ded several miles, and the dusk of the evening was setting in,
when he observed a stage-coach crawling heavily up a hill, a little
ahead of him, and a tall, well-shaped man, walking alongside of it,
and gesticulating somewhat violently. Godolphin remarked him with some
curiosity; and the man, turning abruptly round, perceived, and in his
turn noticed very inquisitively, the person and aspect of the young
traveller.

"And how now?" said he, presently, and in an agreeable, though familiar
and unceremonious tone of voice; "whither are you bound this time of
day?"

"It is no business of yours, friend," said the boy with the proud
petulance of his age; "mind what belongs to yourself."

"You are sharp on me, young sir," returned the other; "but it is our
business to be loquacious. Know, sir,"--and the stranger frowned--"that
we have ordered many a taller fellow than yourself to execution for a
much smaller insolence than you seem capable of."

A laugh from the coach caused Godolphin to lift up his eyes, and he
saw the door of the vehicle half-open, as if for coolness, and an arch
female face looking down on him.

"You are merry on me, I see," said Percy; "come out, and I'll be even
with you, pretty one."

The lady laughed yet more loudly at the premature gallantry of the
traveller; but the man, without heeding her, and laying his hand on
Percy's shoulder, said--

"Pray, sir, do you live at B----?" naming the town they were now
approaching.

"Not I," said Godolphin, freeing himself from the intrusion.

"You will, perhaps, sleep there?"

"Perhaps I shall."

"You are too young to travel alone."

"And you are too old to make such impertinent remarks," retorted
Godolphin, reddening with anger.

"Faith, I like this spirit, my Hotspur," said the stranger, coolly. "If
you are really going to put up for the night at B----, suppose we sup
together?"

"And who and what are you?" asked Percy, bluntly.

"Anything and everything! in other words, an actor!"

"And the young lady----?'

"Is our prima donna. In fact, except the driver, the coach holds none
but the ladies and gentlemen of our company. We have made an excellent
harvest at A----, and we are now on our way to the theatre at B----;
pretty theatre it is, too, and has been known to hold seventy-one pounds
eight shillings." Here the actor fell into a reverie; and Percy, moving
nearer to the coach-door, glanced at the damsel, who returned the look
with a laugh w