boxes and parcels brought by the stage during the previous week.  The next day the guests arrived.  Dr. Halbert came first, excusing his early appearance by saying he felt lonely, and wanted to see young faces again.  Then the Captain drove up in grand style, having on board Mrs. Thomas, her domestic, Malvina McGlashan, Sylvanus, and his strict parent, Saul.  Malvina was received by the maids with great effusion, while the paternal Pilgrim eyed Timotheus, who had come forward to shake hands with his father.  “What is the chief end of man, Timotheus?” The son answered correctly.  “What is sin?” was appropriately solved, and “What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment?” Then came, “What is repentance unto life,” and on the answer to this Mr. Pilgrim preached a brief homily.  “With grief and hatred of his sin, turns from it, with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience.  Is that you, Timotheus?” “Yes, fayther.”

“Young women,” said Saul, addressing the maids, “has the walk and conversation of Timotheus been according to his lights, or according to his whilom lammentable and ungodly profession?”

Tryphena could not reply, for the audacious Sylvanus, unaffected by the propinquity of his venerable relative, had whispered in her ear, “he’s a livyer’ ‘cordin’ to his lights, he is;” but Tryphosa spoke up and said that nobody, not even a minister, could have behaved better than Timotheus.  Then Saul shook hands with his repentant son, solemnly, and producing a well-worn catechism from his tail pocket, placed it with reverence in the shaken hand.  Looking upon Tryphosa, he remarked:  “Remember, Timotheus, the words of wisdom, ’Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain, but whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing.’  Go thou and do likewise, Amen.”  Further improvement of the occasion was checked by the arrival of a well-laden waggon, driven by Rufus, and containing his parents, Christie Hislop, Mr. Bigglethorpe and Ben.  Mr. Bigglethorpe was hailed with delight by Marjorie, who immediately carried off “dear Mr. Biggles” to see the creek, and tell her about his little boy, who was not yet christened, because, in the face of Marjorie’s opposition, he could not call him Walton, Cotton or Piscator, and he could not think of any other name.  She had objected to Felix as too catty like, and Isadore she had said was as bad as Is-a-window.  However, he enjoyed the creek for a few minutes before dinner.  Mrs. Hill was installed as the mother of the kitchen.  With her great conversational powers and large knowledge of scripture, she rather overawed father Pilgrim, and her own and her husband’s abundant cheerfulness revived a company, ready to droop under the austerities of Saul’s genuine but unpleasant religion.  Ben, as a sedate married man, gave himself largely to Mr. Hill’s society, until Mr. Terry came in to see his friend from the north, and unfold his plans of an Irish tour.  Later in the day Mr. Bangs rode over, and made excuses for Matilda, who thought it wrong to go into society so soon after her husband’s death.  Finally, the constable appeared in full regimentals, with the stalwart Mrs. Rigby on his arm.  That lady bestowed on the faithless Ben a glance of withering contempt, but the constable shook hands with him, as if he had been his greatest earthly benefactor.