on the heath, and greeted him.

'Happy returns, Alf!' said the Doctor, lightly.

'A hundred happy returns of this auspicious day, Mr. Heathfield!'
said Snitchey, bowing low.

'Returns!' Craggs murmured in a deep voice, all alone.

'Why, what a battery!' exclaimed Alfred, stopping short, 'and one -
two - three - all foreboders of no good, in the great sea before
me. I am glad you are not the first I have met this morning: I
should have taken it for a bad omen. But, Grace was the first -
sweet, pleasant Grace - so I defy you all!'

'If you please, Mister, I was the first you know,' said Clemency
Newcome. 'She was walking out here, before sunrise, you remember.
I was in the house.'

'That's true! Clemency was the first,' said Alfred. 'So I defy
you with Clemency.'

'Ha, ha, ha, - for Self and Craggs,' said Snitchey. 'What a
defiance!'

'Not so bad a one as it appears, may be,' said Alfred, shaking
hands heartily with the Doctor, and also with Snitchey and Craggs,
and then looking round. 'Where are the - Good Heavens!'

With a start, productive for the moment of a closer partnership