LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO - ROOMS IN SUMMER STREET, BOSTON. OF THE Article III. of By-Laws. SEC. 1 A member, upon application, or by written order to the Librarian. may take out one volume from the rooms, or he may remove both volumes of any ' 'omprised in two volumes of duodecimo or smaller size, and retain the veeks, (subject to the provisions of Sections 3 and 8,) at the expira- ; ch time, an extension of one week only shall be given, if required ; lie person shall not retake either of the same volumes until t' 50 39. The Grandfather. By Miss Pickering / 50 40. Arrah Neil. , By James / 50 41. The Jilt. ...'.;. ,,. 5(> 42. Tales from the German 50 43. Arthur Arundel. By H. Smith 50 44. Agincourt. By James 50 45. The Regent's Daughter 50 46. The Maid of Honor .: 53 47. Sana. By De Beauvoir 5ft 48. Look to the End. By Mrs. Ellis 50 >49. The Improvisatore. By Andersen 50 50. The Gambler's Wife. By Mrs. Grey 50 51. Veronica. By Zschokke .' 50 52. Zoe. By Miss Jewsbury 50 63. Wyoming 50 54. De Rohan. By Sue 50 55. Self. By the Author of " Cecil" 75 66. The Smuggler. By James 75 BI. The Breach of Promise 50 58. Parsonage of Mora. By Miss Hremer 25 59. A Chance Medley. By T. C. G rattan 50 60. The White Slave 1 00 61. The Bosom Friend. By Mrs. Grey : 50 62. Amaury. By Duman 50 03. The Author' s Daughter. By Mary Howitt 25 64. Only a Fiddler, &c. By Andersen 50 65. The Whiteboy. By Mrs. Hall 50 6fi. The Foster-Brother. Edited by Leigh Hunt. .. 50 67. Love and Mesmerism. By H. Smith 75 68. Ascanio. By Dumas 75 69. I-ady of Milan. Edited by Mrs. Thomson 75 70. The Citizen of Prague. 1 00 PRICE 71. The Royal Favorite. By Mrs, Gore $0 5U 72. The Queen of Denmark. By Mrs. Gore 50 73. The Elves, &c. By Tjfeck 50 74. 75. The Stepmother. By James 1 25 76. Jessie's Flirtations 50 77. Chevalier d'Harmental. By Dumas SO 78. Peers and Parvenus. By Mrs. Gore 50 79. The' Commander of Malta. By Sue 50 80. The Female Minister ' 50 81. Emilia Wyndham. By Mrs. Marsh 75 82. The Bush-Ranger. By Charles Rowcroft 50 83. The Chronicles of Clovernook 25 84. Geneviever By Lamartine 25 85. Livonian Tales 25 86. Lettice Arnold. By Mrs. Marsh 25 87. Father Darcy. By Mrs. Marsh . ! 75 ' 88. Leontine. By Mrs. Maberly 50 89. Heidelberg. ByJames 50 90. LHcretia. ByBulwer , 75 91. Beauchamp. By James, 75 92. 94. Fortescue. By Knowles 1 00 93. Daniel Demrison, &c. By Mrs. Hofland 50 95. Cinq-Mars. - Bj- De Vigny 50 96. Woman's Trials. By Mrs. S.-C. Hall ...\... 75 97. The Castle of Ehrenstein. ByJames .... 50 98. Marriage. By Miss S. Ferrier . 50 99. Roland Cashel. By Lever 1 25 100. The Martins of Cro' Martin. By Lever 1 25 .101. Russell. By James ' 50 102, A Simple Story. By Mrs. Inchbald .'. 50 103 Norman's Bridge. By Mrs. Marsh 50 104. Alamance 50 105. Margaret Graham. ByJames 25 106. The Wayside Cross. By E. II. Milman ...... 25 107. The Convict. By James '50 108. Midsummer Eve. By Mrs. S. C. Hall 50 109. Jane Eyre. By Currer Bell 75 110. The Last of the Fairies. By James. 25 lll.**Sir Theodore ISroughton. By James- 50 112. Self-Control.' *\ ,y any body but Mr. Bags, who al- ways fitted him so nicely ; but really some of his charges seven guineas, for instance, for a frock-coat were irfbre than he had paid, even at Cambridge. He was almost afraid he couldn't afford Mr. Bags." These latter sentences, he flattered himself, had a particulary solvent sound, and though the sudden apotheosis of his hoarded note was a de- cided inconvenience, it was useless to send re- grets after it, and he set to work upon his letter to Linda. I should be ashamed to say how many sheets of crested and superfine note paper were de- stroyed during the composition of this precious document. Nothing within the whole range of his letter-writing experience had approached the difficulty of composing those few lines. Now 42 FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. lie seemed to be saying too much. Another sheet was torn to tatters for saying too little. At last a sort of nightmare-like entanglement crept over his mind, and he grew desperate. So, solemnly vowing that the next sheet should be the last, he wrote a cautious note in the best words he could muster, and carried it, with Mr. Bags's answer, to the post. I think I have al- ready observed that Linda had her faults. Among these, and let us hope among the worst, was her custom of never appearing at family prayers or indeed until farther delay would have involved the loss of her breakfast. The fact is, that Buttermere always left home at nine precisely, for his early consultations, and was Turk enough to inflict preposterous matins upon an innocent wife and family. Of course he was quite right in so doing, and Linda quite wrong to rebel; but the little sluggard would neither be coaxed nor scolded into submis- sion, and was at last allowed to persevere, as a pet, in what she called "her own comfor' way." " Who's Linda got a letter from, I wonder," observed Lotty, as the footman distributed the produce of the early post. " Who can she pos- sibly have to direct to her in that great, black, gentleman scrawl, with a seal as big as a tart- let?" "Let's look!" exclaimed Loo, seizing the letter in her turn. ' ' What a fiinny crest ! Papa, what does this crest mean a five-barred gate with two great keys across it ?" " Hey ?" replied Buttermere, laying down his newspaper. " Why, I seem to recollect that crest too ! Oh yes ! I'll tell you whose it is. It's the Petersfeld crest. Don't you see the gate with the cross-keys of Saint Peter. Peter's field that's it. One of those old fashioned heraldic puns. Why? What the deuce ?" Positively, if the tea-pot had begun to talk, or ' the French rolls to waltz upon the table, a quiet family could hardly have looked more astounded over their breakfast than did the Buttermeres at this simple information. A letter from Petersfeld ! Why, he hadn't been introduced to Linda forty-eight hours ago. This was bringing her down with a snap shot, and no mistake. Proposing by letter too ! Mrs. Buttermere gasped a gasp of mingled thankful- ness and bewilderment, while Lotty and Loo scarcely dared to exchange glances, in the depth of their utter discomfiture. To be deliberately cut out, in this cool easy' way, and probably have to stand up as Linda's brides-maids within a month, was too much for their philosophy. As to papa, he looked at his wife and daugh- ters with a puzzled and anxious expression, and pushed away his plate. Just at this moment Linda came fluttering into the ro'8m, fresh and buoyant as the morn- ing. "Good-morning, everybody! Good-morn- ing, jrnpa!" accompanying the latter benedic- tion with a kiss. " Late again, am I? Well, this time, I'm sure it wasn't my fault, at