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A SUPERB COPY OF THE FIRST ISSUE OF
"LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY"
I BURNETT (FRANCES HODGSON). Little Lord Faunt-
leroy. Illustrated by Reginald B. Birch. Square 8vo, original
chocolate cloth. New York, 1886
A SUPERB COPY OF THE FlRST ISSUE OF THE FlRST EDITION. PROBABLY THE
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LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
"ARE YOU THE EARL?' SAID CEDRIC. 'I 'M YOUR GRANDSON. I 'M LORD FAUNTLEROY.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY
BY
FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT
NEW-YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1886
Copyright, 1886, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FROM DRAWINGS BY REGINALD B. BIRCH.
Are you the Earl?" said Cedric ; " I'm your grandson. I'm
Lord Fauntleroy." Frontispiece.
Vignette Title-page.
'So this is little Lord Fauntleroy." Page 11
Mr. Hobbs," said Cedric, "an Earl is sitting on this box now! " . " 75
The Race " 27
' I used to think I might perhaps be a President, but I never thought
of being an Earl," said Ceddie " 30
' I have to go to England and be a Lord." " 41
Dick boards the steamer to bid good-bye to Lord Fauntleroy. . " 45
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Vignette Page 48
Jerry narrates some of bis Adventures " 53
The big cat was purring in drowsy content; she liked tbe caressing
touch of tbe kind little band " 57
Tbe gates were opened by a woman and two cbildren who came out
of a pretty ivy-covered lodge " 65
"Just lean on me," said little Lord Fauntleroy. I 'II walk very
slowly." " 80
Lord Fauntleroy writes a letter < 103
Here lyetb ye bodye of Gregory e Artlmre Fyrst Earle of Dorin-
court AUsoe of Alisone Hildegarde bys wyfe " 116
" I've a great deal to thank your Lordship for, ' ' sa id Higgins . . " / / 8
Wilkim was carrying bis bat for him, and bis hair was flying, but
be came back at a brisk canter " 725
" Up tbe lad has to get, and my Lord trudges alongside of Urn with
bis hands in his pockets." " JJQ
The workmen liked to see Mm stand among them, talking away,
witb his hands in his pockets " /^
" / was thinking how beautiful you are," said Lord Fauntleroy. . " 75^
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xi
' Why, Boss!" exclaimed Dick, "do you know Um yourself?" . Page 166
' Shall I be your boy, even if I 'm not going to be an Earl?" said
Cedric. " ij8
She was told by the footman at the door that the Earl would not
see her " 181
' Are you quite sure you want me?" said Mrs. Errol " 198
' My grandfather says these are my ancestors," said Fauntleroy. " 202
Lord Fauntleroy makes a Speech to the tenants. " 207
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
I
CEDRIC himself knew nothing whatever about it. It had never
been even mentioned to him. He knew that his papa had
been an Englishman, because his mamma had told him so ;
but then his papa had died when he was so little a boy that he could
not remember very much about him, except that he was big, and
had blue eyes and a long mustache, and that it was a splendid thing
to be carried around the room on his shoulder. Since his papa's
death, Cedric had found out that it was best not to talk to his
mamma about him. When his father was ill, Cedric had been sent
away, and when he had returned, everything was over ; and his
mother, who had been very ill, too, was only just beginning to sit
in her chair by the window. She was pale and thin, and all the
dimples had gone from her pretty face, and her eyes looked large
and mournful, and she was dressed in black.
" Dearest," said Cedric (his papa had called her that always, and
so the little boy had learned to say it), " dearest, is my papa
better?"
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
He felt her arms tremble, and so he turned his curly head and
looked in her face. There was something in it that made him
feel that he was going to cry.
" Dearest," he said, " is he well ? "
Then suddenly his loving little heart told him that he 'd better
put both his arms around her neck and kiss her again and again,
and keep his soft cheek close to hers ; and he did so, and she laid
her face on his shoulder and cried bitterly, holding him as if she
could never let him go again.
" Yes, he is well," she sobbed ; " he is quite, quite well, but we
we have no one left but each other. No one at all."
Then, little as he was, he understood that his big, handsome
young papa would not come back any more ; that he was dead, as
he had heard of other people being, although he could not compre-
hend exactly what strange thing had brought all this sadness about.
It was because his mamma always cried when he spoke of his papa
that he secretly made up his mind it was better not to speak of him
very often to her, and he found out, too, that it was better not to let
her sit still and look into the fire or out of the window without
moving or talking. He and his mamma knew very few people, and
lived what might have been thought very lonely lives, although
Cedric did not know it was lonely until he grew older and heard
why it was they had no visitors. Then he was told that his mamma
was an orphan, and quite alone in the world when his papa had
married her. She was very pretty, and had been living as compan-
ion to a rich old lady who was not kind to her, and one day Captain
Cedric Errol, who was calling at the house, saw her run up the
stairs with tears on her eyelashes; and she looked so sweet and
innocent and sorrowful that the Captain could not forget her. And
after many strange things had happened, they knew each other well
and loved each other dearly, and were married, although their mar-
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
riage brought them the ill-will of several persons. The one who
was most angry of all, however, was the Captain's father, who lived
in England, and was a very rich and important old nobleman, with
a very bad temper and a very violent dislike to America and Amer-
icans. He had two sons older than Captain Cedric ; and it was the
law that the elder of these sons should inherit the family title and
estates, which were very rich and splendid ; if the eldest son died,
the next one would be heir ; so, though he was a member of such a
great family, there was little chance that Captain Cedric would be
very rich himself.
But it so happened that Nature had given to the youngest son
gifts which she had not bestowed upon his elder brothers. He had
a beautiful face and a fine, strong, graceful figure ; he had a bright
smile and a sweet, gay voice ; he was brave and generous, and had
the kindest heart in the world, and seemed to have the power to
make every one love him. And it was not so with his elder brothers;
neither of them was handsome, or very kind, or clever. When they
were boys at Eton, they were not popular ; when they were at col-
lege, they cared nothing for study, and wasted both time and money,
and made few real friends. The old Earl, their father, was constantly
disappointed and humiliated by them ; his heir was no honor to his
noble name, and did not promise to end in being anything but a
selfish, wasteful, insignificant man, with no manly or noble qualities.
It was very bitter, the old Earl thought, that the son who was only
third, and would have only a very small fortune, should be the one
who had all the gifts, and all the charms, and all the strength and
beauty. Sometimes he almost hated the handsome young man
because he seemed to have the good things which should have gone
with the stately title and the magnificent estates ; and yet, in the
depths of his proud, stubborn old heart, he could not help caring
very much for his youngest son. It was in one of his fits of petu-
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
lance that he sent him off to travel in America; he thought he would
send him away for a while, so that he should not be made angry by
constantly contrasting him with his brothers, who were at that time
giving him a great deal of trouble by their wild ways.
But, after about six months, he began to feel lonely, and longed
in secret to see his son again, so he wrote to Captain Cedric and
ordered him home. The letter he wrote crossed on its way a letter
the Captain had just written to his father, telling of his love for the
pretty American girl, and of his intended marriage ; and when the
Earl received that letter he was furiously angry. Bad as his temper
was, he had never given way to it in his life as he gave way to it
when he read the Captain's letter. His valet, who was in the room
when it came, thought his lordship would have a fit of apoplexy, he
was so wild with anger. For an hour he raged like a tiger, and then
he sat down and wrote to his son, and ordered him never to come
near his old home, nor to write to his father or brothers again. He
told him he might Jive as he pleased, and die where he pleased, that
he should be cut off from his family forever, and that he need never
expect help from his father as long as he lived.
The Captain was very sad when he read the letter; he was very
fond of England, and he dearly loved the beautiful home where he
had been born ; he had even loved his ill-tempered old father, and
had sympathized with him in his disappointments ; but he knew he
need expect no kindness from him in the future. At first he scarcely
knew what to do ; he had not been brought up to work, and had no
business experience, but he had courage and plenty of determination.
So he sold his commission in the English army, and after some
trouble found a situation in New York, and married. The change
from his old life in England was very great, but he was young and
happy, and he hoped that hard work would do great things for him
in the future. He had a small house on a quiet street, and his little
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
boy was born there, and everything was so gay and cheerful, in a
simple way, that he was never sorry for a moment that he had mar-
ried the rich old lady's pretty companion just because she was so
sweet and he loved her and she loved him. She was very sweet,
indeed, and her little boy was like both her and his father. Though
he was born in so quiet and cheap a little home, it seemed as if there
never had been a more fortunate baby. In the first place, he was
always well, and so he never gave any one trouble ; in the second
place, he had so sweet a temper and ways so charming that he was
a pleasure to every one ; and in the third place, he was so beautiful
to look at that he was quite a picture. Instead of being a bald-
headed baby, he started in life with a quantity of soft, fine, gold-
colored hair, which curled up at the ends, and went into loose rings
by the time he was six months old ; he had big brown eyes and long
eyelashes and a darling little face ; he had so strong a back and
such splendid sturdy legs, that at nine months he learned suddenly to
walk ; his manners were so good, for a baby, that it was delightful
to make his acquaintance. He seemed to feel that every one was
his friend, and when any one spoke to him, when he was in his car-
riage in the street, he would give the stranger one sweet, serious
look with the brown eyes, and then follow it with a lovely, friendly
smile ; and the consequence was, that there was not a person in the
neighborhood of the quiet street where he lived even to the gro-
ceryman at the corner, who was considered the crossest creature
alive who was not pleased to see him and speak to him. And
every month of his life he grew handsomer and more interesting.
When he was old enough to walk out with his nurse, dragging
a small wagon and wearing a short white kilt skirt, and a big white
hat set back on his curly yellow hair, he was so handsome and
strong and rosy that he attracted every one's attention, and his nurse
would come home and tell his mamma stories of the ladies who had
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
stopped their carriages to look at and speak to him, and of how
pleased they were when he talked to them in his cheerful little way,
as if he had known them always. His greatest charm was this
cheerful, fearless, quaint little way of making friends with people.
I think it arose from his having a very confiding nature, and a kind
little heart that sympathized with every one, and wished to make
every one as comfortable as he liked to be himself. It made him
very quick to understand the feelings of those about him. Perhaps
this had grown on him, too, because he had lived so much with his
father and mother, who were always loving and considerate and
tender and well-bred. He had never heard an unkind or uncourt-
eous word spoken at home ; he had always been loved and caressed
and treated tenderly, and so his childish soul was full of kindness
and innocent warm feeling. He had always heard his mamma
called by pretty, loving names, and so he used them himself when
he spoke to her; he had always seen that his papa watched over
her and took great care of her, and so he learned, too, to be careful
of her.
So when he knew his papa would come back no more, and saw
how very sad his mamma was, there gradually came into his kind
little heart the thought that he must do what he could to make her
happy. He was not much more than a baby, but that thought was
in his mind whenever he climbed upon her knee and kissed her and
put his curly head on her neck, and when he brought his toys and
picture-books to show her, and when he curled up quietly by her
side as she used to lie on the sofa. He was not old enough to know
of anything else to do, so he did what he could, and was more of a
comfort to her than he could have understood.
" Oh, Mary ! " he heard her say once to her old servant ; " I
am sure he is trying to help me in his innocent way I know
he is. He looks at me sometimes with a loving, wondering little
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
look, as if he were sorry for me, and then he will come and pet me
or show me something. He is such a little man, I really think
he knows."
As he grew older, he had a great many quaint little ways which
amused and interested people greatly. He was so much of a com-
panion for his mother that she scarcely cared for any other. They
used to walk together and talk together and play together. When
he was quite a little fellow, he learned to read ; and after that he
used to lie on the hearth-rug, in the evening, and read aloud some-
times stories, and sometimes big books such as older people read,
and sometimes even the newspaper ; and often at such times Mary,
in the kitchen, would hear Mrs. Errol laughing with delight at the
quaint things he said.
" And, indade," said Mary to the groceryman, " nobody cud help
laughin' at the quare little ways of him and his ould-fashioned
sayin's ! Did n't he come into my kitchen the noight the new Prisi-
dent was nominated and shtand afore the fire, lookin' loike a pictur',
wid his hands in his shmall pockets, an' his innocent bit of a face as
sayrious as a jedge ? An' sez he to me : ' Mary,' sez he, ' I 'm very
much int'rusted in the 'lection,' sez he. ' I 'm a 'publican, an' so is
Dearest. Are you a 'publican, Mary ? ' ' Sorra a bit,' sez I ; ' I 'm
the bist o' dimmycrats ! ' An' he looks up at me wid a look that ud
go to yer heart, an' sez he : ' Mary,' sez he, ' the country will go to
ruin.' An' nivver a day since thin has he let go by widout argyin'
wid me to change me polytics."
