CHAPTER III




My Mother's Brother arrives--relieves me--a Description of him--he
goes along with me to the House of my Grandfather--is encountered
by his Dogs--defeats them, after a bloody Engagement--is admitted
to the old Gentleman--a Dialogue between them


About this time my mother's only brother, who had been long abroad,
lieutenant of a man-of-war, arrived in his own country; where
being informed of my condition, he came to see me, and out of his
slender finances not only supplied me with what necessaries I wanted
for the present, but resolved not to leave the country until he
had prevailed on my grandfather to settle something handsome for
the future. This was a task to which he was by no means equal,
being entirely ignorant, not only of the judge's disposition, but
also of the ways of men in general, to which his education on board
had kept him an utter stranger.

He was a strong built man, somewhat bandy legged, with a neck like
that of a bull, and a face which (you might easily perceive) had
withstood the most obstinate assaults of the weather. His dress
consisted of a soldier's coat altered for him by the ship's tailor,