as bright and joyous as the sunlit
ripple on a lake in summer time.

The Rothwells and Franklins, as old friends, exchanged a hearty but
whispered greeting.

"I daren't speak out loud," said Mark to Mary, "for fear of raising the
dust, for that'll set me sneezing, and then good-bye to one another; for
the first sneeze 'll raise such a cloud that we shall never see each
other till we get out of doors again."

"O Mark, don't be foolish! You'll make me laugh, and we shall offend
poor Mr Tankardew; but it is very odd. I never was here before, but
mamma wished me to come with her, as a sort of protection, for she's
half afraid of the old gentleman."

"Your first visit to our landlord, I think?" said Mr Rothwell.

"Yes," replied Mrs Franklin. "I sent my last half-year's rent by
Thomas, but as there are some little alterations I want doing at the
house, and Mr Tankardew, I'm told, will never listen to anything on
this subject second-hand, I have come myself and brought Mary with me."

"Just exactly my own case," said Mr Rothwell; "and Mark has given me
his company, just for the sake of the walk. I think you have never met
our landlord?"

"No, never!--and I must confess that I feel considerably relieved that
our interview will be less private than I had anticipated."

Further conversation was interrupted by the entrance of Mr Tankardew
himself. He was tall and very grey, with strongly-marked features, and
deeply-furrowed cheeks and forehead. His eyes were piercing and
restless, but there was a strange gentleness of expression about the
mouth, which might lead one, when viewing his countenance as a whole, to
gather that he was one who, though often deceived, _must_ still trust
and love. He had on slippers and worsted stockings, but neither of them
were pairs. He wore an old black handkerchief with the tie half-way
towards the back of his neck, while a very long and discoloured
dressing-gown happily shrouded from view a considerable portion of his
lower raiment.

The room in which he met his tenants was thoroughly in keeping with its
owner: old and dignified, panelled in dark wood, with a curiously-carved
chimneypiece, and a ceiling apparently adorned with some historical or
allegorical painting, if you could only have seen it.

How Mr Tankardew got into the room on the present occasion was by no
means clear, for nobody saw him enter.

Mark suggested to Mary, in a whisper, that he had come up through a trap