"Four mild!" and such miles! The only road, a faint track in the grass,
now undiscernible in the gathering gloom, now on the slope of steep
hills marked by deep gullies worn by the impetuous autumn rains, and
down which the poor old "shay" jerked along in a series of bumps and
jolts threatening to demolish at once that patriarchal vehicle and the
bones of its occupants.

At last, however, from the top of one of these declivities, the
brilliant, flashing light of the long-watched-for Pharos greeted Mysie's
despairing eyes, and woke new hopes of warmth, rest, and shelter. But
never did bewildering _ignisfatuus_ retire more persistently from the
pursuit of unwary traveller than did that Light-house from the occupants
of that creaking "shay"; and it was not till total darkness had settled
upon the earth that they reached its door, and discovered, by the
lamplight streaming out, that Caleb stood in the entrance, awaiting
their arrival.

As the chaise stopped, he came forward and lifted the stiff and weary
forms of "the woman and child" to the ground, and delivered them to the
guidance of the hostess.

The first aspect of affairs was somewhat discouraging,--the parlor into
which they were ushered being without fire and but dimly lighted, the
bedroom not yet prepared for toilet purposes, and the hostess, as she
averred, entirely unprepared for company.

Left alone in the dreary parlor, Caleb subsided into moody silence, and
Mysie into tears, upon which the Baron followed suit, and produced such
a ludicrous state of affairs, that the sobs which had evoked his changed
to an irrepressible laugh, in which all parties soon joined. This