the words of the young lady and his own impatient eagerness would suffer no delay in the late luminous and lamp dusk of the summer evening he accordingly set forward with brisk steps the street to which he was directed had first s n the day in the character of a row of small the squire of on a but the extension of the city had long since and on every hand surrounded it with miles of streets from the top of the hill a range of very tall buildings inhabited by the very poorest classes of the population and by from every second window the and their little gardens like a but still under the of years of city smoke these cottages with their blinds and rural retained a somewhat melancholy of the past the street when entered it was perfectly deserted from hard by indeed the sound of a thousand filled the ear but in richard street itself there was neither light nor sound of human habitation the appearance of the neighborhood weighed heavily on the mind of the young man once more as in the streets of london he was impressed with the sense of city deserts and as he approached the number indicated and somewhat f rang the bell his heart sank within him the bell was ancient like the house it had a thin and note and it was some time before it ceased to sound from the rear quarters of the building following upon this an inner door was stealthily opened and care the squire of f ul and steps drew near along the hall supposing he was to be produced his letter and as well as he was able prepared a smiling face to his indescribable surprise however the footsteps ceased and then after a pause and with the like withdrew once more and died away in the interior of the house a second time the young man rang violently at the bell a second time to his keen a certain bustle of discreet footing moved upon the hollow boards of the old villa and again the faint hearted garrison only drew near to retreat the cup of the visitor s endurance was now full to overflowing and committing the whole family of to every mood and shade of condemnation he turned upon his heel and the steps perhaps the in the house was watching from a window and plucked up courage at the sight of this or perhaps where he trembling in the back part of the villa reason in its own right had conquered his at least had scarce set foot upon the pavement when he was arrested by the sound of the of an inner bolt one followed another rattling in their the key turned harshly in the lock the door opened and there appeared upon the threshold a man of a very figure in his shirt sleeves he was a the squire of person neither of great manly nor of a refined exterior he was not the man in ordinary moods to attract the eyes of the observer but as he now stood in the doorway he was marked so with the extreme passion of terror that stood wonder for a of a minute they gazed upon each other in silence and then the man of the house with lips and gasping voice inquired the business of his visitor replied in tones from which he strove to banish his surprise that he was the bearer of a letter to a certain miss at this name as at a the man fell back and impatiently invited him to enter and no sooner had the adventurer crossed the threshold than the door was closed behind him and his retreat cut oflf it was already long past eight at night and though the late twilight of the north still lingered in the streets in the passage it was already groping dark the man led directly to a parlor looking on the garden to the back here he had apparently been for by the light of a dip the table was seen to be covered with a and set out with a of ale and the heel of a cheese the room on the other hand was furnished with faded and the walls were lined with and costly volumes in the squire of glazed cases the house must have been taken furnished for it had no with this man of the shirt sleeves and the mean supper as for the earl s daughter the earl and the visionary in foreign cities they had long ago begun to fade in s imagination like doctor and the angels they were plainly woven of the of dreams not an illusion remained to the knight not a hope was left him but to be si relieved from this business the man had continued to regard his visitor with anxiety and began once more to press him for his errand i am here said simply to do a service between two ladies and i must ask you without further delay to summon miss into whose hands alone i am to deliver the letter that i bear a growing wonder began to mingle on the man s face with the lines of solicitude i am miss he said and then perceiving the effect of this communication good god he cried what are you staring at i tell you i am miss seeing the speaker wore a chin beard of considerable length and the remainder of his face was blue with could only suppose himself the subject of a jest he was the squire of no longer under the spell of the young lady s presence and with men and above all with his he was capable of some display of spirit sir said he pretty i have put myself to great inconvenience for persons of whom i know too little and i begin to be weary of the business 