Even in these rags and tatters, the man
twinkled all over with impudence like a piece of sham jewellery; and
I have heard him offer a situation to one of his fellow-passengers
with the air of a lord. Nothing could overlie such a fellow; a kind
of base success was written on his brow. He was then in his ill
days; but I can imagine him in Congress with his mouth full of
bombast and sawder. As we moved in the same circle, I was brought
necessarily into his society. I do not think I ever heard him say
anything that was true, kind, or interesting; but there was
entertainment in the man's demeanour. You might call him a half-
educated Irish Tigg.
Our Russian made a remarkable contrast to this impossible fellow.
Rumours and legends were current in the steerages about his
antecedents. Some said he was a Nihilist escaping; others set him
down for a harmless spendthrift, who had squandered fifty thousand
roubles, and whose father had now despatched him to America by way of
penance. Either tale might flourish in security; there was no
contradiction to be feared, for the hero spoke not one word of
English.
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