Mary was very fond of him, and very proud of him, too. She
had been with his mother ever since he was born ; and, after his
father's death, had been cook and housemaid and nurse and every-
thing else. She was proud of his graceful, strong little body and
his pretty manners, and especially proud of the bright curly hair
which waved over his forehead and fell in charming love-locks on
8 LITTLE LORD EAUNTLEROY.
his shoulders. She was willing to work early and late to help his
mamma make his small suits and keep them in order.
" 'Ristycratic, is it ? " she would say. " Faith, an' I 'd loike to see
the choild on Fifth Avey-noo as looks loike him an' shteps out as
handsome as himself. An' ivvery man, woman, and choild lookin'
afther him in his bit of a black velvet skirt made out of the mis-
thress's ould gownd ; an' his little head up, an' his curly hair flyin'
an' shinin'. It 's loike a young lord he looks."
Cedric did not know that he looked like a young lord ; he did
not know what a lord was. His greatest friend was the groceryman
at the corner the cross groceryman, who was never cross to him.
His name was Mr. Hobbs, and Cedric admired and respected him
very much. He thought him a very rich and powerful person, he
had so many things in his store, prunes and figs and oranges and
biscuits, and he had a horse and wagon. Cedric was fond of the
milkman and the baker and the apple-woman, but he liked Mr.
Hobbs best of all, and was on terms of such intimacy with him that
he went to see him every day, and often sat with him quite a long
time, discussing the topics of the hour. It was quite surprising how
many things they found to talk about the Fourth of July, for
instance. When they began to talk about the Fourth of July there
really seemed no end to it. Mr. Hobbs had a very bad opinion of
" the British," and he told the whole story of the Revolution, relat-
ing very wonderful and patriotic stories about the villainy of the
enemy and the bravery of the Revolutionary heroes, and he even
generously repeated part of the Declaration of Independence.
Cedric was so excited that his eyes shone and his cheeks were red
and his curls were all rubbed and tumbled into a yellow mop. He
could hardly wait to eat his dinner after he went home, he was so
anxious to tell his' mamma. It was, perhaps, Mr. Hobbs who gave
him his first interest in politics. Mr. Hobbs was fond of reading the
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
newspapers, and so Cedric heard a great deal about what was going
on in Washington ; and Mr. Hobbs would tell him whether the
President was doing his duty or not. And once, when there was an
election, he found it all quite grand, and probably but for Mr. Hobbs
and Cedric the country might have been wrecked. Mr. Hobbs took
him to see a great torchlight procession, and many of the men who
carried torches remembered afterward a stout man who stood near
a lamp-post and held on his shoulder a handsome little shouting
boy, who waved his cap in the air.
It was not long after this election, when Cedric was between seven
and eight years old, that the very strange thing happened which made
so wonderful a change in his life. It was quite curious, too, that the
day it happened he had been talking to Mr. Hobbs about England
and the Queen, and Mr. Hobbs had said some very severe things
about the aristocracy, being specially indignant against earls and mar-
quises. It had been a hot morning ; and after playing soldiers with
some friends of his, Cedric had gone into the store to rest, and had
found Mr. Hobbs looking very fierce over a piece of the Illustrated
London News, which contained a picture of some court ceremony.
''Ah," he said, " that 's the way they go on now; but they'll get
enough of it some day, when those they 've trod on rise and blow
'em up sky-high, earls and marquises and all ! It 's coming, and
they may look out for it ! "
Cedric had perched himself as usual on the high stool and
pushed his hat back, and put his hands in his pockets in delicate
compliment to Mr. Hobbs.
"Did you ever know many marquises, Mr. Hobbs?" Cedric
inquired, " or earls ? "
" No," answered Mr. Hobbs, with indignation ; " I guess not.
I 'd like to catch one of 'em inside here ; that 's all ! I '11 have no
grasping tyrants sittin' 'round on my cracker-barrels ! "
10 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
And he was so proud of the sentiment that he looked around
proudly and mopped his forehead.
" Perhaps they would n't be earls if they knew any better,"
said Cedric, feeling some vague sympathy for their unhappy
condition.
" Would n't they ! " said Mr. Hobbs. " They just glory in it !
It 's in 'em. They 're a bad lot."
They were in the midst of their conversation, when Mary
appeared. Cedric thought she had come to buy some sugar, per-
haps, but she had not. She looked almost pale and as if she were
excited about something.
" Come home, darlint," she said; "the misthress is wantin' yez."
Cedric slipped down from his stool.
"Does she want me to go out with her, Mary?" he asked.
"Good-morning, Mr. Hobbs. I '11 see you again."
He was surprised to see Mary staring at him in a dumfounded
fashion, and he wondered why she kept shaking her head.
" What 's the matter, Mary ? " he said. " Is it the hot weather ? "
" No," said Mary; "but there 's strange things happenin' to us."
" Has the sun given Dearest a headache ? " he inquired anxiously.
But it was not that. When he reached his own house there
was a coupe standing before the door, and some one was in the
little parlor talking to his mamma. Mary hurried him upstairs and
put on his best summer suit of cream-colored flannel, with the red
scarf around his waist, and combed out his curly locks.
" Lords, is it?" he heard her say. "An' the nobility an' gintry.
Och ! bad cess to them ! Lords, indade worse luck."
It was really very puzzling, but he felt sure his mamma would
tell him what all the excitement meant, so he allowed Mary to
bemoan herself without asking many questions. When he was
dressed, he ran downstairs and went into the parlor. A tall, thin
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
II
old gentleman with a sharp face was sitting in an arm-chair. His
mother was standing near by with a pale face, and he saw that
there were
tears in her
eyes.
"Oh!
Ceddie!"
she cried
out, and ran
to her little
boy and
caught him
in her arms
and kissed
him in a
frightened,
tro ubled
way. "Oh!
Ceddie,
darling ! "
The tall
old gentle-
man rose from his chair and looked at
Cedric with his sharp eyes. He rubbed his thin chin with his bony
hand as he looked.
He seemed not at all displeased.
"And so," he said at last, slowly, "and so this is little Lord
Fauntleroy."
'SO THIS IS
II
HERE was never a more amazed little boy than Cedric during
the week that followed ; there was never so strange or so
unreal a week. In the first place, the story his mamma
told him was a very curious one. He was obliged to hear it two or
three times before he could understand it. He could not imagine
what Mr. Hobbs would think of it. It began with earls : his grand-
papa, whom he had never seen, was an earl ; and his eldest uncle,
if he had not been killed by a fall from his horse, would have been
an earl, too, in time ; and after his death, his other uncle would have
been an earl, if he had not died suddenly, in Rome, of a fever.
After that, his own papa, if he had lived, would have been an earl ;
but, since they all had died and only Cedric was left, it appeared that
he was to be an earl after his grandpapa's death and for the pres-
ent he was Lord Fauntleroy.
He turned quite pale when he was first told of it.
" Oh ! Dearest ! " he said, " I should rather not be an earl. None
of the boys are earls. Can't I not be one ? "
But it seemed to be unavoidable. And when, that evening,
they sat together by the open window looking out into the shabby
street, he and his mother had a long talk about it. Cedric sat on
his footstool, clasping one knee in his favorite attitude and wearing
a bewildered little face rather red from the exertion of thinking.
His grandfather had sent for him to come to England, and his
mamma tho.ught he must go.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 13
" Because," she said, looking out of the window with sorrowful
eyes, ' I know your papa would wish it to be so, Ceddie. He loved
his home very much ; and there are many things to be thought of
that a little boy can't quite understand. I should be a selfish little
mother if I did not send you. When you are a man, you will see
why."
Ceddie shook his head mournfully.
" I shall be very sorry to leave Mr. Hobbs," he said. " I 'm
afraid he '11 miss me, and I shall miss him. And I shall miss them
all."
When Mr. Havisham who was the family lawyer of the Earl
of Dorincourt, and who had been sent by him to bring Lord Faunt-
leroy to England came the next day, Cedric heard many things.
But, somehow, it did not console him to hear that he was to be a
very rich man when he grew up, and that he would have castles
here and castles there, and great parks and deep mines and grand
estates and tenantry. He was troubled about his friend, Mr. Hobbs,
and he went to see him at the store soon after breakfast, in great
anxiety of mind.
He found him reading the morning paper, and he approached
him with a grave demeanor. He really felt it would be a great
shock to Mr. Hobbs to hear what had befallen him, and on his way
to the store he had been thinking how it would be best to break the
news.
" Hello ! " said Mr. Hobbs. " Mornin' ! "
" Good-morning," said Cedric.
He did not climb up on the high stool as usual, but sat down on
a cracker-box and clasped his knee, and was so silent for a few
moments that Mr. Hobbs finally looked up inquiringly over the top
of his newspaper.
" Hello ! " he said again.
14 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
Cedric gathered all his strength of mind together.
" Mr. Hobbs," he said, "do you remember what we were talking
about yesterday morning ? "
" Well," replied Mr. Hobbs, "seems to me it was England."
"Yes," said Cedric; "but just when Mary came for me, you
know ? "
Mr. Hobbs rubbed the back of his head.
" We was mentioning Queen Victoria and the aristocracy."
"Yes," said Cedric, rather hesitatingly, "and and earls; don't
you know ? "
" Why, yes," returned Mr. Hobbs ; " we did touch 'em up a little ;
that 's so ! "
Cedric flushed up to the curly bang on his forehead. Nothing
so embarrassing as this had ever happened to him in his life. He
was a little afraid that it might be a trifle embarrassing to Mr.
Hobbs, too.
" You said," he proceeded, " that you would n't have them sitting
'round on your cracker-barrels."
" So I did ! " returned Mr. Hobbs, stoutly. "And I meant it.
Let 'em try it that 's all ! "
" Mr. Hobbs," said Cedric, "one is sitting on this box now ! "
Mr. Hobbs almost jumped out of his chair.
" What ! " he exclaimed.
" Yes," Cedric announced, with due modesty ; "/ am one or I
am going to be. I wont deceive you."
Mr. Hobbs looked agitated. He rose up suddenly and went to
look at the thermometer.
" The mercury 's got into your head ! " he exclaimed, turning back
to examine his young friend's countenance. " It is a hot day !
How do you feel? Got any pain? When did you begin to feel
that way ? "
"'MR. HOBBS,' SAID CEDRIC, 'AN EARL IS SITTING ON THIS BOX NOW !
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 17
He put his big hand on the little boy's hair. This was more
embarrassing than ever.
"Thank you," said Ceddie ; "I 'm all right. There is nothing
the matter with my head. I 'm sorry to say it 's true, Mr. Hobbs.
That was what Mary came to take me home for. Mr. Havisham
was telling my mamma, and he is a lawyer."
Mr. Hobbs sank into his chair and mopped his forehead with
his handkerchief.
" One of us has got a sunstroke ! " he exclaimed.
"No," returned Cedric, "we have n't. We shall have to make
the best of it, Mr. Hobbs. Mr. Havisham came all the way from
England to tell us about it. My grandpapa sent him."
Mr. Hobbs stared wildly at the innocent, serious little face
before him.
" Who is your grandfather? " he asked.
Cedric put his hand in his pocket and carefully drew out a piece
of paper, on which something was written in his own round, irregular
hand.
" I could n't easily remember it, so I wrote it down on this," he
said. And he read aloud slowly: "'John Arthur Molyneux Errol,
Earl of Dorincourt.' That is his name, and he lives in a castle in
two or three castles, I think. And my papa, who died, was his
youngest son ; and I should n't have been a lord or an earl if my
papa had n't died ; and my papa would n't have been an earl if his
two brothers had n't died. But they all died, and there is no one
but me, no boy, and so I have to be one ; and my grandpapa has
sent for me to come to England."
Mr. Hobbs seemed to grow hotter and hotter. He mopped
his forehead and his bald spot and breathed hard. He began to see
that something very remarkable had happened ; but when he looked
at the little boy sitting on the cracker-box, with the innocent, anxious
1 8 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
expression in his childish eyes, and saw that he was not changed at
all, but was simply as he had been the day before, just a handsome,
cheerful, brave little fellow in a blue suit and red neck-ribbon,
all this information about the nobility bewildered him. He was all
the more bewildered because Cedric gave it with such ingenuous
simplicity, and plainly without realizing himself how stupendous
it was.
" Wha what did you say your name was?" Mr. Hobbs inquired.
" It 's Cedric Errol, Lord Fauntleroy," answered Cedric. "That
was what Mr. Havisham called me. He said when I went into the
room : 'And so this is little Lord Fauntleroy ! ' '
" Well," said Mr. Hobbs, ."I '11 be jiggered ! "
This was an exclamation he always used when he was very
much astonished or excited. He could think of nothing else to say
just at that puzzling moment.
Cedric felt it to be quite a proper and suitable ejaculation. His
respect and affection for Mr. Hobbs were so great that he admired
and approved of all his remarks. He had not seen enough of
society as yet to make him realize that sometimes Mr. Hobbs was
not quite conventional. He knew, of course, that he was different
from his mamma, but, then, his mamma was a lady, and he had an
idea that ladies were always different from gentlemen.
