The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1880-03-26

serted little hole barred with iron
for purposes of espial. Through this
the porter was supposed (though he
never did iD to take cognizance of the
approaching visitor, and if peaceful, to
unbar the massive bolts of the great
door to let him in. Everything in the
house was apparently Of the same
epoch, but in reality about three years
old. In the dining-room was a fire.
place as big as an ordinary parlor, and
before which one would not have been
surprised to see pair of trunkhose air
ing, or a couple of jack.bo The
sideboard, to the modern and inartistic
eye. Eesernbled a kitctsen dresser while
in the morning room was spinning
wheel with the flax in it as though
the Thrifty housewife had just been
called away from that occupation to
superintend the construction of yenison
pasty, or to issue orders for the enter
tainment of the company invited 20
| the morrow's tournament.
These ridiculous objects, as I soon
discovered, were designed to pursuade
the public that the Dornoway- pickes
themselves were medieval, and had re-
sided at the "Court' for the last six
hundred years, whereas, as matter OF
fact, they were new corners. In the
country, even though you are distantly
connected with the peerage, this is a
serious obstacle to positions" and the
whole of my hosts gigantic intellect
was concentrated on attaining it. He
had been SCALED upon" at once by
every one in the country with circuit
of twenty-five miles, except One l
write it reverentially with capital O,
for it was "The Duke" I am not of
course speaking of the late Duke of
Wellington in Mangelwurzelshire, as
\ III every other county, the duke was
the duke who lived there His Grace
of Turniptops. This divinity was still
e young man, unmarried and not much
given to calling on anybody, and for
three long years all the efforts of the
DoYnoway- -Dickes had been unavail-
ing TO induce him to honor the "Coart''
with his august presence. Two months
ago, however, he had sent his card by
a mounted messenger, and one month
ago, oh, joy of joys! he had accepted
an invitation to garden party at the
house for one of the very days on which
| was to remain its guest.
II was just after this gracious promise
had been gwen that Mr.. Dornoway-
Dicke had made his appearance at the
club to make arrangements with
| Gunter and now that I knew the
circumstances, was not only surprised
at the magnifcence Of his department
Oh that OCCASION, but astonished that
he should have been SO affable as he
was. My private impression is, that
lie asked me down to Doruoway Court
not so much from personal affection as
to secure an additional witness to
his social triumph; but tnat is neither
here nor there. The Duke was coming,
and the family were in a state OF ex-
citement rare, should hope, in Han
well, and not habitually exhibited even
at Broadmoor.
The great subject of discussion among
them for weeks had been: Who was
| to be invited to meet the Duke2 aud
it was not exhausted yet. Everybody
who was anybody had been asked
except the Titbats and the knotty
point that could not be settled, was,
whether those people should be asked
or not. Captain and Mrs Titbat were
their immediate neighbors; their lawn
tennis grounds were in fact contiguous,
and the two families, though not alb
soluteIy on a friendly footing, were
well known to one another. Young
Aito0t3 "HSh q PldyOA was WdutluS3
had sometimes even been invited to
make up the part at their favorite
amusement and when the balls went
over the wire fence that separated the
two domains, the juvenile Titbats did
not pretend las some young people
would) that they were lost, but would
honestly chuck them back again. Still
the TItbats were not among the county
families, nor anything like it. Their
efforts-far more des perate than those
of the Dornoway-D -Dickes-had miser.
ably and utterly tailed in that direction.
If was not SO much that their man.
sion was too small to be reckoned as a
country house that their paddock
could not by any strain of courtesy be
called park /; or that their ornamental
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