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serve you right if we fructified your ideas, and that through the horse-pond."

"So it would—so it would," cried all the rest. "It's shameful; that it is—shameful!"

"Now you're all about five-and-twenty minutes too fast," said Obadiah. "If you will but just listen, I'll clear it all up—"

"You'll never clear that up," exclaimed Legge, "I know."

"Now just look you here. Me and Pokey was walking and talking together—well, who should come up but Teddy Rouse. 'Mr. Drant,' says he, 'I want to speak to you.' 'Very well,' says I, 'what's the row?' 'Is this your handwriting?' says he. 'Yes,' says I, 'it is.' 'Then, how dare you,' says he, to send this letter with such muck as that to Mr. Sound?'"

"What letter—what muck?" demanded Legge.

"Why he asked me last night—didn't he—to give him a copy of my song? Very well then; I wrote it out and sent it this morning, and that with a very polite note. Well. 'How dare you to send it to him?' says he. 'Because,' says I, 'he wished me to do so.' 'When?' says he. 'Last night,' says I. 'Where?' says he. 'At the Crumpet,' says I. 'It's false,' says he, 'he wasn't there.' 'I know better,' says I, 'I know he was, and stood brandy-and-water all round,' and so we went on; he saying it was false, and I saying it was true, until I became so disgusted that I left him."

"Disgusted!" cried Legge. "You're a fool. What did you want to stick to it for, when you found that he wouldn't believe it. You'd no right to say that Mr. Sound was here at all.

"Well, but how did the parson get hold of the letter?" said Quocks, "that's what I want to know."

"Oh, I see how it was," returned Legge. "This fool sent the letter to the cottage, and it fell into the hands of Mrs. Sound, who showed it to Rouse, as a matter of course: and a pretty mess the young man's got into, no doubt."

"Well now," said Quocks, 'I don't know, but I don't think there's anything disgraceful in the fact of a man coming here to enjoy himself for an hour—do you?"

"No, Quocks," said Legge, "there may be nothing disgraceful in the fact, but we must look at it with reference to his position. You would not like to frequent the beer-shop behind."

"No, I certainly should not."

"And if you did—although there might be nothing disgraceful in the fact—your friends would in all probability think that you should aim at something higher. That young man enjoyed himself here last night; if he hadn't, he wouldn't have stopped so long; but his friends—and more especially Mr. Rouse—doubtless think that it is not a proper place for him to come to. We must look at the position a man occupies."

"I see," said Quocks; "I see. Oh! I see."

"But I don't see," cried Obadiah.

"You don't see," said Legge, contemptuously. "You can see to make