Country, gentlemen,
noble prospects, hill and dale - Fine people too - open-hearted and
generous; no wonder! descendants of the Ancient Britons - Hope I
don't intrude - other room rather cold and smoking - If I do, will
retire at once - don't wish to interrupt any gentleman in their
avocations or deliberations - scorn to do anything ungenteel or
calculated to give offence - hope I know how to behave myself -
ought to do so - learnt grammar at the High School at Edinburgh."
"Offence, intrusion!" cried twenty voices. "God bless your honour!
no intrusion and no offence at all; sit down - sit here - won't you
drink?"
"Please to sit here, sir," said an old grimy-looking man, getting
up from a seat in the chimney-corner - "this is no seat for me
whilst you are here, it belongs to you - sit down in it," and
laying hold of me he compelled me to sit down in the chair of
dignity, whilst half-a-dozen hands pushed mugs of beer towards my
face; these, however, I declined to partake of on the very
satisfactory ground that I had not taken supper, and that it was a
bad thing to drink before eating, more especially after coming out
of a mist.
"Have you any news to tell of the war, sir?" said a large tough
fellow, who was smoking a pipe.
"The last news that I heard of the war," said I, "was that the snow
was two feet deep at Sebastopol."
"I heard three," said the man; "however, if there be but two it
must be bad work for the poor soldiers. I suppose you think that
we shall beat the Russians in the end."
"No, I don't," said I; "the Russians are a young nation and we are
an old; they are coming on and we are going off; every dog has its
day."
"That's true," said the man, "but I am sorry that you think we
shall not beat the Russians, for the Russians are a bad set."
"Can you speak Welsh?" said a darkish man with black, bristly hair
and a small inquisitive eye.
"Oh, I know two words in Welsh," said I; "bara y caws."
"That's bread and cheese," said the man, then turning to a
neighbour of his he said in Welsh: "He knows nothing of Cumraeg,
only two words; we may say anything we please; he can't understand
us. What a long nose he has!"
"Mind that he an't nosing us," said his neighbour. "I should be
loth to wager that he doesn't understand Welsh; and, after all, he
didn't say that he did not, but got off by saying he understood
those two words."
"No, he doesn't understand Welsh," said the other; "no Sais
understands Welsh, and this is a Sais.
