"I have been the most hospitably received guest this evening; have kissed the daughters, and got the Captain in a rage, according to the wager. John Lom."
The duped Campbell now vowed vengeance on the devoted head of the mischievous Ensign, who had so successfully won his best horse, and had played such a trick on the host and his daughters.
The Advocate felt annoyed at the part he and his daughters had been compelled so conspicuously to act, but considering the wager, and the account given by several of the company of the character of the perpetrator, he became more pacified in his intentions towards him, ultimately treating the affair as an excellent joke, in which the Captain joined.
Miss Forbes and Catherine felt rather annoyed and ashamed when they considered the freedom to which they had been subjected by the Ensign's tricks. Not so Matilda, the second daughter, who was of a lively temperament, and a great admirer of bold and daring feats performed by young men. Her love of novelty and fun made her coincide with the perpetrator of the trick, who so successfully passed himself off as her own eccentric uncle; and hearing from Charlie the mischievous propensities of his friend, she had a great wish to be introduced to him.
Nor were John's impressions regarding the lively Matilda less favourable, judging from what he told Charlie the next day, when speaking on the subject, and in his own poetical terms replied to Charlie's question as to what he thought of the Misses Forbes;—"For all the stateliness and elegance of Miss Forbes, the bewitching simplicity of your adorable Catherine, give me the lively and witty Matilda; a sort of lurking mischief flashes from her sparkling eyes, which has produced an echo in my heart, that whispers—'John, that's your prize; if you gain possession of her you will be able to surmount any obstacle, however daring.' Yes, Charlie, I surrender myself as her prisoner."
It cannot be a matter of surprise that those inventive and lively minds soon found means, through Charlie's mediation, of making each other's acquaintance, which
