what may chance to all of us i and here she heaved another dismal sigh as she tied the bonnet strings into a bow under her fat chin it s sinful of me to be rough times to any man i m likely in for them myself for a person s bound to be different at nigh seven and twenty to what she was at fifteen and the modem ways of ain t old ways the lord be merciful to us all and i do confess it s a bit at my time of life to think as how i ve lived in s all these years and now for all i can tell me and william may have to shift and where we ll go the lord only knows now don t anticipate misfortune mrs i said beginning to shake off the indescribable feeling of annoyance against which he had been fighting for the past few minutes and his usual quiet air of cheerfulness miss is not likely to dismiss you unless you offend her the great thing is to avoid offence � and to do even more than your strict duty in making her old home look its best and brightest for her return and here he hesitated for a moment then went on of course if i can do anything to help you i will thank you sir i m sure most kindly said mrs two or three times in a of gratitude i shall take the liberty of asking you to step god s good man up during the week to see how things appears to you yourself aiid as for servants there s no old enough at the school for servants so i ll be goin to with the s cart to morrow to see what i can do ah it s an mission i m goin on there ain t no to be got of the old kind as far as i can make out they all wants to be fine nowadays and marry not quite so bad as that i think mrs laughed holding open the door of the study for her to pass out as a broad hint that the interview must be considered at an end � there are plenty of good industrious intelligent girls in england ready and willing to enter domestic service if we make it worth their while � and i m sure no one can teach you anything in that line good morning mrs i good morning sir � and you ll step up to the when convenient some afternoon certainly if you wish it whenever convenient to yourself mrs mrs again at the respect for her own importance which was implied in s last sentence and slowly out the watching her with a smile as she trotted down the passage from his study to a door which led to the kitchen and now she ll go and tell all her story again to and the cook he said to himself and how she will enjoy herself to be bless the woman what a tongue she no wonder her husband is deaf i he re seated himself at his desk and taking up a bundle of accounts connected with the church and the school tried to ox his attention on them but in vain his mind wandered he was obliged to own to himself that he was irritated at the news that s which had been so long a sort of show house was again to be inhabited � and by one who was its owner too ever since he had bought the living of st he had been accustomed to take many solitary walks through the lovely woods surrounding the residence without any fear of being considered a � and he had even strolled through the wide old fashioned gardens with as little restraint as they had belonged to himself mrs the housekeeper being the last person in the world to forbid her minister to enter wherever he would he had passed long hours of delightful in the old library and many of meditation in the picture gallery where the portrait of th� god s good man lady in the vi let velvet mary de had often caught his eye and charmed his fancy when the setting sun had its rich colouring and had given life to the face half half sweet which forth from the old canvas like a rose with light on its now all these pleasant were finished the mistress of s would certainly object to a wandering parson in her house and grounds probably she was a very imperious disagreeable young woman � full of the light scorn lack of sentiment and cheap common to the smart lady of a period and if it were true that she had been for so many years in the charge of an american aunt with a hundred millions the chances were ten to one that she would be an exceedingly unpleasant neighbour he gave a short impatient sigh ah well i only hope she will put a stop to the of the fine old trees in her domain he said half aloud � if no one else in the village has the pluck to draw her attention to the of i will but so far as other matters go � my walks in the woods are ended yes and he gently patted the head of the faithful animal who with sagacity instinctively that his master was somewhat annoyed was with caressing against his knee our by the big elms and silvery and under the beautiful tall pines are over and we shouldn t be human if we weren t just a trifle sorry sir is bad enough as a neighbour but he s a good three miles off at hall thank heaven � whereas s is but a quarter of an hour s walk from this gate we ve had pleasant times in the dear 