eenane that his lordship was
about to return to Glencore, and fix his residence there.

Such an event was of no small moment in such a locality, and many were
the speculations as to what might be the consequence of his coming.
Little, or indeed nothing, was known of Lord Glencore; his only visit
to the neighborhood had occurred many years before, and lasted but for a
day. He had arrived suddenly, and, taking a boat at the ferry, as it was
called, crossed over to the Castle, whence he returned at nightfall, to
depart as hurriedly as he came.

Of those who had seen him in this brief visit the accounts were vague
and most contradictory. Some called him handsome and well built; others
said he was a dark-looking, downcast man, with a sickly and forbidding
aspect. None, however, could record one single word he had spoken, nor
could even gossips pretend to say that he gave utterance to any opinion
about the place or the people. The mode in which the estate was managed
gave as little insight into the character of the proprietor. If no
severity was displayed to the few tenants on the property, there was
no encouragement given to their efforts at improvement; a kind of cold
neglect was the only feature discernible, and many went so far as to say
that if any cared to forget the payment of his rent, the chances were
it might never be demanded of him; the great security against such
a venture, however, lay in the fact that the land was held at a
mere nominal rental, and few would have risked his tenure by such an
experiment.

It was little to be wondered at that Lord Glencore was not better known
in that secluded spot, since even in England his name was scarcely heard
of. His fortune was very limited, and he had no political influence
whatever, not possessing a seat in the Upper House; so that, as he spent
his life abroad, he was almost totally forgotten in his own country.

All that Debrett could tell of him was comprised in a few lines,
recording simply that he was sixth Viscount Glencore and Loughdooner;
born in the month of February, 180-, and married in August, 18--, to
Clarissa Isabella, second daughter of Sir Guy Clifford, of Wytchley,
Baronet; by whom he had issue, Charles Conyngham Massey, born 6th June,
18--. There closed the notice.

Strange and quaint things are these short biographies, with little
beyond the barren fact that "he had lived" and "he had died;" and yet,
with all the changes of this work-a-day world, w