OLD-FASHIONED GENEROSITY. 199 



Between the time of release and that of payment some years 

 had passed on ; but forgetfulness on the part of the skipper was 

 never entertained by Mr. W — ke, though age crippled forward 

 with quick step, and left every day to tell more plainly that soon 

 its limit must be definite; while to friendly queries on the 

 subject Mr. W — ke always expressed his confidence that the 

 stranger's word would be redeemed ; — and he lived to witness it. 



The time at last arrived. To offer discount to his benefactor 

 was above the skipper's feelings ; — so much generosity, from a 

 person to whom he was quite unknown, placed such a mercenary 

 thought beyond the possibility of his own or his benefactor's 

 conception; and yet he felt that something more than the bare 

 return of the money was due. That his proceedings might, 

 therefore, be at once cautious and satisfactory, he fancied the 

 better plan was to provide a suitable package for the conveyance, 

 and which, at the same time, might relieve him from saying more 

 or less than was incumbent. Sailors are not fond of lojig yams, 

 when generosity is in the question ; nor of wicker-work, when 

 security is necessary ; and as the weight of seventy guineas (the 

 amount inclosed) was not trifling, he resolved on the purchase 

 of a large silver box, in which he deposited the golden treasure, 

 and on the lid of which, he had engraven (no doubt to his old- 

 fashioned taste) a lion caught in a net, with a mome at a corner 

 thereof, gnawing it away, to liberate the royal prisoner. 



This memento, said my narrator, who was a descendant of 

 Mr. W — ke, and in whose possession the box remained till 

 kindly removed, by some friendly alliance, w^as much prized by 

 the original owner; and whenever it became the subject of con- 

 versation, Mr. W — ke was fond of remarking, in allusion to his 

 trade, that he once thought there was ^^ nothing like leather f^ 

 but he now found that a silver box was as good as a leather 

 purse ; and it is very likely that the old gentleman also hinted to 

 the school book then in use, in which the devices of " The lion 

 caught in a net," and also that of " The tradesmen in deliberation 

 during a seige," were conspicuous. Whether the skipper repre- 

 sented himself as the lion, and his benefactor as the mouse, is 

 left to conjecture; but there is no doubt that he referred to the 

 great good a little means will do, when done to the point, and 

 quickly. — The parties never met again. 



My narrator, who has now been gathered to his fathers, would 

 often amuse his infant family, by telling them their great grand- 

 father was a little mouse; while the children would with surprise 