He looked at Mr. Hobbs wistfully.
" England is a long way off, is n't it? " he asked.
" It's across the Atlantic Ocean," Mr. Hobbs answered.
" That 's the worst of it," said Cedric. " Perhaps I shall not
see you again for a long time. I don't like to think of that, Mr.
Hobbs."
" The best of friends must part," said Mr. Hobbs.
"Well," said Cedric, "we have been friends for a great many
years, have n't we ? "
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 19
" Ever since you was born," Mr. Hobbs answered. " You was
about six weeks old when you was first walked out on this street."
" Ah," remarked Cedric, with a sigh, " I never thought I should
have to be an earl then ! "
" You think," said Mr. Hobbs, " there 's no getting out of it ?."
" I 'm afraid not," answered Cedric. " My mamma says that my
papa would wish me to do it. But if I have to be an earl, there 's
one thing I can do : I can try to be a good one. I 'm not going to
be a tyrant. And if there is ever to be another war with America,
I shall try to stop it."
His conversation with Mr. Hobbs was a long and serious one.
Once having got over the first shock, Mr. Hobbs was not so rancor-
ous as might have been expected ; he endeavored to resign himself
to the situation, and before the interview was at an end he had
asked a great many questions. As Cedric could answer but few of
them, he endeavored to answer them himself, and, being fairly
launched on the subject of earls and marquises and lordly estates,
explained many things in a way which would probably have aston-
ished Mr. Havisham, could that gentleman have heard it.
But then there were many things which astonished Mr. Hav-
isham. He had spent all his life in England, and was not accus-
tomed to American people and American habits. He had been
connected professionally with the family of the Earl of Dorincourt
for nearly forty years, and he knew all about its grand estates and
its great wealth and importance ; and, in a cold, business-like way,
he felt an interest in this little boy, who, in the future, was to be the
master and owner of them all, the future Earl of Dorincourt. He
had known all about the old Earl's disappointment in his elder sons
and all about his fierce rage at Captain Cedric's American marriage,
and he knew how he still hated the gentle little widow and would
not speak of her except with bitter and cruel words. He insisted
20 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
that she was only a common American girl, who had entrapped his
son into marrying her because she knew he was an earl's son. The
old lawyer himself had more than half believed this was all true.
He had seen a great many selfish, mercenary people in his life, and
he had not a good opinion of Americans. When he had been
driven into the cheap street, and his coupe had stopped before the
cheap, small house, he had felt actually shocked. It seemed really
quite dreadful to think that the future owner of Dorincourt Castle and
Wyndham Towers and Chorlworth, and all the other stately splen-
dors, should have been born and brought up in an insignificant house
in a street with a sort of green -grocery at the corner. He wondered
what kind of a child he would be, and what kind of a mother he had.
He rather shrank from seeing them both. He had a sort of pride
in the noble family whose legal affairs he had conducted so long,
and it would have annoyed him very much to have found himself
obliged to manage a woman who would seem to him a vulgar, money-
loving person, with no respect for her dead husband's country and
the dignity of his name. It was a very old name and a very splen-
did one, and Mr. Havisham had a great respect for it himself, though
he was only a cold, keen, business-like old lawyer.
When Mary handed him into the small parlor, he looked around it
critically. It was plainly furnished, but it had a home-like look ; there
were no cheap, common ornaments, and no cheap, gaudy pictures ; the
few adornments on the walls were in good taste, and about the room
were many pretty things which a woman's hand might have made.
" Not at all bad so far," he had said to himself; "but perhaps the
Captain's taste predominated." But when Mrs. Errol came into the
room, he began to think she herself might have had something to
do with it. If he had not been quite a self-contained and stiff old
gentleman, he would probably have started when he saw her. She
looked, in the simple black dress, fitting closely to her slender figure,
LITTLE LORD EAUNTLEROY. 21
more like a young girl than the mother of a boy of seven. She had
a pretty, sorrowful, young face, and a very tender, innocent look in
her large brown eyes, the sorrowful look that had never quite left
her face since her husband had died. Cedric was used to seeing it
there ; the only times he had ever seen it fade out had been when
he was playing with her or talking to her, and had said some old-
fashioned thing, or used some long word he had picked up out of
the newspapers or in his conversations with Mr. Hobbs. He was
fond of using long words, and he was always pleased when they
made her laugh, though he could not understand why they were
laughable ; they were quite serious matters with him. The lawyer's
experience taught him to read people's characters very shrewdly,
and as soon as he saw Cedric's mother he knew that the old Earl
had made a great mistake in thinking her a vulgar, mercenary
woman. Mr. Havisham had never been married, he had never
even been in love, but he divined that this pretty young creature
with the sweet voice and sad eyes had married Captain Errol
only because she loved him with all her affectionate heart, and that
she had never once thought it an advantage that he was an earl's son.
And he saw he should have no trouble with her, and he began to
feel that perhaps little Lord Fauntleroy might not be such a trial
to his noble family, after all. The Captain had been a handsome
fellow, and the young mother was very pretty, and perhaps the boy
might be well enough to look at.
When he first told Mrs. Errol what he had come for, she turned
very pale.
"Oh!" she said; "will he have to be taken away from me?
We love each other so much ! He is such a happiness to me ! He
is all I have. I have tried to be a good mother to him." And her
sweet young voice trembled, and the tears rushed into her eyes.
" You do not know what he has been to me ! " she said.
22 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
The lawyer cleared his throat.
" I am obliged to tell you," he said, " that the Earl of Dorincourt
is not is not very friendly toward you. He is an old man, and
his prejudices are very strong. He has always especially disliked
America and Americans, and was very much enraged by his son's
marriage. I am sorry to be the bearer of so unpleasant a communi-
cation, but he is very fixed in his determination not to see you.
His plan is that Lord Fauntleroy shall be educated under his own
supervision ; that he shall live with him. The Earl is attached to
Dorincourt Castle, and spends a great deal of time there. He is a
victim to inflammatory gout, and is not fond of London. Lord
Fauntleroy will, therefore, be likely to live chiefly at Dorincourt.
The Earl offers you as a home Court Lodge, which is situated
pleasantly, and is not very far from the castle. He also offers you
a suitable income. Lord Fauntleroy will be permitted to visit you ;
the only stipulation is, that you shall not visit him or enter the park
gates. You see you will not be really separated from your son, and
I assure you, madam, the terms are not so harsh as as they might
have been. The advantage of such surroundings and education as
Lord Fauntleroy will have, I am sure you must see, will be very
great."
He felt a little uneasy lest she should begin to cry or make a
scene, as he knew some women would have done. It embarrassed
and annoyed him to see women cry.
But she did not. She went to the window and stood with her
face turned away for a few moments, and he saw she was trying to
steady herself.
" Captain Errol was very fond of Dorincourt," she said at last.
" He loved England, and everything English. It was always a
grief to him that he was parted from his home. He was proud of
his home, and of his name. He would wish- I know he would wish
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 23
that his son should know the beautiful old places, and be brought
up in such a way as would be suitable to his future position."
Then she came back to the table and stood looking up at Mr.
Havisham very gently.
" My husband would wish it," she said. " It will be best for my
little boy. I know I am sure the Earl would not be so unkind as
to try to teach him not to love me; and I know even if he
tried that my little boy is too much like his father to be harmed.
He has a warm, faithful nature, and a true heart. He would love
me even if he did not see me ; and so long as we may see each
other, I ought not to suffer very much."
" She thinks very little of herself," the lawyer thought. " She
does not make any terms for herself."
" Madam," he said aloud, " I respect your consideration for your
son. He will thank you for it when he is a man. I assure you
Lord Fauntleroy will be most carefully guarded, and every effort
will be used to insure his happiness. The Earl of Dorincourt
will be as anxious for his comfort and well-being as you yourself
could be."
" I hope," said the tender little mother, in a rather broken voice,
" that his grandfather will love Ceddie. The little boy has a very
affectionate nature ; and he has always been loved."
Mr. Havisham cleared his throat again. He could not quite
imagine the gouty, fiery-tempered old Earl loving any one very
much ; but he knew it would be to his interest to be kind, in his
irritable way, to the child who was to be his heir. He knew, too,
that if Ceddie were at all a credit to his name, his grandfather would
be proud of him.
" Lord Fauntleroy will be comfortable, I am sure," he replied.
''It was with a view to his happiness that the Earl desired that you
should be near enough to him to see him frequently."
24 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
He did not think it would be discreet to repeat the exact words
the Earl had used, which were in fact neither polite nor amiable.
Mr. Havisham preferred to express his noble patron's offer in
smoother and more courteous language.
He had another slight shock when Mrs. Errol asked Mary to
find her little boy and bring him to her, and Mary told her where
he was.
"Sure I '11 foind him aisy enough, ma'am," she said; "for it's
wid Mr. Hobbs he is this minnit, settin' on his high shtool by the
counther an' talkin' pollytics, most loikely, or enj'yin' hisself among
the soap an' candles an' pertaties, as sinsible an' shwate as ye
plase."
" Mr. Hobbs has known him all his life," Mrs. Errol said to the
lawyer. " He is very kind to Ceddie, and there is a great friendship
between them."
Remembering the glimpse he had caught of the store as he
passed it, and having a recollection of the barrels of potatoes and
apples and the various odds and ends, Mr. Havisham felt his doubts
arise again. In England, gentlemen's sons did not make friends of
grocerymen, and it seemed to him a rather singular proceeding. It
would be very awkward if the child had bad manners and a disposi-
tion to like low company. One of the bitterest humiliations of the
old Earl's life had been that his two elder sons had been fond of low
company. Could it be, he thought, that this boy shared their bad
qualities instead of his father's good qualities ?
He was thinking uneasily about this as he talked to Mrs. Errol
until the child came into the room. When the door opened, he
actually hesitated a moment before looking at Cedric. It would,
perhaps, have seemed very queer to a great many people who knew
him, if they could have known the curious sensations that passed
through Mr. Havisham when he looked down at the boy, who ran
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 25
into his mother's arms. He experienced a revulsion of feeling which
was quite exciting. He recognized in an instant that here was one
of the finest and handsomest little fellows he had ever seen. His
beauty was something unusual. He had a strong, lithe, graceful
little body and a manly little face ; he held his childish head up, and
carried himself with a brave air; he was so like his father that
it was really startling ; he had his father's golden hair and his
mother's brown eyes, but there was nothing sorrowful or timid in
them. They were innocently fearless eyes ; he looked as if he had
never feared or doubted anything in his life.
" He is the best-bred-looking and handsomest little fellow I ever
saw," was what Mr. Havisham thought. What he said aloud was
simply, "And so this is little Lord Fauntleroy."
And, after this, the more he saw of little Lord Fauntleroy, the
more of a surprise he found him. He knew very little about chil-
dren, though he had seen plenty of them in England fine, hand-
some, rosy girls and boys, who were strictly taken care of by their
tutors and governesses, and who were sometimes shy, and sometimes
a trifle boisterous, but never very interesting to a ceremonious, rigid
old lawyer. Perhaps his personal interest in little Lord Fauntleroy 's
fortunes made him notice Ceddie more than he had noticed other
children ; but, however that was, he certainly found himself noticing
him a great deal.
Cedric did not know he was being observed, and he only
behaved himself in his ordinary manner. He shook hands with Mr.
Havisham in his friendly way when they were introduced to each
other, and he answered all his questions with the unhesitating readi-
ness with which he answered Mr. Hobbs. He was neither shy nor
bold, and when Mr. Havisham was talking to his mother, the lawyer
noticed that he listened to the conversation with as much interest as
if he had been quite grown up.
26 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
" He seems to be a very mature little fellow," Mr. Havisham said
to the mother.
" I think he is, in some things," she answered. " He has always
been very quick to learn, and he has lived a great deal with grown-
up people. He has a funny little habit of using long words and
expressions he has read in books, or has heard others use, but he is
very fond of childish play. I think he is rather clever, but he is a
very boyish little boy, sometimes."
The next time Mr. Havisham met him, he saw that this last was
quite true. As his coupe turned the corner, he caught sight of a
group of small boys, who were evidently much excited. Two of
them were about to run a race, and one of them was his young lord-
ship, and he was shouting and making as much noise as the noisiest
of his companions. He stood side by side with another boy, one
little red leg advanced a step.
" One, to make ready ! " yelled the starter. " Two, to be steady.
Three and away ! "
Mr. Havisham found himself leaning out of the window of his
coupe with a curious feeling of interest. He really never remem-
bered having seen anything quite like the way in which his lordship's
lordly little red legs flew up behind his knickerbockers and tore over
the ground as he shot out in the race at the signal word. He shut
his small hands and set his face against the wind ; his bright hair
streamed out behind.
" Hooray, Ced Errol !" all the boys shouted, dancing and shriek-
ing with excitement. " Hooray, Billy Williams ! Hooray, Ceddie !
