azed,' I answered; 'but come in, man, and prepare me for the
morning.'

"'No,' he whispered, 'not allowable. Bedtime is bedtime here. Good
night.'

"I went to bed in self-defence, and half dreamed, half thought, of
horses, and choral services, and golden heads, until sound sleep came
to my relief. It could not have been more than seven o'clock when I
awoke, and yet on going to the window it was evident that the
inhabitants of Darrow had been long up and about, for the farm-yard was
in order for the day, the carts gone a-field, and the cattle-sheds
empty. George and Philip Burton were busily engaged near the barn door,
the one in turning a grindstone, the other in sharpening an axe; and
from the barn itself came the melodious voices of Lillie and her brother
Jack. Presently they came out, she leading a long-legged horse which I
immediately recognized as answering to the description of the colt. He
was of a dull gray color, and at the first glance I set him down as
about the ugliest horse I had ever seen, his only good points being a
very decent chest, and striding hind-legs of extraordinary length and
muscle; otherwise he was utterly commonplace. But evidently there was
some great fascination in the beast, for the four Burtons gathered round
him and looked him over with that anxious scrutiny we always display
when examining our horses, then patted him admiringly, and, as I judged
from the expression of their faces, were well pleased with his morning
looks.

"As I turned from my window, I glanced beyond the farm-yard to see what
kind of a country I was in, and my eyes were greeted with as fair a
prospect as rural England can afford. Imagine a green, rolling valley,
some five miles broad, shut in on three sides by low hills, and sloping
gently to the sea on the fourth. The water was perhaps three miles from
Darrow House, but I could see that two little friths ran up far into the
meadow-land. One other large farm-house was in sight, and some twenty or
thirty cottages, all looking so bright and cosey in the clear October
sunlight, that my heart was filled with joy at the sight, and I began my
toilet actually singing a merry old song. I was soon down stairs, and
out in the fragrant barnyard.

"Lillie sat upon a pile of logs, one hand half hidden in her hair, as
she leaned lazily back on her elbow, looking at her brothers, who were
making the air resound with mighty strokes as they hewed away at a tree
which stood near th