st it. We eat and drink very well. The place is
healthy, and though the climate is detestable, it braces and
gives appetite. We shall have, at all events, ample time to
talk over much that interests us both, and so I say, Come!

"The road is by Belfast, and thence to Coleraine, where we
shall take care to meet you. I ought to add that your host's
name is Sir Arthur Lyle, an Anglo-Indian, but who, thank
your stars for it! being a civilian, has neither shot tigers
nor stuck pigs. It will also be a relief to you to learn
that there's no sport of any kind in the neighborhood, and
there cannot be the shade of a pretext for making you mount
a horse or carry a gun, nor can any insidious tormentor
persecute you with objects of interest or antiquity; and so,
once again, Come--and believe me, ever your most cordial
friend,

"N. Maitland.

"There is no reason why you should not be here by Saturday,
so that, if nothing contrary is declared, I shall look out
for you by that day; but write at all events."

CHAPTER X. A BLUNDER

Sir Arthur Lyle was a county dignity, and somewhat fond of showing
it. It is true he could not compete with the old blood of the land, or
contest place with an O'Neil or an O'Hara; but his wealth gave him a
special power, and it was a power that all could appreciate. There was
no mistake about one who could head a subscription by a hundred pounds,
or write himself patron of a school or a hospital with a thousand! And
then his house was more splendid, his servants more numerous, their
liveries finer, his horses better, than his neighbors; and he was not
above making these advantages apparent. Perhaps his Indian experiences
may have influenced his leanings, and taught him to place a higher value
on show and all the details of external greatness. On everything that
savored of a public occasion, he came with all the pomp and parade of
a sovereign. A meeting of poor-law guardians, a committee of the
county infirmary, a board of railway directors, were all events to be
signalized by his splendid appearance.

His coach and four, and his outriders--for he had outriders--were
admirable in all their appointments. Royalty could not have swung upon
more perfectly balanced nor easier springs, nor could a royal team
have beat the earth with a grander action or more measured rhythm. The
harness--bating the excess of splendor