Emmanuel Burden, merchant, of Thames St., in the city of London, exporter of hardware : a record of his lineage, speculations, last days and death . rable dangerswhich he had encountered, he did not evenallude to the little affair at Putti-Ghal, save toillustrate a point upon the habits of the tigerswhich infest that neighbourhood. Nor wasanything in his many miraculous escapesincredible to an audience as well informedas were the merchant and the clergymanswidow upon the ferocity of wild beasts, andthe indomitable spirit of man. Lest I should seem to lay too much in-sistence upon what was, aft
Emmanuel Burden, merchant, of Thames St., in the city of London, exporter of hardware : a record of his lineage, speculations, last days and death . rable dangerswhich he had encountered, he did not evenallude to the little affair at Putti-Ghal, save toillustrate a point upon the habits of the tigerswhich infest that neighbourhood. Nor wasanything in his many miraculous escapesincredible to an audience as well informedas were the merchant and the clergymanswidow upon the ferocity of wild beasts, andthe indomitable spirit of man. Lest I should seem to lay too much in-sistence upon what was, after all, but anepisode in Mr Burdens career, I will dwellno longer upon the close of the meal. Of the pudding I have no record : thereis little occasion to mention the cheese. I must not, however, omit to praise thegesture with which Lord Benthorpe openedthe door, nor that with which Mrs Warnerrewarded him as she swept through it to thedrawing-room beyond. As she left the roomMr Burden, gazing at what he afterwardscalled her retreating figure, could not helpmarvelling at the simple grace, the totalabsence of affectation, and, at the same time,. /. .irv- ?: MKS. WAKNEK b KETK-KAIINL. IK^LKl, MR BURDEN 149 the wonderful dignity of her carriage. Theimpression was heightened, not only by theerror into which he had originally fallen as toher social rank, but by the striking characterof her dress, which was of a shining electricgreen, comparable to that which illumines thewing cases of certain tropical beetles. In her absence the conversation flagged;they slowly sipped their wine, and Mr Burden,who had smoked after dinner every day fornearly fifty years, waited most anxiously forthe appearance of tobacco. If none wasoffered him, it was because Lord Benthorpe,naturally clinging to what remained of hisancient authority, forbade in the house whichyet sheltered him the use of a narcotic heabhorred. Mr Burden, remembering that such eccen-tricities were but the tradition of an oldersociety
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