They sent
the paper with the crest on it to Boston. Some people there wrote to
England, and found out that it was the crest of a noble and highly
esteemed family, and some earl was at the head of it. They were all
honorable people in this family except one man, a nephew, not a son, of
the late earl. He was the black sheep of them all. As a young man, he
had led a wild and wicked life, and had ended by forging the name of one
of his friends, so that he was obliged to leave England and take refuge
in America. By the description of this man, Mr. Wood knew that he must
be Mr. Barron, so he wrote to these English people, and told them what a
wicked thing their relative had done in leaving his animals to starve.
In a short time, he got an answer from them, which was, at the same
time, very proud and very touching. It came from Mr. Barron's cousin,
and he said quite frankly that he knew his relative was a man of evil
habits, but it seemed as if nothing could be done to reform him. His
family was accustomed to send a quarterly allowance to him, on condition
that he led a quiet life in some retired place, but their last
remittance to him was lying unclaimed in Boston, and they thought he
must be dead.
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