134 TWO DAYS Pr.Y-FISHINO 



I was in. It was small and dirty, with one window 

 which commanded a view of an extensive tiled roof. 

 There were four horse-hair chairs, two of them with 

 holes in the seat, a table with a dirty cup, the re- 

 mains of a mutton chop on a plate, a broken salt 

 cellar, and a volume of the Romance of the Pyren- 

 nees, very much soiled, and one place marked with 

 the knave of diamonds, the corners of which had 

 }>een nibbled off, as if by some person greatly ex- 

 cited by the incidents in the story. More I should 

 have observed had not the door opened, and my 

 fair friend entered. She welcomed me cordially, but 

 while one eye cast a languishing look on my face, 

 the other wore an air of the greatest consternation 

 as it fell on the remains of the mutton chop. ' I 



know, my kind friend/ said Miss Raymond, 



* that you will look with pity rather than contempt 

 4 on my humble abode, and its appointments, for 

 ' poverty and misfortune claim the sigh of com- 

 4 miseration." * They do,' said I, 4 but pray Miss 



Raymond, sit down, and let us see if nothing can 

 4 be done to alleviate your present lot, which I must 



* confess appears unsuited for one of your engaging 

 4 manners and appearance/ As I was determined 

 to be cautious in my conversation on matrimony 

 M ith a person of whom 1 knew nothing, I begged 

 Miss Raymond to enter at once into her private 

 history, and in order to induce her to do so, I gave 

 her a brief outline of my own life, my future expec- 



