Mr. Benjamin Bobbin, 133 



gloves, and a gold-topped stick, and his hat was about 

 the glossiest you ever saw. Altogether he looked what 

 he was — Brummagem all over. " And now," said the 

 Colonel, having taken him all over the house, *^ let us go 

 outside and see what there is to be seen. First of all, I 

 will show you my ' ruin.' People come for miles to see it. 

 You have heard of it, no doubt — the old ruined chapel of 

 the De Gooseys, have you not ? " 



Mr. Bobbin was not quite sure, but thought ''he 'ad." 



'' Now," said the Colonel, with conscious pride, as they 

 reached the ruin in question, '' what do you think of that, 

 heh ? " 



*' Why," replied Bobbin, straddling his legs and picking 

 his teeth with a gold toothpick the while. "■ Why, I don't 

 think much of it, do you know. It strikes me as being 

 pretty much the same sort of place / shoot my coals in at 

 'omey 



The disgusted Colonel turned away to conceal his in- 

 dignation, 



*' Dashed snob," muttered he, '' he and his coals, indeed 

 — curse his impudence ! I'll stick on ten thousand for 

 that speech, hang me if I don't. Daring to compare my 

 ruins to his filthy coal-hole. Never heard of such 

 impudence." 



Mr. Bobbin, of Birmingham, at length took his leave, 

 and the result was that, after the usual haggling and bar- 

 gaining and disputing between the Colonel's and Mr. 

 Bobbin's respective lawyers, the bargain was closed ; 

 the purchase money paid over ; and the ancestral halls 

 of the Gooseys passed out of the Colonel's hands for 

 ever, into those of Mr. Benjamin Bobbin, of Birmingham. 



The Bobbin Family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Bobbin, 



