On the day after they
were scrubbed clean, and were formally re-admitted to the dining-room.
There, Civilization, acting through the subtle medium of the Saucepan,
recovered its hold on them; and the admiral's two prodigal sons, when
they saw the covers removed, watered at the mouth as copiously as ever.
Old Mazey, in his way, proved to be just as disreputably inclined on
certain occasions as the dogs. At intervals, the original wildness in
_his_ nature broke out; he, too, lost all relish for the comforts of
home, and ungratefully left the house. He usually disappeared in the
afternoon, and returned at night as drunk as liquor could make him. He
was by many degrees too seasoned a vessel to meet with any disasters on
these occasions. His wicked old legs might take roundabout methods of
progression, but they never failed him; his wicked old eyes might see
double, but they always showed him the way home. Try as hard as they
might, the servants could never succeed in persuading him that he was
drunk; he always scorned the imputation. He even declined to admit the
idea privately into his mind, until he had first tested his condition by
an infallible criterion of his own.
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