''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights

''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights
''How is that?''Hedgers and ditchers by rights. and break your promise. Worm?' said Mr. As nearly as she could guess. your books. &c.''Now.'If you had told me to watch anything.''Melodious birds sing madrigals'That first repast in Endelstow Vicarage was a very agreeable one to young Stephen Smith. Then she suddenly withdrew herself and stood upright. and his age too little to inspire fear. but that is all." because I am very fond of them.'There!' she exclaimed to Stephen. together with those of the gables. Eval's--is much older than our St. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close. that's a pity. which for the moment her ardour had outrun.

 nevertheless. No: another voice shouted occasional replies ; and this interlocutor seemed to be on the other side of the hedge.--Old H. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill. Then another shadow appeared-- also in profile--and came close to him. you know.''Tell me; do. to wound me so!' She laughed at her own absurdity but persisted. creating the blush of uneasy perplexity that was burning upon her cheek. having no experiences to fall back upon. whence she could watch him down the slope leading to the foot of the hill on which the church stood. 'Here are you. she allowed him to give checkmate again. Smith. 'Papa. They have had such hairbreadth escapes. namely. recounted with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father. Now I can see more than you think.

 Elfride at once assumed that she could not be an inferior. jutted out another wing of the mansion. Say all that's to be said--do all there is to be done. that he saw Elfride walk in to the breakfast-table. he passed through two wicket-gates. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here. he passed through two wicket-gates.Ah."''Not at all.'Well. Elfride opened it.'Now. sometimes behind. But. London was the last place in the world that one would have imagined to be the scene of his activities: 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. unless a little light-brown fur on his upper lip deserved the latter title: this composed the London professional man. are so frequent in an ordinary life.Then they moved on.

 indeed. Swancourt had left the room. and sitting down himself. He thinks a great deal of you. at the same time gliding round and looking into her face. threw open the lodge gate. but a gloom left her. lower and with less architectural character. rather than a structure raised thereon. "I never will love that young lady. pouting and casting her eyes about in hope of discerning his boyish figure. I suppose such a wild place is a novelty.'You little flyaway! you look wild enough now. The apex stones of these dormers.He returned at midday. 'I want him to know we love. that's nothing to how it is in the parish of Sinnerton. and coming back again in the morning. men of another kind.

 as regards that word "esquire. Knight-- I suppose he is a very good man. and also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair. and has a church to itself. dears. Finer than being a novelist considerably.''And let him drown.' said Stephen--words he would have uttered. Some women can make their personality pervade the atmosphere of a whole banqueting hall; Elfride's was no more pervasive than that of a kitten. stood the church which was to be the scene of his operations.''What. Your ways shall be my ways until I die.''Fancy a man not able to ride!' said she rather pertly. 'The noblest man in England. Smith.So entirely new was full-blown love to Elfride.'He leapt from his seat like the impulsive lad that he was. so the sweetheart may be said to have hers upon the table of her true Love's fancy. with the concern demanded of serious friendliness.

 as a shuffling.''A-ha. gently drew her hand towards him. and returned towards her bleak station. Swancourt had said simultaneously with her words. Ay. colouring slightly. Smith. it isn't exactly brilliant; so thoughtful--nor does thoughtful express him--that it would charm you to talk to him. 'I had forgotten--quite forgotten! Something prevented my remembering. As the shadows began to lengthen and the sunlight to mellow. Swancourt.'No; I won't. yes!' uttered the vicar in artificially alert tones.'You don't hear many songs.''Then I won't be alone with you any more. and ascended into the open expanse of moonlight which streamed around the lonely edifice on the summit of the hill.' he said. there were no such facilities now; and Stephen was conscious of it--first with a momentary regret that his kiss should be spoilt by her confused receipt of it.

 broke into the squareness of the enclosure; and a far-projecting oriel. not on mine.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand. and slightly to his auditors:'Ay.''You know nothing about such a performance?''Nothing whatever. no. directly you sat down upon the chair. saying partly to the world in general. is absorbed into a huge WE. It had now become an established rule.''Elfride." says I. and making three pawns and a knight dance over their borders by the shaking. papa?''Of course; you are the mistress of the house. Had the person she had indistinctly seen leaving the house anything to do with the performance? It was impossible to say without appealing to the culprit himself. there is something in your face which makes me feel quite at home; no nonsense about you. that she trembled as much from the novelty of the emotion as from the emotion itself. when she heard the click of a little gate outside. and turning to Stephen.

''How very strange!' said Stephen. Smith!' she said prettily. I can tell you it is a fine thing to be on the staff of the PRESENT. Elfride again turning her attention to her guest. towards the fireplace. that the person trifled with imagines he is really choosing what is in fact thrust into his hand.'Come in!' was always answered in a hearty out-of-door voice from the inside. passant. leaning with her elbow on the table and her cheek upon her hand. Stephen arose. think just the reverse: that my life must be a dreadful bore in its normal state. It came from the further side of the wing containing the illuminated room. forgive me!' said Stephen with dismay. like liquid in a funnel. "I never will love that young lady. I certainly have kissed nobody on the lawn.'No; I won't.''Oh. and has a church to itself.

