﻿BILLY EGG. 291 



seeing that the smart shopman was so much cx^upied either in ad- 

 miring his window or his own person, that he had not at first attend- 

 ed to my question. 



" I know no such person, ma'am," he replied rather sharply ; and 

 as I now perceived that the house bore the evidence of fresh paint 

 and recent alterations, it occurred to me that the smart shopkeeper 

 might be a new comer and ignorant of the old residents. Nothing 

 daunted, I next entered the shop of a neighboring bookseller, and re- 

 peated my inquiries, but with no better success. I then made my 

 way to that of a milliner ; and though a young girl, who was busily 

 engaged at her needle, looked up for a moment with an arch smile, 

 and then turned away, as I plainly perceived, with a hearty laugh, 

 her mistress dismissed me with the expression of her opinion, " that 

 no such person lived in that town, nor, she believed, in any other." 

 I felt a little puzzled to know what the girl had found so ludicrous 

 in my simple question, and wondered if my repeated disappoint- 

 ments had given me a forlorn air. " At any rate," thought I, " this 

 Mr. Egg is not so generally known as I expected to find him. I had 

 better walk up the street, and try if I can discover any outward indi- 

 cations of his abode." 



I spent a weary half hour in this endeavor, and as it now seemed 

 evident to me that no considerable shop could belong to the object 

 of my search, I lowered my tone in addressing an old apple-woman, 

 who sat behind a table covered with her stores, at the corner of the 

 street. " Pray, can you direct me to Billy Egg's ? " I asked, drop- 

 ping the Mr. altogether, and adopting the familiar term that had 

 been used to me. 



" Och, then, to be sure I will, an' welcome, if it was a mile off; 

 but there it is, just furnint you that big, grand shop there, wid de 

 big letthers gilt wid goold over de big windees." 



" My good woman," I replied, " I 'm afraid you must be mistaken ; 

 the name there is William Carter." 



" Och, don't I know that ? but they call him Billy Egg, because 

 all he has, and it's half the town that is his, came out of an egg." 



An .exclamation of surprise escaped me, and the old woman con- 

 tinued, " Och, but well he deserves it, for he is a dacent man, and 

 good to the poor, God bless him every day he rises, and make the 

 heavens his bed at last." 