all events. Why, good gracious, how dreadfully circumspect you all look! quite guilty, I declare"! What on earth is the matter ? What is it, mamma?" "There's a letter for you, Linda," observed Lotty, maliciously. " A letter, is there?" replied 'Linda, glanc- ing at the address. " Only a bill, I dare say, and I want my breakfast." Her quick instinct instantly told her that this letter had excited un- usual curiosity ; which, without having, at the moment, the slightest suspicion as to who her correspondent might be, she quietly determined to disappoint. Lotty and Loo bit their lips with vexation, as Linda, slipping the mysterious document into her pocket,- ate her toast and drank her coffee, all serenity and good nature, and with even more deliberation than usual. At last the time arrived for Buttermere to be off to his clients, and Linda, who, with all her external * self-control, was burning with impatience to know what they had all looked so cunning about, soon satisfied her curiosity, upon the musjs- stool in the back drawing-room. " My good gracious a twenty-pound not6!" exclaimed she, as she pulled the crisp bank paper out of the envelope. "Well, I never saw a t\yenty-pound note before, in all my life ! Who in the world can have sent it?" At the sight of Petersfeld's name she started violently. She felt her color go while every whiff of breath seemed for the moment out of her body. Her fun appeared, indeed, likely to have a serius result. She hastily ran her eye over the following words, and felt stupefied : "Albany, Saturday. " MY DEAR Miss BUTTERMEHE : I am most anxious to press for an answer to a ques- tion of the very deepest interest to myself per- sonally. " You can not but be aware of the subject to which I refer, and I most earnestly beg that you will either indulge me with a' few moments' private conversation, when and where you please, or set my mind at rest by writing unreserved- ly. I trust that you will not be oftendei by my venturing to send you a note ; but our con- versation yesterday was so vexatiously interrupt- ed that I had no opportunity of saying verbally all I had intended, and accomplishing the pur- pose for which, in truth, I awaited you at the Gardens. I believe that you will neither mis- understand me nor misconstrue my motives in thus addressing you ; and again apologizing for the liberty which I fear I am taking, remain, my dear Miss Buttermere, yours most sincerely, . PETEESFELD." Now, considering what had passed between himself and Linda with reference to Miss Fleet- lands, not twenty-four hours before he sat down to write the above, I think that Paul was not altogether unreasonable in supposing that his meaning was beyond mistake. Limln had her- FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 43 self told him that he must find some other op- portunity of continuing their conversation ; and, after having failed at the Zoological Gardens, it was the most natural thing in the world that, to avoid an indefinite loss of time, he should ad- dress her in writing. In fact, his letter would have been perfectly intelligible^ had he not, with wonted alacrity in blundering, carelessly thrust his twenty pound note into its envelope, instead of that directed to his tailor, previously to seal- ing them both. It was exactly the thing which any body who knew his ways as well as I, might almost have counted upon his doing; and yet, considering that an average of many hundred letters, contain- ing notes or money, are annually posted without any direction at all, we must not be too hasty in deciding who is, or is not, fit to be entrusted with pen and ink-* " I trust you will not be offended at my ventur- ing to send you a note." Linda read these astonishing words three timesover, with perpetually increasing bewilder- ment.- What could they possibly mean ? At first a confused suspicion that he might be attempting to purchase her supposed knowledge with a twenty pound bribe, entered her puzzled little head. Gentlemen, she was aware, habitu- ally did very odd things, but surely nothing so offensive as that. Perhaps he was eccentric. Eccentric people went up in balloons got good-humoredly fined at police courts, and probably forwarded bank- notes gratis to favorite ladies. But this sup- position was as absurd as the former. And then the overwhelming possibility that, after all, the money might actually have been intended for herself, sent the blood flushing and throbbing to her very temples. What did ho mean by saying, " I had no opportunity of say- ing verbally all I intended, and accomplishing the purpose for wftch, in truth, I awaited you at the Gardens ?" Could it be possible that his presence there had been prompted by feelings of which she was herself the object? Improbable as this might seem, she knew that Petersfeld would never have been invited to dine in Harley Street, unless he had been regarded by her parents as perfectly at liberty to make himself agreeable either to her- self or her sisters. Indeed, it might be that he had even received her papa's formal assent to consider himself as her suitor. But the whole business was so wild and unintelligible that she laid the letter down with a sigh of despair, and wished herself several weeks older. It was most unfortunate for Linda that in so critical a conjuncture she had no trustworthy friend to whom she could appeal for advice. * During two consecutive years ten thousand pounds' worth of property was actually enclosed in blank envelopes, and posted within tbe United Kingdom. Any one who may be curious to find this astounding fact philosophical- ly accounted for, may, perhaps, like to refer to an article (I believe by the late Sir Francis Head) in the Quarterly Review, vol. Ixxxvii., p. S3. Her sisters were out of the question. To go to her mamma, without showing the letter and ex- plaining the foolish mystification which she had put upon Petersfeld, would have been use- less. To make a clean breast of it would have been simply to ensure herself a sound scolding all the sounder indeed from the fact that her mamma would, as he was well aware, have been if possible still more puzzled than her daughter. For Mrs. Buttermere's gift was not in the way of expounding parables ; which not only perplexed her, but made her very angry and unreasonable. What would she not have given to have awakened suddenly, and found the whole affair a dream, and the bank note an illusion ! But after having convinced herself by experiment that she was so perfectly wide awake that any farther development in that line was out of the question, and recollecting thatPetersfeld's com- munication demanded an immediate reply of some kind, she determined, as the only resource, to place