him out; and
a prince of a hound he is; so now he's old we let him have his own
way, for her sake; and nobody'll ever bully _you_, will they, Goodman,
my boy?"

"I want to introduce you to a friend of mine."

"Proud to know any friend of yours, sir."

"Mr. Stangrave--Mr. Armsworth. Mr. Stangrave is an American gentleman,
who is anxious to see Whitbury and the neighbourhood."

"Well, I shall be happy to show it him, then--can't have a better
guide, though I say it--know everything by this time, and everybody,
man, woman, and child, as I hope Mr. Stangrave'll find when he gets to
know old Mark."

"You must not speak of getting to know you, my dear sir; I know
you intimately already, I assure you; and more, am under very deep
obligations to you, which, I regret to say, I can only repay by
thanks."

"Obligation to me, my dear sir?"

"Indeed I am: I will tell you all when we are alone." And Stangrave
glanced at the fat old woman, who seemed to be listening intently.

"Oh, never mind her," says Armsworth; "deaf as a post: very good
woman, but so deaf--ought to speak to her, though"--and, reaching
across, to the infinite amusement of his companions, he roared in the
fat woman's face, with a voice as of a speaking-trumpet--"Glad to see
you, Mrs. Grove! Got those dividends ready for you next time you come
into town."

"Yah!" screamed the hapless woman, who (as the rest saw) heard
perfectly well. "What do you mean, frightening a lady in that way?
Deaf, indeed!"

"Why," roared Mark again, "ain't you Mrs. Grove, of Drytown
Dirtywater?"

"No, nor no acquaintance! What business is it of your'n, sir, to go
hollering in ladies' faces at your age?"

"Well:--but I'll swear if you ain't her, you're somebody else. I know
you as well as the town clock"

"Me? If you must know, sir, I'm Mrs. Pettigrew's mother, the
Linendraper's establishment, sir; a-going down for Christmas, sir!"

"Humph!" says Mark: "you see--was sure I knew her--know everybody
here. As I said, if she wasn't Mrs. Grove, she was somebody else. Ever
in these parts before?"

"Never: but I have heard a good deal of them; and very much charmed
with them I am. I have seldom seen a more distinctive specimen of
English scenery."

"And how you are improving round here!" said Claude, who knew Mark's
weak points, and wanted to draw him out. "Your homesteads seem all
new; three fields have been thrown into one, I fancy, over half the
farms."

Mark broke out a