le as coming from a stranger. Mrs. Tubbs made no reply, but
she was glad to spring from the conveyance when the driver pulled up
at the Norfolk House. To her great joy she espied the faithful Tubbs,
attired in a _blouse_, and wheeling a barrow full of gravel down
Bartlett Street, with all the dignity of a gentleman farmer, conscious
of being a useful, if not an ornamental, member of society. She
accosted him with,--

"Tubbs, love, I've got something to tell you."

Tubbs relinquished the handles of the barrow, and sat down in the
gravel.

"Mr. Tubbs!" screamed the lady, "you've got your best pantaloons on."

"Never mind, my dear; out with your story, for I'm busy."

"Mr. Tubbs! I've been insulted!"

Mr. Tubbs's head instantly became as red as one of his own blood
beets.

"Who is the miscreant?" he yelled, jumping up.

"A young man who sat next to me in the omnibus."

"Describe him!"

"Dark hair and eyes, with a black stock, light waistcoat, dark-colored
coat and pantaloons--"

"Which way did he go?" interrupted Mr. Tubbs.

"Into the hourly office."

"'Tis well! Mrs. T., I'll have his heart's blood!"

"Now, T., be calm!" interposed his better half.

"Mrs. T., I will be calm," was the dignified reply, "calm as the
surface of Mount AEtna, on the eve of an eruption. Farewell, love, for
a moment. Have an eye to the wheelbarrow while I have a settlement
with this scoundrel!"

With these words, Tubbs marched up the hill. He entered the hourly
office, and looked round him. His first glance lighted on a young man
who answered the description given by Mrs. Tubbs; but he wished to
make assurance doubly sure, and so he accosted him politely,--

"Fine growing weather, sir."

"Yes, sir," replied the stranger.

"Peas are doing finely," said Mr. Tubbs.

"Indeed!"

"If the weather holds, we can plant corn next week."

"Indeed!"

"Pray, sir," continued Tubbs, "did you come out in the last coach?"

"I did, sir."

"Was there a lady in the coach?"

"There was, sir. I recollect a lady sat next to me."

"_You scoundrel! what did you mean by insulting my wife_?"

This question was followed by a blow, which sent the young gentleman
sprawling on the floor. Tubbs stood him up, and knocked him down again
and again, like a man practising on a single pin in a bowling alley.
The sufferer showed some fight, but Tubbs's blood was up, and he
hammered down all opposition. The drivers looked on in admiration to
see "O