r,' said Hartley; 'and
here's my respect for you.'

"Whilst speaking, he caught Phil by the nose with one hand, and also by
the collar of his coat with the other, and in this position led him, in
a most comical way, round the room, after which he turned him about,
and inflicted a few vigorous kicks upon a part of him which must be
nameless.

"'I am not sorry,' said he, 'that I forgot my note-case in the other
room, as it has given me an opportunity of taming a raging lion so
easily.'

"'Goon,' said Phil, whose language, as well as valor, was fairly
exhausted, 'it's well you're a fire-eater, and my father a magistrate,
or by my honor, I'd know how to deal with you.'

"Such, my dear Spinageberd, is a domestic sketch of the Agent and Under
Agent of that exceedingly sapient nobleman, Lord Cumber; and if ever,
excellent landlord that he is, he should by any possible chance come
to see these lines, perhaps he might be disposed to think that an
occasional peep at his own property, and an examination into the
principles upon which it is managed, might open to him a new field of
action worth cultivating, even as an experiment not likely to end in any
injurious result to either him or it. In a day or two I shall call upon
Mr. Solomon M'Slime, with whom I am anxious to have a conversation,
as, indeed, I am with the leading characters on the property. You may
accordingly expect an occasional batch of observations from me, made
upon the spot, and fresh from my interviews with the individuals to whom
they relate."

CHAPTER XVII.--A Moral Survey, or a Wise Man led by a Fool

--Marks of Unjust Agency--Reflections thereon--A Mountain Water-Spout,
and Rising of a Torrent--The Insane Mother over the Graves of her
Family--Raymond's Humanity--His Rescue from Death.

"Friday, * * *

"I have amused myself--you will see how appropriate the word is by and
by--since my last communication, in going over the whole Castle
Cumber estate, and noting down the traces which this irresponsible
and rapacious oppressor, aided by his constables, bailiffs, and
blood-hounds, have left behind them. When I describe the guide into
whose hands I have committed myself, I am inclined to think you will
not feel much disposed to compliment me on my discretion;--the aforesaid
guide being no other than a young fellow, named _Raymond-na-Hattha_,
which means, they tell me, Raymond of the Hats--a sobriquet very
properly bestowed on him in consequence of