herself at once under the guidance of Mrs. Springletop, a young married lady of her acquaintance who lived in Portland Place, not many hundred yards off. Mrs. Springletop, whose name has already appeared in these pages, was very young, very fashionable, and very strongly impressed with a conviction of her own profound knowledge of the world and its ways, and consequent ability to give valuable advice. Nothing could have delighted her more than to see Linda arrive on her early visit, with a letter in her hand and a question to ask. "Oh my goodness, what a bear! I never saw any thing so delightful never since I was christened," laughed Mrs. Springletop, handing back Paul's unfortunate missive with its enclosed bank note. "It's the King of the Cannibal Islands all over ! Does he mean to buy you right away fpr twenty pounds or is it only so much board-wages to begin upon ? Why didn't he accomplish his purpose, poor darling, at the Zoological Gardens? and what was the vexa- tious interruption he makes such a fuss about ? Do tell me more about him. I only wish to goodness he'd write to me!" "My dear Fanny, please be serious. You see I must return this money by the very next post ; and I don't know what in the world to say to him about it. I want you to help me. I have no one else to ask." " Quite right to come to me, my dear," re- turned Mrs. Springletop, playfully. "Particu- larly, since after seeing what I couldn't help seeing, at your house the other night, I quite expected that something of this sort would hap- pen in the course of a week. But, as to return- ing the note, that's fiddlestick ! Don't begin by sending young gentlemen to the right-about like that, my dear, or you may die an old maid." "Never mind what you saw at our house. That was all nonsense. Mr. Petersfeld fancied that I knew a secret about a friend of his, and was trying all the evening to get it out of me. FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. That was all. And I'm quite certain, that's what he's writing about now. But why should he send me this wretched bank note, and talk as he does?" continued Linda, ready to cry with vexation. "I'll send it back in a blank envel- ope and have done with it!" "You won't do any thing half so foolish, my dear," replied her sagacious adviser. "If you do, he'll have done with you : you may depend upon that. I declare I won't have you snub such a nice, affable, generous bear upon any account. Send back twenty-pound notes indeed ! I can assure you they're not always to be had for the asking. I know I've heard my husband say it's a maxim in the city 'Never refuse money ;' and it seems sensible enough. Mr. Petersfeld, who's a- barrister, will think you a ninny if you do. Besides, it would just be a simple affront, let alone the cruelty of the thing." "There could be no cruelty, so far as I am concerned," said Linda; "but oh how I wish he would only have let me alone !" " Let you alone, indeed ! I don't advise you to count upon being let alone much, so long as you wear that little face ! I really can't help laughing at the drollery of the thing," continued Mrs. Springletop, "but I declare I quite love him for his simplicity. I'll answer for it he was at .his wits' end to know what present to make, so he judiciously sent the money instead, that you might choose for yourself." " It seems so very unlike him " began Linda. " Oh, if you dislike him," returned Mrs. Springletop, pretending to misunderstand, " that's another pair of shoes altogether!" " I never said that : I said " " Oh, in that case never mind what you said. Don't stand in your own light, my dear Linda. It's only returning presents, you know, if the worst conies to the Worst." "But what must I do," persisted Linda, fairly driven to desperation. " See, the morning is passing, and the post will be going, and I must do something, right or wrong!" " You shall do quite right, " replied Mrs. Springletop, ringing the bell, " if you'll only leave it all to me. Do you think I don't under- stand a little affair of this kind? Trust me, my dear, and don't fidget yourself. The brough- am will be round in ten minutes, and then I'll show you exactly what to do." Linda was by no means satisfied : indeed quite the reverse. But as a skipper blown out of his reckoning into some unknown and reef-sprinkled channel, will take any man on board who declares himself a pilot, and leave him at the wheel so long as he continues to bellow orders with un- abated confidence, so she reluctantly, and as an only resource, _placed herself unreservedly in Mrs. Springletop's hands. , She did not deceive herself into supposing that she was acting rightly in so doing. But what else could she do ? She acted just as our fore- fathers, about whose wisdom we are so fond of moralizing, used to act, when they found them- ' selves engaged in what, by a charitable euphuism, ; was distinguished as "an affair of honor." So soon as matters took a gunpowder turn, and the ! question had clearly outgrown the stage of fools- cap and armorial seals, they committed them- selves, soul and body, into the hands of a second. In the prospect of subsequently getting shot at short notice, it was a grand point to be able to indulge in the school-boy consolation " It wasn't their lookout." Whatever might be their private likes or otherwise with regard to that contingency, personal responsibility was the one thing intolerable. Paul sat at breakfast, next morning, alone in his Albanian quarters, waiting impatiently for the post. He was just beginning to wonder whether it could possibly have passed without bringing him a line from Linda, when a twin tap at his door, and a flutter in his letter-box, decided the question. There were two letters one directed in his tailor's flourishing scrawl, the other a delicate little pink note, addressed to him in a pretty, young-lady-like hand. In the excitement of the moment he felt as if he scarcely dared to open .it, and mechanically began to examin,e the' contents of Mr. Bags's dispatch. To his dismay and astonishment it ran as follows : "Sra: Your favor qf this day's date to hand, stating that you enclose the trifle you 'have about you on account of bill delivered. Am sorry to say your letter contains no remit- tance, and not being a jocular party myself, and pressed for money, can't see the pleasantry as you might wishi, Must request, therefore, that you will favor me with draft for entire amount of bill delivered, 84 16s., (say eighty-four pounds sixteen shillings) in the course of to-mor- row, or shall with great reluctance be obliged to commence usual proceedings, and remain, sir, jour obedient servant, B. BAGS. " To Paul Petersfeld, Esq., AlbanffS-W." Paul read this letter in stupid