entered, and when she saw the guests behind the old man, she clapped
her hands and cried out with pleasure, and when she got us into the
middle of the room, fairly danced round us in delight of our company.

"What!" said the old man, "you are pleased, are you, Ellen?"

The girl danced up to him and threw her arms round him, and said:
"Yes I am, and so ought you to be grandfather."

"Well, well, I am," said he, "as much as I can be pleased. Guests,
please be seated."

This seemed rather strange to us; stranger, I suspect, to my friends
than to me; but Dick took the opportunity of both the host and his
grand-daughter being out of the room to say to me, softly: "A
grumbler: there are a few of them still. Once upon a time, I am
told, they were quite a nuisance."

The old man came in as he spoke and sat down beside us with a sigh,
which, indeed, seemed fetched up as if he wanted us to take notice of
it; but just then the girl came in with the victuals, and the carle
missed his mark, what between our hunger generally and that I was
pretty busy watching the grand-daughter moving about as beautiful as
a picture.

Everything to eat and drink, though it was somewhat different to what
we had had in London, was better than good, but the old man eyed
rather sulkily the chief dish on the table, on which lay a leash of
fine perch, and said: