54 THE HISTORY OF

ments; at last I begged his honour's leave tu
pass.

The first time I spoke, he seemed not to hear
me? and when I again asked him to give me
Jeave to pass, he lifted up his eyes from the
letter which he.was reading, and, without mov-
ing from his place, “‘ Your servant, Susan,” he
said; ‘where may you be going, my good girl?”

‘LT am going home, Sir,” 1 said, ‘‘ and beg
your leave to pass.”

“<I will let you go presently, but first you
must answer me a few questions.”

“‘ Sir,” I replied, ‘ you can have no business
with me; if you wish to speak to my mistress,
she shall call upon you at any time you shall
please to fix.”

‘I have nothing to say to the old woman,”
auswered he, “ but I want to have a little dis-
course with you.”

As I found that he was so rude, I turned
back, and was going to take the other way into
the meadows, although it was above half a
mile round. But he, jumping from the stile,
followed me, and said something which I
thought very impertinent. Upon which, I said
to him, “If you forget, Sir, that you are a
gentleman, I shall forget, also, that I am a
servant, and will tell you very plainly what I
think of you.”

“And what do you think of me, little
Susan?” said he, laughing.

**I think, Sir,” I answered, * that you are a
very wicked man; and although I may have
no friend on earth to take my part, yet God