bewilderment. His note, which he perfectly recollected enclos- ing, must have been stolen in the post. But what a miserable scrape to be in. Things were bad enough before ; but now it looked as if his grand adventure were ruined altogether. Al- most recklessly he tore open Linda's dainty en- velope, for let it contain what information it might, this hideous tailor had ruined him for the rest of the quarter. Twenty pounds gone already, and eighty-four to be raised in the course of the morning, was a financial crash upon which, he had not calcu- lated. But if he was disagreeably astonished at Mr. Bags's letter, he was thunderstruck upon reading as follows written, as you may suppose, under Mrs. Springletop's dictation : "DEAR MB. PETERSFELD: I ought to he very angry with you for sending me a twenty pound bank note, and my first intention was to FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 45 return it to you immediately. But that, I sup- pose, you would have resented as an affront, so I have lost no time in devoting it to the only purpose for.M*bich it could possibly have been intended. Next time we meet I shall have the pleasure of showing you the most- beautiful em- erald bracelet, and such a love of a lace parasol, to make amends .for the one which you allowed the monkey to ruin. I am only sorry that, since you choose to make me such a splendid present, you did not add to its value by choosing it yourself. But, after all, the things could scarcely have been prettier than they are. You talk of an interview in your note,, which, I sup- pose, is to give me the opportunity of thanking you in person. Believe me, yours very truly, " LINDA BUTTERMEKE." Let us drop the curtain upon Act the First. When it rises again, our prima donna shall at last appear upon the stage. CHAPTER XV. HELEN FLEETLANDS first saw the light in a pretty green bungalow, with infinite verandas, which looked out upon the flaming waves of the Bay of Bengal. Her father's history is briefly told. A soldier of fortune in other words, a soldier with no fortune at all he found himself, after a quarter of a century of Indian life, in command of a cavalry regiment in the Company's service. In broken health, he was obliged to relinquish his career, and consoled himself with a late mar- riage. A child was born a wife died, and the worn-out soldier simply awaited a fate in Hindo- stan, which his doctors plainly told him was be- yond challenge either in India or elsewhere. The ne'w house at Cossambazar in which he had intended to live, was the new house in which it only remained for him to die ; and, with quiet soldierly fortitude, he resigned himself to his doom. A brother-officer, whom he could implicitly trust, had promised to take charge of little Helen when the time came, and bring ier up among his own children ; and Colonel Flect- lands's last and all-absorbing object was so to arrange matters that she should have some sort of independence of her own enough, at all events, to enable her to live modestly in England, without the necessity cither of toiling or marry- ing for bread, or of drifting miserably through life in that most pitiable of all capacities, a poor relation. His ambition, in short, was, to secure her a clear annual income of two thousand rupees (two hundred pounds sterling, or thereabouts) ; and to effect this the dying man denied himself, not only every thing in the shape of indulgence, but many things which, in his condition, were almost among the necessaries of life. He had never saved before ; in fact his opportunities in that direction had not been encouraging ; and the freshly awakened impulse took possession of him like a mania. His table was daily litter- ed with papers covered with calculations in rupees, annas, and pice, as to the exact rate of his expenditure, the degree in which his savings were rolling up, and the number of months which he must contrive to live before he could die with his work done. Neither were these computations quite so sim- ple as might, at first sight, be supposed. His design was to leave the entire amount of his property to the friend who was to be Helen's guardian, in trust to accumulate so much of the interest as should not be required for her main- tenance and education, at compound interest for her benefit. During the earlier years of her life, living as she would among other children, a great deal would of course be saved. Gradually her clothing and education would become more ex- pensive ; but still, after allowing for every probable deduction, and reckoning interest at five per cent., the prospect that, at one-and- twentv, she would be mistress of a capital rep- resenting two hundred pounds a year, became at last, little short of a certainty. He had only to live a few months longer. Another half- year's pension drawn, and the thing was done. And Colonel Fleetlands did live, as strong- hearted men, determined to accomplish their work below, sometimes contrive to live, in spite of the soundest medical advice to the contrary. He lived to see the day .when, seated in his veranda, with a pile of papers upon the table before him, he could at last exclaim, " Thank God, my task is finished ! Helen will not be a pauper. With common economy, and reason- able care of her money during infancy, she will at one-and-twenty have a clear four thousand pounds of her own two hundred pounds a year, at five per cent. Heaven knows the struggle it has cost me to bring her income up to this. But I would go through it all again aye, ten times over, rather than die without having done' thus much for my darling. I would do more if I could ; but I can not now there is no time. I must rest before I die." As Colonel Fleetlands sank languidly back in his arm-chair, there was a sha^rp rattle of buggy-wheels over the gravel in the compound, followed by loud and lively conversation in the same direction. In another moment a visitor was announced. "Jump is my name, if you'll allow me, colo- nel," said a smart nattily-dressed little man, flourishing his straw hat with an obsequious wave in the direction of Colonel Fleetlands ; " firm of Joy, Jingle & Jump, Calcutta. You know us by name, I daro say Joy, Jingle & Jump, my dear sir ?" Any body could have seen at once that Mr. Jump had some tremendously interesting intel- ligence to communicate. It was beaming out of his eyes, fluttering upon his tongue, and tingling to his very finger-ends. But like a 4G FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. child who can never tell a piece of news without first insisting upon one guess at least, Mr. Jump couldn't help coquetting with his secret, and repeating "Joy, Jingle & Jump?" with his head on one side, and a provoking smile. This