"Very good! very good!" said the old gentleman, with the most
transparent duplicity. "Tell the cook, my dear, a capital cream!"
Having placed the wine and dessert on the table, Magdalen was about to
withdraw. Before she could leave the room, her master called her back.
"Stop, stop!" said the admiral; "you don't know the ways of the house
yet, Lucy. Put another wine-glass here, at my right hand--the largest
you can find, my dear. I've got a third dog, who comes in at dessert--a
drunken old sea-dog who has followed my fortunes, afloat and ashore, for
fifty years and more. Yes, yes, that's the sort of glass we want. You're
a good girl--you're a neat, handy girl. Steady, my dear! there's nothing
to be frightened at!"
A sudden thump on the outside of the door, followed by one mighty bark
from each of the dogs, had made Magdalen start. "Come in!" shouted the
admiral. The door opened; the tails of Brutus and Cassius cheerfully
thumped the floor; and old Mazey marched straight up to the right-hand
side of his master's chair. The veteran stood there, with his legs wide
apart and his balance carefully adjusted, as if the dining-room had been
a cabin, and the house a ship pitching in a sea-way.
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