ot go. The man looked uncomfortable
also; but then no one had ever seen him look otherwise, which was the
more strange as he never professed to have any object in life but his
own pleasure and gratification. Not troubling himself with any
consideration of law or principle--of his own duty or other people's
comfort--he had consistently spent his whole time and energies in
trying to be jolly; and though now a grown-up young man, had so far
had every appearance of failing in the attempt. From this it will be
seen that he was not the most estimable of characters, and we shall
have no more to do with him than we can help; but as he must appear in
the story, he may as well be described.

If constant self-indulgence had answered as well as it should have
done, he would have been a fine-looking young man; as it was, the
habits of his life were fast destroying his appearance. His hair would
have been golden if it had been kept clean. His figure was tall and
strong; but the custom of slinking about places where he had no
business to be, and lounging in corners where he had nothing to do,
had given it such a hopeless slouch that for the matter of beauty he
might almost as well have been knock-kneed. His eyes would have been
handsome if the lids had been less red; and if he had ever looked you
in the face, you would have seen that they were blue. His complexion
was fair by nature and discoloured by drink. His manner was something
between a sneak and a swagger, and he generally wore his cap
a-one-side, carried his hands in his pockets and a short stick under
his arm, and whistled when any one passed him. His chief
characteristic, perhaps, was the habit he had of kicking. Indoors he
kicked the furniture, in the road he kicked the stones, if he lounged
against a wall he kicked it; he kicked all animals and such human
beings as he felt sure would not kick him again.

It should be said here that he had once announced his intention of
"turning steady, and settling, and getting wed." The object of his
choice was the prettiest girl in the village, and was as good as she
was pretty. To say the truth, the time had been when Bessy had not
felt unkindly towards the yellow-haired lad; but his conduct had long
put a gulf between them, which only the conceit of a scamp would have
attempted to pass. However, he flattered himself that he "knew what
the lasses meant when they said no;" and on the strength of this
knowledge he presumed far enough t