six OF SPADES. 75 



CHAPTER V. 

 THE CURATE. 



UPON the occasion of our Curate's first appearance as 

 a member of " The Six of Spades," I derived much 

 gratification from contemplating the deportment of 

 Joseph Grundy. No sooner did he see his pastor, 

 than he made an uncomfortable attempt to hide his 

 pipe, which, being a Broseley of robust proportions, 

 declined to be concealed at any price; while his 

 features assumed, so far as their mirthful make 

 permitted, a troubled and solemn aspect. Whether 

 he thought it probable that he should be called 

 upon to oblige the company with a hymn, or whether 

 he was under the impression that clergymen were 

 painfully affected by tobacco, after the manner of 

 the green-fly, there was but brief time to speculate ; 

 for the Curate, noting his perplexity, forthwith pro- 

 ceeded to dispel it by filling and igniting an ample 

 bowl of clay, and by taking his seat, next to Joseph, 

 with a pleasant and friendly smile. " I met old 

 Michael Willis yesterday," he said, " and as soon as 

 he saw me, forgetting, I suppose, that he has not a 

 monopoly of eyesight, he swiftly put his pipe in his 

 pocket. So, after some little conversation, I suddenly 

 expressed, to his great surprise, the anxious hope that 

 he was insured. For if," I continued, "the old say- 

 ing be true, that where there is smoke there is fire, 

 your waistcoat-pocket, Michael Willis, may soon be 

 ready for the tinder-box. And you would be rightly 



