A Moorland Legend. 119 



Mrs. Preston repeated her information, and, as she spoke, 

 produced from her stomacher a photograph. It was a pic- 

 ture of the Kingsford Arms, with Miss Western standing 

 in the doorway, looking dreamily over the distant moors, 

 while a pony-chaise and a party of ladies and gentlemen, 

 postured in and around it, filled up the foreground. 



The young gentleman, as the landlady subsequently re- 

 marked, gave a great gulph, as if he were determined to 

 keep down any expression of feeling, and turned towards 

 her with a forced calmness of face and voice that frightened 

 her. "Where," he asked, "did you get this? Who is 

 it ? : ' 



" If s Lawyer Brown, from Taviton, and his daughters," 

 Mrs. Preston began. 



" No," the other sternly said, interrupting, " the lady on 

 the doorstep, I mean ? " 



" Thaf s Miss Western. She was standing at the door on 

 an afternoon last summer, and looking as she was fond of 

 doing sometimes for half an hour together right away to 

 the hills yonder : we had a rare laugh afterwards ; for, quite 

 unknown to her, a travelling photographer took her in the 

 picture, and she never knew it to this day." 



" Ha ha ! good joke, indeed. Could you give me this, 

 Mrs. Preston? Well, perhaps you would not care to part 

 with it entirely ; but I'll promise to get it copied, and you 

 shall have it again." 



The landlady, who had made demonstrations of disagree- 

 ment with the proposal, was content with this, and was 

 much gratified to hear, a few minutes later, that Mr. Horace 

 Herbert had countermanded the four-wheel dog-cart, and 

 had declared his purpose of remaining at Kingsford a day 

 or two longer. He was an inmate of the hotel for several 

 additional days, and was incessant in his inquiries about 



