"I was thinking, yer honor, that I might represent one deaf and dumb."
"But you're always talking, Tim, and when you're not talking to
others, you talk to yourself. It's quite impossible you could go as a
dumb man; but you might go, as the moonshee suggests, as a half-witted
sort of chap; with just sense enough to groom a horse and look after
him, but with not enough to understand what's said to you, or to
answer any questions."
"I could do that asy enough, Mr. Charles."
"And you have to keep from quarrelling, Tim. I hear you quarrelling,
on an average, ten times a day; and as, in such a character as we're
talking about, you would, of course, be exposed to all sorts of
slights and unpleasantnesses, you would be in continual hot water."
"Now, yer honor," Tim said reproachfully, "you're too hard on me,
entirely. I like a bit of a row as well as any many, but it's all for
divarsion; and I could go on, for a year, without quarrelling with a
soul. Just try me, Mr. Charles. Just try me for a month, and if, at
the end of that time, you find me in your way; or that I don't keep my
character, then send me back agin to the regiment."
It was arranged that the moonshee should remain with Peters, who,
seeing that Charlie owed his appointment, to a post which promised
excitement and adventure, to his skill in the native languages, was
determined that he would again set to, in earnest, and try and master
its intricacies.
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