with whom we shall also be much concerned in these pages, but whose
introduction to the reader shall be postponed for awhile.

The land around Dillsborough is chiefly owned by two landlords, of
whom the greatest and richest is Lord Rufford. He, however, does
not live near the town, but away at the other side of the county,
and is not much seen in these parts unless when the hounds bring
him here, or when, with two or three friends, he will sometimes
stay for a few days at the Bush Inn for the sake of shooting the
coverts. He is much liked by all sporting men, but is not otherwise
very popular with the people round Dillsborough. A landlord if he
wishes to be popular should be seen frequently. If he lives among
his farmers they will swear by him, even though he raises his
rental every ten or twelve years and never puts a new roof to a
barn for them. Lord Rufford is a rich man who thinks of nothing but
sport in all its various shapes, from pigeon-shooting at Hurlingham
to the slaughter of elephants in Africa; and though he is lenient
in all his dealings, is not much thought of in the Dillsborough
side of the county, except by those who go out with the hounds. At
Rufford, where he generally has a full house for three months in
the year and spends a vast amount of money, he is more highly
considered.

The other extensive landlord is Mr. John Morton, a young man, who,
in spite of his position as squire of Bragton, owner of Bragton
Park, and landlord of the entire parishes of Bragton and
Mallingham, the latter of which comes close up to the confines of
Dillsborough,--was at the time at which our story begins, Secretary
of Legation at Washington. As he had been an absentee since he came
of age, soon after which time he inherited the property, he had