Hooray, Billy ! Hooray ! 'Ray ! 'Ray ! "
" I really believe he is going to win," said Mr. Havisham. The
way in which the red legs flew and flashed up and down, the shrieks
of the boys, the wild efforts of Billy Williams, whose brown legs
were not to be despised, as they followed closely in the rear of the
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
red legs, made him feel some excitement. "I really I really can't
help hoping he will win ! " he said, with an apologetic sort of cough.
At that moment, the wildest yell of all went up from the dancing,
hopping boys. With one last frantic leap the future Earl of Dorin-
court had reached the lamp-post at the end of
the block and touched it, just two seconds be-
fore Billy Williams flung himself at it, panting.
" Three cheers for Ceddie Errol ! " yelled
the little boys. " Hooray for Ceddie Errol ! "
Mr. Havisham drew his head in at the
window of his coupe and leaned back with
a dry smile.
" Bravo, Lord Fauntleroy ! " he said.
As his carriage stopped before the door
of Mrs. Errol's house, the victor and the
vanquished were coming toward it, attended
by the clamoring crew. Cedric walked by
Billy Williams and was speaking to him. His
elated little face was very red, his curls clung
to his hot, moist forehead, his hands were in
his pockets.
" You see," he was saying, evidently with the intention of making
defeat easy for his unsuccessful rival, " I guess I won because my
legs are a little longer than yours. I guess that was it. You see,
I 'm three days older than you, and that gives me a 'vantage. I 'm
three days older."
And this view of the case seemed to cheer Billy Williams so
much that he began to smile on the world again, and felt able to
swagger a little, almost as if he had won the race instead of losing
it. Somehow, Ceddie Errol had a way of making people feel com-
fortable. Even in the first flush of his triumphs, he remembered
2 8 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
that the person who was beaten might not feel so gay as he did, and
might like to think that he might have been the winner under differ-
ent circumstances.
That morning Mr. Havisham had quite a long conversation with
the winner of the race a conversation which made him smile his
dry smile, and rub his chin with his bony hand several times.
Mrs. Errol had been called out of the parlor, and the lawyer
and Cedric were left together. At first Mr. Havisham wondered
what he should say to his small companion. He had an idea that
perhaps it would be best to say several things which might prepare
Cedric for meeting his grandfather, and, perhaps, for the great
change that was to come to him. He could see that Cedric had not
the least idea of the sort of thing he was to see when he reached
England, or of the sort of home that waited for him there. He did
not even know yet that his mother was not to live in the same house
with him. They had thought it best to let him get over the first
shock before telling him.
Mr. Havisham sat in an arm-chair on one side of the open win-
dow ; on the other side was another still larger chair, and Cedric
sat in that and looked at Mr. Havisham. He sat well back in the
depths of his big seat, his curly head against the cushioned back, his
legs crossed, and his hands thrust deep into his pockets, in a quite
Mr. Hobbs-like way. He had been watching Mr. Havisham very
steadily when his mamma had been in the room, and after she was
gone he still looked at him in respectful thoughtfulness. There was
a short silence after Mrs. Errol went out, and Cedric seemed to be
studying Mr. Havisham, and Mr. Havisham was certainly studying
Cedric. He could not make up his mind as to what an elderly
gentleman should say to a little boy who won races, and wore
short knickerbockers and red stockings on legs which were not
long enough to hang over a big chair when he sat well back in it.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 29
But Cedric relieved him by suddenly beginning the conversation
himself.
" Do you know," he said, " I don't know what an earl is? "
" Don't you? " said Mr. Havisham.
" No," replied Ceddie. "And I think when a boy is going to be
one, he ought to know. Don't you ? "
" Well yes," answered Mr. Havisham.
"Would you mind," said Ceddie respectfully "would you mind
'splaining it to me ? " (Sometimes when he used his long words he
did not pronounce them quite correctly.) " What made him an
earl?"
" A king or queen, in the first place," said Mr. Havisham.
" Generally, he is made an earl because he has done some service to
his sovereign, or some great deed."
" Oh ! " said Cedric ; " that 's like the President."
" Is it?" said Mr. Havisham. " Is that why your presidents are
elected ? "
" Yes," answered Ceddie cheerfully. " When a man is very good
and knows a great deal, he is elected president. They have torch-
light processions and bands, and everybody makes speeches. I used
to think I might perhaps be a president, but I never thought of being
an earl. I did n't know about earls," he said, rather hastily, lest Mr.
Havisham might feel it impolite in him not to have wished to be
one, " if I 'd known about them, I dare say I should have thought
I should like to be one."
M It is rather different from being a president," said Mr. Havisham.
"Is it?" asked Cedric. "How? Are there no torch-light
processions ? "
Mr. Havisham crossed his own legs and put the tips of his
fingers carefully together. He thought perhaps the time had come
to explain matters rather more clearly.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
" An earl is is a very important person," he began.
" So is a president !" put in Ceddie. "The torch-light proces-
sions are five miles long, and they shoot up rockets, and the band
plays! Mr. Hobbs
took me to see
them."
" An earl," Mr.
Havisham went
on, feeling rather
uncertain of his
ground, " is fre-
quently of very
ancient lineage
"What's that?"
asked Ceddie.
" Of very old
family extreme-
ly old."
"Ah!" said
Cedric, thrusting
his hands deeper
into his pockets.
" I suppose that
is the way with
the apple-woman near the park. I dare say she is of ancient lin-
lenage. She is so old it would surprise you how she can stand up.
She 's a hundred, I should think, and yet she is out there when it
rains, even. I 'm sorry for her, and so are the other boys. Billy
Williams once had nearly a dollar, and I asked him to buy five cents'
worth of apples from her every day until he had spent it all. That
USED TO THINK I MIGHT PERHAPS BE A PRESIDENT, BUT
NEVER THOUGHT OF BEING AN EARL,' SAID CEDDIE."
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 31
made twenty days, and he grew tired of apples after a week ; but
then it was quite fortunate a gentleman gave me fifty cents and
I bought apples from her instead. You feel sorry for any one that 's
so poor and has such ancient lin-lenage. She says hers has gone
into her bones and the rain makes it worse."
Mr. Havisham felt rather at a loss as he looked at his com-
panion's innocent, serious little face.
" I am afraid you did not quite understand me," he explained.
"When I said 'ancient lineage' I did not mean old age; I meant
that the name of such a family has been known in the world a long
time ; perhaps for hundreds of years persons bearing that name have
been known and spoken of in the history of their country."
" Like George Washington," said Ceddie. '" I Ve heard of him
ever since I was born, and he was known about, long before that.
Mr. Hobbs says he will never be forgotten. That 's because of the
Declaration of Independence, you know, and the Fourth of July.
You see, he was a very brave man."
" The first Earl of Dorincourt," said Mr. Havisham solemnly,
" was created an earl four hundred years ago."
" Well, well ! " said Ceddie. " That was a long time ago ! Did
you tell Dearest that ? It would int'rust her very much. We '11 tell
her when she comes in. She always likes to hear cur'us things.
What else does an earl do besides being created ? "
" A great many of them have helped to govern England. Some
of them have been brave men and have fought in great battles in
the old days."
" I should like to do that myself," said Cedric. " My papa was a
soldier, and he was a very brave man as brave as George Wash-
ington. Perhaps that was because he would have been an earl if he
had n't died. I am glad earls are brave. That's a great Van-
tage to be a brave man. Once I used to be rather afraid of
32 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
things in the dark, you know; but when I thought about the
soldiers in the Revolution and George Washington it cured me."
" There is another advantage in being an earl, sometimes," said
Mr. Havisham slowly, and he fixed his shrewd eyes on the little boy
with a rather curious expression. " Some earls have a great deal
of money."
He was curious because he wondered if his young friend knew
what the power of money was.
" That 's a good thing to have," said Ceddie innocently. " I wish
I had a great deal of money."
" Do you ? " said Mr. Havisham. " And why ? "
" Well," explained Cedric, " there are so many things a person
can do with money. You see, there 's the apple-woman. If I were
very rich I should buy her a little tent to put her stall in, and a little
stove, and then I should give her a dollar every morning it rained,
so that she could afford to stay at home. And then oh ! I 'd give
her a shawl. And, you see, her bones would n't feel so badly. Her
bones are not like our bones ; they hurt her when she moves. It 's
very painful when your bones hurt you. If I were rich enough
to do all those things for her, I guess her bones would be all
right."
"Ahem!" said Mr. Havisham. "And what else would you do
if you were rich ? "
" Oh ! I 'd do a great many things. Of course I should buy
Dearest all sorts of beautiful things, needle-books and fans and gold
thimbles and rings, and an encyclopedia, and a carriage, so that she
need n't have to wait for the street-cars. If she liked pink silk
dresses, I should buy her some, but she likes black best. But I 'd
take her to the big stores, and tell her to look 'round and choose for
herself. And then Dick "
" Who is Dick ? " asked Mr. Havisham.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 33
" Dick is a boot-black," said his young lordship, quite warming
up in his interest in plans so exciting. " He is one of the nicest
boot-blacks you ever knew. He stands at the corner of a street
down-town. I Ve known him for years. Once when I was very
little, I was walking out with Dearest, and she bought me a beauti-
ful ball that bounced, and I was carrying it and it bounced into the
middle of the street where the carriages and horses were, and I was
so disappointed, I began to cry I was very little. I had kilts on.
And Dick was blacking a man's shoes, and he said ' Hello ! ' and he
ran in between the horses and caught the ball for me and wiped it
off with his coat and gave it to me and said, ' It 's all right, young
un.' So Dearest admired him very much, and so did I, and ever
since then, when we go down-town, we talk to him. He says
' Hello ! ' and I say ' Hello ! ' and then we talk a little, and he tells
me how trade is. It 's been bad lately."
" And what would you like to do for him ?" inquired the lawyer,
rubbing his chin and smiling a queer smile.
" Well," said Lord Fauntleroy, settling himself in his chair with a
business air, " I 'd buy Jake out."
" And who is Jake? " Mr. Havisham asked.
" He 's Dick's partner, and he is the worst partner a fellow
could have ! Dick says so. He is n't a credit to the business,
and he is n't square. He cheats, and that makes Dick mad.
It would make you mad, you know, if you were blacking boots
as hard as you could, and being square all the time, and your
partner was n't square at all. People like Dick, but they don't
like Jake, and so sometimes they don't come twice. So if I were
rich, I 'd buy Jake out and get Dick a 'boss' sign he says a
'boss' sign goes a long way; and I 'd get him some new clothes
and new brushes, and start him out fair. He says all he wants is
to start out fair."
34
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
There could have been nothing more confiding and innocent
than the way in which his small lordship told his little story, quoting
his friend Dick's bits of slang in the most candid good faith. He
seemed to feel not a shade of a doubt that his elderly companion
would be just as interested as he was himself. And in truth Mr.
Havisham was beginning to be greatly interested ; but perhaps .not
quite so much in Dick and the apple-woman as in this kind little
lordling, whose curly head was so busy, under its yellow thatch, with
good-natured plans for his friends, and who seemed somehow to have
forgotten himself altogether.
" Is there anything " he began. "What would you get for
yourself, if you were rich ? "
" Lots of things!" answered Lord Fauntleroy briskly; "but first
I 'd give Mary some money for Bridget that 's her sister, with
twelve children, and a husband out of work. She comes here and
cries, and Dearest gives her things in a basket, and then she cries
again, and says : ' Blessin's be on yez, for a beautiful lady.' And I
think Mr. Hobbs would like a gold watch and chain to remember me
by, and a meerschaum pipe. And then I 'd like to get up a company."
" A company ! " exclaimed Mr. Havisham.
" Like a Republican rally," explained Cedric, becoming quite
excited. " I 'd have torches and uniforms and things for all the boys
and myself, too. And we 'd march, you know, and drill. That 's
what I should like for myself, if I were rich."
The door opened and Mrs. Errol came in.
" I am sorry to have been obliged to leave you so long," she said
to Mr. Havisham ; " but a poor woman, who is in great trouble,
came to see me."
' This young gentleman," said Mr. Havisham, " has been telling
me about some of his friends, and what he would do for them if he
were rich."
LITTLE. LORD FAUNTLEROY. 35
"Bridget is one of his friends," said Mrs. Errol ; "and it is
Bridget to whom I have been talking in the kitchen. She is in
great trouble now because her husband has rheumatic fever."
Cedric slipped down out of his big chair.
" I think I '11 go and see her," he said, " and ask her how he is.
He 's a nice man when he is well. I 'm obliged to him because he
once made me a sword out of wood. He 's a very talented man."
He ran out of the room, and Mr. Havisham rose from his chair.
He seemed to have something in his mind which he wished to speak
of. He hesitated a moment, and then said, looking down at Mrs.
