The Penn's Grove record., 1885-12-19
ROUND ROBIN.

BY way OF gratifying onB-Cucilshou
within of mine, / determined to spend
my summer holiday, if possible, in q
typical old-fashioned house situated far
away from the busy hum of men, where
/ could enjoy genuine peace and recre-
alton at the same time that l rode my
antiquarian hobby as much as i liked
For a long time such a desideratum was
not in the market; there were country
apartments and Queen Ann houses and
rectorles and farm-houseS by the dozen
in every paper, but nothing that ap-
preached my real requirement.. AT
length, after some weeks minute study
of the papers, and dancing attendance
on house-agents, / hattered myself that
I had got s'the very thing' and read
over to my wife, with almost the ling
ering delight of a goat~qnet-
ga fine old Tudor mansion to be
letIfor three months from July, replete
with every modern convenience, but
not at the expense of its antique char
acter, walled kitchen-garden, flower
gardens, lawns, strawberries, about fout
acres of meadow-land, and stablin, if
required.-Apply Mr.. x et-cgterai
Couldn't read betterl' / said.
"Stunningl" exclaimed Bobby, home
from school. "Sure to be a ghost, and
trap-doors, and secret dungeons. and
all those things we read about in Aims
worth"
ssD%eliciousI' said the sentimental
Helen, aged sixteen. "I'ye long wan
ted to read AstropheI and arcadia in a
suitable place."
eyes; but we cannot be too careful
about these old houses" l said as sort
of check upon too exuberant anticipa-
ton and imagination. 81 shall not con-
clude any arrangements until | have
seen the house."
So l went down, and was received at
the little country-station by the *"
of the advertisement, a prosperous, con-
tented.looking Kentish farmer. in whose
family the estate had been for centu-
ries, whose wife had been ordered
change of air, and who, being a farmer,
grumbled at the bad times, and had re-
solved to let the old house, during his
absence, to a respectable tenant.
The house came quite up to my ex-
pectations as formed from the wording
of the advertisement.
81 can leave an old family man SER
vant,n SAID the farmer, 'if you like.
He is a queer old fellow; but, being AM
old retainer who was born on the estate
0 must not mind his little peculiari-
lies. l must warn you however OF one
weakness he has-that of satisfying his
craving for animal and liquid food at
all risks and hazards.
"By which l suppose you mean,n l
oofd Gtfhaf hto idnua nf an 0aS,n and f7s1f3a
as regards bodily sustenance are a little
lax?n
Precisely" answered the farmer,
"But, mind, if you catch him in the
act, or have reasons to suspect him,
pack him off to his friends In the VIII
lage without any delay. He is under .
last warning from me; but it is more
likely than not that your being a new
hand will cause him to break out again
But here he ls-you a take stock OF
him without his seeing us.n
So we slipped behind a laurel-bush,
and the subject of our conversation
anne into view. He was a jovial-look-
ing old-fellow, standing considerably
over six feet, with a rudy face and
nose, and a huge development of the
lower part of his trunk which sufficient.
~ proclaimed long ana lhtinSaos nc
quaihtance VIII the good tnings ol In,s
lie. as ne rolled along almost WIZ
an alro p~roprletorship, N troliea 10TH
in a rich voice the woiusOi oid hen'
fish love song.
| lo6 nave vo lana Invs ana ma mouse snSa IN m a lox
Twopence-Gaifpenny is my REM
Ich cannot come every day towoo," :.
"His real name is Robin Hayden,
said the farmer; but because OF mn
size and corpulence ne Is universally
known as Round Robin. Hes on 70
the Plough, now, and. II nc cannot !