36 THE WEASELS OF HOLM-WOOD.

pleased was he that he immediately altered his will, doubling the
amount he had previously given to his dear boy Longtail, and
getting so extremely excited at the “ Huntsman and Hounds’’ on

the same afternoon, that, sad to relate, he was untimely carried

_ off by an effusion of blood.

And what think you became of the lovers? Why, the very
day all this commotion happened at Holm-wood the two pair met
at their aunt’s, old Mrs. Stoat’s, of Four-mile Cross, as they had
agreed. There the young fellows, overjoyed at the success of their
scheme, changed their fair partners, and, to complete their hap-
piness, immediately set out for a tour on the neighbouring Con-

tinent.

There, on fine summer ,evenings, you might often have seen
the doctor and his beloved quietly strolling by wood-sides and
along the banks of the green meadows, listening intently to the
warbling of the tender birds they loved so much; while young
Longtail Marten and his bride, fonder of more boisterous excite-
ment, devoted themselves to the pleasures of the chase, scouring
rapidly over hill and dale whenever they heard the huntsman’s
loud horn, or the hounds’ deeper notes; and never so happy as
when, after the sports of the day were done, they finished up with
a ball, and danced joyously till the next day’s dawn.