first step in the riddle had, however, been un- luckily chosen. "I have reason to recollect your firm," re- turned the sick officer slowly. " Several years ago, I accepted a bill fora friend of mine a young fellow in our dragoons, and the paper got into your hands. You didn't show me much mercy. It was a rascally transaction, and you knew and know it. Don't stand there grin- ning. I've had quite enough of your firm. Go away and write to me, if you've any thing .to say. Do you hear ? I have but a few days left, and each moment has its value now." "Oh, my dear colonel!" exclaimed Mr. Jump shocked beyond measure at this fright- ful allusion to an affair which he had long since forgotten "pray forgive us if any such thing ever occurred ! I give you my honor I wasn't in the concern at the time never even heard of it. I've come now, sir, with the most splendid news for yon, and do hope and trust you'll allow me the great satisfaction of delivering it personally. I've come all the way to Cossambazar, colonel, for that very purpose. The idea of my firm having ever sued you upon a trumpery bill ! It's the very best joke I ever heard the very best, indeed!" " It was a very indifferent one at the time," observed Colonel Fleetlands dryly. " \Ve will not joke again, if you please." "Certainly not, colonel. Certainly not. My firm to which I won't allude again for one moment received, by last mail, from Mr. Bloss, of i New Square, Lincoln's Inn, our London correspondent, a letter directed to yourself, to- gether with certain documents which we were instructed to- lay before you. The letter," continued Mr. Jump, opening his black leather bag, ' ' is here. The documents are these. And now, my dear colonel, will you allow me the pleasure of communicating the purport of this glorious intelligence myself?" " Mr. Jump, there can be no glorious intelli- gence for me, in this world. I have not long to live, and can only attend to business which it may be my duty to transact. Give me the letter which you tell me is addressed-to me, and suffer me to read it quietly. My servants will show you every attention, and the house is at your service. But let me read this letter alone." " Certainly, colonel, certainly," replied his visitor, rising. " Only allow me to fulfill Mr. Bloss's particular desire, that I should wish you, from him, health and long life to enjoy your good fortune, and to do as much upon my own account, colonel." " You are wasting good wishes, but I am obliged. Is it the Mr. Bloss, I wonder, whom I remember .long long ago, a remarkably stout young man?" "The same, colonel the same! Oh dear yes ! Sent us his carte-de-visite by the mail be- fore last. Not so young now as he was, but an elephant-and-castle to look t. Quite so, colonel." "Pray, Mr. Jump, call for whatever you re- quire, and use my house as your own. Excuse a dying man ; I would rather be alone at pres- ent." And so, while Mr. Jump reveled in pale ale and cigars in an adjoining apartment, Colonel Fleetlands's thin fingers broke the broad black seal, and he read news which for the moment seemed to transfix him to his chair. The letter was dated from New Square, Lincoln's Inn, and headed "RE NETTLETON, DECEASED." Instead of merely copying the document verbatim, I shall take the liberty of giving you its purport, premising a few facts, without which its entire significance could scarcely be under- stood. Some five-and-twenty years before the date of* which I am now speaking, Colonel Fleet- lands, then a frank, fair-haired lad of eighteen, upon the point of embarking for India, had been a great favorite with the dead Nettleton. They were distantly connected, but no more ; only just enough to suggest a sort of indistinct fam- ily tie. However, Nettleton, a jolly, luxurious bachelor : a wharfinger, I believe he called him- self liked the boy, asked him to dinners, took him to prize-fights, tipped him with sovereigns, and otherwise treated him with great good nature. One day Mr. Nettleton suddenly took it into his head to make his will. He had found rea- sons for so doing, which may now be left in peace. Obligations which lawyers distinguish as "moral" are sometimes, by less educated people, called by less edifying names. At all events, to provide a life-income for a certain in- teresting annuitant, Mr. Nettleton held himself in conscience bound, and sent for Mr. Bloss then in the first bloom of his attorneyhood to compose a testament accordingly. The annuity was provided a few unimportant legacies given, and then v " How about the residue ? We must have a residuary legatee, my dear sir," suggested Mr. ' Bloss, suddenly pausing and placing his pen across his mouth. "What's that?" demanded the testator. " Somebody to take the balance pick np the crumbs, as it were, in case the bequests already made should fail to exhaust your entire fortune. It is usual to name somebody." "I've left all I have. I can't leave more." "There may be more to come," urged Mr. Bloss. "Better put a name in, in case." "Name little Ned Fleetlands," replied Mr. Nettleton. "Nice young fellow, that. If there's any thing over, let him have it. Much good may it do him." To tell the truth, had the will-maker died FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 47 then and there, Colonel Fleetlands's residuary expectations would have been dearly purchased at an outlay of eighteen-pence. But Mr. Nettle ton did not so die. He lived to coin money foi many a long year, and to see his business extend and flourish in a degree of which he had never indulged the faintest anticipation. Moreover, the fair legatee, for whose benefit the whole wil had been projected, died in his life-time, so that, in default of any later disposition which he never made the provision destined for herself, as well as the entire bulk of his general property, devolved upon his residuary legatee in othei words, passed to Colonel Flectlands for his own absolute use and benefit. In fact, the purport oPMr. Bloss's letter was to inform him that he was, at that moment, mastei of trade property and premises worth some sixty thousand pounds at the least, of ten thousant pounds in stocks and shares, of thirty years lease of a mansion in Bryanston Square with all its furniture, carriages, horses, and six hundred dozens of wine, of a fishing-box in the neighbor- hood of Llanfairpwllgwingyll, North Wales, and a shooting-box at Fort George in the Highlands, with sundry little pickings, not yet estimated, but which might be taken as from eight to twelve thousand additional. That was all. Strangely as it may sound, Colonel Fleetlands's first emotion, upon realizing the extent of this astounding windfall, was^me of intense and overwhelming vexation, ffte had