with a sly glance.

"I will scarcely go that far," replied he, with the air of a man on the
best possible terms with himself. "They say he is the best rider who
has had the most falls. At least, it may be said that he who has met no
disasters has encountered few perils."

"Now, my Lord, you can see the cottage completely. Is it not
very pretty, and very picturesque, and is there not something
very interesting--touching almost, in the thought of beauty and
captivation--dwelling in this un-travelled wilderness?"

He almost gave a little shudder, as his eye followed the line of the
rugged mountain, till it blended with the bleak and shingly shore on
which the waves were now washing in measured plash,--the one sound in
the universal silence around.

"Nothing but being desperately in love could make this solitude
endurable," said he at last.

"Why not try that resource, my Lord? I could almost promise you that the
young lady who lives yonder is quite ready to be adored and worshipped,
and all that sort of thing; and it would be such a boon on the frosty
days, when the ground is too hard for hunting, to have this little bit
of romance awaiting you."

"Coquetry and French cookery pall upon a man who has lived all his life
abroad, and he actually longs for a little plain diet, in manners as
well as meals."

"And then you have seen all the pretty acts of our very pretty neighbor
so much better done?"

"Done by real artists," added he.

"Just so. Amateurship is always a poor thing. This is the way, my Lord.
If you will follow me, I will be your guide here; the path here is very
slippery, and you must take care how you go."

"When I fall, it shall be at your feet," said he, with his hand on his
heart.

As they gained the bottom of the little ravine down which the footpath
lay, they found Julia, hoe in hand, at work in the garden before the
door. Her dark woollen dress and her straw hat were only relieved in
color by a blue ribbon round her throat, but she was slightly flushed
by exercise, and a little flurried, perhaps, by the surprise of seeing
them, and her beauty, this time, certainly lacked nothing of that
brilliancy which Lord Culduff had pronounced it deficient in.

"My brother will be so sorry to have missed you, my Lord," said she,
leading the way into the little drawing-room, where, amidst many signs
of narrow fortune, there were two or three of those indications which
vouch for cultivated tastes and pleas