From
their tone and manner I assumed that he must have been a pirate at the
very least, and regarded him with awe, not unmingled with secret
admiration.
Whatever it was, he had been saved from it by his wife, a bony lady of
unprepossessing appearance, but irreproachable views.
One day he called at our house for some purpose or other, and, being left
alone with him for a few minutes, I took the opportunity of interviewing
him personally on the subject.
"You were very wicked once, weren't you?" I said, seeking by emphasis on
the "once" to mitigate what I felt might be the disagreeable nature of
the question.
To my intense surprise, a gleam of shameful glory lit up his wizened
face, and a sound which I tried to think a sigh, but which sounded like a
chuckle, escaped his lips.
"Ay," he replied; "I've been a bit of a spanker in my time."
The term "spanker" in such connection puzzled me. I had been hitherto
led to regard a spanker as an eminently conscientious person, especially
where the shortcomings of other people were concerned; a person who
laboured for the good of others. That the word could also be employed to
designate a sinful party was a revelation to me.
"But you are good now, aren't you?" I continued, dismissing further
reflection upon the etymology of "spanker" to a more fitting occasion.
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