t their friends have no reasonable objection to our plan."

"They have no friends!" answered Mr. Grindlay, shaking his gray head;
"nobody to make any objection, reasonable or otherwise; but, as you are
willing to undertake the charge of them, sir, I think it would be only
right that you should know the exact truth."

This was the train of circumstances which led to my acquaintance with the
present story.

The parents of George and Esther Hammond kept a small but respectable inn,
in one of the southern counties of England. The house was not situated in
a town, nor yet very far from one, but it was a pretty rural spot, with a
bowling green and garden; and it was a common thing for the inhabitants of
the neighboring city to make parties there on Sundays and holidays, to
dine and drink cider, for which the house was famous. It was, indeed, an
extremely well-kept, clean, comfortable, little inn, the merit of which
good keeping was chiefly referred by the public voice to Mrs. Hammond: an
industrious, hard-working, thrifty woman. She was generally reputed to be
more than thrifty. It was often remarked that when Hammond himself was
absent from home, the tables were less liberally served, and the charge
higher, than when he was there to moderate her besetting sin--the love of
gain. Still, she was an excellent wife, and a good hostess; and she was
devoted to her husband and her two children, George and Esther. In short,
she was a woman who took every thing in earnest, and she loved her family,
as she worked for them, with all her energies. She loved her children
wisely, too: for she was extremely anxious to give them the best education
she could afford; and, although, as was consistent with her character, she
kept them somewhat rigidly, she was essentially a kind mother.

Hammond's character was different. He was by nature an easy, liberal,
good-natured fellow, with a considerable dash of cleverness and a very
well-looking person. In youth he had gone by the name of "Handsome
George;" and was still a universal favorite with his friends and
customers. The only disputes that ever occurred between Hammond and his
wife, arose out of those agreeable qualities. The guests were apt to
invite the host into the parlor to drink with them; and when Handsome
George once had his legs under his own or any body else's mahogany, he was
not disposed to draw them out for some time. If this happened on a
Sunday--when there were more parties than