Soon afterwards another discovery was due to the restless curiosity and
boyish activity of little Jacob. He had found means to open one of the
biggest of the cabinets, and had hauled out what seemed to him an old
piece of carpet folded in many folds. He ran to inform the Duke of his
discovery; but his Grace, eagerly unfolding the supposed piece of
carpet, displayed a rich field of
"Arras green and blue,
Showing a gaudy summer morn,
Where with puffed cheek the belted hunter blew
His wreathéd bugle-horn."
Other pieces of tapestry followed, and the heaviest of the cabinets was
found to be nearly full of them. They consisted almost exclusively of
hunting scenes and pastorals, with landscapes and foliage, which, though
seldom approaching correctness as a representation of nature, must have
produced, nevertheless, a superbly decorative effect when hung in the
halls of Wenderholme.
The Duke had said very little for nearly an hour, except in ordering the
men to arrange the furniture in groups. When this had been accomplished
to his satisfaction, he turned to the Colonel, and made him the
following little speech:--
"Colonel Stanburne, I congratulate you upon a discovery which would be
interesting to any intelligent person, but is so most especially to the
representative of the Stanburnes. Here are specimens of the furniture
used by your ancestors from the reign of Henry VII. to that of James I.
We have here ample data for the complete restoration of Wenderholme,
even in the details of wainscot and tapestry and glass. The minutest
fragments in these heaps are valuable beyond price. It is getting late
now, but to-morrow I will go through every bit of it and ticket every
thing, and when I leave I will send you workmen capable of doing every
thing that ought to be done."
Here little Jacob whispered to Mr. Prigley, "It was I that found it out,
wasn't it, Mr. Prigley?" to which piece of self-assertion his tutor
replied by the repressive monosyllable "Hush!"
But his Grace had overheard both of them, and said, "Indeed we are very
much obliged to you, my little boy--very much obliged indeed. I should
like to make you a little present of some sort for the pleasure you have
afforded me this afternoon. You are going to Eton, I hear. Have you got
a watch?"
Little Jacob pulled out a silver watch, of the old-fashioned kind
popularly known as turnips, from their near approach to the spherical
conformation. The Duke smiled as he looked at it, and asked what time it
was. Little Jacob's watch was two hours late. "But it ticks yet," he
said.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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