"No, sir," replied Finigan, retorting his look with one of indignant
scorn, "far be it from me to insinuate any such thing. I broadly, and
in all the latitudinarianism of honest indignation, assert that it is a
d--d lie, begging your pardon, and drinking to your moral improvement a
second time; and ere you respond to what I've said, it would be as well,
in order to have the matter copiously discussed, if you ordhered in
a fresh supply of liquor, and help yourself, for, if the proverb be
true--_in vino veritas_--there it is again, but truth will be out, you
see--who knows but we may come to a thrifle of it from you yet? Ha! ha!
ha! Excuse the jest, Mr. Hycy. You remember little Horace,--
"'Quid vetat ridentem dicere verum?'"
"Do you mean to say, sirra," said Hycy, "that I have stated a lie?"
"I mean to say that whoever asserts that I misrepresented you in any way
to Bryan M'Mahon, or ever cautioned him against you, states a lie of the
first magnitude--a moral thumper, of gigantic dimensions."
"Well, will you tell me what you did say to him?"
"What I did say," echoed Finigan. "Well," he added, after a pause,
during which he I surveyed Hycy pretty closely--having now discovered
that he was, in fact, only proceeding upon mere suspicion--"I believe
I must acknowledge a portion of the misrepresentation.
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