‘Oh, troth, you are wrong now, Thady,’ says my shister.

Well, I was never so put to it in my life:  between these womens, and my son and my master, and all I felt and thought just now, I could not, upon my conscience, tell which was the wrong from the right.  So I said not a word more, but was only glad his honour had not the luck to hear all Judy had been saying of him, for I reckoned it would have gone nigh to break his heart; not that I was of opinion he cared for her as much as she and my shister fancied, but the ungratitude of the whole from Judy might not plase him; and he could never stand the notion of not being well spoken of or beloved like behind his back.  Fortunately for all parties concerned, he was so much elevated at this time, there was no danger of his understanding anything, even if it had reached his ears.  There was a great horn at the Lodge, ever since my master and Captain Moneygawl was in together, that used to belong originally to the celebrated Sir Patrick, his ancestor; and his honour was fond often of telling the story that he learned from me when a child, how Sir Patrick drank the full of this horn without stopping, and this was what no other man afore or since could without drawing breath.  Now Sir Condy challenged the gauger, who seemed to think little of the horn, to swallow the contents, and had it filled to the brim with punch; and the gauger said it was what he could not do for nothing, but he’d hold Sir Condy a hundred guineas he’d do it.

‘Done,’ says my master; ’I’ll lay you a hundred golden guineas to a tester you don’t.’ [Tester:  sixpence; from the French word tete, a head—­a piece of silver stamped with a head, which in old French was called Un TESTION, and which was about the value of an old English sixpence.  ‘Tester’ is used in Shakspeare.]

‘Done,’ says the gauger; and done and done’s enough between two gentlemen.  The gauger was cast, and my master won the bet, and thought he’d won a hundred guineas, but by the wording it was adjudged to be only a tester that was his due by the exciseman.  It was all one to him; he was as well pleased, and I was glad to see him in such spirits again.

The gauger—­bad luck to him!—­was the man that next proposed to my master to try himself, could he take at a draught the contents of the great horn.

‘Sir Patrick’s horn!’ said his honour; ’hand it to me:  I’ll hold you your own bet over again I’ll swallow it.’

‘Done,’ says the gauger; ’I’ll lay ye anything at all you do no such thing.’

‘A hundred guineas to sixpence I do,’ says he; ’bring me the handkerchief.’  I was loth, knowing he meant the handkerchief with the gold in it, to bring it out in such company, and his honour not very able to reckon it.  ‘Bring me the handkerchief, then, Thady,’ says he, and stamps with his foot; so with that I pulls it out of my greatcoat pocket, where I had put it for safety.  Oh, how it grieved me to see the guineas counting