" and she checked the horse. "It is old Hatch, the town-crier;
something is lost."

The bell stopped, and in a loud voice the man read from a paper:

"Oh, yes! Oh, yes! Lost, lost! On market square, a tin box, containing
papers. The finder will be rewarded by leaving it with the city marshal at
the court-house. Oh, yes! Oh, yes!"

The bell rang again at the conclusion of the proclamation, and the man
hurried on to the next street-crossing, where the loss was again set forth,
his voice coming back in waves of sound as the carriage rolled farther
away.

"The 'town-crier,'--that means a crier hired by the town, does it?" said
Lancy. "I thought there was not such a thing this side the Atlantic. Why do
not people advertise their losses?"

"That is the way they do it," said Beatrice, smiling, "and it pays better,
particularly on market days, than to put it in all the city papers. It is
the quickest way to make a loss known, or to advertise a sale, for
everybody listens to old Hatch, or Mr. Hatch, I should say. It is very
old-fashioned to have a town-crier, I suppose, but we should miss him very
much, though I daresay the office will die with the present crier."

"I think it is an old English custom," said Lancy. "I have read of criers
going through the streets to announce great events, such as battles and
other public matters, but I thought they were out of date long ago."

The events of the morning were duly discussed with Mrs. Fremont when they
arrived at the house, and she assured them that no thought of inconvenience
need cause them to shrink from accepting Mr. McDonald's invitation. Their
visit would bring pleasure to all the members of the family.

"You will not find the family rude and rough, as some country people are.
The girls are bright and intelligent, though full of fun and frolic," she
added. "You will be sure to enjoy yourselves, and should there come a rainy
day you will find plenty to amuse you in their quaint though comfortable
farmhouse."

CHAPTER XXIV.

The same comfortable carriage that carried them to Montague Bridge was now
travelling in an opposite direction, and the young strangers viewed with
pleasure the luxuriant fields that surrounded the many farmhouses, and
which promise such abundant harvest to their owners. The drive proved a
very delightful one indeed. In consequence of the many stoppings they made
to regale themselves with the sweet wild berries that grew in abundance by
t