ly refused to surrender his bundle to the old lady's entreaties.
The sometime schoolteachers were intelligent, very well read in Cowper,
Pollock, and Sir Walter Scott, as well as in the Bible, and withal
possessed of a fair sense of humour. The old lady and Coristine were a
perpetual feast to one another. "Sure!" said he, "it's bagmen the
ignorant creatures have taken us for more than once, and it's a genuine
one I am now, Mrs. Hill," at which the good woman laughed, and recited
the Scotch ballad of the "Wee Wifukie coming frae the fair," who fell
asleep, when "by came a packman wi' a little pack," and relieved her of
her purse and placks, and "clippit a' her gowden locks sae bonnie and
sae lang." This she did in excellent taste, leaving out any
objectionable expressions in the original. When she repeated the words
of the Wifukie at the end of each verse, "This is nae me," consequent on
her discovery that curls and money were gone, the lawyer laughed
heartily, causing the pair in front, who were discussing educational
matters, to look round for the cause of the merriment. "I'm the man,"
shouted Coristine to them, "the packman wi' a little pack." Then Mr.
Hill knew what it was.

CHAPTER V.

Conversation with the Hills--Tobacco--Rural Hospitality--The
Deipnosophist and Gastronomic Dilemma--Mr. Hill's
Courtship--William Rufus rouses the Dominie's Ire--Sleep--The Real
Rufus--Acts as Guide--Rawdon Discussed--The Sluggard Farmer--The
Teamsters--The Wasps--A Difference of Opinion.

It was very pleasant for all four, the walk down the mountain road; and
the pedestrians enjoyed the scenery all the more with intelligent guides
to point out places of interest. The old schoolteacher, having
questioned Wilkinson as to his avocation, looked upon him as a superior
being, and gratified the little corner of good-natured vanity that lies
in most teachers' hearts. Coristine told the wife that he trusted her
daughters had good places, where they would receive the respect due to
young women of such upbringing; and she replied:--

"O yes, sir, they are both in one family, the family of Squire
Carruthers in Flanders. Tryphena is the eldest; she's twenty-five, and
is cook and milker and helps with the washing. Tryphosa is only twenty,
and attends to the other duties of the house. Mrs. Carruthers is not
above helping in all the work herself, so that she knows how to treat
her maids properly. Still, I am anxi