e he had sent me
to school, but it had cost him nothing; as to my making small progress,
he was well-informed as how Rory was the best scholar of his age in all
the country. "Thank you for your courteous offer of binding the lad
apprentice to a tradesman. I suppose you would make a tailor of him,
would you. I had rather see him hanged, d'ye see. Come along, Rory, I
perceive how the land lies, my boy; let's tack about--i'faith, while I
have a shilling, thou sha'n't want a sixpence. Bye, old gentleman,
you're bound for the other world, but damnably ill provided for the
voyage."

Thus ended our visit, and we returned to the village, my uncle muttering
curses all the way against the old shark and the young fry that
surrounded him.

_II.--I Arrive in London_

A few weeks after our first visit, we were informed that the old judge,
conscious of his approaching end, had made his will, and desired to see
all his descendants. So my uncle set out with me a second time, and when
we entered his chamber we found my grandfather in his last agonies. My
uncle approached him with these words: "How fare ye, old
gentleman?--Lord have mercy upon your poor sinful soul. Here's poor Rory
come to see you before you die, and receive your blessing. What, man!
Don't despair--you have been a great sinner, 'tis true. What then?
There's a righteous judge above--ain't there?--Yes, yes, he's agoing--He
minds me no more than a porpoise, the land crabs will have him, I see
that--his anchor's apeak, i'faith."

In a few minutes we were convinced of my grandfather's decease, by a
dismal yell uttered by the young ladies in his apartment.

It was not till after the funeral that the will was read, and the reader
can scarce conceive the astonishment and mortification that appeared,
when the attorney pronounced aloud, the young squire sole heir of all
his grandfather's estate, personal and real, and that there were no
legacies.

My uncle at once decided, though he could ill afford it, to give me
university education; and accordingly settled my board and other
expenses at a town not many miles distant, famous for its colleges,
whither we repaired in a short time.

In a few days after, my uncle set out for his ship, and I began to
consider my precarious situation; that my sole dependence was on the
generosity of one man.

I at once applied myself with great care to my studies, and in the space
of three years I understood Greek very well, and was pre