1 1 8 Life and Times of " The Druid." 



hands, which attention he supplemented by 

 offering- them huge strawberry jam tarts, of 

 which she subsequently discovered that he 

 was inordinately fond. To her unsophisticated 

 mind his attentions, such as they were, con- 

 veyed no definite meaning. Before parting, 

 however, he contrived to obtain an invita- 

 tion to pass a few days at her father's place, 

 Hackleton House, in Northamptonshire, 

 where, during his next vacation, he sud- 

 denly put in an appearance one sultry 

 August evening, seated as a passenger in 

 the village carrier's cart. 



" Can it be wondered that the strong Tory 

 prejudices of the Lynes family were revolted 

 and shocked by such unconventional be- 

 haviour ! It was subsequently explained 

 by ' The Druid ' that he learnt, in that 

 mysterious way he had of finding out every- 

 thing, that the carrier was well known in 

 Northampton to be full of queer stories and 

 local histories, and that he had picked up 

 odds and ends of information on all kinds 

 of subjects. As fond of quaint characters 

 as was Sir Walter Scott himself, ' The 

 Druid ' could not resist the temptation of 



