150 Mr. and Mrs. Sparkler. 



brand she mentioned in her own person, the worthy soul 

 was, of course, very particular about it in other people.) 



'' Well, no-0-0," replied her friend, '' I should hardly 

 imagine that he had^ you know, judging, at least, from 

 what Mr. Sheepshanks was good enough to tell me. His 

 father, it seems, made his money by manufacturing boot- 

 jacks — or, stay," said Mrs. Gapeseed, tapping her fore- 

 head and considering a moment, '' stay, I rather think it 

 w^as bootnails or Ao^nails, not bootjacks, he said ; or was 

 it boot blacking ? Any how," she continued, brightening 

 up ; '' it don't matter. I feel certain though it was 

 something to do with boots, so, of course, that woidd be 

 rather vulgar, wouldn't it ? " 



In similar fashion to this, young Mr. Sparkler and his 

 money bags were discussed in half the drawing rooms in 

 Buttercupshire, a^nd ;the latest intelligence, regarding his 

 movements 3^^as sought after by Mesdames Gapeseed, 

 Timmins, & Co., with the greatest anxiety. 



" When was .he coming ? " was the question they all 

 asked each other, fifty times a day. 



Now the editor of that old-established paper, to wit, 

 the Bidlerton (Chronicle and Buttercupshire Gazette, has 

 a playful habit eevery weel^ ^when short of what is called 

 "copy" (which circumstancq, by-the-way, we should 

 imagine to be of tolerably frequent occurrence), ol filling 

 up his vacant spaces -with extracts from the various 

 society papers of the day. In fact, the contents of his 

 valuable journal always seem made up as follows : — 

 The two outside sheets, back and front, advertisements ; 

 emanating principally from auctioneers, money lenders, 

 quack doctors, and vendors of patent medicines. The 

 inside : two leaders ; one political, the other on some 



