“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 Washington. Perhaps that was because he would have been an earl if he hadn’t died. I am glad earls are brave. That’s a great [’vantage]—to be a brave man.”
“There is another advantage in being an earl, sometimes,” said Mr. Havisham slowly. “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.”
“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 needn’t have to wait for the [street-cars.] And then Dick——”
“Who is Dick?” asked Mr. Havisham.