His garb was very quaint and odd -- a long, long
way behind the time. Its hue was brown, all over.
In his hand he held a great brown club or walking-
stick; and striking this upon the floor, it fell asunder,
and became a chair. On which he sat down, quite
composedly.
'There!' said the Carrier, turning to his wife.
'That's the way I found him, sitting by the roadside!
Upright as a milestone. And almost as deaf.'
'Sitting in the open air, John!'
'In the open air,' replied the Carrier, 'just at dusk.
"Carriage Paid," he said; and gave me eighteen-
pence. Then he got in. And there he is.'
'He's going, John, I think!'
Not at all. He was only going to speak.
'If you please, I was to be left till called for,' said
the Stranger, mildly 'Don't mind me.'
With that, he took a pair of spectacles from one
of his large pockets, and a book from another, and
leisurely began to read. Making no more of Boxer
than if he had been a house lamb!
The Carrier and his wife exchanged a look of per-
plexity. The Stranger raised his head; and glancing
from the latter to the former, said,
'Your daughter, my good friend?'
'Wife,' returned John.
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