A Box for the Season Author:Charles Clarke Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. THE IN-COMING TENANT OP BOULTER'S FARM. Thomas Crackenthorpe, the hero of our sketch—for he is the fellow we shall eventually marry to some on... more »e, after having pulled him through innumerable difficulties by flood and field—was the only son, we may say only child, of a West Indian merchant of large property, who dying, left a ladylike widow with a handsome jointure, and the bulk of his property to his only son, Tom. Having himself had some experience in the ups-and-downs of life, and knowing that the prudence of age is not a characteristic of youth, he so managed matters that Master Thomas should not come into the bulk of his property until he was twenty-six; although a handsomeallowance was to be made for his educational career, and a thousand pounds per annum to be at his own disposal from the age of twenty-one years. Old Mr. Crackenthorpe having departed this life at no very advanced period of age, from what he called liver, but what everybody else called an overdose of pine-apples and Madeira, the widow returned to Europe. On her way to England she visited the chief capitals, receiving numberless proofs of attachment from the disinterested young aristocrats of the Viennese army, and the democratic soldiers of la jeune France, in shape of offers of marriage. She had quite appreciation enough of the sentiments of her admirers, and of her own independent position, to decline, and consequently returned to England unscathed, with her son Tom, at that time between thirteen and fourteen years of age. Tom took more after his father in appearance than after the widow. He was dark instead of fair, and certainly no beauty to look at: but he was a jovial, good-humoured boy, generousand open-hearted, and a favourite with most people. A short consultation between the wid...« less