! Friend, I have this day seen a boy who--refused
sixpence!"

"Cosa stupenda!" exclaimed Jackeymo, opening his eyes, and letting fall
the watering-pot.

"It is true, my friend."

"Take him, Padrone, in Heaven's name, and the fields will grow gold."

"I will think of it, for it must require management to catch such a
boy," said Riccabocca. "Meanwhile, light a candle in the parlour, and
bring from my bedroom that great folio of Machiavelli."

CHAPTER X.

In my next chapter I shall present Squire Hazeldean in patriarchal
state,--not exactly under the fig-tree he has planted, but before the
stocks he has reconstructed,--Squire Hazeldean and his family on the
village green! The canvas is all ready for the colours.

But in this chapter I must so far afford a glimpse into antecedents as
to let the reader know that there is one member of the family whom he
is not likely to meet at present, if ever, on the village green at
Hazeldean.

Our squire lost his father two years after his birth; his mother
was very handsome--and so was her jointure; she married again at the
expiration of her year of mourning; the object of her second choice was
Colonel Egerton.

In every generation of Englishmen (at least since the lively reign of
Charles II.) there are a few whom some elegant Genius skims off from
the milk of human nature, and reserves for the cream of society. Colonel
Egerton was one of these terque quaterque beati, and dwelt apart on
a top shelf in that delicate porcelain dish--not bestowed upon vulgar
buttermilk--which persons of fashion call The Great World. Mighty was
the marvel of Pall Mall, and profound was the pity of Park Lane,
when this supereminent personage condescended to lower himself into a
husband. But Colonel Egerton was not a mere gaudy butterfly; he had the
provident instincts ascribed to the bee. Youth had passed from him, and
carried off much solid property in its flight; he saw that a time was
fast coming when a home, with a partner who could help to maintain it,
would be conducive to his comforts, and an occasional hum-drum evening
by the fireside beneficial to his health. In the midst of one season at
Brighton, to which gay place he had accompanied the Prince of Wales,
he saw a widow, who, though in the weeds of mourning, did not appear
inconsolable. Her person pleased his taste; the accounts of her jointure
satisfied his understanding; he contrived an introduction, and brought
a brief wooing t