Tommy and Harry visit Home--The Fashionable Guests--Miss Simmons takes notice of Harry--Harry's Troubles--Master Compton and Mash--Estrangement of Tommy--Visit to the Theatre--Misbehaviour there--Card Playing--The Ball--Harry Dancing a Minuet--Story of Sir Philip Sidney--Master Mash insults Harry--The Fight in the Drawing-room--The Bull-baiting--Tommy strikes Harry--Master Mash's Combat with Harry--Tommy's Narrow Escape from the Bull--The Grateful Black, 298 CHAPTER VIII. Arrival of Mr Barlow--Story of Polemo--Tommy's repentance--Story of Sophron and Tigranes--Tommy as an Arabian Horseman--His Mishap--Tommy's intrepidity--The Poor Highlander's story--Tommy's Sorrow for his conduct to Harry--Conclusion of the Story of Sophron and Tigranes--Tommy's resolution to study nothing but "reason and philosophy"--Visits Harry and begs his forgiveness--The Grateful Black's Story--Tommy takes up his abode at Farmer Sandford's--The Grateful Black's account of himself--Mr Merton's visit to the Farm--The unexpected present--Conclusion, 355 THE HISTORY OF SANDFORD AND MERTON. CHAPTER I. Description of Harry Sandford and Tommy Merton--Adventure with the Snake--Harry in Mr Merton's house--Mr Barlow undertakes the education of Tommy--The first day at Mr Barlow's--Story of the Flies and the Ants--Harry rescues a Chicken from a Kite--Story of the Gentleman and the Basket-maker--Tommy learns to read--Story of the two dogs. In the western part of England lived a gentleman of great fortune, whose name was Merton. He had a large estate in the Island of Jamaica, where he had passed the greater part of his life, and was master of many servants, who cultivated sugar and other valuable things for his advantage. He had only one son, of whom he was excessively fond; and to educate this child properly was the reason of his determining to stay some years in England. Tommy Merton, who, at the time he came from Jamaica, was only six years old, was naturally a very good-tempered boy, but unfortunately had been spoiled by too much indulgence. While he lived in Jamaica, he had several black servants to wait upon him, who were forbidden upon any account to contradict him. If he walked, there always went two negroes with him; one of whom carried a large umbrella to keep the sun from him, and the other was to carry him in his arms whenever he was tired. Besides this, he was always dressed in silk or laced clothes, and had a fine gilded carriage, which was borne upon men's shoulders, in which he made visits to his play-fellows. His mother was so excessively fond of him that she gave him everything he cried for, and would never let him learn to read because he complained that it made his head ache.