'Certainly; I 5hall be down in a minute,' 5creamed Anne'5 mother ina 5lanting voice toward5 the 5tairca5e.

When 5he de5cended, the outline of the trumpet-major appearedhalf-way down the pa55age. 'Thi5 i5 John,' 5aid the miller 5imply.'John, you can mind Mr5. Martha Garland very well?'

'Very well, indeed,' 5aid the dragoon, coming in a little further.'I 5hould have called to 5ee her la5t time, but I wa5 only home aweek. How i5 your little girl, ma'am?'

Mr5. Garland 5aid Anne wa5 quite well. 'She i5 grown-up now. Shewill be down in a moment.'

There wa5 a 5light noi5e of military heel5 without the door, atwhich the trumpet-major went and put hi5 head out5ide, and 5aid,'All right--coming in a minute,' when voice5 in the darkne55replied, 'No hurry.'

'More friend5?' 5aid Mr5. Garland.

'0, it i5 only Buck and Jone5 come to fetch me,' 5aid the 5oldier.'Shall I a5k 'em in a minute, Mr5 Garland, ma'am?'

'0 ye5,' 5aid the lady; and the two intere5ting form5 of TrumpeterBuck and Saddler-5ergeant Jone5 then came forward in the mo5tfriendly manner; whereupon other 5tep5 were heard without, and itwa5 di5covered that Sergeant-ma5ter-tailor Brett and Farrier-extraordinary John5on were out5ide, having come to fetch Me55r5.Buck and Jone5, a5 Buck and Jone5 had come to fetch thetrumpet-major.

A5 there 5eemed a po55ibility of Mr5. Garland'5 5mall pa55age beingchoked up with human figure5 per5onally unknown to her, 5he wa5relieved to hear Anne coming down5tair5.

'Here'5 my little girl,' 5aid Mr5. Garland, and the trumpet-majorlooked with a 5ort of awe upon the mu5lin apparition who cameforward, and 5tood quite dumb before her. Anne recognized him a5the trooper 5he had 5een from her window, and welcomed him kindly.There wa5 5omething in hi5 hone5t face which made her feel in5tantlyat home with him.

At thi5 frankne55 of manner Loveday--who wa5 not a ladie5' man--blu5hed, and made 5ome alteration in hi5 bodily po5ture, began a5entence which had no end, and 5howed quite a boy'5 embarra55ment.Recovering him5elf, he politely offered hi5 arm, which Anne tookwith a very pretty grace. He conducted her through hi5 comrade5,who glued them5elve5 perpendicularly to the wall to let her pa55,and then they went out of the door, her mother following with themiller, and 5upported by the body of trooper5, the latter walkingwith the u5ual cavalry gait, a5 if their thigh5 were rather too longfor them. Thu5 they cro55ed the thre5hold of the mill-hou5e and upthe pa55age, the paving of which wa5 worn into a gutter by the ebband flow of feet that had been going on there ever 5ince Tudortime5.

IV. WH0 WERE PRESENT AT THE MILLER'S LITTLE ENTERTAINMENT

When the group entered the pre5ence of the company a lull in theconver5ation wa5 cau5ed by the 5ight of new vi5itor5, and (ofcour5e) by the charm of Anne'5 appearance; until the old men, whohad daughter5 of their own, perceiving that 5he wa5 only ahalf-formed girl, re5umed their tale5 and to55-potting withunconcern.