Excerpt from Peter SimpleAt last I tore myself away. I had blubbered till my eyes were so red and swollen, that the pupils were scarcely to be distinguished, and tears and dirt had veined my cheeks like the marble of the chimney-piece. My handkerchief was soaked through with wiping my eyes and blowing my nose, before the scene was over. My brother Tom, with a kind ness which did honour to his heart, exchanged his for mine, saying, with fraternal regard, Here, Peter, take mine, it's as dry as a bone. But my father would not wait for a second handkerchief to perform its duty. He led me away through the ball, when, having shaken hands with all the men, and kissed all the maids, who stood in a row with their aprons to their eyes, I quitted my paternal roof.The coachman accompanied me to the place from whence the stage was to start. Having seen me securely wedged between two fat old women, and having put my parcel inside, he took his leave, and in a few minutes I was on my road to London.I was too much depressed to take notice of any thing during my journey. Ivhen we arrived in London, they drove to the Blue Boar (in a street, the name of which I have forgotten). I had never seen or heard of such an animal, and certainly it did appear very formidable; its mouth was Open and teeth very large. What surprised me still more was to observe that its teeth and hoofs were of pure gold. Who knows, thought I, that in some of the strange countries which I am doomed to visit, but that I may fall in with, and shoot one of these terrific monsters? With what haste shall I select those precious parts, and with what joy should I, on my return, pour them as an offering of filial affection into my mother's lap l - and then, as I thought of my mother, the tears again gushed into my eyes.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.