There was silence for a few moments, while MacShaughnassy puffed away vigorously, and almost savagely, at his pipe, and then Brown said:  “I can tell you rather a quaint incident, bearing very aptly on the subject.  A cousin of mine was a land-agent in a small country town, and among the houses on his list was a fine old mansion that had remained vacant for many years.  He had despaired of ever selling it, when one day an elderly lady, very richly dressed, drove up to the office and made inquiries about it.  She said she had come across it accidentally while travelling through that part of the country the previous autumn, and had been much struck by its beauty and picturesqueness.  She added she was looking out for some quiet spot where she could settle down and peacefully pass the remainder of her days, and thought this place might possibly prove to be the very thing for her.

“My cousin, delighted with the chance of a purchaser, at once drove her across to the estate, which was about eight miles distant from the town, and they went over it together.  My cousin waxed eloquent upon the subject of its advantages.  He dwelt upon its quiet and seclusion, its proximity—­but not too close proximity—­to the church, its convenient distance from the village.

“Everything pointed to a satisfactory conclusion of the business.  The lady was charmed with the situation and the surroundings, and delighted with the house and grounds.  She considered the price moderate.

“‘And now, Mr. Brown,’ said she, as they stood by the lodge gate, ’tell me, what class of poor have you got round about?’

“‘Poor?’ answered my cousin; ‘there are no poor.’

“‘No poor!’ exclaimed the lady.  ’No poor people in the village, or anywhere near?’

“‘You won’t find a poor person within five miles of the estate,’ he replied proudly.  ’You see, my dear madam, this is a thinly populated and exceedingly prosperous county:  this particular district especially so.  There is not a family in it that is not, comparatively speaking, well-to-do.’

“‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ said the lady, in a tone of disappointment.  ‘The place would have suited me so admirably but for that.’

“‘But surely, madam,’ cried my cousin, to whom a demand for poor persons was an entirely new idea, ’you don’t mean to say that you want poor people!  Why, we’ve always considered it one of the chief attractions of the property—­nothing to shock the eye or wound the susceptibilities of the most tender-hearted occupant.’

“‘My dear Mr. Brown,’ replied the lady, ’I will be perfectly frank with you.  I am becoming an old woman, and my past life has not, perhaps, been altogether too well spent.  It is my desire to atone for the—­er—­follies of my youth by an old age of well-doing, and to that end it is essential that I should be surrounded by a certain number of deserving poor.  I had hoped to find in this charming neighbourhood of yours the customary proportion of poverty and misery, in which case I should have taken the house without hesitation.  As it is, I must seek elsewhere.’