An hour or so after, whom should he meet with, by the
greatest good luck, but the commissary himself. Now, Shortridge was
rather a favorite with the colonel, being a man who knew how to make
himself useful. For instance, he was the very agent who had so
judiciously declined purchasing the refuse sherry wines which Soult,
Victor & Co. had contemptuously left on the market; while, with equal
judgment and promptitude, he had laid in for the mess an abundant
stock of the best port, malmsey and Madeira. Two such cronies, meeting
for the first time for ten days, had much conference together; in the
course of which the colonel learned all about the straits
Mrs. Shortridge was put to for lodgings, and how she was to be
relieved through the considerate kindness of L'Isle. This led to a
minute account of the occasion on which their acquaintance began, and
rather an exaggerated statement of the social relations existing
between the aristocratic colonel and the Shortridge firm.
"I have been sometimes galled and ruffled by his haughty manner," said
the commissary; "but now I know it is only his manner. He is very
considerate of other people, and is getting more and more agreeable
every day.
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