gradually disappeared the windows which had before been as black on a lighter expanse of wall became illuminated and were to squares of light on the general dark body of the night landscape as it absorbed the outlines of the edifice into its gloomy not another word was spoken for some time and they climbed a hill then another hill piled on the summit of the first an additional mile of followed from which could be discerned two on the coast they were on the horizon with a calm lustre of another was reached a little lay like a nest at their feet towards which the driver pulled the horse at a sharp angle and descended a steep slope which under the trees like a rabbit s they sank lower and lower is inside here continued the man with the reins this part about here is west lord s is east and has a church to itself pa son is the pa son of both and backward and forward ah well tis a funny world a b there was once a where this house stands the man who built it in past time scraped all the for earth to put round the and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way whilst the fields he scraped have been good for nothing ever since how long has the present incumbent been here maybe about a year or a year and half t two years for they don t him yet and as a rule a parish begins to the pa son at the end of a pair of blue eyes two years among em familiar but he s a very nice party ay pa son knows me pretty well from often driving over and i know pa son they emerged from the bower swept round in a curve and the chimneys and of the became darkly visible not a light showed anywhere they alighted the man felt his way into the porch and rang the bell at the end of three or four minutes spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response the stranger advanced and repeated the call in a more decided manner he then fancied he heard footsteps in the hail and sundry movements of the door but nobody appeared perhaps they at home sighed the driver and i promised myself a bit of supper in pa son s kitchen lovely mate and and and drops o cordial that they do keep here all right be ye rich men or be ye poor men that ye must needs come to the world s end at this time o night exclaimed a voice at this instant and turning their heads they saw a individual round from the back door with a horn lantern dangling from his hand time o night a b and the clock only gone seven of em show a light and let us in william worm oh that you robert nobody else william worm and is the visiting man a come yes said the stranger is mr at home that a is sir and would ye mind coming round by the back way the front door is got stuck wi the wet as he will do sometimes and the can t open a pair of blue eyes en i know i am only a poor man that ill never pay the lord for my making sir but i can show the way in sir the new arrival followed his guide through a little door in a wall and then a and a kitchen along which he passed with eyes rigidly fixed in advance an horror of forbidding him to gaze around apartments that formed the back side of the household entering the hall he was about to be shown to his room when from the inner of the front entrance whither she had gone to learn the cause of the delay sailed forth the form of her start of amazement at the sight of the visitor coming forth from under the stairs proved that she had not been expecting this surprising flank movement which had been originated entirely by the ingenuity of william worm she appeared in the prettiest of all feminine that is to say in with plenty of loose curly hair tumbling down about her shoulders an expression of uneasiness pervaded her countenance and altogether she scarcely appeared woman enough for the situation the visitor removed his hat and the first words were spoken looking with a deal of interest not with surprise at the person towards whom she was to do the duties of hospitality i am mr smith said the stranger in a musical voice i am miss said her was over the great contrast between the reality she beheld before her and the dark sharp elderly man of business who had in her imagination � a man with clothes smelling of city smoke skin sallow from want of sun and talk with � was such a relief to her that smiled almost laughed in the new comer s face a pair of blue eyes smith who has hitherto been hidden from us by the darkness was at this time of his life but a youth in appearance and barely a man in years judging from his look london was the last place in the world that one would have imagined to be the scene of his such a face surely could not be nourished amid smoke and mud and fog and dust such an open countenance could never even have seen anything of � the weariness the fever and the fret of the second his complexion was as fine as s own the pink of his cheeks as delicate his mouth as perfect as s bow in form and as cherry red in colour as hers bright curly hair bright sparkling blue gray eyes a boy s blush 