t at
a public house in the next village, for I know how delighted you would
have been to drive over and fetch me!"

If you were not already out of hearing, you may have noticed that I made
no reply to this affecting speech. The old gentleman has grown quite
deaf of late years,--an infirmity which was once a source of untold
misery to his friends, to whom he was constantly appealing for their
opinions, which they were obliged to shout in his ear. But now, happily,
the world has about ceased responding to him, and he has almost ceased
to expect responses from the world. He just catches your eye, and, when
he says, "Don't you think so, sir?" or, "What is your opinion, sir?" an
approving nod does your business.

The hackman paid, my dear uncle accompanied me to the house, unfolding
the catalogue of his woes by the way. For he is one of those worthy,
unoffending persons, whom an ungrateful world jostles and tramples
upon,--whom unmerciful disaster follows fast and follows faster. In his
younger days, he was settled over I don't know how many different
parishes; but secret enmity pursued him everywhere, poisoning the
parochial mind against him, and driving him relentlessly from place to
place. Then he relapsed into agencies, and went through a long list of
them, each terminating in flat failure, to his ever-recurring
surprise,--the simple old soul never suspecting, to this day, who his
one great, tireless, terrible enemy is!

I got him into the library, and went to talk over this unexpected
visit--or visitation--with Dolly. She bore up under it more cheerfully
than could have been expected,--suppressed a sigh,--and said she would
go down and meet him. She received him with a hospitable smile (I verily
believe that more of the world's hypocrisy proceeds from too much
good-nature than from too little), and listened patiently to his
explanations.

"You will observe that I have brought my bag," says he, "for I knew you
wouldn't let me off for a day or two,--though I must positively leave in
a week,--in two weeks, at the latest. I have brought my volume, too, for
I am contemplating a new edition" (he is always contemplating a new
edition, making that a pretext for lugging the book about with him),
"and I wish to enjoy the advantages of your and Frederick's
criticism;--I anticipate some good, comfortable, old-time talks over the
old book, Frederick!"

We had invited some village friends to come in and eat strawberries and
cr