WYLLER'S HAJVD.
right; and in a moment more we drew up at the great gate
on the left, not a hundred yards removed from it, and with
an eager recognition I gazed on the noble front of the old
manorial house.
. Up the broad straight avenue, with its solemn files of
gigantic timber towering at the right and the left hand, the
chaise rolled smoothly, and through the fantastic iron gate
of the courtyard, and we drew up handsomely before the
door-steps, with the Wylder arms carved above it.
The sun had just gone down. The blue shadows of
twilight overcast the landscape, and the mists of night
were already stealing like thin smoke among the trunks
and roots of the trees. Through the stone mullions of
the projecting window at the right, a flush of fire-light
looked pleasant and hospitable, and on the threshold were
standing Lord Chelford and my old friend Mark Wylder;
a faint perfume of the mildest cheroot declared how they
had been employed.
So I jumped to the ground and was greeted very kind
ly by the smokers.
"I'm here, you know, in loco parentis; —my moth-
er and I keep watch and ward. We allow Wylder, you
see, to come every day to his devotions. But you are
not to go to the Brandon Arms — you got my note, didn't
you?"
I had, and had come direct to the Hall in consequence.
Dusty and seedy somewhat, as men are after a journey,
I chatted with Mark and the noble peer for a few minutes
at the door, while my valise and et ceteras were lifted in,
and hurried up the stairs to my room, whither I followed
them. While I was at my toilet, in came Mark Wylder
laughing, as was his wont, and very unceremoniously he
took possession of my easy-chair, and threw his leg over
the arm of it. - ,