hn said
heartily; for to him, only, did the squire mention the circumstances of
the case, and he chuckled now to himself, as he thought that Richard
Horton had made an even greater mistake in that matter than he thought
of, for John detested the boy with all his heart, and had only
abstained from reporting his conduct, to the squire, from fear of
giving his master pain.

The squire's brow clouded a little at the allusion.

"It will make a difference to him, John," he said, "for, of course, now
my granddaughter will take his place."

"And a good thing, too!" John said heartily. "I have never said a word
before, squire, because, as you had chosen him as your heir, there was
no use in setting you against him; but a more hatefuller lad than
Richard Horton I never comed across, and so said everyone here. You did
not see much of him, squire, and natural thought well of him, for he
was a good-looking boy, and could speak fair enough when he liked. I
thought well of him, myself, when he first came, but I larned better,
afterwards."

"There are many excuses to be made for him, John," the squire said,
"and I have had good reports of him, since. Of course, I shall see
that, although he can no longer be regarded as my heir here, he shall
be well provided for. But there will be plenty of time to think of
this."

"Mr. Wilks asked me to say, sir," the butler said as he prepared to
leave them, "that he shall be staying in Sidmouth tomorrow, and that,
if you wish to see him, he will come up here."

"Certainly I wish to see him," the squire replied. "I have many things
to ask him. Let the boy go down, the first thing in the morning,
or--no, if you don't mind, John, would you go down yourself tonight? He
will naturally be anxious to know how his grandchild is getting on.
Tell him with what joy I have received her, and take any message she
may give you.

"Is there anything you would like to say to your grandfather, child?"

"Oh, yes. Please tell him that I think I shall like it, and that he is
to come and see me when he likes, and that, of course, he is to see me
when he comes in the morning, and then I can tell him all about it."

"And say, I shall be glad to see him the first thing after breakfast,"
the squire added.

The housekeeper soon entered, and Aggie, very sleepy after the
excitements of the day, was taken off to bed. Her sleepiness, however,
disappeared in her wonder at the size of the house, and at the vastness
of