"'Tis four o'clock, ma'am," gasped he.
"Four o'clock! didn't I tell you I wished to be at the lecture-room at that hour?"
"I didn't like to interrupt you," he answered feebly.
"What a fool of a man!" exclaimed the enraged wife. "Bring the sleigh to the door, instanter;" and Pimble rushed out, the ladies following close on his heels, vociferating at the top of their voices, without even a parting salutation to the family they had been visiting.
CHAPTER VIII.
"It is a hermit.
Well, methinks I've read
In romance tales of such strange beings oft;
But surely ne'er did think these eyes should see
The living, breathing, walking counterpart.