is
same 'business' was. It was to choose a house. Owing to my father's
already failing health, we had left our own old home more than a year
before, and till now we had been living in a temporary house in South
Wales. But my father did not like the neighbourhood, and fancied the
climate did not suit him, and besides this we could not have had the
house after the following April, had we wished it. So there had been
great discussions about what we should do, where we should go rather, and
much consultation of advertisement sheets and agents' lists. Already Mary
had set off on several fruitless expeditions in quest of delightful
'residences' which turned out very much the reverse. But she had never
before had to go such a long way as to East Hornham, which was the name
of the post-town near which were two houses to let, each seemingly so
desirable that we really doubted whether it would not be difficult to
resist taking _both_. My father had known East Hornham as a boy, and
though its neighbourhood was not strikingly picturesque, it was
considered to be eminently healthy, and he was full of eagerness about
it, and wishing he himself could have gone to see the houses. But that
was impossible--impossible too for my mother to leave him even for three
days; there was nothing for it but for Mary to go, and at once. Our
decision in the case of one of the houses must not be delayed a day, for
a gentleman had seen it and wanted to take it, only as the agent in
charge of it considered that we had 'the first refusal,' he had written
to beg my father to send some one to see it at once.

"And thus it came about that Mary and I set off by ourselves in this
dreary fashion only two days before Christmas! Mother had proposed our
taking a servant, but as we knew that the only one who would have been
any use to us was the one of _most_ use to mother, we declared we should
much prefer the 'independence' of going by ourselves.

"By dint of much examination of Bradshaw we had discovered that it was
possible, just possible, to get to East Hornham the same night about nine
o'clock.

"'That will enable us to get to bed early, after we have had some supper,
and the next day we can devote to seeing the two houses, one or other of
which _must_ suit us,' said Mary, cheerfully. 'And starting early again
the next day we may hope to be back with you on Christmas eve, mother
dear.'

"The plan seemed possible enough,--one day would suffice for the hou