The Leather Plater. 319 



great officer- and a K.C.B. He had served in India, in Africa, and 

 through the whole of the Peninsular campaign ; had distinguished 

 himself upon many occasions ; and, on leaving the service, his 

 country could do no less than confer a baronetcy and a pension on 

 the brave old warrior, who then hung up his " toasting-fork," and 

 retired to pass the close of a stormy life in the quiet solitudes of 

 Beechwood. He had been terribly battered in the wars, had lost an 

 arm, and suffered considerably from a bullet which had lodged in 

 the thigh, and which no doctor could extract. The old man had 

 often great trouble to get about at all, and always went lame. He 

 was a cheery, hearty old cock, as tough as pinwire ; had a very 

 aristocratic appearance and bearing, with a noble old head as white 

 as snow ; and, notwithstanding his infirmities, looked and fancied 

 himself ten years younger than he really was. Now, this old 

 K.C.B. was enormously rich, and only wanted one thing which 

 was a wife. Not that he would have had much trouble to procure 

 one if he had only set about the task in earnest for money can 

 procure this luxury as well as any other : but he went very little 

 into company, and knew well that if any woman in his rank of 

 life should deign to bestow her hand upon him, it would be for the 

 sake of his money and nothing else, Many match-making mothers 

 would gladly have sacrificed their daughters, and many scheming 

 daughters would have gladly sacrificed themselves, and vowed at the 

 altar " to love, honour, and obey" this old ruin of a man, 

 merely for the sake of his property and status in society j and this 

 he well knew. His was a solitary, cheerless life, and he began to 

 feel the want of some one to nurse and comfort him. 



The old baronet was one of the directors of this line, and the 

 principal business and pleasure of his life was to ride up and down 

 it He always travelled in his own carriage, which was fitted up 

 most comfortably. Here he could lie at his ease, read, smoke, or 

 sleep, just as it pleased him. The incidents of the journey amused 

 him, and half his days were spent on the railroad. Of course he 

 was as well known down the line as any one of the drivers. He 

 never stopped at the station without having a plate of soup brought 



