A Moorland Legend. 119 



Mrs. Preston repeated her information, and, as she spoke, 

 produced from her stomacher a photograph. It was a pic- 

 ture of the^, Kingsford Arms, with Miss Western standing 

 in the doorway, looking dreamily over the distant moors, 

 while a pony-chaise and a party of ladies and gentlemen, 

 postured in and around it, filled up the foreground. 



The young gentleman, as the landlady subsequently re- 

 marked, gave a great gulph, as if he were determined to 

 keep down any expression of feeling, and turned towards 

 her with a forced calmness of face and voice that frightened 

 her. " Where," he asked, " did you get this ? Who is 

 it ? " 



" It's Lawyer Brown, from Taviton, and his daughters," 

 Mrs. Preston began. 



" No," the other sternly said, interrupting, " the lady on 

 the doorstep, I mean ? " 



" Thaf s Miss Western. She was standing at the door on 

 an afternoon last summer, and looking — as she was fond of 

 doing sometimes for half an hour together — right away to 

 the hills yonder : we had a rare laugh afterwards ; for, quite 

 unknown to her, a travelling photographer took her in the 

 picture, and she never knew it to this day." 



" Ha ha ! good joke, indeed. Could you give me this, 

 Mrs. Preston? Well, perhaps you would not care to part 

 with it entirely ; but I'll promise to get it copied, and you 

 shall have it again." 



The landlady, who had made demonstrations of disagree- 

 ment with the proposal, was content with this, and was 

 much gratified to hear, a few, minutes later, that Mr. Horace 

 Herbert had countermanded the four-wheel dog-cart, and 

 had declared his purpose of remaining at Kingsford a day 

 or two longer. He was an inmate of the hotel for several 

 additional days, and was incessant in his inquiries about 



