MEMORIES OF GLENAUGH. 119 



take a seat. The room is tastefully though 

 poorly furnished. Yes, she is (with a sigh) the 

 wife of the national schoolmaster. 



I detest being the recipient of confidences 

 of people for whom I don't care a straw, and 

 so I turn the conversation from the gude man 

 to indifferent topics. As I rise to leave, I am 

 confronted at the door by a big, raw-boned, 

 ill-tempered-looking vagabond, who almost 

 hustles me back into the centre of the apart- 

 ment. 



"I beg your pardon, sir," said the fellow 

 sulkily ; " I did't see you ;" and at the same 

 moment he stared at his wife with a suspicious 

 evil look, for which I longed to give him a 

 sound kicking. And so I conclude Arvine is 

 not a paradise, at least for this ill-matched 

 couple. Think of the woman tied for life 

 within an acre of ground to a sulky jealous 

 brute, and think of her decking herself with 

 ribbons on the chance of being seen by some 

 one, any one. Nor do I imagine the national 

 scholars find their superior amiable or friendly. 

 He seemed every inch a flogging Orbilius ; 

 and so, doubtless, . in this apparently peaceful 



