il was the gross, impudent stare of a libertine and
fool--a stare, which, in the eye of a virtuous woman, soon receives its
own withering rebuke of scorn and indignation. That of Solomon, on the
other hand, was a look in which there lurked a vast deal of cunning,
regulated and sharpened by experience, and disguised by hypocrisy into
something that absolutely resembled the open, ardent admiration of a
child, or of some innocent man that had hardly ever been in the world.
There was, however, a villainous dropping of the corners of the mouth,
with an almost irrepressible tendency to lick the lips, accompanied with
an exudation of internal moisture from the glands--vulgarly termed a
watering of the teeth--which, to a close observer, would have betrayed
him at once, and which were evident from the involuntary workings of his
whole face.

"Mrs. Tyrrell," said Val, "I am glad to hear that you are making
considerable improvements on your farm."

"Improvements, sir," replied the widow in amazement; "I don't know who
could have told you that, sir. Didn't my potato crop fail altogether
with me, and my flax, where I had it spread on the holme below, was all
swept away by the flood."

"I am sorry to hear that, Mrs. Tyrrell;--we are very hard up for money
here, and the landlord doesn't know on what hand to turn; I must raise
a large sum for him forthwith:--indeed to tell you the truth, I have
received instructions that are not at all pleasant to myself--I am to
let no one pass, he says, and if I cannot get the rent otherwise, I am
to enforce it. Now this is very unpleasant, Mrs. Tyrrell, inasmuch as it
compels me to take steps that I shall feel very painful.

"God help me, then," replied the poor young woman, "for, as to rent,
sir, I have it not; and, indeed, Mr. M'Clutchy, what brought me here
to-day, was to ask a little time, just till I get my butter made up and
sold.

"Yes, but what can I do, Mrs. Tyrrell? I have no power to let any one
off, even where I feel inclined, as I do in your case. It really is
not in my power; Lord Cumber took care to leave me no discretion in the
business at all."

"But surely, sir, you don't mean to say, that unless I pay the rent, you
will seize upon my property.'

"This," said Val, as if to himself, "is really very distressing--
unfortunately, Mrs. Tyrrell, I must indeed, unless you can raise the
money in some way; wouldn't your friends, for instance, stand by you,
until your butter is made