im, he was filled full of a set of contradictory notions
and beliefs, which were destined to astonish and perplex the mind
of that worthy J. P. for the county of Berks, Brown the elder,
whatever other effect they might have on society at large.

Readers must not suppose, however, that our hero had given up his
old pursuits; on the contrary, he continued to boat, and cricket,
and spar, with as much vigor as ever. His perplexities only made
him a little more silent at his pastimes than he used to be. But,
as we have already seen him thus employed, and know the ways of
the animal in such matters, it is needless to repeat. What we
want to do is to follow him into new fields of thought and
action, and mark, if it may be, how he develops, and gets himself
educated in one way and another; and this plunge into the great
sea of social, political, and economical questions is the
noticeable fact (so far as any is noticeable) of his second
year's residence.

During the year he had only very meagre accounts of matters at
Englebourn. Katie, indeed, had come round sufficiently to write
to him; but she scarcely alluded to her cousin. He only knew that
Mary had come out in London, and was much admired; and that the
Porters had not taken Barton again, but were going abroad for the
autumn and winter. The accounts of Harry were bad; he was still
living at Daddy Collins's, nobody knew how, and working gang-work
occasionally with the outlaws of the heath.

The only fact of importance in the neighborhood had been the
death of Squire Wurley, which happened suddenly in the spring. A
distant cousin had succeeded him, a young man of Tom's own age.

He was also in residence at Oxford, and Tom knew him. They were
not very congenial; so he was much astonished when young Wurley,
on his return to College, after his relative's funeral, rather
sought him out, and seemed to wish to know more of him. The end
of it was an invitation to Tom to come to the Grange, and spend a
week or so at the beginning of the long vacation. There was to be
a party of Oxford men there, and nobody else; and they meant to
enjoy themselves thoroughly, Wurley said.

Tom felt much embarrassed how to act, and, after some hesitation,
told his inviter of his last visit to the mansion in question,
thinking that a knowledge of the circumstances might change his
mind. But he found that young Wurley knew the facts already; and,
in fact, he couldn't help suspecting that his quarre