rom the low bob of
the country maiden generally, and said,--

'I beg you, sir, to be so good as to tell me which road I am to take,
right or left.'

'It's right ahead,' was the reply; 'I am going the same way. Your dog is
not a very pleasant companion; he looks as if he would fly at my throat
if he could.'

'He knows his manners, sir,' Bryda said, 'and he will not fly at anyone
without reason. Down!' she said, 'quiet, Flick.'

This, with a pat on his shaggy head, was taken as a sign that Bryda's
companion was not the foe Flick had at first imagined, and he walked
gravely by her side, as if unconscious of a third person's presence.

Bryda volunteered no conversation, and for some minutes there was
silence. Presently the man asked,--

'Have you any acquaintance with Squire Bayfield?'

'No, sir; not with the young Squire. He has been in foreign parts for
years.'

'Yes, that's true; he came home a week ago to find his father dead and
buried, and the old place a ruin for him to build up, and money short to
do it.'

Again there was silence, till a pair of large gates came in sight and a
long avenue of firs leading up to a house, of which the low front was
seen at the end of the drive.

'Is this Squire Bayfield's house, sir?'

'Yes, and I have business there also, so we will walk up to the door
together.'

Bryda hesitated, and then said,--

'I have business with the Squire, sir; but it is of a private nature,
and I must see him alone.'

'That I'll warrant you shall do, madam,' and insensibly the man's manner
became more respectful.

This was no country maiden to whom he might offer any familiarity,
praise her beauty, or rally her on her charms. Bryda had always about
her that innate purity and refinement, which acts as a shield against
the shafts of impertinent admiration which men of a certain type in the
eighteenth century were apt to offer to win favour with the belles of
town or country.

A short flight of stone steps led to the front entrance of the house,
and here the young man paused. After a moment's hesitation he opened the
door, and a parcel of dogs of all shapes and sizes came rushing out,
whining and capering with delight.

Immediately Flick stood at bay, and a scrimmage seemed imminent, when
the young man took a short whip from a peg in the hall, and thrashing
right and left, with a great many oaths and curses, exclaimed, 'The
brutes--the underbred brutes,' as the dogs went whining and yelp