A HUNTSMAN. i49 



"Well, my boy, we'll see whether you are right. 

 You've got Marigold on your side, apparently ; " and 

 making a cast a couple of hundred yards down the ditch 

 indicated, out jumped the fox, sufficiently refreshed to 

 go hard and fast for a rattling twenty minutes. 



That glorious day decided Bill's career. After supper 

 there came a summons from Sir Henry, who wanted 

 to see Bill's father, and the old man came back after 

 visiting the Hall, not exactly pleased nor precisely in a 

 bad humour. 



" The master wants to see you in the morning at ten 

 o'clock. Bill. I shall never make a gardener of you I'm 

 afraid ! " he said, shaking his head with, nevertheless, 

 a sort of pride in his son, who was a sharp, clever lad. 

 Sir Henry had declared, though Heigh, senior, felt that 

 the sharpness was wrongly directed. 



It is hardly necessary to say that next morning Bill 

 was punctual ; indeed, he was about the stables and 

 shrubberies a good three hours before the time ap- 

 pointed. What could his master want to say to him ? 

 and what did his father's speech about never making a 

 gardener of him mean ? As ten o'clock struck, Bill 

 made his way to the servants' hall to find some one who 

 would tell Sir Henry that he was there ; and three 

 minutes afterwards he found himself in the study, 

 where, at a writing-table by the window, was seated the 

 greatest man in all the world, according to Bill's ideas. 



" How old are you, William Heigh ? " Sir Henry 

 besran. 



