Yes, he had a bit of a brain, when he was sober and of a mind to use it." One would scarcely have supposed that Archibald McBride, silent, taciturn, money-loving, possessed the taste for scandal that North knew he did possess.

The old merchant continued garrulously.
"They are a bad lot, John, those Langhams, but it took the smartest one of the whole tribe to get the better of me.

I never told you that before, did I?
It was old Marshall himself, and he flattered me into loaning him a matter of a hundred dollars once; I guess I have his note somewhere yet.

But I swore then I'd have no more dealings with any of them, and I'm likely to keep my word as long as I keep my senses.

It's the little things that prick the skin; that make a man bitter.