favor of it."

"No," replied his mother, "but it has plenty of comfort and convenience
about, it. The plan was his own, and he contrived to make it,
notwithstanding its ludicrous shape, one of the most agreeable
residences in the country. He is a blunt humorist, who drinks a good
deal, and instead of feeling offence at his manner, which is rather
rough, you will please him best by answering him exactly in his own
spirit."

"I am glad you gave me this hint," said her son; "I like that sort of
thing, and it will go hard if I don't give him as good as he brings."

"In that case," replied the mother, "the chances will be ten to one in
your favor. Seem, above all things, to like his manner, because the old
fool is vain of it, and nothing gratifies him so much."

"But about the niece? What is the cue there, mother?"

"The cue of a gentleman, Harry--of a well-bred and respectful gentleman.
You may humor the old fellow to the top of his bent; but when you become
the gentleman with her, she will not misinterpret your manner with
her uncle, but will look upon the transition as a mark of deference to
herself. And now you have your instructions: be careful and act upon
them. Miss Riddle is a girl of sense, and, they say, of feeling; and it
is on this account, I believe, that she is so critical in scrutinizing
the conduct and intellect of her lovers. So there is my last hint."

"Many thanks, my dear mother; it will, I think, be my own fault if
I fail with either uncle or niece, supported as I shall be by your
eloquent advocacy."

On arriving at Cockle Hall, Harry, on looking out of the carriage
window, took it for granted that his mother had been absolutely
bantering him. "Cockle Hall!" he exclaimed: "why, curse the hall I see
here, good, bad, or indifferent. What did you mean, mother? Were you
only jesting?"

"Keep quiet," she replied, "and above all things don't seem surprised
at the appearance of the place. Look precisely as if you had been in it
ever since it was built."

The appearance of Cockle Hall was, indeed, as his mother had very
properly informed him, ludicrous in the extreme. It was built on a
surface hollowed out of a high bank, or elevation, with which the roof
of it was on a level. It was, of course, circular and flat, and the roof
drooped, or slanted off towards the rear, precisely in imitation of a
cockle-shell. There was, however, a complete _deceptio visus_ in it. To
the eye, in consequence of the pecu