“This mule, of course. Nahum is an oddity! His avocations are multiform. He is coachman, groom, hostler and handy man generally at the Red Fox,” Mr. Campbell explained as he took his daughter out to the carriage.
It was not a “fly” at all, though they called it so; it was a strong, snug carryall, covered all over with a black tarpaulin, except the front, which was open. It was drawn by a stout mule.
Mr. Campbell put his daughter and her child in the sheltered back seat and placed himself beside the coachman in the front. And the carryall rolled away over the murky moor until it seemed to be swallowed up in the darkness.
But “Miss Nancy” knew the road, and, if she had not known it, her driver did. So they went on in safety.
CHAPTER IV
STARTLING NEWS
Nahum opened conversation with Mr. Campbell.
“The last of the workmen have left to-day, sir,” he said.
“The workmen? Oh, the decorators and upholsterers who were fitting up Haymore Hold for the young squire and his bride.”
“Yes, sir. All is finished in the very latest style, and with all the modernest improvements. And they do say as there is not a place in the North Riding aquil to it for magnificence and splendiferousness! They do that!”
“Ah, when are the young pair expected?”