in' of
their poor little red noses, that I made 'em some tea, and they could
'ave kissed me, and they wanted me to take pay for it, but I wouldn't."

"You're a good girl, Amelia, and you did quite right," said her
mistress, and turning to me--

"This is really very trying and very uncomfortable. What do you suppose
is the meaning of it?"

She looked a little bit as though she thought it was my fault.

"I don't know what's the meaning of it," I said, feeling angry. "I'm
afraid Mr. Joseph Scorer has a very short memory. If I had him here I'd
try if screwing his neck round would lengthen it."

Next day being Sunday we had a genuine day of rest, and enjoyed it with
quite a novel sense of freedom from the cares and worries of life.

On Monday, by the morning train and the station omnibus, arrived a
family much like our own--father, mother, four children, servant, and
innumerable boxes.

I had had my bathe, and was sitting in the porch armed with a pipe and
my stamped agreement with Mr. Scorer, prepared to repel all intruders.
So, before the grinning omnibus-man had time to dump down the baggage, I
took the father on one side, showed him my agreement, and explained the
situation, telling him his was the third party I had had to turn empty
away.

[Illustration: "I TOOK THE FATHER ASIDE AND SHOWED HIM MY AGREEMENT."]

He was very wroth, and swore, I should say, as lustily as the old maids'
nephew's parrot could have done. He was a lawyer, too, and wanted to go
into the legal aspects of the case. I assured him that they did not
interest me, unless I had some ground of action against Mr. Joseph
Scorer for the disturbance of my peaceful possession of his much-let
habitation.

He was a good fellow on the whole, and he left me his name and business
address, and made me promise to let him know if I ever found out where
Mr. Scorer had gone to, and also to refer to him any of the outraged
claimants to the cottage who wished to take legal action in the matter.

His wife and the youngsters had been peering out anxiously at us from
the back windows of the bus while this colloquy was taking place. The
father explained the matter to them, and, with a wave of his hand to me,
they drove crestfallen back to Eastnor.

On Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, variously-composed parties
arrived with their baggage, and I turned them all away, and sent them to
find lodgings in Eastnor, suffering much in the doing of it from their