Who he was and Where he was. 5
which, along with the house, he had. purchased the
feu—that is, the place was his own, so long as he
paid a small sum—not more than fifteen shillings
a year, I think—to his superior. How long it was
since the Priory had come to be looked upon as
the mere encumbrance of a cottage garden, nobody
thereabouts knew; and although by this time I
presume archeologists have ferreted out every-
thing concerning it, nobody except its owner had
then taken the trouble to make the least inquiry
into its history. To Willie it was just the Priory,
as naturally in his father’s garden as if every gar-
den had similar ruins to adorn or encumber it,
according as the owner might choose to regard its
presence.

_ The ruins were of considerable extent, with re-
mains of Gothic arches, and carvings about the
doors—all open to the sky except a few places on
the ground-level which were vaulted, These being
still perfectly solid, were used by the family as
outhouses to store wood and peats, to keep the
garden tools in, and for such like purposes; In
summer, golden flowers grew on the broken walls;
in winter, grey frosts edged them against the sky.
I fancy the whole garden was but the space once
occupied by the huge building, for its surface was
the most irregular I ever saw in a garden. It was
up and down, up and down, in whatever direction
you went, mounded with heaps of ruins, over which