bamboozled--and the result at last being
the same in drawing down the secretary's anger. This produced another
change of intention, and he let down the glass for the third time--once
more changed his orders as concisely as possible, and pulled it up
again. All this time Mat was laughing internally at the bewilderment of
the stranger, and as he turned round the carriage again he muttered to
himself, "By this and that, you're as hard to dhrive as a pig; for
you'll neither go one road nor th' other." He had not proceeded far,
when Furlong determined to face O'Grady instead of the Castle, and the
last and final order for another turnabout was given. Mat hardly
suppressed an oath; but respect for his master stopped him. The glass of
the carriage was not pulled up this time, and Mat was asked a few
questions about the Hall, and at last about the Squire. Now Mat had
acuteness enough to fathom the cause of Furlong's indecision, and
determined to make him as unhappy as he could; therefore to the question
of "What sort of a man the Squire was?" Mat, re-echoing the question,
replied--"What sort of a man, sir?--'Faith, he's not a man at all, sir,
he's the devil."

Furlong pulled up the glass, and employed the interval between Mat's
answer and reaching the Hall in making up his mind as to how he should
"face the devil."

The carriage, after jolting for some time over a rough road skirted by a
high and ruinous wall, stopped before a gateway that had once been
handsome, and Furlong was startled by the sound of a most thundering
bell, which the vigorous pull of Mat stimulated to its utmost pitch; the
baying of dogs which followed was terrific. A savage-looking gatekeeper
made his appearance with a light--not in a lantern, but shaded with his
tattered hat; many questions and answers ensued, and at last the gate
was opened. The carriage proceeded up a very ragged avenue, stopped
before a large rambling sort of building, which even moonlight could
exhibit to be very much out of repair, and after repeated knocking at
the door (for Mat knew _his_ squire and the other squire were not
friends now, and that he might be impudent), the door was unchained and
unbarred, and Furlong deposited in Neck-or-Nothing Hall.

CHAPTER XIV

"Such is the custom of Branksome Hall."

_Lay of the Last Minstrel._

NECK-OR-NOTHING HALL

CANTO I

Ten good nights and ten good days
It would take to t