Then he was a good-tempered little man, and merry as a monkey, whilst his pompous, vainglorious talk was a source of infinite amusement to us; and what is more, he never bore malice.

Of course, his being so pronounced a coward was a great drawback to him, but now that we knew his weakness we could more or less guard against it.

So, after warning him of the undoubted risks he was exposing himself to, we told him that we would accept his offer on condition that he would promise implicit obedience to our orders.

We also promised to give him wages at the rate of ten pounds a month should he ever return to a civilized country to receive them.

To all of this he agreed with alacrity, and retired to write a letter to his Annette, which Mr Mackenzie promised to post when he got down country.
He read it to us afterwards, Sir Henry translating, and a wonderful composition it was.