176 CALVIN: A STUDY OF CHARACTER. 



to the white tips of his feet, he wore the 

 whitest and most delicate ermine ; and no 

 person was ever more fastidiously neat. In 

 his finely formed head you saw something 

 of his aristocratic character ; the ears were 

 small and cleanly cut, there was a tinge of 

 pink in the nostrils, his face was handsome, 

 and the expression of his countenance ex- 

 ceedingly intelligent, I should call it even 

 a sweet expression, if the term were not 

 inconsistent with his look of alertness and 

 sagacity. 



It is difficult to convey a just idea of his 

 gayety in connection with his dignity and 

 gravity, which his name expressed. As we 

 know nothing of his family, of course it 

 will be understood that Calvin was his Chris- 

 tian name. He had times of relaxation 

 into utter playfulness, delighting in a ball 

 of yarn, catching sportively at stray ribbons 

 when his mistress was at her toilet, and 

 pursuing his own tail with hilarity, for lack 

 of anything better. He could amuse him- 

 self by the hour, and he did not care for 



