a taunt from you--yes, that is the serpent's tooth!"

Percy in an instant was at his father's feet; he seized both his hands,
and burst into a passionate fit of tears. "Forgive me," he said, in
broken words; "I--I meant not to taunt you. I am but a giddy boy!--send
me to school!--do with me as you will!"

"Ay," said the old man, shaking his head gently, "you know not what pain a
son's bitter word can send to a parent's heart. But it is all natural,
perfectly natural! You would reproach me with a love of money, it is the
sin to which youth is the least lenient. But what! can I look round the
world and not see its value, its necessity? Year after year, from my
first manhood, I have toiled and toiled to preserve from the hammer these
last remnants of my ancestor's remains. Year after year fortune has
slipped from my grasp; and, after all my efforts, and towards the close of
a long life, I stand on the very verge of penury. But you cannot tell--no
man whose heart is not seared with many years can tell or can appreciate,
the motives that have formed my character. You, however,"--and his voice
softened as he laid his hand on his son's head, "you, however,--the gay,
the bold, the young,--should not have your brow crossed and your eye
dimmed by the cares that surround me. Go! I will accompany you to town;
I will see Saville myself. If he be one with whom my son can, at so
tender an age, be safely trusted, you shall pay him the visit you wish."

Percy would have replied but his father checked him; and before the end of
the evening, the father had resolved to forget as much as he pleased of
the conversation.

The elder Godolphin was one of those characters on whom it is vain to
attempt making a permanent impression. The habits of his mind were