ndness shewn him. When seen as he was now,
under more favourable circumstances than those in which he had first
presented himself, shivering with cold and drenched with wet, he exhibited
a handsome exterior. His countenance was full of expression and
intelligence, but was overspread with an apparently deep-seated and settled
melancholy. He appeared, in short, to be a person who was suffering
severely either in body or mind; but his affliction exhibited all the
symptoms of being of the latter rather than the former. Yet was not the
profound gravity of his manner of an unpleasing or repulsive character; it
partook of a gentleness and benevolence that rendered it rather graceful
than otherwise. The tones of his voice, too, corresponded with these
qualities; they were mild and impressive, and singularly agreeable.
Altogether, the stranger appeared a mysterious sort of person; and greatly
did it puzzle Mr Adair and all his household to conjecture who or what he
could possibly be; a task to which they set themselves after he had retired
to bed, which he did--pleading fatigue as an excuse--at an early hour. The
first ostensible circumstance connected with their guest of the night,
which the family divan, with the father of it at their head, took into
consideration when discussing the knotty points of the stranger's character
and calling, was his apparel. But of this they could make nothing. His
habiliments were in no ways remarkable for anything; they being neither
good, bad, nor indifferent, but of that indefinite description called
respectable. So far as these were concerned, therefore, he might be either
a peer of the realm or an English bagman.

Finding they could make nothing of the clothes, the family cabinet council
next proceeded to the looks and manners of the stranger; and, with regard
to these, all agreed that they seemed to bespeak the gentleman; and on this
conclusion from the premises, none insisted more stoutly than Rosy, who,
let us observe, although she thought nobody saw her, had taken several
stolen glances at the subject of discussion while he was seated at the
kitchen fire; and at each glance, let us farther observe, more and more
approved of his finely arched eyebrows, his well-formed mouth, dark
expressive eyes, and rich black locks that clustered around his white and
open forehead. But all this is a secret, good reader, and should not have
been told.

So far, then, had the united opinions of the family