"Did you ring, mon maitre," said Antonio, appearing at the door
with one of his arms deeply buried in a boot.
"I certainly did ring," said I, "but I scarcely expected that you
would have answered the summons."
"Mais pourquoi non, mon maitre?" cried Antonio. "Who should serve
you now but myself? N'est pas que le sieur Francois est mort? And
did I not say, as soon as I heard of his departure, I shall return
to my functions chez mon maitre, Monsieur Georges?"
"I suppose you had no other employment, and on that account you
came."
"Au contraire, mon maitre," replied the Greek, "I had just engaged
myself at the house of the Duke of Frias, from whom I was to
receive ten dollars per month more than I shall accept from your
worship; but on hearing that you were without a domestic, I
forthwith told the Duke, though it was late at night, that he would
not suit me, and here I am."
"I shall not receive you in this manner," said I; "return to the
Duke, apologize for your behaviour, request your dismission in a
regular way; and then if his grace is willing to part with you, as
will most probably be the case, I shall be happy to avail myself of
your services."
It is reasonable to expect that after having been subjected to an
imprisonment which my enemies themselves admitted to be unjust, I
should in future experience more liberal treatment at their hands
than that which they had hitherto adopted towards me. The sole
object of my ambition at this time was to procure toleration for
the sale of the Gospel in this unhappy and distracted kingdom, and
to have attained this end I would not only have consented to twenty
such imprisonments in succession, as that which I had undergone,
but would gladly have sacrificed life itself. I soon perceived,
however, that I was likely to gain nothing by my incarceration; on
the contrary, I had become an object of personal dislike to the
government since the termination of this affair, which it was
probable I had never been before; their pride and vanity were
humbled by the concessions which they had been obliged to make in
order to avoid a rupture with England. This dislike they were now
determined to gratify, by thwarting my views as much as possible.
I had an interview with Ofalia on the subject uppermost in my mind:
I found him morose and snappish. "It will be for your interest to
be still," said he; "beware! you have already thrown the whole
corte into confusion; beware, I repeat; another time you may not
escape so easily." "Perhaps not," I replied, "and perhaps I do not
wish it; it is a pleasant thing to be persecuted for the Gospel's
sake. I now take the liberty of inquiring whether, if I attempt to
circulate the word of God, I am to be interrupted." "Of course,"
exclaimed Ofalia; "the church forbids such circulation." "I shall
make the attempt, however," I exclaimed.
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