of all the squire s to judge by the that is going on in the below stairs the first to retire will be your affectionate son richard p s � i forgot to say that made the most pointed inquiries as to i had any other profession than that of landscape painting would it not be strangely if he should himself to get some civil appointment i almost he must have been thinking of doing so from some scraps of talk i heard him let fall at dinner curiously enough by the by who should have been sitting at his right hand but fi jack s brother good heaven you will say suppose it had been jack himself it was not chapter viii tho hour retired to his couch he as up the next morning he as and eager to explore of the ho se that had been so nearly his inheritance for t was not without a stubborn contest that the law had deprived him of what he still believed to be his rights nor had in his eyes as we have hinted only the interest of might it bad that of be also if not absolutely sanguine he was certainly far from hopeless of fortune making him that great amends at all events while the opportunity was him which he well knew might be lost forever by his own or through the caprice of another he resolved not to n it it was broad daylight yet not a was stirring in all the stately nothing but the echo of his own as he trod the corridor and entered the great picture gallery met his attentive ear the of old masters at was varied and valuable he could have spent hours among them with infinite pleasure if the thought that they all might be one day his own had not been present to mar their charms he regarded them less as an admiring or a than as an the homely life scenes of the of paul the warmth of and the of were all measured by one that of price the contents of this one room alone he represent no moderate fortune when his eye strayed to the tall windows and rested on the wooded acres which owned in mad a master the beauty of and touched him not at all i wonder now sighed he how much of this is dipped it was a good sign he thought that in one room be found a cabinet containing no less th fifty antique for if the pressure of pecuniary had really to be severe the squire would surely have parted with what must have been in his view useless lumber and was so easily into cash the library offered a strange spectacle chairs thrown down and broken glasses bore witness to the of last night s the splendid carpet was strewn with the ends and ashes of cigars and with of cards and on the table scratched in directions by the sharp of still lay the and the atmosphere was so heavy with the of wine and smoke that was glad to escape from it through a half opened window into the morning s in the bone how bright and it much there was of of wholesome in the mere of it how much of delight in the mere of the turf the trees to which the had lent its jewels but such cheap are not only to chose who axe sleeping off their of the past night during tbe brightest hours of the day tbey are also lost upon these who rise early iu the morning lo follow the strong drink of and expectation richard enjoyed them not save that he felt his play more freely a of were at upon the lawn of one of whom he asked the way to the stables the report of the completeness and perfection of which had often reached him the and its nay the house and its inmates � were of less consequence in the squire s eyes than the arrangements of his loose boxes the old ty of was re established at the horse bare sway or was at least held in higher account than the human the horse the hound the the bag fox and man were there the of and a compound half man half was by a not of the master of all had never fed his with human flesh but there was a legend that he had rubbed a friend over with seed and offered that dainty morsel lo his dogs the victim was snatched away again however by some who hia interference upon the ground that the would have been spoiled by such an indulgence and the squire had him this was one of the stones about the master of which divided tlie country into those who believed it and those did not i but walter had told it to richard as a characteristic tact the stables were indeed a marvel not only of cleanliness and comfort bnt if it had been possible by any arts of to make them such would s horses have become they had looking in their own glossy coats and yet it was not well for one of them to be an especial favorite with its master it more than once happened that ho would ride such so often and so long that it fell him killed with kindness overwhelmed with his oppressive favor on such occasions if the squire happened to have been as devoted as usual to his brandy he would shed copious tears which many as a proof that he was neither nor cold hearted the were of vast proportions in by high through the of which many a black now like ill tempered women or uttering shrill of despair as with his hands buried in his pockets for they cold though his head was too well provided with hair to be conscious of the absence 