ones."

"The upper part by Inigo Jones; the lower was altered by the eminent
Dutch architect, Vanderputty, in George the First his time, by Sir
Richard, fourth baronet," said the housekeeper.

"O indeed," said the Baronet "Gad, Ned, you know everything."

"I know a few things, Frank," Ned answered. "I know that's not a Snyders
over the mantelpiece--bet you three to one it's a copy. We'll restore
it, my boy. A lick of varnish, and it will come out wonderfully, sir.
That old fellow in the red gown, I suppose, is Sir Richard."

"Sheriff of the county, and sate in parliament in the reign of Queen
Anne," said the housekeeper, wondering at the stranger's knowledge;
"that on the right is Theodosia, wife of Harbottle, second baronet, by
Lely, represented in the character of Venus, the Goddess of Beauty,--her
son Gregory, the third baronet, by her side, as Cupid, God of Love, with
a bow and arrows; that on the next panel is Sir Rupert, made a knight
banneret by Charles the First, and whose property was confuscated by
Oliver Cromwell."

"Thank you--needn't go on, Mrs. Blenkinsop," said the Baronet, "We'll
walk about the place ourselves. Frosch, give me a cigar. Have a cigar,
Mr. Tatham?"

Little Mr. Tatham tried a cigar which Sir Francis's courier handed to
him, and over which the lawyer spluttered fearfully. "Needn't come with
us, Mrs. Blenkinsop. What's--his--name--you--Smart--feed the horses and
wash their mouths. Shan't stay long. Come along, Strong,--I know the
way: I was here in twenty-thwee, at the end of my gwandfather's time."
And Sir Francis and Captain Strong, for such was the style and title of
Sir Francis's friend, passed out of the hall into the reception-rooms,
leaving the discomfited Mrs. Blenkinsop to disappear by a side-door
which led to her apartments, now the only habitable rooms in the
long-uninhabited mansion.

It was a place so big that no tenant could afford to live in it; and Sir
Francis and his friend walked through room after room, admiring their
vastness and dreary and deserted grandeur. On the right of the hall-door
were the saloons and drawing-rooms, and on the other side the oak room,
the parlour, the grand dining-room, the library, where Pen had found
books in old days. Round three sides of the hall ran a gallery, by
which, and corresponding passages, the chief bedrooms were approached,
and of which many were of stately proportions and exhibited marks of
splendour. On the second story was a