He echoed,—‘Me! You sound it like a stone
Dropped down a dry well very listlessly,
By one who never thinks about the toad
Alive at the bottom. Presently perhaps
You’ll sound your ‘me’ more proudly—till I shrink.
Lord Howe’s the toad, then, in this question?’
‘Brief,
We’ll take it graver. Give me sofa-room,
And quiet hearing. You know Eglinton,
John Eglinton, of Eglinton in Kent?’
‘Is he the toad?—he’s rather like the snail;
Known chiefly for the house upon his back:
Divide the man and house—you kill the man;
That’s Eglinton of Eglinton, Lord Howe.’
He answered grave. ‘A reputable man,
An excellent landlord of the olden stamp,
If somewhat slack in new philanthropies;
Who keeps his birthdays with a tenants’ dance,
Is hard upon them when they miss the church
Or keep their children back from catechism,
But not ungentle when the aged poor
Pick sticks at hedge-sides; nay, I’ve heard him say
’The old dame has a twinge because she stoops:
’That’s punishment enough for felony.’’
‘O tender-hearted landlord! May I take
My long lease with him, when the time arrives
