he called the farmer. He soon found, however, that he had caught a
Tartar. The good-natured Highlander met his raillery with what we may
call a smile of grave simplicity, and led him slyly into committing
himself in such a way that even the untutored servants could see how far
the man was behind their master in general knowledge; but Hobbs took
refuge in smart reply, confident assertion, extreme volubility, and the
use of hard words, so that it sometimes seemed to the domestics as if he
really had some considerable power in argument. Worthy Mrs McAllister
never joined in the debate, except by a single remark now and then. She
knew her son thoroughly, and before the Sudberrys had been a week at the
White House she understood Hobbs through and through.

She was wont to sit at her spinning-wheel regarding this intellectual
sparring with grave interest, as a peculiar phase of the human mind. A
very sharp encounter had created more laughter than usual at the time
when Mr Sudberry halloed for his man-servant.

"You must be getting deaf; Hobbs, I fear," said the master, at once
pacified by the man's arrival; "go down and fetch--"

"Pray do not send him away just now," cried Mrs Sudberry: "I have
something particular for him to do. Can you go down yourself, dear?"

The good man sighed. "Well, I will go," and accordingly away he went.

"Stay, my dear."

"Well."

"I expect one or two small parcels by the coach this morning; mind you
ask for 'em and bring 'em up."

"Ay, ay!" and Mr Sudberry, with his hands in his pockets, and his
wideawake thrust back and very much on one side of his head, sauntered
down the hill towards the road.

One of the disadvantageous points about the White House was its distance
from any town or market. The nearest shop was four miles off, so that
bread, butter, meat, and groceries, had to be ordered a couple of days
beforehand, and were conveyed to their destination by the mail-coach.
Even after they were deposited at the gate of Mr McAllister's farm,
there was still about half a mile of rugged cart-road to be got over
before they could be finally deposited in the White House. This was a
matter of constant anxiety to Mr Sudberry, because it was necessary
that someone should be at the gate regularly to receive letters and
parcels, and this involved constant attention to the time of the mail
passing. When no one was there, the coachman left the property of the
family at the side of the r