which led by the side of the vineyard to Pine Top Hill.

This lady visitor had now been here two days waiting for the return of
the mistress of the little estate; and the sojourn had evidently been of
benefit to her. Good air, the good meals with which Letty had provided
her, and a sort of sympathy which had sprung up in a very sudden way
between her and everything on the place, had given brightness to her
eyes. She even looked a little plumper than when she came, and
certainly very pretty. She climbed Pine Top Hill without making any
mistake as to the best path, and went directly to a low piece of
sun-warmed rock which cropped out from the ground not far from the bases
of the cluster of pines which gave the name to the hill. An extended and
very pretty view could be had from this spot, and Mrs Null seemed to
enjoy it, looking about her with quick turns of the head as if she
wanted to satisfy herself that all of the scenery was there. Apparently
satisfied that it was, she stretched out her feet, withdrew her gaze
from the surrounding country, and regarded the toes of her boots. Now
she smiled a little and began to speak.

"Freddy," said she, "I must think over matters, and have a talk with you
about them. Nothing could be more proper than this, since we are on our
wedding tour. You keep beautifully in the background, which is very nice
of you, for that's what I married you for. But we must have a talk now,
for we haven't said a word to each other, nor, perhaps, thought of each
other during the whole three nights and two days that we have been here.
I expect these people think it very queer that I should keep on waiting
for their mistress to come back, but I can't help it; I must stay till
she comes, or he comes, and they must continue to think it funny. And as
for Mr Croft, I suppose I should get a letter from him if he knew where
to write, but you know, Freddy, we are travelling about on this wedding
tour without letting anybody, especially Mr Croft, know exactly where
we are. He must think it an awfully wonderful piece of good luck that a
young married couple should happen to be journeying in the very
direction taken by a gentleman whom he wants to find, and that they are
willing to look for the gentleman without charging anything but the
extra expenses to which they may be put. We wouldn't charge him a cent,
you know, Freddy Null, but for the fear that he would think we would not
truly act as his agents if we were n