146 RASCALITY DISCOMFITED. 



did not like to intrude his rascality too near, I suppose 

 from an uncertainty as to how I might take it ; but hav 

 ing got within ear-shot he commenced a game with him 

 self, and after much frowning, and many a deal, and im 

 patient " pshaws," he exclaimed, as if to himself, violently 

 rubbing his thick red hair, " Pshaw ! it's no use for me 

 to try, I can never win" On this exclamation I fixed my 

 eyes on his cards, when, thinking the golden opportunity 

 had arrived, he said, in rather a dubious tone, for I be 

 lieve he suspected that I was wide awake, " Won't you 

 try a hand?" " No, sirre-e-e-e-e," I replied, when the 

 fellow, table, and all vanished round the corner of the 

 saloon, like a harlequin in a pantomime. For the better 

 information of my English readers, I must explain the 

 force summed up in the concise method of my refusal. 

 In American parlance, to say " No, sir" laying a long 

 emphasis on the last syllable, is to give a contradiction 

 of a very flat sort ; but to say "No, sir-ree-e-e-e-e " is to 

 convey the sentence of "No, you infernal rogue, I'll see 

 you at the devil first ; " and therefore my method of 

 speech being fully known to the card-sharper, thus he 

 vanished. I only saw him once after, and then he lay 

 listlessly in the hands of the ship's barber a very good 

 one for the purpose of being shaved and clipped. 



From a subsequent conversation with my servant I 

 found, also, that some of the crew of the vessel had 

 warned him that there were four or five card-sharpers on 

 board, and to him some of the gang had addressed their 

 attentions, but in vain. George's watch over the safety 

 of my dogs was very well arranged, and it was settled 

 that whenever the steamer stopped, either to put ashore 

 passengers or to take in freight or wood, he should be 

 with his dogs, and I should be on the look-out on deck ; 



