ip, and then another, appreciatingly.

"The landlord said it was first rate, and he is not far wrong," John
Thorndyke remarked, as he set down his own glass.

"Yes, it is a fine vintage, and in perfect condition," Mr. Bastow
agreed. "I have drunk nothing better for years, though you have some
fine bins."

"I would take a biscuit, if I were you, before I took another glass,"
the Squire said, helping himself from a plate on the table. "You have
had nothing to eat today, and you want something badly. I have a dish of
kidneys coming up in half an hour; they cook them well here."

The Rector ate a biscuit, mechanically sipped another glass of wine,
and was even able to eat a kidney when they were brought up. Although
September was not yet out, the Squire had a fire lighted in the room,
and after the meal was over, and two steaming tumblers of punch were
placed upon the table, he took a long pipe from the mantel, filled and
lighted it, then filled another, and handed it to the Rector, at the
same time holding out a light to him.

"Life has its consolations," he said. "You have had a lot of troubles
one way and another, Bastow, but we may hope that they are all over now,
and that life will go more smoothly and easily with you. We had better
leave the past alone for the present. I call this snug: a good fire, a
clean pipe, a comfortable chair, and a steaming bowl at one's elbow."

The Rector smiled faintly.

"It seems unnatural--" he began.

"Not at all, not at all," the Squire broke in. "You have had a
tremendous load on your mind, and now it is lifted off; the thundercloud
has burst, and though damage has been done, one is thankful that it is
no worse. Now I can talk to you of a matter that has been on my mind for
the last three weeks. What steps do you think that I ought to take to
find a successor for you? It is most important to have a man who will
be a real help in the parish, as you have been, would pull with one
comfortably, and be a pleasant associate. I don't want too young a
fellow, and I don't want too old a one. I have no more idea how to set
about it than a child. Of course, I could ask the Bishop to appoint, but
I don't know that he would appoint at all the sort of man I want. The
living is only worth 200 pounds a year and the house--no very great
catch; but there is many a man that would be glad to have it."

"I have been thinking it over, too, Thorndyke, when I could bring my
mind to consider anything