THE LOVE CHILD. 43 



stone boots as an oracle, stood aghast. His nether-jaw dropped, his 

 lips turned blue, and his yellow painted mustachios became edged 

 with green, from the blending of the natural with the artificial 

 colours. Big drops of agony oozed from his forehead, and rolling 

 across the crimson crescents above his eyebrows, fell on his fat parti- 

 coloured cheeks like blood. As soon as he could speak he called for 

 gin, and began to blubber like a child. " My shagreen watch," said 

 he, displaying the valuable ; " a shagreen watch, ladies and gentle- 

 men, with a pinchbeck chain and three seals one a genuine Scotch 

 pebble besides the key, for any body who will suck the venom from 

 my wound." 



All this time I had been nestling with the hobgoblin child, under 

 the blue mantle. The poor little creature was teething, and per- 

 ceiving its intense desire to gnaw something, I had given it my 

 thumb, the mumbling of which appeared to afford it infinite delight. 

 It looked up in my face and smiled, with that touching expression 

 which invariably creates interest in the bosom of boy or man, girl or 

 woman. I forgot its ugliness I loved it for a moment, and kissed 

 its poor little paw, which had convulsively grappled my thumb. In 

 every emergency of life, from infancy upwards, I have invariably 

 placed my reliance upon woman, and I was never deceived. The 

 girl-mother had assisted me to conceal myself beneath the blue 

 mantle that covered her child ; and when she saw the pale haggard 

 infant mumbling my thumb, and looking gratefully into my eyes, 

 she had snatched me up, and nestled me close to her young heart. 

 There I should have remained, in perfect bliss, but for the offer of 

 Mr. Merryman. But his watch and its appendages were irresistible. 

 I leaped from my shelter, and snatching my reward from the Merry- 

 Andrew's hand, took that portion of his calf which I had previously 

 bitten into my mouth, and began to suck. Lavolta, apparently 

 occupied in putting a new point to his whip, but, as I thought, evi- 

 dently uneasy at what he had heard, now began to be jocose, and so 

 rallied the Merry- Andrew on his fears, that Rugg, his influential 

 spirit, having departed to dress himself, under the apprehension 1 of 

 being fined he began to recover his spirits, and at last exclaimed, 

 in so jocose a tone, that I burst into a violent and uncontrollable fit 

 of laughter,, " By the pigs, my master ! but the youngster's teeth fit 

 to the greatest nicety the bruises in my calf." 



This led to an explanation. Lavolta charged me with having 

 bitten the mountebank. I candidly pleaded guilty, but justified 

 myself on the score of his having punched my ribs, which I pro- 

 tested were as tender as those of a sucking-pig. Mr. Merryman 

 took me in his arms kissed every inch of my face pilfered the 

 watch out of my pocket, and, I being ignorant of the larceny, we 

 were all at once the best friends of the world. 



Every body now began to be busy : a little old man in iron spec- 

 tacles brought me a loose ginger-coloured dress trimmed with scarlet, 

 which did not at all strike my fancy, and after hastily cutting and 

 frizzing my hair, and plastering something highly unpleasant on my 

 cheeks, took me out on the platform and told me where to stalk. I felt so 

 ashamed that I would fain have dropped through the planks, especially 



