14 J. COLE.

“We cannot tell who this boy is, where he
has lived, or who are his associates; he may
be connected with a gang of thieves for what
we know to the contrary. Wait, and have
proper references before trusting him in the
house.”

And he would be right to say so to me, but
not every one listens to conscience when it
points the opposite way to inclination. Well,
J. Cole remained; and when I entered the din-
ing-room, to my solitary dinner, he was there,
with a face shining from soap and water, his
curls evidently soaped too, to make them go
tidily on his forehead. The former page hav-
ing left his livery jacket and trousers, Mary
had let Joe dress in them, at his earnest re-
quest.

She told me afterwards that he had sewn
up the clothes in the neatest manner wherever
they could be made smaller; and the effect
of the jacket, which he had stuffed out in
the chest with hay, as we discovered by the
perfume, was very droll. He had a great
love of bright colors, and the trousers being
large, showed bright red socks; the jacket