fist, and
confronted Harry, "you've been invited to my house as a guest, sir, and
you seize the opportunity basely to insult my daughter!"

"Stay, stay, my dear sir," interrupted Harry, laying his hand on the old
man's shoulder and gazing earnestly into his face. "Oh, do not, even
for a moment, imagine that I could be so base as to trifle with the
affections of your daughter. I may have been presumptuous, hasty,
foolish, mad if you will, but not base. God forbid that I should treat
her with disrespect, even in thought! I love her, Mr Kennedy, as I
never loved before. I have asked her to be my wife, and--she--"

"Whew!" whistled old Mr Kennedy, replacing his pipe between his teeth,
gazing abstractedly at the ground, and emitting clouds innumerable.
After standing thus a few seconds, he turned his back slowly upon Harry,
and smiled outrageously once or twice, winking at the same time, after
his own fashion, at the river. Turning abruptly round, he regarded
Harry with a look of affected dignity, and said, "Pray, sir, what did my
daughter say to your very peculiar proposal?"

"She said ye--ah! that is--she didn't exactly _say_ anything, but she--
indeed I--"

"Humph!" ejaculated the old gentleman, deepening his frown as he
regarded his young friend through the smoke. "In short, she said
nothing, I suppose, but led you to infer, perhaps, that she would have
said yes if I hadn't interrupted you."

Harry blushed, and said nothing.

"Now, sir," continued Mr Kennedy, "don't you think that it would have
been a polite piece of attention on your part to have asked _my_
permission before you addressed my daughter on such a subject, eh?"

"Indeed," said Harry, "I acknowledge that I have been hasty, but I must
disclaim the charge of disrespect to you, sir. I had no intention
whatever of broaching the subject to-day, but my feelings, unhappily,
carried me away, and--and--in fact--"

"Well, well, sir," interrupted Mr Kennedy, with a look of offended
dignity, "your feelings ought to be kept more under control. But come,
sir, to my house. I must talk further with you on this subject. I must
read you a lesson, sir--a lesson, humph! that you won't forget in a
hurry."

"But, my dear sir--" began Harry.

"No more, sir--no more at present," cried the old gentleman, smoking
violently as he pointed to the footpath that led to the house. "Lead
the way, sir; I'll follow."

The footpath, although wide enough to allow Kate