Good-by to pain and care! I take Mine ease to-day; Here where these sunny waters break, And ripples this keen breeze. I shake All burdens from the heart, all weary thoughts away. With every nerve, vein, and artery throbbing with excitement Ishmael hurried away from the house that contained Claudia. The solitary walk through the thick woods calmed his emotion before he reached Woodside. He found a tidy room, a tempting tea-table, and smiling faces waiting to welcome him. "That's my boy!" exclaimed Reuben, coming forward and grasping his hand; "I telled Hannah to keep the tea back a spell, 'cause I knowed you wouldn't disappoint us." "As if I ever thought you would, Ishmael! Reuben is always prophesying things that can't fail to come true, like the rising of the sun in the east every day, and so forth. And he expects to get credit for his foresight," said Hannah, taking her seat before the steaming tea-pot and calling upon the others to sit down. "Well, that was rayther a surprise, as met you and the judge, when you comed home from church, wasn't it?" inquired Reuben, as he began to cut slices from the cold ham. "You knew of the arrival, then?" questioned Ishmael. "Why, bless you, yes! Why, laws, you know the carriage passed right by here, and stopped to water the horses afore going on to Tanglewood. But look here! There was nobody in it but Mrs. Vincent-- blame my head--I mean Mrs. Lord Vincent--and her city maid." "Lady Vincent, Reuben. How many times will I have to tell you that?" said Hannah impatiently. "All right, Hannah, my dear; I'll remember next time. Ishmael, my boy, I think you got all your interlects from Hannah. You sartainly didn't get 'em from me. Well as I was a-saying of, there was no one inside except Mrs. Lord--I mean Mrs. Lady Vincent and her city waiting-maid. And on the outside, a-sitting alongside o' the driver, was a gentleman, as Jim as happened to be here introduced to me as Mr. Frisbie, Lord Vincent's vallysham, whatever that may be." "Body-servant, Reuben," said his monitress. "Servant! Well, if he was a servant, I don't know nothink! Why, there ain't a gentleman in S'Mary's county as dresses as fine and puts on as many airs!" "That is quite likely, Uncle Reuben; but for all that, Frisbie is Lord Vincent's servant," said Ishmael. "Well, hows'ever that may be, there he was alongside o' the driver. But what staggers of me is, that there wa'n't no Lord Vincent nowhere to be seen! He was 'mong the missin'. And that was the rummest go as ever was. A new bride a-comin' home to her 'pa without no bridegroom. And so I jest axed Mr. Frisbie, Esquire, and he telled me how his lordship missed the trail. What trail! And what business had he to be offen the trail, when his wife was on it? That's what I want to know. And, anyways, it's the rummest go as ever was. Did you hear anythink about it, Ishmael?"