ng in the direction of
Hillingford. As soon as the driver, a stout, rosy-faced gentleman, who
proved to be the family apothecary, perceived our party, he pulled
up, and, when he became aware of what had occurred, put an end to our
difficulties by offering Mrs. Coleman the unoccupied seat in his chaise.

"Sorry I can't accommodate you also, Miss Saville," he continued,
raising his hat; "but you see it's rather close packing as it is. If I
were but a little more like the medical practitioner who administered a
sleeping draught to Master Romeo now, we might contrive to carry three."

"I really prefer walking such a cold day as this, thank you, Mr.
Pillaway," answered Miss Saville.

"Mind you take proper care of poor Clara, Mr. Fairlegh," said Mrs.
Coleman, "and don't let her sprain her ankle, or do anything foolish,
and don't you stay out too long yourself and catch cold, or I don't know
what Mrs. Fairlegh will say, and your pretty sister, too--what a
fat pony, Mr. Pillaway; you don't give him much physic, I should
think--good-bye, my dears, good-bye--remember the boiled beef."

As she spoke, the fat pony, admonished by the whip, described a circle
with his tail, frisked with the agility of a playful elephant, and then
set off at a better pace than from his adipose appearance I had deemed
him capable of doing.

"With all her oddity, what an unselfish, kind-hearted, excellent little
person Mrs. Coleman is!" observed I, as the pony-chaise disappeared at
an angle of the road.

"Oh! I think her charming," replied my companion warmly, "she is so very
good-natured."

"She is something beyond that," returned I; "mere good-nature is a
quality I rate very low: a person may be good-natured, yet thoroughly
selfish, for nine times out of ten it is easier and more agreeable to
say 'yes' than 'no'; but there is such an entire forgetfulness of self,
apparent in all Mrs. Coleman's attempts to make those around her happy
and comfortable, that, despite her eccentricities, I am beginning to
conceive quite a respect for the little woman."

"You are a close observer of character it seems, Mr. Fairlegh," remarked
my companion.

"I scarcely see how any thinking person can avoid being so," returned I;
"there is no study that appears to me to possess a more deep and varied
interest."

"You make mistakes, though, sometimes," replied ~269~~ Miss Saville,
glancing quickly at me with her beautiful eyes.

"You refer to my hasty judgment o