Page:Little Daffydowndilly-1887.djvu/71

Rh she to her husband, &ldquo;and to have brought us hither to find him, after our disappointment in our cousin&rsquo;s son. Methinks I can see a likeness to our departed Henry. Shall we waken him?&rdquo; &ldquo;To what purpose?&rdquo; said the merchant, hesitating, &ldquo;We know nothing of the youth&rsquo;s character.&rdquo;

&ldquo;That open countenance!&rdquo; replied his wife, in the same hushed voice, yet earnestly. &ldquo;This innocent sleep!&rdquo; While these whispers were passing, the sleeper&rsquo;s heart did not throb, nor his breath become agitated, nor his features betray the least token of interest. Yet Fortune was bending over him, just ready to let fall a burden of gold. The old merchant had lost his only son, and had no heir to his wealth except a distant relative, with whose conduct he was dissatisfied. In such cases, people sometimes do stranger things than to act the magician, and awaken a young man to splendor who fell asleep in poverty. &ldquo;Shall we not waken him?&rdquo; repeated the lady, persuasively.

&ldquo;The coach is ready, sir,&rdquo; said the servant, behind.

The old couple started, reddened, and hurried away, mutually wondering that they should ever have dreamed of doing anything so very ridiculous. The merchant threw himself back in the carriage, and occupied his mind with the plan of a magnificent asylum for unfortunate men of business. Meanwhile, David Swan enjoyed his nap. The carriage could not have gone above a mile or two, when a pretty young girl came along, with a tripping pace, which showed precisely how her little heart was dancing in her bosom. Perhaps it was this merry kind of motion that caused&mdash;is there any harm