The distance seemed nothing from where he had been seated; but the track wound and doubled so much, from the steepness of the descent, that it was getting towards sundown before the traveller rode up to the long, straggling, wooden building, that had evidently been erected at various times, as the prosperity of its occupant had called for farther increase; when, slowly dismounting, he closed the great umbrella, hung his bridle upon a hook, and stalked in to where the family were at tea, if the substantial meal spread out could be so called. "God bless all here!" he said heartily, as he brought down the umbrella with a thump; "How's friend Lee?" "Right well am I, parson, thank you!" exclaimed a bluff, sturdy-looking farmer. "Won't you draw up to the log fire?" There was a merry laugh at these words; for it was midsummer, and the Gap was famed for its hot days and nights. "And how is the good wife, and my little queen, too?" continued the new-comer, shaking hands with Mrs Lee, a sharp, eager little woman; and then taking their daughter's blooming face between his hands, to kiss her lovingly, as if she had been his own child. "All well? That's right! Yours obediently, sir," he continued, to a tall, dark man of about thirty, who had risen from the table with the others. "A neighbour of ours, Mr Meadows," said Mrs Lee; "Mr Anthony Bray." "Your servant, sir," said the new-comer stiffly. "A neighbour, eh? Lives close by--six or eight miles off, I suppose?" And then he muttered to himself, "I know what's your business." "Well, I think you've made a pretty good guess at the distance," said the other; "it _is_ seven miles." "Great blessing sometimes, but it makes one's parish too extended to be pleasant. I find it a long journey to visit all my people in the nooks and corners--" "And Moas' Nests." "Ay, and Moas' Nests, they get into. Well, I've come to ask a bed and a meal, if you'll give them to me, friend Lee." "Always welcome, parson, so long as you don't come begging," said the head of the family. "But I have come begging," he said, standing with one hand upon his umbrella, and the other stuck under his grey frock coat. "I want a subscription towards our new church; so, if we are not welcome, Joey and I will have to--There, bless me, child, don't take away my umbrella!" he exclaimed, to the pretty daughter of the household, who, in true patriarchal fashion, was divesting him of his sunshade and hat, and placing him in a chair. "There, sit down, do!" exclaimed the settler, laughing; "it's quite a treat to see a fresh face--and I daresay I can buy you off with a crooked sixpence or so. Fall to, man; you look hot and worn." "Little overdone, perhaps," said the visitor. "Phew! bother the flies! How they always seem to settle on you, when a little out of sorts! Scent sickness, I suppose. Thank you, my child; nothing like a cup of tea for refreshment. Why, our Katie looks more blooming than ever, Mrs Lee."