Errol :
" Before I left Dorincourt Castle, I had an interview with the
Earl, in which he gave me some instructions. He is desirous that
his grandson should look forward with some pleasure to his future
life in England, and also to his acquaintance with himself. He said
that I must let his lordship know that the change in his life would
bring him money and the pleasures children enjoy ; if he expressed
any wishes, I was to gratify them, and to tell him that his grand-
father had given him what he wished. I am aware that the Earl did
not expect anything quite like this ; but if it would give Lord Faunt-
leroy pleasure to assist this poor woman, I should feel that the Earl
would be displeased if he were not gratified."
For the second time, he did not repeat the Earl's exact words.
His lordship had, indeed, said:
" Make the lad understand that I can give him anything he
wants. Let him know what it is to be the grandson of the Earl of
Dorincourt. Buy him everything he takes a fancy to ; let him have
money in his pockets, and tell him his grandfather put it there."
His motives were far from being good, and if he had been
dealing with a nature less affectionate and warm-hearted than little
Lord Fauntleroy's, great harm might have been done. And Cedric's
36 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
mother was too gentle to suspect any harm. She thought that per-
haps this meant that a lonely, unhappy old man, whose children were
dead, wished to be kind to her little boy, and win his love and confi-
dence. And it pleased her very much to think that Ceddie would
be able to help Bridget. It made her happier to know that the very
first result of the strange fortune which had befallen her little boy
was that he could do kind things for those who needed kindness.
Quite a warm color bloomed on her pretty young face.
" Oh ! " she said, " that was very kind of the Earl ; Cedric will be
so glad ! He has always been fond of Bridget and Michael. They
are quite deserving. I have often wished I had been able to help
them more. Michael is a hard-working man when he is well, but
he has been ill a long time and needs expensive medicines and warm
clothing and nourishing food. He and Bridget will not be wasteful
of what is given them."
Mr. Havisham put his thin hand in his breast pocket and drew
forth a large pocket-book. There was a queer look in his keen face.
The truth was, he was wondering what the Earl of Dorinccurt would
say when he was told what was the first wish of his grandson that
had been granted. He wondered what the cross, worldly, selfish old
nobleman would think cf it.
" I do not know that you have realized," he said, "that the Earl
of Dorincourt is an exceedingly rich man. He can afford to gratify
any caprice. I think it would please him to know that Lord Faunt-
leroy had been indulged in any fancy. If you will call him back and
allow me, I shall give him five pounds for these people."
" That would be twenty-five dollars ! " exclaimed Mrs. Errol. " It
will seem like wealth to them. " I can scarcely believe that it is true."
" It is quite true," said Mr. Havisham, with his dry smile. " A
great change has taken place in your son's life, a great deal of power
will lie in his hands."
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 37
" Oh !" cried his mother. " And he is such a little boy a very
little boy. How can I teach him to use it well ? It makes me half
afraid. My pretty little Ceddie ! "
The lawyer slightly cleared his throat. It touched his worldly,
hard old heart to see the tender, timid look in her brown eyes.
" I think, madam," he said, "that if I may judge from my inter-
view with Lord Fauntleroy this morning, the next Earl of Dorin-
court will think for others as well as for his noble self. He is only a
child yet, but I think he may be trusted."
Then his mother went for Cedric and brought him back into the
parlor. Mr. Havisham heard him talking before he entered the room.
"It's infam-natory rheumatism," he was saying, "and that's a
kind of rheumatism that 's dreadful. And he thinks about the rent
not being paid, and Bridget says that makes the inf'ammation worse.
And Pat could get a place in a store if he had some clothes."
His little face looked quite anxious when he came in. He was
very sorry for Bridget.
" Dearest said you wanted me," he said to Mr. Havisham. " I 've
been talking to Bridget."
Mr. Havisham looked down at him a moment. He felt a little
awkward and undecided. As Cedric's mother had said, he was a
very little boy.
"The Earl of Dorincourt " he began, and then he glanced
involuntarily at Mrs. Errol.
Little Lord Fauntleroy's mother suddenly kneeled down by him
and put both her tender arms around his childish body.
" Ceddie," she said, " the Earl is your grandpapa, your own
papa's father. He is very, very kind, and he loves you and wishes
you to love him, because the sons who were his little boys are dead.
He wishes you to be happy and to make other people happy. He is
very rich, and he wishes you to have everything you would like to
3 8 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
have. He told Mr. Havisham so, and gave him a great deal of
money for you. You can give some to Bridget now ; enough to pay
her rent and buy Michael everything. Is n't that fine, Ceddie ?
Is n't he good ? " And she kissed the child on his round cheek,
where the bright color suddenly flashed up in his excited amazement.
He looked from his mother to Mr. Havisham.
" Can I have it now ? " he cried. " Can I give it to her this
minute ? She 's just going."
Mr. Havisham handed him the money. It was in fresh, clean
greenbacks and made a neat roll.
Ceddie flew out of the room with it.
" Bridget ! " they heard him shout, as he tore into the kitchen.
" Bridget, wait a minute ! Here 's some money. It 's for you, and
you can pay the rent. My grandpapa gave it to me. It 's for you
and Michael ! "
" Oh, Master Ceddie ! " cried Bridget, in an awe-stricken voice.
" It 's twinty-foive dollars is here. Where be's the misthress ? "
" I think I shall have to go and explain it to her," Mrs. Errol said.
So she, too, went out of the room and Mr. Havisham was left
alone for a while. He went to the window and stood looking out
into the street reflectively. He was thinking of the old Earl of
Dorincourt, sitting in his great, splendid, gloomy library at the
castle, gouty and lonely, surrounded by grandeur and luxury, but
not really loved by any one, because in all his long life he had never
really loved any one but himself; he had been selfish and self-indul-
gent and arrogant and passionate; he had cared so much for the
Earl of Dorincourt and his pleasures that there had been no time for
him to think of other people ; all his wealth and power, all the bene-
fits from his noble name and high rank, had seemed to him to be
things only to be used to amuse and give pleasure to the Earl of
Dorincourt ; and now that he was an old man, all this excitement
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 39
and self-indulgence had only brought him ill health and irritability
and a dislike of the world, which certainly disliked him. In spite of
all his splendor, there was never a more unpopular old nobleman
than the Earl of Dorincourt, and there could scarcely have been a
more lonely one. He could fill his castle with guests if he chose.
He could give great dinners and splendid hunting parties ; but he
knew that in secret the people who would accept his invitations were
afraid of his frowning old face and sarcastic, biting speeches. He
had a cruel tongue and a bitter nature, and he took pleasure in
sneering at people and making them feel uncomfortable, when he had
the power to do so, because they were sensitive or proud or timid.
Mr. Havisham knew his hard, fierce ways by heart, and he was
thinking of him as he looked out of the window into the narrow,
quiet street. And there rose in his mind, in sharp contrast, the
picture of the cheery, handsome little fellow sitting in the big chair
and telling his story of his friends, Dick and the apple-woman, in
his generous, innocent, honest way. And he thought of the immense
income, the beautiful, majestic estates, the wealth, and power for
good or evil, which in the course of time would lie in the small,
chubby hands little Lord Fauntleroy thrust so deep into his pockets.
" It will make a great difference," he said to himself. " It will
make a great difference."
Cedric and his mother came back soon after. Cedric was in high
spirits. He sat down in his own chair, between his mother and the
lawyer, and fell into one of his quaint attitudes, with his hands on his
knees. He was glowing with enjoyment of Bridget's relief and rapture.
" She cried ! " he said. " She said she was crying for joy ! I
never saw any one cry for joy before. My grandpapa must be a
very good man. I did n't know he was so good a man. It 's
more more agreeabler to be an earl than I thought it was. I 'm
almost glad I 'm almost quite glad I 'm going to be one."
Ill
CEDRIC'S good opinion of the advantages of being an earl
increased greatly during the next week. It seemed almost
impossible for him to realize that there was scarcely anything
he might wish to do which he could not do easily ; in fact, I think it
may be said that he did not fully realize it at all. But at least he
understood, after a few conversations with Mr. Havisham, that he
could gratify all his nearest wishes, and he proceeded to gratify
them with a simplicity and delight which caused Mr. Havisham much
diversion. In the week before they sailed for England he did many
curious things. The lawyer long after remembered the morning
they went down-town together to pay a visit to Dick, and the after-
noon they so amazed the apple-woman of ancient lineage by stop-
ping before her stall and telling her she was to have a tent, and a
stove, and a shawl, and a sum of money which seemed to her quite
wonderful.
" For I have to go to England and be a lord," explained Cedric,
sweet-temperedly. " And I should n't like to have your bones on
my mind every time it rained. My own bones never hurt, so I think
I don't know how painful a person's bones can be, but I Ve sympa-
thized with you a great deal, and I hope you '11 be better."
" She 's a very good apple-woman," he said to Mr. Havisham, as
they walked away, leaving the proprietress of the stall almost gasp-
ing for breath, and not at all believing in her great fortune. " Once,
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
when I fell down and cut my knee, she gave me an apple fcr noth-
ing. I Ve always remembered her for it. You know you always
remember people who are kind to you."
It had never occurred to his honest, simple little mind that there
were people who could forget
kindnesses.
The interview with Dick
was quite exciting. Dick had
just been having a great deal of
trouble with Jake, and was in
low spirits when they saw him.
His amazement when Cedric
calmly announced that they had
come to give him what seemed a
very great thing to him, and would
set all his troubles right, almost
struck him dumb. Lord Faunt-
leroy's manner cf announcing
the object of his visit was very
simple and unceremonious. Mr.
Havisham was much impressed
by its directness as he stood by
and listened. The statement that
his old friend had become a lord,
and was in danger cf being an
earl if he lived long enough,
caused Dick to so open his eyes
, , , , , .
and mouth, and start, that his
cap fell off. When he picked
it up, he uttered a rather singular exclamation. Mr. Havisham
thought it singular, but Cedric had heard it before.
"I HAVE TO GO TO ENC-
LAND AXD BE A LORD ."
42 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
" I soy ! " he said, " what 're yer givin' us ? " This plainly embar-
rassed his lordship a little, but he bore himself bravely.
" Everybody thinks it not true at first," he said. " Mr. Hobbs
thought I 'd had a sunstroke. I did n't think I was going to like it
myself, but I like it better now I 'm used to it. The one who is the
earl now, he 's my grandpapa ; and he wants me to do anything I
like. He 's very kind, if he is an earl ; and he sent me a lot of
money by Mr. Havisham, and I Ve brought some to you to buy
Jake out."
And the end of the matter was that Dick actually bought Jake
out, and found himself the possessor of the business and some new
brushes and a most astonishing sign and outfit. He could not
believe in his good luck any more easily than the apple-woman of
ancient lineage could believe in hers ; he walked about like a boot-
black in a dream ; he stared at his young benefactor and felt as if he
might wake up at any moment. He scarcely seemed to realize any-
thing until Cedric put out his hand to shake hands with him before
going away.
" Well, good-bye," he said ; and though he tried to speak steadily,
there was a little tremble in his voice and he winked his big brown
eyes. " And I hope trade '11 be good. I 'm sorry I 'm going away
to leave you, but perhaps I shall come back again when I 'm an earl.
And I wish you 'd write to me, because we were always good friends.
And if you write to me, here 's where you must send your letter."
And he gave him a slip of paper. " And my name is n't Cedric
Errol any more ; it 's Lord Fauntleroy and and good-bye, Dick."
Dick winked his eyes also, and yet they looked rather moist
about the lashes. He was not an educated boot-black, and he would
have found it difficult to tell what he felt just then if he had tried ;
perhaps that was why he did n't try, and only winked his eyes and
swallowed a lump in his throat.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 43
" I wish ye was n't goin' away," he said in a husky voice. Then
he winked his eyes again. Then he looked at Mr. Havisham, and
touched his cap, l< Thanky, sir, fur bringin' him down here an' fur
wot ye Ve done, He 's he 's a queer little feller," he added.
"I Ve allers thort a heap of him. He 's such a game little feller,
an' an' such a queer little un."
And when they turned away he stood and looked after them
in a dazed kind of way, and there was still a mist in his eyes, and a
lump in his throat, as he watched the gallant little figure marching
gayly along by the side of its tall, rigid escort.
Until the day of his departure, his lordship spent as much time
as possible with Mr. Hobbs in the store. Gloom had settled upon
Mr. Hobbs ; he was much depressed in spirits. When his young friend
brought to him in triumph the parting gift of a gold watch and chain,
Mr. Hobbs found it difficult to acknowledge it properly. He laid the
case on his stout knee, and blew his nose violently several times.
"There's something written on it," said Cedric, "inside the
case. I told the man myself what to say. ' From his oldest friend,
Lord Fauntleroy, to Mr. Hobbs. When this you see, remember me.'
I don't want you to forget me."
Mr. Hobbs blew his nose very loudly again.
" I sha'n't forget you," he said, speaking a trifle huskily, as Dick
had spoken ; " nor don't you go and forget me when you get among
the British arrystocracy."
