A Priest in Spite of Himself by Rudyard Kipling. Short summary

5 seconds

A short story in the «Tales of Old England» series. The smuggler Pharaoh Lee meets the cunning and calculating Count Maurice de Perigord. The boy earns the Count’s respect, for which he is rewarded.

1 minute

English smuggler Pharaoh Lee continues his tale of adventure in the New World. Fleeing the Great Revolution, French aristocrats rushed to the United States. One day Pharaoh sheltered and fed a poor man who turned out to be a former priest, Count Charles Maurice Talleyrand de Perigord, who had come to the United States to learn of George Washington’s intentions.

Perigord proved to be a very cunning man. He sniffed out that President Washington needed peace with England. Perigord needed proof so he could return to France and be rewarded with a good position in the new government. He obtained no information from Pharaoh, who had witnessed the meeting between the Indians and Washington. Soon Perigord returned to France.

Pharaoh was very surprised when a $500 remittance arrived in his name from an earl who expressed his respect for the boy’s integrity. Pharaoh began trading horses and later switched to tobacco business and once even met with Napoleon.