ke their custom well; but to the bonny
lass that hath a liking for a good tight butcher, I charge nought but
one fair kiss, for I like her custom the best of all."

"It was here in Nottingham that Will Stutely had his narrow escape,
wasn't it?" questioned Betty. "He was captured by the Sheriff's men
at 'Ye Blue Boar Inn,' and they brought him to town and would have
hanged him, if Robin Hood and his men hadn't arrived just in time to
save his life. Once Little John came to Nottingham Town and lived for
some time in the Sheriff's own castle, pretending to be the cook. My!
what lots of things happened here!"

Not far away are splendid Chatsworth House, one of the palaces of the
Duke of Devonshire, and lovely Haddon Hall, with its romantic story,
and both of these famous places received a visit from Mrs. Pitt and
her party.

Chatsworth, I am afraid, was not fully appreciated by our friends. It
has a most beautiful situation--in the valley of the Derwent, which
rushes along through the extensive park; the house itself is
magnificent--filled with fine marble halls and rooms, and costly
treasures of art; and in the gardens almost every sovereign of Europe
seems to have planted some kind of a tree. One curious thing did
wonderfully please the children's fancy; that is, a marvelous
weeping-willow tree, from the metal twigs and branches of which tiny
streams of water come at a sign from the gardener. But somehow, on the
whole, Chatsworth is cold and unfeeling, and failed to appeal to the
party.

Not so was it with Haddon Hall! The most prosaic summer tourist could
hardly fail to be moved by admiration of its delights. It is still a
real home, and seems alive with memories of the fair Dorothy Vernon
and her family. The old castle has scarcely changed at all since the
sixteenth century, and one feels as though the great lords and ladies
of Queen Elizabeth's time had thoughtfully stepped out on the terrace,
in order that we might wander through their noble old dwelling.

The custodian was having her afternoon-tea when the party arrived; she
did not think of hurrying in the slightest, but leisurely finished
this most important meal, and then received the visitors' fees and
allowed them to enter.

"I feel as though I had walked into a story!" remarked Betty quietly.
"Is Dorothy at home?"

The various buildings of Haddon Hall are built around two square
courts. The oldest bit is the ancient chapel, in part dating from
Norman