" I should n't forget you, whoever I was among," answered his
lordship. "I Ve spent my happiest hours with you ; at least, some
of my happiest hours. I hope you '11 come to see me sometime.
I 'm sure my grandpapa would be very much pleased. Perhaps he '11
write and ask you, when I tell him about you. You you would n't
mind his being an earl, would you ? I mean you would n't stay
away just because he was one, if he invited you to come ? "
44 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
" I 'd come to see you," replied Mr. Hobbs, graciously.
So it seemed to be agreed that if he received a pressing invita-
tion from the earl to come and spend a few months at Dorincourt
Castle, he was to lay aside his republican prejudices and pack his
valise at once.
At last all the preparations were complete ; the day came when
the trunks were taken to the steamer, and the hour arrived when the
carriage stood at the door. Then a curious feeling of loneliness
came upon the little boy. His mamma had been shut up in her
room for some time ; when she came down the stairs, her eyes looked
large and wet, and her sweet mouth was trembling. Cedric went to
her, and she bent down to him, and he put his arms around her, and
they kissed each other. He knew something made them both sorry,
though he scarcely knew what it was ; but one tender little thought
rose to his lips.
" We liked this little house, Dearest, did n't we ? " he said. " We
always will like it, wont we ? "
" Yes yes," she answered, in a low, sweet voice. " Yes,
darling."
And then they went into the carriage and Cedric sat very close
to her, and as she looked back out of the window, he looked at her
and stroked her hand and held it close.
And then, it seemed almost directly, they were on the steamer
in the midst of the wildest bustle and confusion ; carriages were
driving down and leaving passengers ; passengers were getting into
a state of excitement about baggage which had not arrived and
threatened to be too late ; big trunks and cases were being bumped
down and dragged about ; sailors were uncoiling ropes and hurrying
to and fro ; officers were giving orders ; ladies and gentlemen and
children and nurses were coming on board, some were laughing
and looked gay, some were silent and sad, here and there two or
DICK BOARDS THE STEAMER TO BID GOOD-BYE TO LORD FAUNTLEROY.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 47
three were crying and touching their eyes with their handkerchiefs.
Cedric found something to interest him on every side ; he looked at
the piles of rope, at the furled sails, at the tall, tall masts which
seemed almost to touch the hot blue sky ; he began to make plans
for conversing with the sailors and gaining some information en the
subject of pirates.
It was just at the very last, when he was standing leaning on
the railing of the upper deck and watching the final preparations,
enjoying the excitement and the shouts of the sailors and wharfmen,
that his attention was called to a slight bustle in one of the groups
not far from him. Some one was hurriedly forcing his way through
this group and coming toward him. It was a boy, with something
red in his hand. It was Dick. He came up to Cedric quite
breathless.
" I Ve run all the way," he said. " I Ve come down to see ye off.
Trade 's been prime ! I bought this for ye out o' what I made
yesterday. Ye kin wear it when ye get among the swells. I lost
the paper when I was tryin' to get through them fellers downstairs.
They did n't want to let me up. It 's a hankercher."
He poured it all forth as if in one sentence. A bell rang, and
he made a leap away before Cedric had time to speak.
"Good-bye!" he panted. "Wear it when ye get among the
swells." And he darted off and was gone.
A few seconds later they saw him struggle through the crowd
on the lower deck, and rush on shore just before the gang-plank was
drawn in. He stood on the wharf and waved his cap.
Cedric held the handkerchief in his hand. It was of bright red
silk ornamented with purple horseshoes and horses' heads.
There was a great straining and creaking and confusion. The
people on the wharf began to shout to their friends, and the people
on the steamer shouted back :
4 8
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
" Good-bye ! Good-bye ! Good-bye, ' old fellow ! " Every one
seemed to be saying, " Don't forget us. Write when you get to
Liverpool. Good-bye ! Good-bye ! "
Little Lord Fauntleroy leaned forward and waved the red
handkerchief.
" Good-bye, Dick ! " he shouted, lustily. " Thank you ! Good-
bye, Dick ! "
And the big steamer moved away, and the people cheered
again, and Cedric's mother drew the veil over her eyes, and on the
shore there was left great confusion; but Dick saw nothing save that
bright, childish face and the bright hair that the sun shone on and
the breeze lifted, and he heard nothing but the hearty childish voice
calling " Good-bye, Dick ! " as little Lord Fauntleroy steamed slowly
away from the home of his birth to the unknown land of his ancestors.
IV
IT was during the voyage that Cedric's mother told him that his
home was not to be hers ; and when he first understood it, his
grief was so great that Mr. Havisham saw that the Earl had
been wise in making the arrangements that his mother should be
quite near him, and see him often ; for it was very plain he could
not have borne the separation otherwise. But his mother managed
the little fellow so sweetly and lovingly, and made him feel that she
would be so near him, that, after a while, he ceased to be oppressed
by the fear of any real parting.
" My house is not far from the Castle, Ceddie," she repeated each
time the subject was referred to " a very little way from yours, and
you can always run in and see me every day, and you will have so
many things to tell me ! and we shall be so happy together ! It is a
beautiful place. Your papa has often told me about it. He Joyed
it very much ; and you will love it too."
" I should love it better if you were there," his small lordship said,
with a heavy little sigh.
He could not but feel puzzled by so strange a state of affairs,
which could put his "Dearest" in one house and himself in another.
The fact was that Mrs. Errol had thought it better not to tell
him why this plan had been made.
" I should prefer he should not be told," she said to Mr. Hav-
isham. "He would not really understand; he would only be
shocked and hurt ; and I feel sure that his feeling for the Earl will
4 49
50 LITTLE LORD EAUNTLEROY.
be a more natural and affectionate one if he does not know that his
grandfather dislikes me so bitterly. He has never seen hatred or
hardness, and it would be a great blow to him to find out that any
one could hate me. He is so loving himself, and I am so dear to
him! It is better for him that he should not be told until he is much
older, and it is far better for the Earl. It would make a barrier
between them, even though Ceddie is such a child."
So Cedric only knew that there was some mysterious reason for
the arrangement, some reason which he was not old enough to
understand, but which would be explained when he was older. He
was puzzled ; but, after all, it was not the reason he cared about so
much ; and after many talks with his mother, in which she comforted
him and placed before him the bright side of the picture, the dark
side of it gradually began to fade out, though now and then Mr.
Havisham saw him sitting in some queer little old-fashioned attitude,
watching the sea, with a very grave face, and more than once he
heard an unchildish sigh rise to his lips.
" I don't like it," he said once as he was having one of his almost
venerable talks with the lawyer. " You don't know how much I
don't like it ; but there are a great many troubles in this world, and
you have to bear them. Mary says so, and I Ve heard Mr. Hobbs
say it too. And Dearest wants me to like to live with my grandpapa,
because, you see, all his children are dead, and that 's very mourn-
ful. It makes you sorry for a man, when all his children have died
and one was killed suddenly."
One of the things which always delighted the people who made
the acquaintance of his young lordship was the sage little air he
wore at times when he gave himself up to conversation ; combined
with his occasionally elderly remarks and the extreme innocence and
seriousness of his round childish face, it was irresistible. He was
such a handsome, blooming, curly-headed little fellow, that, when he
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 51
sat down and nursed his knee with his chubby hands, and conversed
with much gravity, he was a source of great entertainment to his
hearers. Gradually Mr. Havisham had begun to derive a great deal
of private pleasure and amusement from his society.
" And so you are going to try to like the Earl," he said.
" Yes," answered his lordship. " He 's my relation, and of course
you have to like your relations ; and besides, he 's been very kind
to me. When a person does so many things for you, and wants you
to have everything you wish for, of course you 'd like him if he was
n't your relation; but when he 's your relation and does that, why,
you 're very fond of him."
" Do you think," suggested Mr. Havisham, " that he will be fond
of you ? "
" Well," said Cedric, " I think he will, because, you see, I 'm his
relation, too, and I 'm his boy's little boy besides, and, well, don't
you see of course he must be fond of me now, or he would n't
want me to have everything that I like, and he would n't have sent
you for me."
" Oh ! " remarked the lawyer, " that 's it, is it? "
" Yes," said Cedric, " that 's it. Don't you think that 's it, too?
Of course a man would be fond of his grandson."
The people who had been seasick had no sooner recovered from
their seasickness, and come on deck to recline in their steamer-chairs
and enjoy themselves, than every one seemed to know the romantic
story of little Lord Fauntleroy, and every one took an interest in the
little fellow, who ran about the ship or walked with his mother or the
tall, thin old lawyer, or talked to the sailors. Every one liked him ;
he made friends everywhere. He was ever ready to make friends.
When the gentlemen walked up and down the deck, and let him
walk with them, he stepped out with a manly, sturdy little tramp,
and answered all their jokes with much gay enjoyment ; when the
52 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
ladies talked to him, there was always laughter in the group of which
he was the center; when he played with the children, there was
always magnificent fun on hand. Among the sailors he had the
heartiest friends; he heard miraculous stories about pirates and ship-
wrecks and desert islands; he learned to splice ropes and rig toy
ships, and gained an amount of information concerning "tops'ls" and
" mains'ls," quite surprising. His conversation had, indeed, quite a
nautical flavor at times, and on one occasion he raised a shout of
laughter in a group of ladies and gentlemen who were sitting on
deck, wrapped in shawls and overcoats, by saying sweetly, and with
a very engaging expression :
" Shiver my timbers, but it 's a cold day ! "
It surprised him when they laughed. He had picked up this
sea-faring remark from an "elderly naval man" of the name of
Jerry, who told him stories in which it occurred frequently. To judge
from his stories of his own adventures, Jerry had made some two or
three thousand voyages, and had been invariably shipwrecked on
each occasion on an island densely populated with bloodthirsty canni-
bals. Judging, also, by these same exciting adventures, he had been
partially roasted and eaten frequently and had been scalped some
fifteen or twenty times.
" That is why he is so bald," explained Lord Fauntleroy to his
mamma. " After you have been scalped several times the hair never
grows again. Jerry's never grew again after that last time, when the
King of the Parromachaweekins did it with the knife made out of the
skull of the Chief of the Wopslemumpkies. He says it was one of the
most serious times he ever had. He was so frightened that his hair
stood right straight up when the king flourished his knife, and it never
would lie down, and the king wears it that way now, and it looks some-
thing like a hair-brush. I never heard anything like the asperiences
Jerry has had ! I should so like to tell Mr. Hobbs about them ! "
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
53
Sometimes, when the weather was very disagreeable and people
were kept below decks in the saloon, a party of his grown-up friends
would persuade him to tell them
some of these " asperiences " of
Jerry's, and as he sat relating
them with great delight and
fervor, there was certainly no
more popular voyager on any
ocean steamer crossing the At-
lantic than little Lord Faunt-
leroy. He was always innocently
and good-naturedly ready to do
his small best to add to the gen-
eral entertainment, and there
was a charm in the very uncon-
sciousness of his own childish
importance.
"Jerry's stories int'rust them
very much," he said to his
mamma. "For my part you
must excuse me, Dearest
but sometimes I should have
thought they could n't be all
quite true, if they had n't hap-
pened to Jerry himself; but
as they all happened to Jerry
well, it 's very strange, you
know, and perhaps sometimes
he may forget and be a little
mistaken, as he 's been scalped so often. Being scalped a
many times might make a person forgetful."
JERRY NARRATES SOME OF HIS ADVENTURES.
great
54 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
It was eleven days after he had said good-bye to his friend Dick
before he reached Liverpool ; and it was on the night of the twelfth
day that the carriage in which he and his mother and Mr. Havisham
had driven from the station stopped before the gates of Court Lodge.
They could not see much of the house in the darkness. Cedric only
saw that there was a drive-way under great arching trees, and after
the carriage had rolled down this drive-way a short distance, he
saw an open door and a stream of bright light coming through it.
Mary had come with them to attend her mistress, and she had
reached the house before them. When Cedric jumped out of the
carriage he saw one or two servants standing in the wide, bright
hall, and Mary stood in the door-way.
Lord Fauntleroy sprang at her with a gay little shout.
" Did you get here, Mary?" he said. " Here 's Mary, Dearest,"
and he kissed the maid on her rough red cheek.
" I am glad you are here, Mary," Mrs. Errol said to her in a low
voice. " It is such a comfort to me to see you. It takes the strange-
ness away." And she held out her little hand, which Mary squeezed
encouragingly. She knew how this first " strangeness " must feel to
this little mother who had left her own land and was about to give
up her child.
The English servants looked with curiosity at both the boy and
his mother. They had heard all sorts of rumors about them both ;
they knew how angry the old Earl had been, and why Mrs. Errol
was to live at the lodge and her little boy at the castle ; they knew
all about the great fortune he was to inherit, and about the savage
old grandfather and his gout and his tempers.
" He '11 have no easy time of it, poor little chap," they had said
among themselves.
