MISS THOMPSON.

A TALE OF A VILLAGE INN.

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BY MRS. A. M. F. ANNAN.

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It may be out of keeping with our subject to apply the homely epithet of a “fish out of water” to Mr. Bromwell Sutton in the rural village of G⁠——, but as no periphrasis suggests itself which would express his position as well, we must fain eschew elegance for the occasion, and let it stand. It was a sultry afternoon, in the middle of summer, when he arrived at the Eagle Inn, and after changing his dress, stepped to the door to see what could be seen. He looked up the street, and down and across, and not a living thing was visible besides himself, except a few sheep dozing in the market-house, and two or three cows silently ruminating in the shade of the town hall, both of which edifices were near at hand. Then having decided that there was nothing in the architectural aspect of the straggling village worth a second look, he concentred his scrutiny upon himself.