In the summer he used often to run his horse for the petty plates or prizes given at the feasts in the neighbourhood; and on all these occasions, when in her power, she was sure to attend, with her female friends. By frequent intercourse, the lady and Metcalf became very intimate; and this intimacy produced mutual regard and confidence. Her mother being a high-spirited woman, had brought up her daughters, as she hoped at least, with notions ill suited to the condition of Metcalf; so that in order to disguise the state of their hearts from her parents, the lovers agreed on a set of names and phrases, intelligible to each other, though not so to them. He used to call himself Mary, or Tibby, (at once changing the sex, and speaking as if of a third person); and she, Harry, or Dickey, or some such name. Whenever he sought to intimate to her his intention of visiting her, he would say, “You must tell Richard that Mary will be here on such a day.” Her mother would perhaps ask, “Who is that?” To which she would reply, that it was a young woman who was to meet her brother there.—But if the day appointed by Metcalf was not convenient, she would say, that “Richard had called, and had left word that Mary should call again at such a time;” meaning the time she wished Metcalf to come.—And as she commonly fastened the doors, when she expected him she always left a door or a window open. One night, in particular, Metcalf having, in consequence of an appointment, arrived there about midnight, and got in by a window that had been designedly left open; in his way to the _young_ woman’s room, he met the _old_ one in the middle of the stair-case! Both parties were much surprised; and the mistress asking angrily “Who’s there?” “What do you want?” he knowing that she always went to bed early, replied “I came in late last night, sat down in a chair by the fire-side, and fell fast asleep.” She then called loudly to her daughter, “Why did you not shew Jack to bed?” “I was not to sit up all night for him;” replied the lass. He then pursued his way up stairs, and the girl conducted him to a bed-room. In summer he would often play at bowls, making the following conditions with his antagonist, viz. to receive the odds of a bowl extra for the deficiency of an eye.—By these terms he had three for the other’s one. He took care to place a friend and confidant at the jack, and another about mid-way; and those, keeping up a constant discourse with him, enabled him, by their voices, to judge of the distance. The degree of bias he could always ascertain by feeling; and, odd as it may seem, was very frequently the winner. Cards, too, began to engage his attention; all of which he could soon distinguish, unassisted; and many were the persons of rank who, from curiosity, played with him, he generally winning the majority of the games.