But they did not know what sort of a little lord had come
among them ; they did not quite understand the character of the
next Earl of Dorincourt.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 55
He pulled off his overcoat quite as if he were used to doing
things for himself, and began to look about him. He looked about
the broad hall, at the pictures and stags' antlers and curious things
that ornamented it. They seemed curious to him because he had
never seen such things before in a private house.
" Dearest," he said, " this is a very pretty house, is n't it ? I am
glad you are going to live here. It's quite a large house."
It was quite a large house compared to the one in the shabby
New York street, and it was very pretty and cheerful. Mary led
them upstairs to a bright chintz-hung bedroom where a fire was
burning, and a large snow-white Persian cat was sleeping luxuriously
on the white fur hearth-rug.
" It was the house-kaper up at the Castle, ma'am, sint her to yez,"
explained Mary. " It 's herself is a kind-hearted lady an' has had
ivery thing done to prepar' fur yez. I seen her meself a few minnits,
an' she was fond av the Capt'in, ma'am, an' graivs fur him ; and she
said to say the big cat slapin' on the rug moight make the room
same homeloike to yez. She knowed Capt'in Errol whin he was a
bye an' a foine handsum' bye she ses he was, an' a foine young
man wid a plisint word fur every one, great an' shmall. An' ses I to
her, ses I : ' He 's" lift a bye that 's loike him, ma'am, fur a foiner
little felly niver sthipped in shoe-leather.' "
When they were ready, they went downstairs into another big
bright room ; its ceiling was low, and the furniture was heavy and
beautifully carved, the chairs were deep and had high massive backs,
and there were queer shelves and cabinets with strange, pretty
ornaments on them. There was a great tiger-skin before the fire,
and an arm-chair on each side of it. The stately white cat had
responded to Lord Fauntleroy's stroking and followed him down-
stairs, and when he threw himself down upon the rug, she curled
herself up grandly beside him as if she intended to make friends.
Cedric was so pleased that he put his head down by hers, and lay
56 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
stroking her, not noticing what his mother and Mr. Havisham
were saying.
They were, indeed, speaking in a rather low tone. Mrs. Errol
looked a little pale and agitated.
"He need not go to-night?" she said. ''He will stay with
me to-night ? "
"Yes," answered Mr. Havisham in the same low tone ; "it will
not be necessary for him to go to-night. I myself will go to the
Castle as soon as we have dined, and inform the Earl of our
arrival."
Mrs. Errol glanced down at Cedric. He was lying in a grace-
ful, careless attitude upon the black-and- yellow skin ; the fire shone
on his handsome, flushed little face, and on the tumbled, curly hair
spread out on the rug ; the big cat was purring in drowsy content,
she liked the caressing touch of the kind little hand on her fur.
Mrs. Errol smiled faintly.
" His lordship does not know all that he is taking from me," she
said rather sadly. Then she looked at the lawyer. " Will you tell
him, if you please," she said, " that I should rather not have the
money ? "
" The money ! " Mr. Havisham exclaimed. " You can not mean
the income he proposed to settle upon you ! "
" Yes," she answered, quite simply; " I think I should rather not
have it. I am obliged to accept the house, and I thank him for it,
because it makes it possible for me to be near my child ; but I have
a little money of my own, enough to live simply upon, and I
should rather not take the other. As he dislikes me so much, I
should feel a little as if I were selling Cedric to him. I am giving
him up only because I love him enough to forget myself for his good,
and because his father would wish it to be so."
Mr. Havisham rubbed his chin.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 59
" This is very strange," he said. " He will be very angry. He
wont understand it."
" I think he will understand it after he thinks it over," she said.
" I do not really need the money, and why should I accept luxuries
from the man who hates me so much that he takes my little boy
from me his son's child ? "
Mr. Havisham looked reflective for a few moments.
" I will deliver your message," he said afterward.
And then the dinner was brought in and they sat down together,
the big cat taking a seat on a chair near Cedric's and purring
majestically throughout the meal.
When, later in the evening, Mr. Havisham presented himself at
the Castle, he was taken at once to the Earl. He found him sitting
by the fire in a luxurious easy-chair, his foot on a gout-stool. He
looked at the lawyer sharply from under his shaggy eyebrows, but
Mr. Havisham could see that, in spite of his pretense at calmness,
he was nervous and secretly excited.
"Well," he said; "well, Havisham, come back, have you?
What 's the news ? "
" Lord Fauntleroy and his mother are at Court Lodge," replied
Mr. Havisham. "They bore the voyage very well and are in excel-
lent health."
The Earl made a half-impatient sound and moved his hand
restlessly.
" Glad to hear it," he said brusquely. " So far, so good. Make
yourself comfortable. Have a glass of wine and settle down. What
else ? "
"His lordship remains with his mother to-night. To-morrow I
will bring him to the Castle."
The Earl's elbow was resting on the arm of his chair ; he put
his hand up and shielded his eyes with it.
60 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
" Well," he said ; " go on. You know I told you not to write to
me about the matter, and I know nothing whatever about it. What
kind of a lad is he ? I don't care about the mother; what sort -of a
lad is he ? "
Mr. Havisham drank a little of the glass of port he had poured
out for himself, and sat holding it in his hand.
" It is rather difficult to judge of the character of a child of seven,"
he said cautiously.
The Earl's prejudices were very intense. He looked up quickly
and uttered a rough word.
"A fool, is he?" he exclaimed. "Or a clumsy cub? His
American blood tells, does it ? "
" I do not think it has injured him, my lord," replied the lawyer
in his dry, deliberate fashion. " I don't know much about children,
but I thought him rather a fine lad."
His manner of speech was always deliberate and unenthusiastic,
but he made it a trifle more so than usual. He had a shrewd fancy
that it would be better that the Earl should judge for himself, and
be quite unprepared for his first interview with his grandson.
" Healthy and well-grown ? " asked my lord.
" Apparently very healthy, and quite well-grown," replied the
lawyer.
" Straight-limbed and well enough to look at ? " demanded the Earl.
A very slight smile touched Mr. Havisham's thin lips. There
rose up before his mind's eye the picture he had left at Court Lodge,
the beautiful, 'graceful child's body lying upon the tiger-skin in care-
less comfort the bright, tumbled hair spread on the rug the
bright, rosy boy's face.
" Rather a handsome boy, I think, my lord, as boys go," he said,
" though I am scarcely a judge, perhaps. But you will find him
somewhat different from most English children, I dare say."
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 6 1
" I have n't a* doubt of that," snarled the Earl, a twinge of gout
seizing him. "A lot of impudent little beggars, those American
children ; I Ve heard that often enough."
" It is not exactly impudence in his case," said Mr. Havisham.
" I can scarcely describe what the difference is. He has lived more
with older people than with children, and the difference seems to "be
a mixture of maturity and childishness."
" American impudence ! " protested the Earl. "I Ve heard of it
before. They call it precocity and freedom. Beastly, impudent bad
manners ; that 's what it is ! "
Mr. Havisham drank some more port. He seldom argued with
his lordly patron, never when his lordly patron's noble leg was
inflamed by gout. At such times it was always better to leave him
alone. So there was a silence of a few moments. It was Mr. Hav-
isham who broke it.
" I have a message to deliver from Mrs. Errol," he remarked.
" I don't want any of her messages ! " growled his lordship ; "the
less I hear of her the better."
" This is a rather important one," explained the lawyer. " She
prefers not to accept the income you proposed to settle on her."
The Earl started visibly.
" What 's that ? " he cried out. " What 's that ? "
Mr. Havisham repeated his words.
" She says it is not necessary, and that as the relations between
you are not friendly "
" Not friendly ! " ejaculated my lord savagely; " I should say they
were not friendly ! I hate to think of her ! A mercenary, sharp-
voiced American ! I don't wish to see her."
"My lord," said Mr. Havisham, "you can scarcely call her mer-
cenary. She has asked for nothing. -She does not accept the
money you offer her."
62 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
" All done for effect ! " snapped his noble lordship. " She
wants to wheedle me into seeing her. She thinks I shall admire
her spirit. I don't admire it ! It 's only American independence !
I wont have her living like a beggar at my park gates. As
she 's the boy's mother, she has a position to keep up, and she
shall keep it up. She shall have the money, whether she likes it
or not ! "
" She wont spend it," said Mr. Havisham.
" I don't care whether she spends it or not ! " blustered my lord.
" She shall have it sent to her. She sha'n't tell people that she has
to live like a pauper because I have done nothing for her ! She
wants to give the boy a bad opinion of me ! I suppose she has
poisoned his mind against me already ! "
" No," said Mr. Havisham. " I have another message, which
will prove to you that she has not done that."
" I don't want to hear it ! " panted the Earl, out of breath with
anger and excitement and gout.
But Mr. Havisham delivered it.
" She asks you not to let Lord Fauntleroy hear anything which
would lead him to understand that you separate him from her be-
cause of your prejudice against her. He is very fond of her, and
she is convinced that it would cause a barrier to exist between you.
She says he would not comprehend it, and it might make him fear
you in some measure, or at least cause him to feel less affection for
you. She has told him that he is too young to understand the rea-
son, but shall hear it when he is older. She wishes that there should
be no shadow on your first meeting."
The Earl sank back into his chair. His deep-set fierce old eyes
gleamed under his beetling brows.
"Come, now!" he said, still breathlessly. "Come, now! You
don't mean the mother has n't told him ? "
LITTLE LORD EAUNTLEROY. 63
"Not one word, my lord," replied the lawyer coolly. "That I
can assure you. The child is prepared to believe you the most
amiable and affectionate of grandparents. Nothing absolutely
nothing has been said to him to give him the slightest doubt of your
perfection. And as I carried out your commands in every detail,
while in New York, he certainly regards you as a wonder of
generosity."
" He does, eh ? " said the Earl.
" I give you my word of honor," said Mr. Havisham, " that Lord
Fauntleroy's impressions of you will depend entirely upon yourself.
And if you will pardon the liberty I take in making the suggestion,
I think you will succeed better with him if you take the precaution
not to speak slightingly of his mother."
"Pooh, pooh!" said the Earl. "The youngster is only seven
years old ! "
" He has spent those seven years at his mother's side," returned
Mr. Havisham ; "and she has all his affection."
IT was late in the afternoon when the carriage containing little
Lord Fauntleroy and Mr. Havisham drove up the long avenue
which led to 'the castle. The Earl had given orders that his
grandson should arrive in time to dine with him ; and for some reason
best known to himself, he had also ordered that the child should be
sent alone into the room in which he intended to receive him. As
the carriage rolled up the avenue, Lord Fauntleroy sat leaning com-
fortably against the luxurious cushions, and regarded the prospect
with great interest. He was, in fact, interested in everything he
saw. He had been interested in the carriage, with its large, splendid
horses and their glittering harness ; he had been interested in the
tall coachman and footman, with their resplendent livery ; and he
had been especially interested in the coronet on the panels, and had
struck up an acquaintance with the footman for the purpose of
inquiring what it meant.
When the carriage reached the great gates of the park, he
looked out of the window to get a good view of the huge stone lions
ornamenting the entrance. The gates were opened by a motherly,
rosy-looking woman, who came out of a pretty, ivy-covered lodge.
Two children ran out of the door of the house and stood looking
with round, wide-open eyes at the little boy in the carriage, who
looked at them also. Their mother stood courtesying and smiling,
and the children, on receiving a sign from her, made bobbing little
courtesies too.
'THE GATES WERE OPENED BY A WOMAN AND TWO CHILDREN WHO CAME OUT
OF A PRETTY IVY-COVERED LODGE."
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 67
"Does she know me?" asked Lord Fauntleroy. "I think she
must think she knows me." And he took off his black velvet cap to
her and smiled.
" How do you do ? " he said brightly. " Good-afternoon ! "
The woman seemed pleased, he thought. The smile broadened
on her rosy face and a kind look came into her blue eyes.
" God bless your lordship ! " she said. " God bless your pretty
face ! Good luck and happiness to your lordship ! Welcome to you ! "
Lord Fauntleroy waved his cap and nodded to her again as the
carriage rolled by her.
" I like that woman," he said. " She looks as if she liked boys.
I should like to come here and play with her children. I wonder if
she has enough to make up a company ? "
Mr. Havisham did not tell him that he would scarcely be allowed
to make playmates of the gate-keeper's children. The lawyer thought
there was time enough for giving him that information.
The carriage rolled on and on between the great, beautiful
trees which grew on each side of the avenue and stretched their
broad, swaying branches in an arch across it. Cedric had never
seen such trees, they were so grand and stately, and their branches
grew so low down on their huge trunks. He did not then know
that Dorincourt Castle was one of the most beautiful in all England;
that its park was one of the broadest and finest, and its trees and
avenue almost without rivals. But he did know that it was all very
beautiful. He liked the big, broad-branched trees, with the late
afternoon sunlight striking golden lances through them. He liked
the perfect stillness which rested on everything. He felt a great,
strange pleasure in the beauty of which he caught glimpses under
and between the sweeping boughs the great, beautiful spaces of
the park, with still other trees standing sometimes stately and alone,
and sometimes in groups. Now and then they passed places where
68 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
tall ferns grew in masses, and again and again the ground was azure
with the bluebells swaying in the soft breeze. Several times he
started up with a laugh of delight as a rabbit leaped up from under
the greenery and scudded away with a twinkle of short white tail
behind it. Once a covey of partridges rose with a sudden whir and
flew away, and then he shouted and clapped his hands.
