As the ladies of Overton were regaling themselves with a sociable dish of tea and chat, the conversation was abruptly interrupted by the appearance of a chariot-and-four, that passed along the road with luxurious speed, and which, as Miss Kitty Ryland declared, announced, by the dignified suavity of its roll, that the personage it conveyed must be of superior rank. “Those,” exclaimed she, “who cannot at once distinguish such ‘spirit-stirring’ sounds from the discordant rattle of a plebeian chaise, deserve to wear the ears of Midas.” This extraordinary subtlety of Miss Ryland’s ears is said to have been conferred upon them by those universal promoters of bodily vigour, _air_ and _exercise_, of which they had received the combined advantage by the ingenious habit of listening to whispers through a certain pneumatic apparatus, familiarly termed a _key-hole_. In farther proof of the fidelity and alertness of her auditory establishment, we may just state, that, on passing Doseall’s shop, she never failed to distinguish, by the sound of the mortar, whether the medicines under preparation were designed for the stomachs of the rich or the poor. The vicar even admitted the correctness of her discrimination, for he had himself observed that the pestle beat _dactyls_ in one case, and _spondees_ in the other. While the carriage was passing the window, the maiden companions were breathless with wonder, each catching a glance from the countenance of her neighbour, which heightened, as it were, by reflection, the surprise depicted on her own. “Overton,” exclaimed Miss Noodleton, “is doubtless by this time honoured by the arrival of some distinguished stranger; but who he is, or what may be the object of his visit, I am at a loss to divine.” “Pooh!” cried Miss Puttle; “what a fuss is here about a green carriage and four hack horses! I doubt not but that it has conveyed some visitor to the vicar: had the Seymours expected any company, I must have heard of it yesterday.” “To the vicar!” exclaimed Miss Phillis Tapps; “and pray, Miss Puttle, allow me to ask whether you ever heard of the peacock nestling with the crow?” “Or of the eagle taking up its abode in an ivy-bush?” vociferated Miss Ryland. Conjectures were vain, and the party determined to resolve itself into a committee of inquiry. In the first place, it was judged expedient to see and question Ralph Spindle, whom Dr. Doseall employed on the arrival of a stranger, as certain insects are said to use their ‘_feelers_’ to discover the approach of any prey that may serve them as food.