ved the necessity of
paying rent. We have been obliged to distrain, as you know; and I wish
John Smithies to buy in what he pleases. He has saved some capital in
India, where I am told that he fought most gallantly. Singular to say,
he has met with, and perhaps served under, our lamented and lost brother
Duncan, of whom and his family he may give us interesting particulars.
You know how this neighborhood excels in idle talk, and if John Smithies
becomes our tenant, his discourse must be confined to his own business.
But he must not hesitate to impart to you any facts you may think it
right to ask about. Jordas will bring us your answer, under seal."

"Skillfully put, up to that last word, which savors too much of teaching
me my own business. Aberthaw, are you quite ready with that lease? It is
wanted rather in a hurry."

As Mr. Jellicorse thought the former, and uttered the latter part of
these words, it was plain to see that he was fidgety. He had put on
superior clothes to get up with; and the clerks had whispered to
one another that it must be his wedding day, and ought to end in a
half-holiday all round, and be chalked thenceforth on the calendar;
but instead of being joyful and jocular, like a man who feels a saving
Providence over him, the lawyer was as dismal, and unsettled and
splenetic, as a prophet on the brink of wedlock. But the very last thing
that he ever dreamed of doubting was his power to turn this old soldier
inside out.

Jack o' the Smithies was announced at last; and the lawyer, being vexed
with him for taking such a time, resolved to let him take a little
longer, and kept him waiting, without any bread and cheese, for nearly
half an hour. The wisdom of doing this depended on the character of
the man, and the state of his finances. And both of these being strong
enough to stand, to keep him so long on his legs was unwise. At last
he came in, a very sturdy sort of fellow, thinking no atom the less of
himself because some of his anatomy was honorably gone.

"Servant, Sir," he said, making a salute; "I had orders to come to you
about a little lease."

"Right, my man, I remember now. You are thinking of taking to your
father's farm, after knocking about for some years in foreign parts. Ah,
nothing like old England after all. And to tread the ancestral soil, and
cherish the old associations, and to nurture a virtuous family in the
fear of the Lord, and to be ready with the rent--"

"Rent is too hig