he
dismissed the waiter with some extra charges, and then placed himself at
the service of his guest, and even took the initiative of the
_tete-a-tete_ by asking:

"You are quite a stranger in this neighborhood, sir?"

"Quite."

"Travelling on business, or for pleasure?"

"Pleasure."

"A delightful season this, to travel in, sir; neither too warm, nor too
cold. And the country never looks so rich and beautiful as in its autumn
foliage."

"True," answered the stranger, briefly, and then he added, "I didn't ask
you to come here to catechize me, my good friend; but to submit to be
catechized yourself, and to amuse me with the gossip of the
neighborhood."

Again nothing but the consciousness of a heavy fee would have induced
the host of the "Antlers" to put up with this traveller's "nonsense," as
he termed his general assumption of superiority.

"What would you like to hear about, then, sir?" growled the landlord.

"First, what important families have you in this part of the country?"

"Well, sir, the most principlest is the Bernerses of Black Hall, which
have returned from their bridal tour about a month ago and taken up
their abode there in the old ancestral home."

"The Berners! Who are they?" inquired the traveller, carelessly trifling
with the wing of a pheasant.

"You must be a stranger indeed, sir, not to know the Bernerses of Black
Hall," said the landlord, with an expression of strong disapprobation.

"Well, as I don't know them, and as they seem to be persons of the
highest distinction, perhaps you will tell me all about them," said the
traveller.

And the landlord not unwillingly gave the guest the full history of the
Berners of Black Hall, down to the marriage of the last heiress, at
which the bridegroom took the name of the bride's family. And then he
described the situation of the Hall and the way in which it might be
reached, and ended by saying:

"And if you think of making any stay in this neighborhood, sir, and
will send your card to Mr. and Mrs. Berners, they will be sure to call
on you and show you every attention in their power, sir; invite you to
their house, introduce you to the neighbors, make parties for you, and
make you generally welcome among us."

"They are very hospitable, then?"

"Hospitable! Why, sir, even when they were on their bridal tour, they
fell in with a lovely lady in distress, and what do they do but pay her
bills at the hotel, and fetch her and her child and