sat. He was sitting there, in state, this same morning, keeping a sharp
lookout around him, when the door timidly opened, and the pretty face of
Barbara Hare appeared at it, rosy with blushes.

"Can I see Mr. Carlyle?"

Mr. Dill rose from his seat and shook hands with her. She drew him into
the passage and he closed the door. Perhaps he felt surprised, for it
was _not_ the custom for ladies, young and single, to come there after
Mr. Carlyle.

"Presently, Miss Barbara. He is engaged just now. The justices are with
him."

"The justices!" uttered Barbara, in alarm; "and papa one? Whatever
shall I do? He must not see me. I would not have him see me here for the
world."

An ominous sound of talking; the justices were evidently coming forth.
Mr. Dill laid hold of Barbara, whisked her through the clerks' room,
not daring to take her the other way, lest he should encounter them, and
shut her in his own. "What the plague brought papa here at this moment?"
thought Barbara, whose face was crimson.

A few minutes and Mr. Dill opened the door again. "They are gone now,
and the coast's clear, Miss Barbara."

"I don't know what opinion you must form of me, Mr. Dill," she
whispered, "but I will tell you, in confidence, that I am here on some
private business for mamma, who was not well enough to come herself. It