the reception of that erudite work, by the public
he was now disposed to retain me in a similar
position, with respect to the present volume,
which he entitled "Tanglewood Tales." Not,
as Eustace hinted, that there was any real
necessity for my services as introductor, inas-
much as his own name had become established,
in some good degree of favor, with the literary
world. But the connection with myself, he was
kind enough to say, had been highly agreeable;
nor was he by any means desirous, as most
people are, of kicking away the ladder that had
perhaps helped him to reach his present eleva-
tion. My young friend was willing, in short,
that the fresh verdure of his growing reputation
should spread over my straggling and half-
naked boughs; even as I have sometimes thought
of training a vine, with its broad leanness, and
purple fruitage, over the worm-eaten posts and
rafters of the rustic summer house. I was not
insensible to the advantages of his proposal, and
gladly assured him of my acceptance.

Merely from the titles of the stories, I saw at
once that the subjects were not less rich than
those of the former volume; nor did I at ab

[[12]]

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v?