his horse, arranged his seat of sheepskins, and invited me to mount
and ride with him; for no sooner had I discovered to him the object
of my undertaking than he dubbed himself the luckiest of fellows,
offering to be my companion in arms, and the sharer of my fortunes.
Three loud cracks of the whip, and old Battle started off at a brisk
pace, the major adding that if we made haste we would reach
Barnstable by nightfall. As the wagon rolled over the road, a
cackling noise was kept up, much to my surprise and annoyance; this
I found was caused by a coop of disconsolate chickens, which the
major had bought on speculation, and fastened to the back of his
wagon, intending to make a good thing by selling them for Shanghais
whenever he could find a customer.

"Now, although I know you so well by reputation, you may not have
heard so much of me as many others have. It is no great thing for a
major like me to be engaged in this sort of business, you will
think; but an honest living made by vending tin is better than a
fortune gained by fingering the affairs of the nation. Indeed I have
often thought a man was never so great as when he condescended to
make his living honestly. As you see, I have surrendered myself to
fortune, and am what some would call 'down in the world.' But I have
been up, and made a noise, and will make more when next I get up."
These remarks were delivered with such evident self-conceit, that I
was at a loss how to comprehend their meaning, and asked the major
to explain himself.

After cracking his whip twice or thrice, he resumed, "My father, (he
is gone, God bless him,) was an honest shoemaker in the town of
Barnstable, where I was born and reared. Being poor, he could not
give me much schooling; but we lived comfortably, and enjoyed the