here was not one that would not betray him with a loud
creak; on the whole, it seemed best to sit still; after all, they need
never know that any one was there. Hark! the young woman--the voice was
certainly young--was speaking again:

"He was perfectly beautiful, that was what he was. Yes! he had the
loveliest eyes in the world, without any exception; and his ears were a
dream of perfection, and, as for his coat and waistcoat, words fail her
to describe them. Now if he will sit still, she will tell him
something; no, not on her dress; a little farther off, a precious
Poppet!"

A curious sound followed; something between a loud sneeze and an equally
loud yawn, accompanied with lively and prolonged rustling of the willow
branches; but no articulate word from her companion. She seemed
satisfied, however, for she went on,--a delightful quality of voice;
Hugh felt it creeping in his ears like music:

"That is right. Yes, she understands perfectly; she knows all about it,
and she loves him to distraction. Well, Lovely One, that Lady is a Cat;
that is what she is."

Another sneeze and yawn, louder than before.

"Precisely; you think so, too. A cat! 'cat, puss, tit, grimalkin, tabby,
brindle; whoosh!' was he fond of Dickens, a Pink-nosed Pearl? She is no
more sick than you are, Beloved. She has been, no doubt, and now she has
forgotten how to be anything else, but she is liable to find out. Your
Aunt, beloved, proposes to put this lady through a Course of Sprouts.
Tu-whit! your Aunt has spoken. We may also remark, in this connection
only, tu-whoo!"

Her companion's only reply to this speech was a loud breathing, which
might be caused by emotion, or by heat and fatigue; at all events, he
did not seem inclined to speak. A thought flashed through Hugh's
mind,--the man might be a deaf-mute. What a terrible affliction! It was
bad enough to be lame; but to be deaf, and in company with a girl with a
voice like that! Hark! she was speaking again, slowly and meditatively,
rather as if talking to herself than to some one else:

"Your Aunt has not got her plan entirely laid out yet. She knows what
must finally happen: the patient must be got out of that house, and away
on a sea-voyage; but there will have to be various occurrences first.
Your Aunt's ingenuity, Adonis, will be put to a severe strain. At
present your Aunt is alone, and in difficulties. Many oxen come about
her, fat bulls of Bashan compass her on every side, as the