180 DICK ROOK. 



There first my heart its hopes betray'd, 

 Beneath that hawthorn's conscious shade 

 Fair Emma own'd her love. 



This allusion to the " fair Emma" appeared to 

 touch some chord in Dick's heart, and we shall 

 find that he was not insensible to the tender pas- 

 sion of love. Exposure, however, to the sun and 

 wind had produced such an extraordinary tan on 

 his skin, making it appear somewhat like the bark 

 of a tree, that I should have supposed his frame 

 had been rendered impervious to the blandish- 

 ments of female charms. Yet rough as it was, his 

 countenance had an expression of great mildness 

 and benevolence. 



Dick's early prospects in life had been promising, 

 and it is evident that he had not forgotten them. 

 " That cottage/ 5 said he to me one day, pointing 

 to a distant spot, " with the two or three fields 

 about it, was my father's own property. I was 

 his only child ; and when my mother died, every 

 thing went wrong. Somehow or other he got into 

 the hands of lawyers, and then into the ale-house. 

 He soon died in great distress. Every thing was 

 sold ; and I was turned a young lad on the world, 

 to find my own way. I shall never forget leaving 

 the cottage, with nothing but the clothes on my 

 back, and a little dog that followed me. I wan- 

 dered some distance not knowing where to go, 

 and when night came on, I got into a barn where 



