen something. "It must have been so," said Mr
Vanslyperken, who fortified the idea with a glass of scheedam, and then
went to bed.

Now, it so happened, that at the very time that Mr Vanslyperken was
arguing all this in his brain, Corporal Van Spitter was also cogitating
how he should get out of his scrape; for the Corporal, although not very
bright, had much of the cunning of little minds, and he felt the
necessity of lulling the suspicions of the lieutenant. To conceal his
astonishment and fear at the appearance of the dog, he had libelled Mr
Vanslyperken, who would not easily forgive, and it was the corporal's
interest to continue on the best terms with, and enjoy the confidence of
his superior. How was this to be got over? I