"Ruth Hilton, sir," she answered, in a low voice, for, now that
the conversation no longer related to the boy, she felt shy and
restrained.

He held out his hand to shake hers; and, just as she gave it to
him, the old grandmother came tottering up to ask some question.
The interruption jarred upon him, and made him once more keenly
alive to the closeness of the air, and the squalor and dirt by
which he was surrounded.

"My good woman," said he to Nelly Brownson, "could you not keep
your place a little neater and cleaner? It is more fit for pigs
than human beings. The air in this room is quite offensive, and
the dirt and filth is really disgraceful." By this time he was
mounted, and, bowing to Ruth, he rode away.

Then the old woman's wrath broke out.

"Who may you be, that knows no better manners than to come into a
poor woman's house to abuse it?--fit for pigs, indeed! What d'ye
call yon fellow?"

"He is Mr. Bellingham," said Ruth, shocked at the old woman's
apparent ingratitude. "It was he that rode into the water to save
your grandson. He would have been drowned but for Mr. Bellingham.
I thought once they would both have been swept away by the
current, it was so strong."

"The river is none so deep, either," the old woman said, anxious