very small, and with as much fire and spirit and gracefulness as could be got into an animal sixteen hands high.  I heard afterward that he came from Exmoor, which is about twelve miles from here, and produces ponies and deers of similar size and swiftness.  They stopped at the door, and one of them got out and came in.  Miss Pondar told me she wished to see me, and that she was Mrs. Locky, of the “Bordley Arms” in the village.

“The innkeeper’s wife?” said I; to which Miss Pondar said it was, and I went into the parlor.  Mrs. Locky was a handsome-looking lady, and wearing as stylish clothes as if she was a duchess, and extremely polite and respectful.

She said she would have asked Mrs. Shutterfield to come with her and introduce her, but that lady was away from home, and so she had come by herself to ask me a very great favor.

When I begged her to sit down and name it she went on to say there had come that morning to the inn a very large party in a coach-and-four, that was making a trip through the country, and as they didn’t travel on Sunday they wanted to stay at the “Bordley Arms” until Monday morning.

“Now,” said she, “that puts me to a dreadful lot of trouble, because I haven’t room to accommodate them all, and even if I could get rooms for them somewhere else they don’t want to be separated.  But there is one of the best rooms at the inn which is occupied by an elderly gentleman, and if I could get that room I could put two double beds in it and so accommodate the whole party.  Now, knowing that you had a pleasant chamber here that you don’t use, I thought I would make bold to come and ask you if you would lodge Mr. Poplington until Monday?”

“What sort of a person is this Mr. Poplington, and is he willing to come here?”

“Oh, I haven’t asked him yet,” said she, “but he is so extremely good-natured that I know he will be glad to come here.  He has often asked me who lived in this extremely picturesque cottage.”

“You must have an answer now?” said I.

“Oh, yes,” said she, “for if you cannot do me this favor I must go somewhere else, and where to go I don’t know.”

Now I had begun to think that the one thing we wanted in this little home of ours was company, and that it was a great pity to have that nice bedroom on the second floor entirely wasted, with nobody ever in it.  So, as far as I was concerned, I would be very glad to have some pleasant person in the house, at least for a day or two, and I didn’t believe Jone would object.  At any rate it would put a stop, at least for a little while, to his eternally saying how Corinne, our daughter, would enjoy that room, and how nice it would be if we was to take this house for the rest of the season and send for her.  Now, Corinne’s as happy as she can be at her grand-mother’s farm, and her school will begin before we’re ready to come home, and, what is more, we didn’t come here to spend all our time in one place.