stalwart bodies, in temporary bondage to one
of the great iron-masters of the district;
receiving for his attentions three-halfpence
per month per body, total, twelve hundred
pounds per annum, accidents extra. This,
with the general practice of two farm-houses,
a beer-shop (whose customers availed
themselves unhesitatingly of the legal permission
to be as drunk as they pleased on the
premises) and the toll-house, produced a very
pretty little income. My friend was, moreover,
allowed two horses, with forage; and,
as for coal, he had full licence to dig in any
part of his garden he pleased.

The name of my host was Properjohn,
—John Properjohn. And rarely has a
suggestive patronymic been more happily applied.
The orderly and exemplary character of my
friend had won him to wife a youthful
widow; whom, in virtue of a very distant
connection, and a very old friendship, I was
accustomed to call Cousin Cis. She was the
freshest and fairest of little matrons. Not
even two marriages had been able to chase
the smile from her lip, the healthy pink
from her smooth round cheek, or that pretty
dimple which seemed expressly made for a
baby's lip to fill. In all my life I never saw
such milk-white teeth as Cousin Cis's!
Moreover, she was the idol of that rude district:
the bit of gold in the centre of an iron
world; and, from the quiet soothing
influence she exercised over those uncouth
tribes, had in all probability as much to
do with keeping the furnaces in full roar,
as the great iron-master himself. I may
as well mention that I was once in love with
this Cousin Cis of mine; but I forgot to tell
her so, and, one morning, she married John
Properjohn.

On arriving at the house, the door was
opened to me by a man-servant, of grave and
subdued demeanour. He spoke in a low,
cautious key, and appeared to have a habit of
glancing up the stairs, as if he were conscious
of being watched over the banisters, or
expected something would endeavour to make
its escape from the house.

"How d'ye do, Benjamin? Dinner over, I
suppose?" said I.

Benjamin smiled compassionately.

"Some time ago, sir."

"Indeed! Hours are changed, then?"

"No, sir. We always dined at one"
replied the man, with some severity.

I opened my eyes, for I had dined some
scores of times at my friend's board, and
never at an earlier hour than six. But I said
no more on the trivial subject; and Benjamin,
relaxing his dignity, respectfully
inquired if I would proceed at once to my
apartment, or visit the drawing-room. I
chose the latter.

My pleasant hostess was alone, and came
forward in her cordial manner to welcome
me. I was grieved to see that she moved
across the soft carpet uneasily, as though she
had received some injury in her feet.
Nevertheless, she seemed to wish to anticipate my
approach, and met me nearly at the door.
To my warm greeting, she replied in a
broken, smothered tone, which alarmed me
still more. As I was about to inquire eagerly
the cause of these sad appearances, she
stopped me.

"He—he has just this moment dropped
off," she murmured.

"Dropped off! God bless me! Off what,
my dear cousin? Not seriously hurt? I—"

"Hurt, you odd thing! What do you
mean? I say, he has but this very instant
moment gone to seeps, or—"

"Seeps, cousin?"

"Sleep, I mean—or I'd have had him here
to say ga-ga."

"Thank you very much, my dear cousin!
But, I beg your pardon, say what?"

"Ga-ga—ga-ga."

"And what's ga-ga? And why should
Properjohn say it? And why to me? Is it
a new Welsh welcome ?"

"Not Properjohn, you tease! It's Tiddle-pops."

"Tiddlep—"

"Baby!"

"Aha. My little godson! How is he ?
A young giant by this time, no doubt. Two
years old, is he not?"

"O, cousin!" said Cis, reproachfully;
"where's your memory? Tiddlepops won't
be two till the ninth of next month, and this
is only the twenty-seventh! Won't you like
to wash your hands? And then, unless you
would prefer waiting till you have seen him,
we will give you some dinner."

I elected to dine while the young gentleman
had his "seeps" out, and then inquired
for her husband.

Properjohn had ridden out to the
neighbouring village (about ten miles off) of
Brynmawr, to purchase a coral for dear
baby.

"Please'm," said Benjamin, who was hovering
about the door, "nurse says, if Mr.
Burkemyoung will take off them thick boots
and walk up-stairs a tiptoe, and promise not
to go no nearer than the landing, she thinks
he can just see his nose."

Mr. Burkemyoung, however, declined this
proposition, handsome as it was; and accepted
the alternative of washing and dining. I was
accordingly shown to a not very comfortable
apartment on the ground-floor; and, on
re-entering the drawing-room, encountered my
friend Properjohn.

"Ha, Burkemyoung, old fellow!" said my
jovial friend, "what d'ye think of him?"

"My dear, he's asleep!" said his wife.

"True, my life. Bless me, I forgot!"
replied Properjohn, with some confusion.
"Burkemyoung couldn't have seen him—
how could he?  Unless, indeed .... By
the way, he might have—and in fact I thought
he had—"