The natives of Middlemas listened to the noble Captain's marvels with
different feelings, as their temperaments were saturnine or sanguine.
But none could deny that such things had been; and, as the narrator was
known to be a bold dashing fellow, possessed of some abilities, and
according to the general opinion, not likely to be withheld by any
peculiar scruples of conscience, there was no giving any good reason why
Hillary should not have been as successful as others in the field, which
India, agitated as it was by war and intestine disorders, seemed to
offer to every enterprising adventurer. He was accordingly received by
his old acquaintances at Middlemas rather with the respect due to his
supposed wealth, than in a manner corresponding with his former humble
pretensions.
Some of the notables of the village did indeed keep aloof. Among these,
the chief was Dr. Gray, who was an enemy to every thing that approached
to fanfaronade, and knew enough of the world to lay it down as a sort of
general rule, that he who talks a great deal of fighting is seldom a
brave soldier, and he who always speaks about wealth is seldom a rich
man at bottom. Clerk Lawford was also shy, notwithstanding his
_communings_ with Hillary upon the subject of his intended purchase. The
coolness of the Captain's old employer towards him was by some supposed
to arise out of certain circumstances attending their former connexion;
but as the Clerk himself never explained what these were, it is
unnecessary to make any conjectures upon the subject.
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