e house door. 'Well done, Philip; you're none the
worse woodman for being parson too,' she cried; then, seeing me, she
rose with a bright color in her cheeks, and held out her hand in hearty
morning greeting. 'We did not know when you would be rested from your
journey,' she said, 'and so did not have you called. Will you come in to
breakfast now?'

"The three brothers stopped their work as we went in, and bade me a
cheerful good-morrow. I have never since seen such men,--so big, so
handsome, so modest, with such bright, healthy faces. None of them
talked a great deal, not even my favorite Jack; but I felt then as I
should feel now if I met one of them anywhere, that their friendship
meant trust and loyalty and service more than most men's.

"Jack went with us to a little room at the side of the house where
breakfast was laid for two; but when Satterlee joined us, Jack said with
a laugh, 'I will leave you to tell all about everything, Lillie, and go
back to my chopping,' and so went out.

"'If I must tell about everything,' Lillie began, 'I must tell about the
races first, for they are more important than anything else just now.
Thursday is the great day, and all the farmers in the neighborhood will
have horses there. It is the grand gathering of the year for us, and the
gentry come down and walk about among the horses, and are as kind and
gracious as can be. They always buy some of the best; and happy is the
man who can sell a beast to the Earl, or to Sir Francis Gilmor, for they
are great judges, and have the best stables in the county. There are
five races during the day, the first being for ponies, the second for
colts, and so on; and in the evening we have a ball at the Earl's, and
the five riders who win are given presents by the Countess herself. O,
it is a great day!' she went on, more and more enthusiastically; 'there
is no other time so pleasant in all the year. George has in his bay
mare, and I have entered my colt. Have you seen my colt?'

"'Yes,' I answered, 'I saw him from the window this morning.'

"Lillie looked me straight in the face a moment, and then said, with a
little plaintive shake of the head: 'Ah, I see! You will laugh at him
like all the rest. But you must see him go,--he is almost handsome
then.'

"'I should think he might be,' I answered, trying to console her for my
lack of admiration.

"'They are so mean about him,' she went on, smiling. 'When he was two
years old they were going to