shepherd about the whelps. Good-by, Mrs Poyser; tell your husband I shall come and have a long talk with him soon."
Mrs Poyser curtsied duly, and watched the two horses until they had disappeared from the yard, amidst great excitement on the part of the pigs and the poultry, and under the furious indignation of the bull-dog, who performed a Pyrrhic dance, that every moment seemed to threaten the breaking of his chain. Mrs Poyser delighted in this noisy exit; it was a fresh assurance to her that the farmyard was well guarded, and that no loiterers could enter unobserved; and it was not until the gate had closed behind the Captain that she turned into the kitchen again, where Dinah stood with her bonnet in her hand, waiting to speak to her aunt, before she set out for Lisbeth Bede's cottage.
Mrs Poyser, however, though she noticed the bonnet, deferred remarking on it until she had disburthened herself of her surprise at Mr Irwine's behaviour.
"Why, Mr Irwine wasn't angry, then? What did he say to you, Dinah? Didn't he scold you fur preaching?"
"No, he was not at all angry; he was very
