460 City Sketches. 



frequent, the tobacconist observed so much, and to such good'pur- 

 pose, saw so much to approve and so little to condemn, was 'alto- 

 gether so satisfied^ to essentials, and so tolerant of minor objections, 

 that (Griskin being by this time ripe for such communication) he 

 took the liberty one night of opening the question after the hypo- 

 thetical method. 



"Suppose the case, that a gentleman should take a fancy tojgi 

 Miss Betsy, and should propose marriage, and suppose he should 

 prove agreeable both to father and daughter what then ?" 



Griskin did not appear to be taken by surprise. His reply was 

 very nearly in these words. 



" Why, you know, I should be sorry to lose the girl: you knov 

 she's my only chick and child, you understand ; but if any respectable 

 man should take a fancy to her, then of course you know " 



Cobb was glad to hear this ; not that he had any doubt of Griskin's 

 paternity, or soleness of chick, but it was pleasing to dwell upon the 

 fact. 



He pursued the subject something to this effect. "But then, 

 marriage is a serious matter. In an artificial state of society money 

 was an object a consideration. In case of death, therefore, his 

 (Griskin's) death how then?" 



The swine-slayer looked rather blue at the contingency hinted at. 



" Why, you know, in the event of death, what I have would go to 

 her, you know, of course." 



" Good ! What I have !" very well, but how much is that ? thought 

 Cobb. 



*' But then in these cases it was usual, very common indeed, on the 

 day of marriage: did Mr. Griskin perfectly apprehend his meaning? 

 it was usual, he said, that there should be a certain^sum, money 

 down, eh ? dowry, you see ; it was called dowry." 



Griskin laid down his pipe and gazed at his companion. The tenor 

 of his reply was this. 



Did Mr. Cobb consider him mad? Did he (Griskin) want his 

 daughter to leave him ? Was he going to give anything to a per- 

 son for fetching her away ? Could he entrust his money to a man, 

 until he had experience of his worth '? Not he. He didn't like that 

 system ; and when Cobb was about to argue the matter coolly, and 

 to show how much better now was than then, he was cut short by 

 the peremptory dissyllable "Gammon!" 



Cobb pondered intensely upon the extractable matter to be ga- 

 thered out of Griskin's discourse. One thing was at least certain ; 

 he could obtain the daughter, if he pleased. But the main point was 

 still open. The old gentleman might come round. He tried him 

 again, therefore, and often; but the old gentleman, perhaps because 

 pigs were the staple of his thoughts, had become pig-headed, and 

 would not listen to reason, or to what Mr. Drinkwater Cobb believed 

 to be so. "The fact is/' thought the tobacconist, "these wealthy 

 people (will have everything their own way ; they must not bo 

 thwarted or crossed," and, taking a sober and sedate view of the ques- 

 tion, he decided upon submitting himself and his pretensions for 



