come, let's have the news, Master James. You went down to Ecton, of course?" he added; and the young man had scarcely signified that he had made the journey, when the father and uncle, anxious to know all about their native village, and the companions of their youth, fired off such a volley of questions that it was more than James could do to answer them fast enough.

Had he been to the old smithy? inquired one; and had he got a slip of the "golden pippin"-tree in the orchard?

Was Mistress Fisher still living at the forge? asked the other; and who carried on the business now that their brother Thomas's son was dead?

"Dear! dear!" they both cried, as they heard the answer, "the smithy sold to Squire Isted, the lord of the manor,* and the old forge pulled down? Well! well! what changes do come to pass!"

Next it was, How was their new German king, George I., liked by the people at home? And did he go and have a mug of ale at the "World's End?" and did Dame Blason keep the old inn still? Did he go to meeting, too, at the Northampton Conventicle, and learn whether the "Brownists" were increasing in numbers round about? and was old Luke Fuller, who was outed" for non-conformity at the time when they themselves seceded from the Church, the minister there still?

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And when James had replied that the good man had departed this life two years come Mich

"My grandfather's eldest son, Thomas, lived in the house at Ecton, and left it, with the land, to his only daughter, who, with her husband, one Fisher, of Wellingborough, sold it to Mr. Isted, now lord of the manor."-Life of Franklin, p. 3.

aelmas, the old people hung down their heads as they sighed, "Hah! it will be our turn soon."

Then they wanted to know, Were the rebels in Scotland all quiet when he left? and had he been over to Banbury, and seen the dye-house, and had John Franklin still got the best of the business there?

Had he set eyes on their old schoolfellow, Reuben of the Mill? and was old Ned, the traveling butcher, still alive? And who held the "hundred-acre farm" of the young Lord Halifax now? And did the Non-conformists seem contented with the "Toleration Act?" and was there any stir among them about getting the "Corporation Act" repealed? And was Squire Palmer's widow living at the Hall still? And had he been over and seen the folk at Earls-Barton and MearsAshby, and told them that they were all doing well in New England? Hah! they would give the world to set eyes on the old places and the old people again.

The gossip about their native village and an cient friends would have continued, doubtlessly, until bedtime, had not Jabez, who had a turn for that extravagant pantomime which boys consider funny, here danced wildly into the room after the style of the Red Indians that his brother-in-law the trapper had just been telling them about, and springing into the air with a cry imitative of the war-whoop, announced to the startled company that the Big Bear" and "Little Otter" were coming up the stairs to join the party.

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Whereupon Captain Holmes and the truant Benjamin entered the room.

CHAPTER V.

THE FATHER'S LECTURE.

"COME this way, Benjamin! I wish to speak with you below," said the father, gravely, as soon as the lad had gone the round of his relatives, and just at the interesting moment when the "carnal-minded" Jabez was making Ben's mouth water with a list of the many good things they had had for dinner that day.

The paternal command caused no little excitement among the youthful members of the family, who knew too well what the summons meant.

But scarcely had Josiah removed one of the lighted candles from the mantle-shelf to carry with him to the parlor, than the mother rose and followed close at the heels of the father and the chap-fallen boy; while Jabez and Nehemiah nudged one another aside, as they whispered, "Let's come too, and see what father's going to do with Ben."

To satisfy their curiosity, the anxious lads availed themselves of the darkness of the shop, where they stood, quiet as mutes, peeping over the curtain into the little back room, and watching the movements of their parents within.

"Father's lecturing him well, I can see," whispered Jabez, on tiptoe, to the brother at his side, "for he is shaking his head till his gray locks fly about again, and holding up his forefinger as he always does, you know, when he's talking very seriously."

"What's mother doing?" asked the brother.