tasted the de- lights of saving a passio^ by the way, which, once encouraged, will take root and run to seed just as surely as drinking, gambling, debauchery or any other exceptional /human indulgence; He had lived, as it were, with Helen's little hoard before him, enjoying, day by day, its slow but steady increase. He had counted no piece of self-sacrifice too severe which only added a couple of annas to the pile. More than that, he had succeeded. He had made her independent. And .now, as if in mockery of all his. toil, came this immense fortune tumbling in, a solid mass of wealth, from which every fragment of his miserable savings aye, multiplied fifty-fold might be chipped away without leaving it sensibly less than before. He had worked and suffered for nothing. So, at least, he mistak- enly felt at the moment. Another, and far more bitter feeling, only too naturally crossed his mind. Why had it come so late ? Three years ago it might have carried him home to England, with blessed hopes of life and health. Much more. She for whom his heart still silently bled, might have been at that moment in bloom and beauty by his side. Why had it come so late? Again he ground his teeth. Why had it come at all ? Except in so far as little Helen was concerned, it was much as if he had suddenly received commission to divide a great territory in China among the Peacock Mandarins. He could, himself, have neither part nor lot in the inheritance ; while, as regard- ed Helen, there were anxieties almost as vivid under her strangely altered prospects, as those which had tormented him already. If lie had dreaded poverty for her, he dreaded friendless wealth still more. He knew no one to whom he could conscientiously entrust the care of a baby heiress, with upward of a hundred thou- sand for her marriage portion ; nobody who would bring her up as she ought to be brought up watch her as she ought to be watched and steer her course through the dangerous morning splendor of such a future. The only man in England to whom his thoughts pointed, at the moment, was Admiral, then Captain Mortlake, of whom we have al- ready heard. But whether he would like, or even accept, so delicate a task, the colonel could not know ; and, in any event, there were com- plicated arrangements to be made, contingencies to be guarded against, and an elaborate will pre- pared before it could be even suggested. There was no European lawyer at Cossambazar, and Colonel Fleetlands longed to consult Mr. Jump, whose buggy-horse was at that moment panting in the compound before him. But that hateful bill transaction, of Heaven knows how many years before, still clave to his soul like pitch, and rather than unbosom him- self confidentially to one of such a gang of swin- dlers, as he very naturally considered them, he would, I suspect, have seen Mr. Jump's persua- sive countenance revolving in the Ilooghly among those of the many native gentlemen who diurnally proceed to sea down that mysterious river. So he allowed the opportunity to pass unim- proved, and dismissed Mr. Jump with a mag- nificent fee, as became a man who had been so suddenly transformed from a miser into a mil- lionaire^ And then, feeling that his time was short, and that a whole world of responsibility had devolved upon him within the last few hours, he deliberately drew a clean quire of foolscap from his writing-desk, and set to work at once upon his last will and testament. Perhaps,, while he is about it, I may be per- mitted to offer to the unprofessional reader a suggestion or two, gratis, upon a subject re- specting which the most serious errors are un- luckily prevalent. He may skip the rest of this chapter and welcome, if he please ; and if he can equally contrive to skip the advancing hour, from which, as the law has it, his will must, if he ever make one, "speak," his time will be much better occupied than in pursuing my story. But to those who like to listen, I would say : Never suppose that any possible amount of common sense (whatever that may mean), or any quantity of trouble which you may be dis- posed to take in the matter, is sufficient to en- able you to make a will, and defy all the world to pick a hole in it. Eschew the weak belief that you can clearly express your meaning, at all events. In a cursory glance among the books upon my shelves at this moment, I have lit upon half a dozen cases, at least, in which FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. the Court has substantially said, " The mean- ing of the testator is clear enough, but the words which he has used unfortunately oblige us to disregard it. " And the reason of this ap- parent hardship is so well explained in a stand- ard professional work, which I always consult with pleasure, that I have no hesitation in em- ploying the writer's language instead of my own. "In construing wills," he remarks, "the courts have always borne in mind, that a testa- tor may not have had the same opportunity of legal advice in drawing his will, as he would have had in executing a deed. And the first great maxim of construction accordingly is, that the intention of the testator ought to be observed. The decisions of the courts in pur- suing this maxim, have given rise to a number of subsidiary rules, to be applied in making out the testator's intention ; and, when doubts oc- cur, these rules are always made use of to de- termine the meaning ; so that the true legal construction of a will, is occasionally different from that which would occur to the mind of an unprofessional reader. Certainty can not be obtained without uniformity, or uniformity with- out rule. Rules therefore have been found to be absolutely necessary ; and the indefinite maxim of observing the intention is now large- ly qualified by the numerous decisions which have been made respecting all manner of doubt- ful points, each of which decisions forms or con- firms a rule of construction, to be attended to whenever any similar difficulty occurs. It is indeed very questionable, whether this maxim of observing the intention, reasonable as it may appear, has been of any service to testators ; and it has certainly occasioned a great deal of trouble to the courts. Testators have imagined that the making of wills to be so leniently in- terpreted, is a matter to which any body is com- petent ; and the consequence has been an im- mense amount of litigation. An intention, moreover, expressed clearly enough for ordina- ry apprehensions, has often been defeated by some technical rule, too stubborn to yield to the general maxim, that the intention ought to be observed." And our author, in illustration of his last remark, notices a case, in which a father by his will declared his intention to be, that