"Don't do that. Have I not just explained to you the recipe for harmonising the minor discords of one's life? There is some happy stuff in our composition--vanity, if you will--which fills up what is wanting." "Are you there? Shall I come down?" said Anthony's voice from the top of the steps. "No, no, wait a moment; we are coming, we are coming this instant," said Mr Mannering, hurriedly. "Take care of the wet, Miss Winifred,--here we are; thank you, yes, I prefer to lock the house for the night. And how did you find the tortoise, and what did you do to him, Anthony?" "Do to him? I did nothing,--at least, I only moved him to the sunny side of the wall, where he will be a good deal better off." They were strolling towards the road, Mr Mannering with his hands locked behind his back, and a twinkle of amusement about eyes and mouth. "Thank you, my dear boy, thank you," he said, gravely. "But I should be a good fourteen stone to carry, and, to tell the truth, I would rather stay where I am." "What do you mean?" said Anthony, puzzled. "Was I talking to myself? I beg your pardon,--it was the oddest idea,--do you know, just for a moment I had a feeling at the back of my neck as if I were the tortoise." CHAPTER FOUR. "I did but chide in jest: the best loves use it Sometimes; it sets an edge upon affection: When we invite our best friends to a feast, 'Tis not all sweetmeat that we set before 'em; There's something sharp and salt, both to whet appetite And make 'em taste their wine well." Middleton. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From what has been said of the resources of Thorpe Regis, it will be easily understood that it did not possess any public vehicle capable of conveying its inhabitants to dinner-parties or other solemnities. When such a conveyance became an absolute necessity, there was sent from Underham a fly which had a remarkable capacity for adapting itself to different occasions. A pair of white gloves for the driver and a grey horse presented at once the festive appearance considered desirable for a wedding, while the lugubrious respectability demanded by an English funeral was attained by the substitution of black for white, and by a flowing hat-band which almost enveloped the little driver. Its natural appearance, divested of any special grandeur, was that of a roomy, heavily built, and some what battered vehicle, which upon pressure would hold one or two beyond the conventional four, and carry the Thorpe world to the evening gayeties of the neighbourhood with no greater amount of shaking and bumping than habit had led them to consider an almost indispensable preparation to a dinner with their friends.