small weazel-eyes happened to light
on Billy Budd, a certain grim
internal merriment set all his
ancient wrinkles into antic play.
Was it that his eccentric unsentimental
old sapience not fooled by books primitive in its kind saw
or thought it saw something which
in contrast with the present war-ship's environment
looked oddly incongruous in the
handsome sailor? But after slyly
studying him at intervals, the old
Merlin's equivocal merriment
was modified . ; For now Then When by chance the twain
would meet , it would start on in
his face a quizzing sot o xxxHS sort of
look, but it would be but momentary Now the first time that his
small weazel-eyes happened to light
on Billy Budd, a certain grim
internal merriment set all his
ancient wrinkles into antic play.
Was it that his eccentric unsentimental
old sapience not fooled by books primitive in its kind saw
or thought it saw something which
in contrast with the present war-ship's environment
looked oddly incongruous in the
handsome sailor? But after slyly
studying him at intervals, the old
Merlin's equivocal merriment
was modified . ; For now Then When by chance the twain
would meet , it would start on in
his face a quizzing sot o xxxHS sort of
look, but it would be but momentary Now the first time that his
Transcribed by: John Bryant