piration lest he should not
get into the house before his mistress and don his livery to meet her at
the door with his white wand and everything en regle, just as if nothing
had interrupted their usual course of housekeeping.

The Lady de Tilly knew the weakness of her faithful old servitor, and
although she smiled to herself, she would not hurt his feelings by
entering the house before he was ready at his post to receive her. She
continued walking about the lawn conversing with Amelie, Pierre, and Le
Gardeur, until she saw old Felix with his wand and livery standing at
the door, when, taking Pierre's arm, she led the way into the house.

The folding doors were open, and Felix with his wand walked before his
lady and her companions into the mansion. They entered without delay,
for the day had been warm, and the ladies were weary after sitting
several hours in a canoe, a mode of travelling which admits of very
little change of position in the voyagers.

The interior of the Manor House of Tilly presented the appearance of
an old French chateau. A large hall with antique furniture occupied the
center of the house, used occasionally as a court of justice when
the Seigneur de Tilly exercised his judicial office for the trial of
offenders, which was very rarely, thanks to the good morals of the
people, or held a cour pleniere of his vassals, on affairs of
the seigniory for apportioning the corvees for road-making and
bridge-building, and, not the least important by any means, for the
annual feast to his censitaires on the day of St. Michael de Thury.

From this hall, passages led into apartments and suites of rooms
arranged for use, comfort, and hospitality. The rooms were of all sizes,
panelled, tapestried, and furnished in a style of splendor suited to
the wealth and dignity of the Seigneurs of Tilly. A stair of oak, broad
enough for a section of grenadiers to march up it abreast, led to
the upper chambers, bedrooms, and boudoirs, which looked out of old
mullioned windows upon the lawn and gardens that surrounded the house,
affording picturesque glimpses of water, hills, and forests far enough
off for contemplation, and yet near enough to be accessible by a short
ride from the mansion.

Pierre Philibert was startled at the strange familiarity of everything
he saw: the passages and all their intricacies, where he, Le Gardeur,
and Amelie had hid and found one another with cries of delight,--he
knew where they all led to;