and manufactured puns and jokes to amuse his saturnine brother. When the
dessert was removed he read the newspapers to the old Squire, until he
dosed in his easy chair; and when the sleepy fit was over, he played
with him at cribbage or back-gammon, until the tea equipage appeared.

Then, he was an admirable cook, and helped his sister-in-law, with whom
he was an especial favorite, to put up pickles and preserves, and prided
himself upon catsup and elderberry-wine. He had always some useful
receipt for the old ladies; some pretty pattern for embroidery, or copy
of amatory verses for the young, who never purchased a new dress without
duly consulting Mr. Alfred as to the fashion of the material and the
becomingness of the color. Besides all these useful accomplishments, he
visited the poor when they were sick, occasionally acting as their
medical and ghostly adviser, and would take infinite pains in carrying
about subscriptions for distressed individuals, whom he was unable to
assist out of his own scanty funds. He sang Italian and French songs
with great taste and execution, and was a fine performer on the violin.
Such was the careless being to whom Mr. Hurdlestone, for the sake of
saving a few pounds per annum, entrusted the education of his sons.

As far as the mere technicalities of education went, they could not have
had a more conscientious or efficient teacher; but his morality and
theology were alike defective, and, instead of endeavoring to make them
good men, Uncle Alfred's grand aim was to make them fine gentlemen. With
Algernon, he succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations, for there
was a strong family likeness between that young gentleman and his uncle,
and a great similarity in their tastes and pursuits. Mark, however,
proved a most dogged and refractory pupil, and though he certainly owed
the fine upright carriage, by which he was distinguished, to Uncle
Alfred's indefatigable drilling, yet, like Lord Chesterfield's son, he