‘Angry! oh no,’ replied Theodore; ‘to shew you that I am not, you shall take this half-guinea, and buy a good dinner for yourself and Rover.’
‘God bless you, Sir!’ ejaculated Barnaby.
“It was all he could say; and he turned hastily away, his eyes swimming with tears.
“The kind accents of Theodore had even a more powerful effect on him than his money. Theodore was returning home, when, at the corner of the street in which he lived, he again encountered Barnaby, who had taken a circuit round the houses, and was now hastening to meet him.
‘You must have the dog, Sir,’ said he, with a firm voice; ‘I cannot take your money for nothing; but you must keep him close, or he will run away. However, if he should return to me, I will bring him back; and I hope you will sometimes let me just have a peep at him in the kitchen or the stable.’
‘You shall see him every day,’ returned Theodore, well pleased with the arrangement, as well as with the noble-minded boy, whose deformed exterior concealed such a valuable heart.
“Blush, oh ye children of vanity! at this simple truth; fly not to your looking-glasses for self-approval, nor henceforward deem ugliness incompatible with virtue.
“Barnaby retreated, casting many a longing, lingering look behind at poor Rover, who, secured by the silk handkerchief of Theodore, struggled to get free, and was reluctantly forced into the house. A few days of close confinement ensued; and at last good fare, the comforts of a warm fireside, and kind treatment, reconciled him to his new master, and every inmate of the house, with whom he was soon on the most familiar terms. He was at once lord of the kitchen, and a welcome guest in the parlour. His engaging and docile manners rendered him an object of admiration to every one, and, unlike many who are suddenly exalted from indigence to prosperity, he forgot not his former benefactor, but the first time he came to the house, set up a loud bark of joy, and leaped upon him with every demonstration of affection, and could with difficulty be restrained from again following the fortunes of his humble master.
“The hardships under which poor Barnaby had formerly laboured had been much ameliorated by the kind generosity of the amiable Theodore, who had taken care that he should be supplied with wholesome food, and a decent change of wearing apparel from his own cast wardrobe; and as the boy had learnt to read and write in the charity-school, and was now too old to be apprenticed to a trade, Theodore gave him a recommendation to an old friend and schoolfellow, who consented to receive him as a servant, and took him with him to England.
“We must now pass over a lapse of three years, during which Theodore attained the stature and maturity of manhood, and formed an intimacy with the family of Sir George Norbury, whose charming daughter soon engaged his affections, and in return bestowed hers on the worthy youth.