" It 's a beautiful place, is n't it? " he said to Mr. Havisham. " I
never saw such a beautiful place. It 's prettier even than Central
Park."
He was rather puzzled by the length of time they were on their
way.
" How far is it," he said, at length, " from the gate to the front
door ? "
" It is between three and four miles," answered the lawyer.
" That 's a long way for a person to live from his gate," remarked
his lordship.
Every few minutes he saw something new to wonder at and
admire. When he caught sight of the deer, some couched in the
grass, some standing with their pretty antlered heads turned with a
half-startled air toward the avenue as the carriage wheels disturbed
them, he was enchanted.
"Has there been a circus?" he cried; "or do they live here
always ? Whose are they ? "
"They live here," Mr. Havisham told him. "They belong to
the Earl, your grandfather."
It was not long after this that they saw the castle. It rose up
before them stately and beautiful and gray, the last rays of the sun
casting dazzling lights on its many windows. It had turrets and
battlements and towers ; a great deal of ivy grew upon its walls ; all
the broad, open space about it was laid out in terraces and lawns and
beds of brilliant flowers.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 69
" It 's the most beautiful place I ever saw !" said Cedric, his round
face flushing with pleasure. " It reminds any one of a king's palace.
I saw a picture of one once in a fairy-book."
He saw the great entrance-door thrown open and many servants
standing in two lines looking at him. He wondered why they were
standing there, and admired their liveries very much. He did not
know that they were there to do honor to the little boy to whom all
this splendor would one day belong, the beautiful castle like the
fairy king's palace, the magnificent park, the grand old trees, the
dells full of ferns and bluebells where the hares and rabbits played,
the dappled, large-eyed deer couching in the deep grass. It was
only a couple of weeks since he had sat with Mr. Hobbs among the
potatoes and canned peaches, with his legs dangling from the high
stool ; it would not have been possible for him to realize that he had
very much to do with all this grandeur. At the head of the line of
servants there stood an elderly woman in a rich, plain black silk
gown ; she had gray hair and wore a cap. As he entered the hall
she stood nearer than the rest, and the child thought from the look
in her eyes that she was going to speak to him. Mr. Havisham, who
held his hand, paused a moment.
" This is Lord Fauntleroy, Mrs. Mellon," he said. " Lord Faunt-
leroy, this is Mrs. Mellon, who is the housekeeper."
Cedric gave her his hand, his eyes lighting up.
" Was it you who sent the cat ? " he said. " I 'm much obliged to
you, ma'am."
Mrs. Mellon's handsome old face looked as pleased as the face
of the lodge-keeper's wife had done.
" I should know his lordship anywhere," she said to Mr. Havisham.
" He has the Captain's face and way. It 's a great day, this, sir."
Cedric wondered why it was a great day. He looked at Mrs.
Mellon curiously. It seemed to him for a moment as if there were
70 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
tears in her eyes, and yet it was evident she was not unhappy. She
smiled down on him.
"The cat left two beautiful kittens here," she said; " they shall be
sent up to your lordship's nursery."
Mr. Havisham said a few words to her in a low voice.
" In the library, sir," Mrs. Mellon replied. " His lordship is to be
taken there alone."
A few minutes later, the very tall footman in livery, who had
escorted Cedric to the library door, opened it and announced: "Lord
Fauntleroy, my lord," in quite a majestic tone. If he was only a
footman, he felt it was rather a grand occasion when the heir came
home to his own land and possessions, and was ushered into the
presence of the old Earl, whose place and title he was to take.
Cedric crossed the threshold into the room. It was a very large
and splendid room, with massive carven furniture in it, and shelves
upon shelves of books ; the furniture was so dark, and the draperies
so heavy, the diamond-paned windows were so deep, and it seemed
such a distance from one end of it to the other, that, since the sun
had gone down, the effect of it all was rather gloomy. For a moment
Cedric thought there was nobody in the room, but soon he saw that
by the fire burning on the wide hearth there was a large easy-chair
and that in that chair some one was sitting some one who did not
at first turn to look at him.
But he had attracted attention in one quarter at least. On the
floor, by the arm-chair, lay a dog, a huge tawny mastiff, with body
and limbs almost as big as a lion's ; and this great creature rose
majestically and slowly, and marched toward the little fellow with a
heavy step.
Then the person in the chair spoke. " Dougal," he called,
"come back, sir."
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 71
But there was no more fear in little Lord Fauntleroy's heart
than there was imkindness he had been a brave little fellow all his
life. He put his hand on the big dog's collar in the most natural
way in the world, and they strayed forward together, Dougal sniffing
as he went.
And then the Earl looked up. What Cedric saw was a large
old man with shaggy white hair and eyebrows, and a nose like an
eagle's beak between his deep, fierce eyes. What the Earl saw was
a graceful, childish figure in a black velvet suit, with a lace collar,
and with love-locks waving about the handsome, manly little face,
whose eyes met his with a look of innocent good-fellowship. If the
Castle was like the palace in a fairy story, it must be owned that little
Lord Fauntleroy was himself rather like a small copy cf the fairy
prince, though he was not at all aware of the fact, and perhaps was
rather a sturdy young model of a fairy. But there was a sudden
glow of triumph and exultation in the fiery old Earl's heart as he
saw what a strong, beautiful boy this grandson was, and how unhesi-
tatingly he looked up as he stood with his hand on the big dog's
neck. It pleased the grim old nobleman that the child should show
no shyness or fear, either of the dog or of himself.
Cedric looked at him just as he had looked at the woman at the
lodge and at the housekeeper, and came quite close to him.
" Are you the Earl ? " he said. " I 'm your grandson, you know,
that Mr. Havisham brought. I 'm Lord Fauntleroy."
He held out his hand because he thought it must be the polite and
proper thing to do even with earls. " I hope you are very well," he
continued, with the utmost friendliness. " I 'm very glad to see you."
The Earl shook hands with him, with a curious gleam in his
eyes ; just at first, he was so astonished that he scarcely knew what
to say. He stared at the picturesque little apparition from under his
shaggy brows, and took it all in from head to foot.
72 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
" Glad to see me, are you ? " he said.
"Yes/' answered Lord Fauntleroy, "very."
There was a chair near him, and he sat down on it ; it was a
high-backed, rather tall chair, and his feet did not touch the floor
when he had settled himself in it, but he seemed to be quite com-
fortable as he sat there, and regarded his august relative intently
but modestly.
" I 've kept wondering what you would look like," he remarked.
" I used to lie in my berth in the ship and wonder if you would be
anything like my father."
" Am I ? " asked the Earl.
" Well," Cedric replied, " I was very young when he died, and I
may not remember exactly how he looked, but I don't think you are
like him."
" You are disappointed, I suppose ? " suggested his grandfather.
" Oh, no," responded Cedric politely. " Of course you would
like any one to look like your father ; but of course you would enjoy
the way your grandfather looked', even if he was n't like your father.
You know how it is yourself about admiring your relations."
The Earl leaned back in his chair and stared. He could not
be said to know how it was about admiring his relations. He had
employed most of his noble leisure in quarreling violently with them,
in turning them out of his house, and applying abusive epithets to
them ; and they all hated him cordially.
" Any boy would love his grandfather," continued Lord Fauntle-
roy, "especially one that had been as kind to him as you have been."
Another queer gleam came into the old nobleman's eyes.
" Oh ! " he said, " I have been kind to you, have I ? "
" Yes," answered Lord Fauntleroy brightly ; " I 'm ever so much
obliged to you about Bridget, and the apple-woman, and Dick."
" Bridget ! " exclaimed the Earl. " Dick ! The apple-woman ! "
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 73
" Yes !" explained Cedric; "the ones you gave me all that money
for the money you told Mr. Havisham to give me if I wanted it."
" Ha! " ejaculated his lordship. " That 's it, is it? The money
you were to spend as you liked. What did you buy with it ? I
should like to hear something about that."
He drew his shaggy eyebrows together and looked at the child
sharply. He was secretly curious to know in what way the lad had
indulged himself.
" Oh !" said Lord Fauntleroy, "perhaps you did n't know about
Dick and the apple-woman and Bridget. I forgot you lived such a
long way off from them. They were particular friends of mine.
And you see Michael had the fever "
" Who 's Michael? " asked the Earl.
"Michael is Bridget's husband, and they were in great trouble.
When a man is sick and can't work and has twelve children, you
know how it is. And Michael has always been a sober man. And
Bridget used to come to our house and cry. And the evening Mr.
Havisham was there, she was in the kitchen crying, because they
had almost nothing to eat and could n't pay the rent ; and I went in
to see her, and Mr. Havisham sent for me and he said you had given
him some money for me. And I ran as fast as I could into the
kitchen and gave it to Bridget ; and that made it all right ; and
Bridget could scarcely believe her eyes. That 's why I 'm so
obliged to you."
" Oh ! " said the Earl in his deep voice, " that was one of the things
you did for yourself, was it ? What else ? "
Dougal had been sitting by the tall chair ; the great dog had
taken its place there when Cedric sat down. Several times it had
turned and looked up at the boy as if interested in the conversation.
Dougal was a solemn dog, who seemed to feel altogether too big to
take life's responsibilities lightly. The old Earl, who knew the dog
74 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
well, had watched it with secret interest. Dougal was not a dog
whose habit it was to make acquaintances rashly, and the Earl won-
dered somewhat to see how quietly the brute sat under the touch of
the childish hand. And, just at this moment, the big dog gave little
Lord Fauntleroy one more look of dignified scrutiny, and deliberately
laid its huge, lion-like head on the boy's black-velvet knee.
The small hand went on stroking this new friend as Cedric
answered:
"Well, there was Dick," he said. "You 'd like Dick,"he 's so
square."
This was an Americanism the Earl was not prepared for.
" What does that mean ? " he inquired.
Lord Fauntleroy paused a moment to reflect. He was not very-
sure himself what it meant. He had taken it for granted as meaning
something very creditable because Dick had been fond cf using it.
" I think it means that he would n't cheat any one," he exclaimed;
" or hit a boy who was under his size, and that he blacks people's
boots very well and makes them shine as much as he can. He 's a
perfessional bootblack."
" And he 's one of your acquaintances, is he ? " said the Earl.
" He is an old friend of mine," replied his grandson. " Not quite
as old as Mr. Hobbs, but quite old. He gave me a present just
before the ship sailed."
He put his hand into his pocket and drew forth a neatly folded
red object and opened it with an air of affectionate pride. It was
the red silk handkerchief with the large purple horse-shoes and
heads on it.
" He gave me this," said his young lordship. " I shall keep it
always. You can wear it round your neck or keep it in your pocket.
He bought it with the first money he earned after I bought Jake out
and gave him the new brushes. It 's a keepsake. I put some
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 75
poetry in Mr. Hobbs's watch. It was, 'When this you see, remember
me.' When this I see, I shall always remember Dick."
The sensations of the Right Honorable the Earl of Dorincourt
could scarcely be described. He was not an old nobleman who was
very easily bewildered, because he had seen a great deal of the
world; but here was something he found so novel that it almost took
his lordly breath away, and caused him some singular emotions.
He had never cared for children ; he had been so occupied with his
own pleasures that he had never had time to care for them. His
own sons had not interested him when they were very young
though sometimes he remembered having thought Cedric's father a
handsome and strong little fellow. He had been so selfish himself
that he had missed the pleasure of seeing unselfishness in others, and
he had not known how tender and faithful and affectionate a kind-
hearted little child can be, and how innocent and unconscious are its
simple, generous impulses. A boy had always seemed to him a
most objectionable little animal, selfish and greedy and boisterous
when not under strict restraint ; his own two eldest sons had given
their tutors constant trouble and annoyance, and of the younger one
he fancied he had heard few complaints because the boy was of no
particular importance. It had never once occurred to him that he
should like his grandson ; he had sent for the little Cedric because
his pride impelled him to do so. If the boy was to take his place
in the future, he did not wish his name to be made ridiculous by
descending to an uneducated boor. He had been convinced the boy
would be a clownish fellow if he were brought up in America. He
had no feeling of affection for the lad ; his only hope was that he
should find him decently well-featured, and with a respectable share
of sense ; he had been so disappointed in his other sons, and had
been made so furious by Captain Errol's American marriage, that he
had never once thought that anything creditable could come of it.
7 6 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
When the footman had announced Lord Fauntleroy, he had almost
dreaded to look 
