But,Mike,an thy shoulder be unscathed as thou sayest,thou must own that Goodman Thong,the hangman,was merciful in his office,and stamped thee with a cold iron.Tush,uncle--truce with your jests.Keep them to season your sour ale,and let us see what hearty welcome thou wilt give a kinsman who has rolled the world around for eighteen years;who has seen the sun set where it rises,and has travelled till the west has become the east.Thou hast brought back one traveller's gift with thee,Mike,as I well see;and that was what thou least didst:need to travel for.I remember well,among thine other qualities,there was no crediting a word which came from thy mouth.Here's an unbelieving pagan for you,gentlemen!said Michael Lambourne,turning to those who witnessed this strange interview betwixt uncle and nephew,some of whom,being natives of the village,were no strangers to his juvenile wildness.This may be called slaying a Cumnor fatted calf for me with a vengeance.--But,uncle,I come not from the husks and the swine-trough,and Icare not for thy welcome or no welcome;I carry that with me will make me welcome,wend where I will.So saying,he pulled out a purse of gold indifferently well filled,the sight of which produced a visible effect upon the company.Some shook their heads and whispered to each other,while one or two of the less scrupulous speedily began to recollect him as a school-companion,a townsman,or so forth.On the other hand,two or three grave,sedate-looking persons shook their heads,and left the inn,hinting that,if Giles Gosling wished to continue to thrive,he should turn his thriftless,godless nephew adrift again,as soon as he could.Gosling demeaned himself as if he were much of the same opinion,for even the sight of the gold made less impression on the honest gentleman than it usually doth upon one of his calling.
Kinsman Michael,he said,put up thy purse.My sister's son shall be called to no reckoning in my house for supper or lodging;and I reckon thou wilt hardly wish to stay longer where thou art e'en but too well known.For that matter,uncle,replied the traveller,I shall consult my own needs and conveniences.Meantime I wish to give the supper and sleeping cup to those good townsmen who are not too proud to remember Mike Lambourne,the tapster's boy.If you will let me have entertainment for my money,so;if not,it is but a short two minutes'walk to the Hare and Tabor,and I trust our neighbours will not grudge going thus far with me.Nay,Mike,replied his uncle,as eighteen years have gone over thy head,and I trust thou art somewhat amended in thy conditions,thou shalt not leave my house at this hour,and shalt e'en have whatever in reason you list to call for.But I would Iknew that that purse of thine,which thou vapourest of,were as well come by as it seems well filled.Here is an infidel for you,my good neighbours!said Lambourne,again appealing to the audience.Here's a fellow will rip up his kinsman's follies of a good score of years' standing.And for the gold,why,sirs,I have been where it grew,and was to be had for the gathering.In the New World have I been,man--in the Eldorado,where urchins play at cherry-pit with diamonds,and country wenches thread rubies for necklaces,instead of rowan-tree berries;where the pantiles are made of pure gold,and the paving-stones of virgin silver.By my credit,friend Mike,said young Laurence Goldthred,the cutting mercer of Abingdon,that were a likely coast to trade to.And what may lawns,cypruses,and ribands fetch,where gold is so plenty?Oh,the profit were unutterable,replied Lambourne,especially when a handsome young merchant bears the pack himself;for the ladies of that clime are bona-robas,and being themselves somewhat sunburnt,they catch fire like tinder at a fresh complexion like thine,with a head of hair inclining to be red.I would I might trade thither,said the mercer,chuckling.
Why,and so thou mayest,said Michael--that is,if thou art the same brisk boy who was partner with me at robbing the Abbot's orchard.'Tis but a little touch of alchemy to decoct thy house and land into ready money,and that ready money into a tall ship,with sails,anchors,cordage,and all things conforming;then clap thy warehouse of goods under hatches,put fifty good fellows on deck,with myself to command them,and so hoist topsails,and hey for the New World!Thou hast taught him a secret,kinsman,said Giles Gosling,to decoct,an that be the word,his pound into a penny and his webs into a thread.--Take a fool's advice,neighbour Goldthred.Tempt not the sea,for she is a devourer.Let cards and cockatrices do their worst,thy father's bales may bide a banging for a year or two ere thou comest to the Spital;but the sea hath a bottomless appetite,--she would swallow the wealth of Lombard Street in a morning,as easily as I would a poached egg and a cup of clary.
And for my kinsman's Eldorado,never trust me if I do not believe he has found it in the pouches of some such gulls as thyself.--But take no snuff in the nose about it;fall to and welcome,for here comes the supper,and I heartily bestow it on all that will take share,in honour of my hopeful nephew's return,always trusting that he has come home another man.--In faith,kinsman,thou art as like my poor sister as ever was son to mother.Not quite so like old Benedict Lambourne,her husband,though,said the mercer,nodding and winking.Dost thou remember,Mike,what thou saidst when the schoolmaster's ferule was over thee for striking up thy father's crutches?--it is a wise child,saidst thou,that knows its own father.Dr.Bircham laughed till he cried again,and his crying saved yours.Well,he made it up to me many a day after,said Lambourne;and how is the worthy pedagogue?