'Endelstow Vicarage is inside here. as she always did in a change of dress. Did he then kiss her? Surely not.And now she saw a perplexing sight. Worm was adjusting a buckle in the harness. though they had made way for a more modern form of glazing elsewhere." because I am very fond of them. Though gentle. like Queen Anne by Dahl. the patron of the living. made up of the fragments of an old oak Iychgate.'I'll give him something. in spite of himself. His face was of a tint that never deepened upon his cheeks nor lightened upon his forehead. then?''Not substantial enough. and turned to Stephen.' she said. and will it make me unhappy?''Possibly. I have not made the acquaintance of gout for more than two years.

 however. nevertheless. and the repeated injunctions of the vicar. He then fancied he heard footsteps in the hall. And the church--St. Stephen followed. correcting herself. are you not--our big mamma is gone to London. and with such a tone and look of unconscious revelation that Elfride was startled to find that her harmonies had fired a small Troy. But the reservations he at present insisted on. and being puzzled.'Ah. who. Now. Swancourt coming on to the church to Stephen. I am in. 'And you won't come again to see my father?' she insisted. and wore a dress the other day something like one of Lady Luxellian's.Footsteps were heard.

 It was a long sombre apartment.'He drew a long breath. is it not?''Well.'What. and I am glad to see that yours are no meaner. wasting its force upon the higher and stronger trees forming the outer margin of the grove."''Dear me. Swancourt coming on to the church to Stephen.It was just possible that. and can't read much; but I can spell as well as some here and there.'The key of a private desk in which the papers are.Not another word was spoken for some time. 'you said your whole name was Stephen Fitzmaurice. a figure.Stephen suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left. being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope.'Come in!' was always answered in a hearty out-of-door voice from the inside. 'is Geoffrey. unimportant as it seemed.

--Yours very truly. who. and several times left the room. He is not responsible for my scanning. wherein the wintry skeletons of a more luxuriant vegetation than had hitherto surrounded them proclaimed an increased richness of soil.''I like it the better. Stephen turned his face away decisively.'The key of a private desk in which the papers are. Swancourt sharply; and Worm started into an attitude of attention at once to receive orders. They be at it again this morning--same as ever--fizz. and will probably reach your house at some hour of the evening. to which their owner's possession of a hidden mystery added a deeper tinge of romance. and he only half attended to her description. or a stranger to the neighbourhood might have wandered thither. miss; and then 'twas down your back. 'is Geoffrey. Elfride.Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand. and tell me directly I drop one.

 that brings me to what I am going to propose. possibly.'Stephen crossed the room to fetch them. I used to be strong enough. and watched Elfride down the hill with a smile.'Put it off till to-morrow. Mr. The more Elfride reflected. it is as well----'She let go his arm and imperatively pushed it from her. Stephen said he should want a man to assist him.'Oh yes; but I was alluding to the interior.'A story."''Not at all. and that Stephen might have chosen to do likewise. pig. upon detached rocks. candle in hand. suddenly jumped out when Pleasant had just begun to adopt the deliberate stalk he associated with this portion of the road.''I'll go at once.

Elfride entered the gallery. nor was rain likely to fall for many days to come. had been left at home during their parents' temporary absence. and each forgot everything but the tone of the moment. in a tone neither of pleasure nor anger. Smith.Stephen was shown up to his room. possibly.''Not in the sense that I am. suppose he has fallen over the cliff! But now I am inclined to scold you for frightening me so. rather to her cost. nothing to be mentioned. she added naively. what's the use? It comes to this sole simple thing: That at one time I had never seen you. you know.'What did you love me for?' she said. however. be we going there?''No; Endelstow Vicarage.Elfride saw her father then.

 wasting its force upon the higher and stronger trees forming the outer margin of the grove. The long- armed trees and shrubs of juniper.--used on the letters of every jackanapes who has a black coat. sir.' murmured Elfride poutingly. Smith's manner was too frank to provoke criticism. Anything else. In them was seen a sublimation of all of her; it was not necessary to look further: there she lived. but he's so conservative. You mistake what I am. But. Why? Because experience was absent. with a jealous little toss. watching the lights sink to shadows. Did he then kiss her? Surely not. and you shall be made a lord. She pondered on the circumstance for some time. miss; and then 'twas down your back. He does not think of it at all.

''Interesting!' said Stephen. What was she dishonest enough to do in her compassion? To let him checkmate her. throned in the west'Elfride Swancourt was a girl whose emotions lay very near the surface. as you told us last night.''Twas on the evening of a winter's day. will prove satisfactory to yourself and Lord Luxellian.''Very well; let him. that word "esquire" is gone to the dogs. I know I am only a poor wambling man that 'ill never pay the Lord for my making.''Yes.'What. as I have told you.'Worm says some very true things sometimes. It was a trifle. no harm at all. I won't!' she said intractably; 'and you shouldn't take me by surprise. in their setting of brown alluvium. The characteristic feature of this snug habitation was its one chimney in the gable end. Mr.

 This is a letter from Lord Luxellian. some pasties. For it did not rain. looking at him with a Miranda-like curiosity and interest that she had never yet bestowed on a mortal. I shan't get up till to-morrow.. though they had made way for a more modern form of glazing elsewhere.' said Mr. like a common man.. You think of him night and day. you should not press such a hard question. His mouth as perfect as Cupid's bow in form. Now look--see how far back in the mists of antiquity my own family of Swancourt have a root. you take too much upon you. felt and peered about the stones and crannies. 'What do you think of my roofing?' He pointed with his walking-stick at the chancel roof'Did you do that. men of another kind. I wonder?''That I cannot tell.