But I'll show this to the old woman and let you know.' May Jane did not approve, neither did Billy.

No use, they said, to flaunt the canal, horse, driver, and all in people's faces; and so the discomfited Peterkin went to Arthur again and told him, 'the fat was all in the fire, and May Jane on a rampage.' 'Try again, squire; but give us some kind of water and craft.' So Arthur good-humoredly changed the canal into a gracefully flowing river, in a bend of which, in the distance, there was just visible a boat, which was a cross between a gondola and one of those little dangerous things so common on the lakes of Wisconsin.

Standing in the bow of the boat, with folded arms, as if calmly contemplating the scenery, was the figure of a man--suppositively Peterkin--who swore 'he'd keep this picter in spite of 'em;' and as his wife did not seriously object, the sketch was transferred in oil to a pannel and inserted in the carriage, which, when drawn by two shining bays and driven by a colored man in long coat and tall hat, with Peterkin sitting back in it with all the pride and pompousness of a two-millionaire, and May Jane at his side, covered with diamonds, attracted general attention and comment.

Billy seldom patronized the carriage, but frequently rode beside it, talking to his mother, of whom he was very fond, and taking off his hat to every person he met, whether old or young, rich or poor.
'Billy is an idiot, but very kind-hearted,' people said of him, and in truth he was popular with everybody, especially with the men in his father's employ, who all went to him for favors, or for an increase of wages; for if Billy had any business it was in his father's office, where he pretended to look after matters and keep the books straight.
Such had been the growth of Peterkin during the past nine years.

'He had got clean to the front,' he said, 'and was hob-nobbin' with Squire Harrenton, and Judge St.Claire, and the Tracys,' all of whom shrugged their shoulders and laughed at him in secret, but treated him civilly to his face, for, deny it as we may, money has a mighty power, and will open many a door which nothing else could move.
'Coarse and ignorant as a horse, but not so bad after all' was what people said of him now; and in fact Peterkin had improved and softened a good deal with the accession of wealth.