To a cat he might be likened himself, as he lolled at the head of his table, dealing out attentions and innuendoes, and using the velvet and the claw indifferently.

And both Huish and the captain fell progressively under the charm of his hospitable freedom.
Over the third guest, the incidents of the dinner may be said to have passed for long unheeded.

Herrick accepted all that was offered him, ate and drank without tasting, and heard without comprehension.

His mind was singly occupied in contemplating the horror of the circumstances in which he sat.

What Attwater knew, what the captain designed, from which side treachery was to be first expected, these were the ground of his thoughts.