his son should not sell or dispose of his estate for any longer time than his life; and, to that intent, he devised the same to his son, for life only ; and after his (the son's) decease, to the heirs of the body of his said son. Common sense would probably have ap- proved of this disposition, as at once clear and effectual. But common sense and common law are two very different things. The testa- tor had unwarily laid hold of a technical term, and the technical term wouldn't let him go again. And the day of his death beheld his son absolute and irresponsible master of the estate. Under what inconceivable infatuation, then, j do people, in other respects sound in mind, careful of their own interests, and not incon- j siderate of the welfare of others, sit down daily to make their own wills ? How do they ex- cuse to their consciences this most cruel and culpable folly ? By what right do they dare expose those for whose benefit they ostensibly put pen to paper, to the unspeakable calamity of a Chancery suit, with all its heart-burnings, misery, and waste ? And yet, a thousand times over, has this been the penalty of indiscretion in the use of one single drop of ink. Verily, the man who, for the selfish saving of a misera- ble fee, can leave his family liable to such horri- ble hazard, ought to be buried in disgrace, and the reason noticed upon his tombstone. CHAPTER XVI. A NOTORIOUS criminal was, one morning, proceeding on foot to the place of execution, accompanied by a father confessor, whose efforts to improve the occasion were not altogether well received. The culprit, unfortunately, chanced to be in what nurses term a "fractious" mood; and evinced his repugnance to the entire proceeding by first of all " stepping short" in the most un- conscionable manner and subsequently sub- siding into plain goose-step when fairly within sight of the gallows. * "My good brother," urged his ghostly com- .panion with a persuasive nudge, "if you had |ihe slightest idea how late we are, you would, I am certain, walk a little faster. Do you sup- pose that, because you have naturally no en- gagements for the afternoon, we are all equally free? I assure you, for my own part, that I have a great deal upon hand ; and so, probably, have many of the gentlemen yonder. Pray come along ! We ought to have been upon the drop by this time. Just look at the crowd !" "No hurry, governor," replied the penitent, gruffly. "They can't begin without us." I should scarcely imagine that, under the cir- cumstances, much consolation couid have been extracted from this palpable truism. But the words themselves frequently recur to my mind with very salutary effect "No hurry, gover- nor. They can't begin without us." Say that to yourself, my friend, as I do, when you fancy you are going to be late for a dinner, a train, a consultation or possibly for morning church. You will be right nine times out of ten. Either they won't begin without you, or you will pick up your place in a canter, which is practically much the same thing. And the wear and tear of a certain nervous tissue worn and torn beyond computation by disquieting anxieties upon such matters will be saved al- together, which is as much as adding two clear years to your life, a consideration not to be lost sight of, as times go. They won't begin with- out you. Make a note of that. FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS BEWARD. There is only one contingency in which I can not advise you to rely upon this comfortable assurance. Never write a story under the de- lusion that your readers can't begin without you. Bless yo^r innocence, why not? They can read you back ward, or forward, or skipplng- waya, juat as they please ; and cut altogether those careful passages which you so often smiled over in secret, as the very key-stones and but- tresses of your narrative. As to not beginning without you, it is only too certain that they will begin and end exactly where they choose. The above digression came into my mind as I was finishing my last chapter. I felt a mis- giving that the little dissertation in which I had indulged, with a view of preparing the ground for what is immediately Ho follow, might be accepted by some wary people as a sort of salutary warning, and acted upon accordingly. I fancied I saw them cunningly turning over my leaves until they found themselves quite clear of the shop, and then " beginning with- out me" some twenty pages down stream, leav- ing me to trudge after them at my leisure. It is unpleasant, however, even to moralize upon such possible treachery, and a relief to re- turn to my narrative. When Colonel Fleetlands deliberately sat down to concoct his own will, he had three ob- jects prominently before his mind. In the first place, he wished to secure for his little Helen, so far as human foresight could extend, a thoroughly, happy and comfortable home, where she should not only be a welcome but a coveted guest. This was easy. In the second place, he was anxious to pro- tect her effectually, during her girlish inexperi- ence, against those prowling adventurers who were certain to " go in" for so splendid a prize as a maiden with several thousands a year. This appeared a problem equally simple. Lastly, he desired to restore a large portion of Mr. Nettleton's fortune to the family or rel- atives of that gentleman. The property had fallen to him through the merest accident, and was far larger than he had even the slightest inclination to retain for his daughter. He had no sentimental scruples about using that which was absolutely his own, but he exercised his right, subject to the self-imposed understanding, that after helping himself and his own liberally, he was not entitled to trifle with the remainder. Here again all seemed plain sailing. With these objects in view, Colonel Fleet- lands's testamentary dispositions ran as follows. I give the will as he wrote it, simply because it is not a technical, but a straightforward, soldier- like document, which in itself explains the manner in which he conceived that his wishes could best be carried into effect : "Tms is TUB LAST WILL of me, Edward Fleetlands, Lieut. -Col. II. E. I. C. S. I ap- point my friend, Hercules Mortlake, pf River- woodLawn,.St. Mark's-on-the-Sea, in England, a captain B.N., guardian of my only daughter, D Helen, until she attain the age of twenty-three years. Should he decline so to act, or die, then I appoint the Rev. Felix Salterton, rector of Riverwood, aforesaid, guardian of mysaiddaugh. ter. Should they both decline to act, or die, I request the Bishop of London for the time being to name a guardian. I give my said daughter the sum of fifty thousand pounds, which I direct shall be at once invested in