The times., 1901-04-28

the stranger to see him, but he felt it
was meant as an assurance that ne nad
fulfilled his promise.
he had no heart 10 ask further. The mere
thought OF Vilet lying stark at the Dot
tom Of the river was too much Tor MS
hardly maintained cOmDOSure.
Il did it kind. the young man answer
ed gently, and now / have obtained per
mission to take you for a little drive
VIII you come?
vet responding to the kindly manner OF
the invitation, and rather amazed at IT,
old Joe looked blankly around. as tnOuSh
the walls of the ward were those OF
prison.
Il dunno as I'm allowed he began;
but Selhurst assured him again thdt ne
was. and lost no time in leading MIN out
of the building TO place him IN low,
comfortable pony carriage. There nap
pened to he n warm coat flung careiesSly
on the vacant seat, and the passenger
had to take possession of it, for the even
ing air was chilly. The pleasant warmth
of the coat and the cheerfulnesS or DelnS
out of doors did Joe good, and he began
to chirp Il little as they traVersed the
familiar road al a merry pace Like most
country folk he had a. knowing eye for
horse and it did not take him long to
discover that he and the pony were old
acquaintances. -.
vertail, bain't it?'
SeIhurst. who had never enjoyed him
self so much in his life. admitted phthe-
" that it was SilveTtail in the flesh, ana
Joe began to wonder whom he was driN-
ing with, although he knew IL could not
be the young squire himself. he grew
quite chatty as the pleasant motion
brisked him up and began pointing out
the objects of interest to the stranger as
they passed them by SO swiftly.
There be PtgrOun, where j did the
very first piece Of plouShin as ever 1 put
a hand to. / mind the furrows were
crookeder than the hind leg of doug
Folk as knows nothing of ploughin think
it's easy done, but L low they should
try it"
which was just feathering out into spring
green. and he looked at the new growth
of wood with the eye of an expert.
1--WE done a gOOdiSh bit to hurdllng IN
that copse; see they m givin' tt bit OF
a rest 'Tis turT'ble rheumaticky work,
and hadn't followed it long before get
ting crippled up
But he grew mournfully silent as they
drove on by the river, and so close to the
scene of yesterdays tragedy. If that por-
tion of their route could have been
avoided. Sehurst would have chosen
some other way. BY this time they were
close To the Manor gates. which were
protected on either side by n small and
trinity kept lodge. In one of these lived
the head gardener and his wife: in the
other. which had been tenantless for some
months. was the squire himself. trying TO
soothe and comfort a restless, unqJiet
cat, who had previously hdu htf paws
carefully buttered by the gardeners wife
in order to reconcile her to new quarters
At the door of this lodge Silvertatl drew
up with much decision, and Joe was asked
to aIight Quite daZed by the eXtraOrdi-
nary things that were happening TO him.
he did so, after vainly murmuring that
'he thanked the gentleman kindly. but
wasn't it time he was going backlong?'
Selhurst shook his head as he helped the
tottering old figure and cared for 1t ten
derby.
''Mr Thorne," he said, cheerfully. you
are not going back any more | want you
to understand this clearly"
Joe understood nothing; he was in 4
dream, and therefore past speech alto
gether. AS the two entered the young
squire rose from his ministrations with
welcome in his face, and the restless lit
tie grey cat, which had proved verita-