to the good-will or otherwise of the diver. The Darlings themselves

contend and prove that stock and name are Saxon, and the true form of

the name is "Deerlung," as witness the family bearings. But the foes of

the race, and especially the Carnes, of ancient Sussex lineage, declare

that the name describes itself. Forsooth, these Darlings are nothing

more, to their contemptuous certainty, than the offset of some

court favorite, too low to have won nobility, in the reign of some

light-affectioned king.

If ever there was any truth in that, it has been worn out long ago by

friction of its own antiquity. Admiral Darling owns that gate, and

all the land inside it, as far as a Preventive man can see with his

spy-glass upon the top bar of it. And this includes nearly all the

village of Springhaven, and the Hall, and the valley, and the hills that

make it. And how much more does all this redound to the credit of the

family when the gazer reflects that this is nothing but their younger

tenement! For this is only Springhaven Hall, while Darling Holt, the

headquarters of the race, stands far inland, and belongs to Sir Francis,

the Admiral's elder brother.

When the tides were at their spring, and the year 1802 of our era in

the same condition, Horatia Dorothy Darling, younger daughter of the

aforesaid Admiral, choosing a very quiet path among thick shrubs and

under-wood, came all alone to a wooden building, which her father called

his Round-house. In the war, which had been patched over now, but would

very soon break out again, that veteran officer held command of the

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