t rather suspiciously.

[Footnote 3: wrapper.]

"The 'baccy, sir; Harvey Birch, he got home, and he bring you a little
good 'baccy from York."

"Harvey Birch!" rejoined the master, with great deliberation, stealing
a look at his guest. "I do not remember desiring him to purchase any
tobacco for me; but as he has brought it, he must be paid for his
trouble."

Sarah Wharton bade the black show Birch into the apartment; when,
suddenly recollecting herself, she turned to the traveller with an
apologizing look, and added, "If Mr. Harper will excuse the presence
of a peddler."

Harvey Birch had been a peddler from his youth; at least, so he
frequently asserted,[4] and his skill in the occupation went far to
prove the truth of the declaration. He was a native of one of the
Eastern colonies; and, from something of superior intelligence which
belonged to his father, it was thought they had known better fortune
in the land of their nativity. Harvey possessed, however, the common
manners of the country, and was in no way distinguished from men of
his class but by his acuteness,[5] and the mystery which enveloped his
movements. Ten years before, they had arrived together in the vale,
and, purchasing an humble dwelling, continued peaceful inhabitants,
but little noticed and but little known. Until age and infirmities had
prevented, the father devoted himself to the cultivation of the small
spot of ground belonging to his purchase, while the son pursued with
avidity[6] his humble barter. Their orderly quietude had soon given
them so much consideration in the neighborhood as to induce a maiden
(Katy Haynes by name) of five-and-thirty to forget the punctilio[7] of
her sex, and to accept the office of presiding over their domestic
comforts.

[Footnote 4: declared.]

[Footnote 5: sharpness.]

[Footnote 6: eagerness.]

[Footnote 7: exactness in conduct.]

Harvey was in the frequent habit of paying mysterious visits in the
depth of the night to the fire-place of the apartment that served for
both kitchen and parlor. Here he was observed by Katy; and, availing
herself of his absence and the occupation of the father, by removing
one of the hearth-stones she discovered an iron pot, glittering with
a metal that seldom fails to soften the hardest heart. Katy succeeded
in replacing the stone without discovery, and never dared to trust
herself with another visit.

In a few minutes after receiving the comma