"I was at the palace at Hampton, when this scant-
witted knave invited me to taste some of his master's wine, and
accordingly to the cellar we went. 'This wine will surprise you,' quoth
he, as we broached the first hogshead. And truly it did surprise me, for
no wine followed the gimlet. So we went on to another, and another,
and another, till we tried half a score of them, and all with the same
result. Upon this I seized a hammer which was lying by and sounded
the casks, but none of them seeming empty, I at last broke the lid of
one--and what do you think it contained?"
A variety of responses were returned by the laughing assemblage,
during which Patch sought to impose silence upon his opponent. But
Will Sommers was not to be checked.
"It contained neither vinegar, nor oil, nor lead," he said, " but gold; ay,
solid bars of gold-ingots. Every hogshead was worth ten thousand
pounds, and more."
"Credit him not, my masters," cried Patch, amid the roars of the
company; "the whole is a mere fable--an invention. His grace has no
such treasure. The truth is, Will Sommers got drunk upon some choice
Malmsey, and then dreamed he had been broaching casks of gold.
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