“Had you a pleasant passage, sir?”

“Yes, tolerable.”

“Thank God!  I hope you’ll make a long stay with us, sir, in this part of the counthry.  If you have any business to do with Mr. Lindsay—­as of coorse you have—­why, I don’t think you and he will quarrel; and by the way, sir, I know him and the family well, and if I only got a glimpse, I could throw in a word or two to guide you in dalin’ wid him—­that is, if I knew the business.”

“As to that,” replied Woodward, “it is not very particular; I am only coming on a pretty long visit to him, and as you say you know the family, I would feel glad to hear what you think of them.”

“Misther Lindsay, or rather Misther Charles, and you will have a fine time of it, sir.  There’s delightful fishin’ here, and the best of shootin’ and huntin’ in harvest and winter—­that is, if you stop so long.”

“What kind of a man is Mr. Lindsay?”

“A fine, clever (Portly, large, comely) man, sir; six feet in his stockin’ soles, and made in proportion.”

“But I want to know nothing about his figure; is the man reputed good or bad?”

“Why, just good or bad, sir, according as he’s treated.”

“Is he well liked, then?  I trust you understand me now.”

“By his friends, sir, no man betther—­by them that’s his enemies, not so well.”

“You mentioned a son of his, Charles, I think; what kind of a young fellow is he?”

“Very like his father, sir.”

“I see; well, I thank you, my friend, for the liberality of your information.  Has he any daughters?”

“Two, sir; but very unlike their mother.”

“Why, what kind of a woman is their mother?”

“She’s a saint, sir, of a sartin class—­ever and always at her prayers,” (sotto voce, “such as they are—­cursing her fellow-cratures from mornin’ till night.”)

“Well, at all events, it is a good thing to be religious.”

“Devil a better, sir; but she, as I said, is a saint from—­heaven” (sotto voce, “and very far from it too.) But, sir, there’s a lady in this neighborhood—­I won’t name her—­that has a tongue as sharp and poisonous as if she lived on rattlesnakes; and she has an eye of her own that they say is every bit as dangerous.”

“And who is she, my good fellow?”

“Why, a very intimate friend of Mrs. Lindsay’s, and seldom out of her company.  Now, sir, do you see that house wid the tall chimleys, or rather do you see the tall chimleys—­for you can’t see the house itself?  That’s where the family we spake of lives, and there you’ll see Mrs. Lindsay and the lady I mention.”