mother; "I doubt whether I could have kept silence
otherwise. I admire Mrs. Rutherford highly, as you know; she is a lady
of the finest bearing and presence. And I admire Mrs. Harold too. But if
they had attempted--if Mrs. Harold had attempted to take Garda off to
the North, and keep her there, without any link, any regularly
established communication with us, I _fear_" (the Doctor's face had
grown red again)--"I fear, ma, I should have balked; I should have just
set my feet together, put down my head, and--raised the devil behind!"

"Why, my son, what language!" said his mother, surprised; though she
felt, too, the force of his comparison, as she lived in the country of
the mule.

"Excuse me, ma; I am excited, or rather I have been. But Garda is one of
us, you know, and we could not, _I_ could not, with a clear conscience
allow them to separate her from us entirely, hurry her off into a
society of which we know little or nothing, save that it is totally
different from our own--modern--mercantile--hurrying" (the Doctor was
evidently growing excited again)--"all that we most dislike. You are
probably thinking that there are Mrs. Rutherford, Mrs. Harold, yes, and
Mr. Winthrop too (if he would only dress himself more as a gentleman
should), to answer for it, to serve as specimens. Those charming ladies
would grace, I admit, any society--any society in the world! But I am
convinced that they are not specimens, they are exceptions; I am
convinced that society at the North is a very different affair. And,
besides, Garda belongs here. Her ancestors have been men of
distinction,--among the most distinguished, indeed, of this whole coast;
I _may_ be mistaken, of course, ma; I _may_ be too severe; but still I
cannot help thinking that at the North this would fall on ignorant ears;
that the people there are too--too ignorant of such matters to
appreciate them."

"I reckon you are right," replied Mrs. Kirby. "Still, Reginald, we must
not forget that it was the mother's own wish that Mrs. Harold should
take charge of Garda."

"Yes, ma, I know. Poor little Mistress Thorne, to whom I was most
sincerely attached"--here the Doctor paused to give a vigorous
cough--"was, we must remember, a New-Englander by birth, after all; and
in spite of her efforts (most praiseworthy they were too), she never
_quite_ outgrew that fact. It couldn't, therefore, be expected that she
should comprehend fully the great advantages (even taking merely th