He is now a very quiet soul, and he neither visits The Chequers nor any
other hostelry. There was great fun among the Gorleston men when Jim
turned serious, and one merry smacksman actually struck at the quadroon.
Jim bit his lip, and said,
"Bill, old lad, I'd have killed you for that a year ago. Shake hands;
God bless you!"
Which was rather a plucky thing to do.
Some blathering parsons say that this blessed Mission is teaching men to
talk cant and Puritanism. Speaking as a very cynical Loafer, I can only
say that if Puritanism turns fishing fleets and fishing towns from being
hells on earth into being decent places; if Puritanism heals the sick,
comforts the sufferers, carries joy and refinement and culture into
places that were once homes of horror, and renders the police force
almost a superfluity in two great towns--then I think we can put up with
Puritanism.
I know that Jim Billings was a dangerous untamed animal; he is now a
jolly, but quiet fellow. I was always rather afraid of him; but now I
should not mind sailing in his vessel.
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