98 MISS BADSWORTH, M.F.H. 



one of the buildings, pondering many things in his mind. 

 For years he had esteemed himself responsible, but it was 

 only now, under the present condition of affairs, that re- 

 sponsibility assumed its full weight. There was no master 

 to fall back upon, and on occasions secretly to blame if errors 

 of judgment were shown. " Whatever would things come 

 to ? " he asked himself. The answer came unexpectedly in 

 the form of a young lady, clad in a serviceable tweed cos- 

 tume with a tweed cap upon her head, who met him face to 

 face round the corner. Two brown eyes satisfied themselves 

 of his identity in a moment, and a pleasant voice said : — 



"Good morning, Mr. Summers." 



"Mornin', mi — ma'am," the old man replied, with the 

 customary upward movement of his right hand, wondering 

 who his visitor might be. 



" If you will allow me, I should like to see your hounds," 

 Lavvy said. 



The power of life and death must be a grave responsibility, 

 but ambitious people have always appeared to like the attri- 

 bute, if not the exercise, of the power. 



At all events the form of Miss Lavvy's request appealed 

 to Joe Summers. Of course he didn't know that Charles 

 Badsworth had cautioned his daughter to be careful how she 

 dealt with the old man, who was inclined to be crusty. 



"Very well, ma'am," he said, turning and leading the 

 way. A broken thigh, which had incapacitated him as a 

 horseman, caused him to limp as he walked. 



An authoritative word quelled a clamour which arose 

 when Joe and his visitor looked through the bars of the first 

 kennel yard ; a few more sent the occupants, with the ex- 

 ception of one hound, to the benches, from whence anxious 

 or offended eyes were fixed upon the kennel railings and the 

 unfamiliar figure beyond. The one hound who stood on 

 the flags grumbled forth menacing growls. 



" What's that hound's name, Mr. Summers ? He seems 

 an independent sort of boy," Lavvy asked, 



" Rollicker. Kennel up, Rollicker," 



