n of those who sent them to him, and
by what right they possessed them or the parents of the hawks? In a
word, I wanted a clear valid title, as lawyers would say, to my hawks,
and I believe no title would have satisfied me that did not extend up to
the time of the first hawk, that is, prior to Adam; and, could I have
obtained such a title, I make no doubt that, young as I was, I should
have suspected that it was full of flaws.

"I was now disgusted with the hawks, and no wonder, seeing all the
disquietude they had caused me; I soon totally neglected the poor birds,
and they would have starved had not some of the servants taken compassion
upon them and fed them. My uncle, soon hearing of my neglect, was angry,
and took the birds away; he was a very good-natured man, however, and
soon sent me a fine pony; at first I was charmed with the pony; soon,
however, the same kind of thoughts arose which had disgusted me on a
former occasion. How did my uncle become possessed of the pony? This
question I asked him the first time I saw him. Oh, he had bought it of a
Gypsy, that I might learn to ride upon it. A Gypsy; I had heard that
Gypsies were great thieves, and I instantly began to fear that the Gypsy
had stolen the pony, and it is probable that for this apprehension I had
better grounds than for many others. I instantly ceased to set any value
upon the pony, but for that reason, perhaps, I turned it to some account;
I mounted it, and rode it about, which I don't think I should have done
had I looked upon it as a secure possession. Had I looked upon my title
as secure, I should have prized it so much, that I should scarcely have
mounted it for fear of injuring the animal; but now, caring not a straw
for it, I rode it most unmercifully, and soon became a capital rider.
This was very selfish in me, and I tell the fact with shame. I was
punished, however, as I deserved; the pony had a spirit of its own, and,
moreover, it had belonged to Gypsies; once, as I was riding it furiously
over the lawn, applying both whip and spur, it suddenly lifted up its
heels, and flung me at least five yards over its head. I received some
desperate contusions, and was taken up for dead; it was many months
before I perfectly recovered.

"But it is time for me to come to the touching part of my story. There
was one thing that I loved better than the choicest gift which could be
bestowed upon me, better than life itself--my mother;--at length s