con- sols by my executors. I desire that out of the interest of this sum, five hundred pounds per annum shall be received by my daughter's guard- ian for the time being, for her maintenance, education, clothing, and pocket-money. The rest of the interest is to be accumulated and added to the principal until she attains the age of twenty-three or marries, when the whole is to be transferred into her name. Should she die under twenty-three, or marry under that age without the consent of her gnardian for the time being, her interest is to pass to the persons hereafter named, expect that, in the event of her marriage without such consent, I desire that she may receive two hundred pounds a year for life, and no more, to be strictly settled to her separate use. I give the legacies men- tioned in the list below ; and, subject as above stated, I give all the residue of my property among the persons who would have been entitled thereto had I not been named in the will of the late Mr. Nettleton. And so I leave my soul to God, appointing Captain Mortlake and Mr. Salterton my executors. Done and dated at Cossambazar, this 13th day of September, etc., etc."' [Schedule of Legacies.] Now, with one unlucky exception, the above, as every lawyer must admit, was a most credit- able specimen of amateur testatorship. No guardian could help feeling warmly to- ward a child who brought him substantially an additional income of five hundred pounds a year. No gay deceiver was likely to entangle the inexperience of a blooming heiress, whose wealth would disappear upon seizure, like the colors of a butterfly under a school-boy's cap. Up to twenty-three, at all events, her mar- riage would have to be contracted with the deliberate approval of her guardian for the time being. No great hardship after all. There is no magic in the precise age of one-and-twenty, and many young ladies, who will never he 'one- and-twenty again, deceive themselves wofully in the estimate of their own worldly wisdom. Indeed I don't understand why we, insular and independent Britons as we are, should vote our- selves mature at an earlier period than people are content to ripen at, anywhere else in the world. In France, Spain, and Germany in general, full majority is not conceded until twenty-five. Under this age no young man can dispose of himself without the consent of his parents or guardians, as the case may be although young ladies are, here and there, let off more easily. In Spain, for instance, they have only to wait for twenty-three ; while, 50 FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. oddly enough, your Burgomaster's daughter is permitted to dive into matrimony upon her own . hook the very moment she is out of her teens. To return, however, to the will, and the un- fortunate paragraph jnst referred to. Why, in the name of all that is wonderful, was Colonel Fleetlands rash enough to write those lines ' ' I give all the residue of my property among the persons who would have been entitled thereto, had I not been named in the will of the lute Mr. Nettleton?" Far better to have flung a lighted hand-grenade among the powder barrels of Dum-Dum. The bang would have been big and bad, but soon over. But these few words consigned his estate at once to the mercies of the Court of Chancery in En- gland. These few words let loose at once the spirit of rapine and discord in at least fifty hearts. These few words stirred up envies, hatreds and malices, which may scatter fire and poison among generations yet unborn. In a will, all is irrevocable. The writer passes away into the land that is very far off, be- yond all reach of human question. None can ask him what he meant, if he has failed to express that meaning. If no possible construction can be put upon his words, the law, of necessity, dis- regards them and distributes the property as if no will had ever been made. But if any meaning can be attached to them, however unjust, mis- chievous, or absurd in the result, the law accepts that meaning, and abides by it through thick and thin. No evidence of intention is, generally speaking, admissible. What the testator has written he has written, and must be accepted as sufficient, and expounded as oracular. I dare say that, unless you are yourself imbued with the wisdom of the legal serpent, you might read the mischievous few lines above referred to at least twice over without suspecting any par- ticular harm. Perhaps, under similar circum- stances, you might even have expressed your own meaning much in the same way. Well, I will not pause now, to explain exactly what was wrong, or what was the exact question to which these words gave birth ; but in case you should feel any curiosity upon the subject, or any wish to be wiser, I have transcribed in the note below, and I hope you will read, an opinion written by a brother barrister under the impression (acci- dental upon my part) that the case I put to him was occurring in my own practice.* * " DKAB W. I have read your note carefully. Of course you will file your bill at once ; as no executor would dream of acting upon his own responsibility in such a case. Colonel F. seems to have had 4000 of his own, plus say 100,000, bequeathed to him by Mr. N. Out of this fund lie leaves 50,000 to his daughter, and the residue ' among the persons who would have been entitled thereto, had he not been named in N.'B will.' What in the world does he mean? The fact that by Nettleson's will the 100,000 became Col. Fleetlands's property, can not be affected by any thing contained in the colonel's wiH. Consequently it became part of, and passed under the description of, his (Colonel Fleetlands's) residue. "This residue Colonel Fleetlands attempts to dispose of, by referring to Mr. Nettleton's wilL " But instead of giving it to the person who would have been entitled to the residue of Mr. Nettleton's estate if he (Colonel Fleetlands) had not been named, he gives it to A very few mornings afterward, the long anticipated event occurred. ' Colonel Fleetlands was found at day-dawn speechless in his bed. And as the boom of sunset-gun from the neigh- boring cantonments rolled heavily over Cos- sambazar, the heart of a good man and gallant soldier was quietly hushed forever. Loving and careful hands tended the little orphan in her unperceived bereavement, and pro- vided for her transplantment to English soil. And, in charge of a magnificent brown Ayah, all turban, teeth, and ear-rings, the child was in due course cleared at the Southampton Docks by Mr. Bloss himself ; who, as holding the will under which her splendid fortune had devolved, considered himself bound to do the honors of Old England upon hdr first arrival. And under his escort, she was safely deposited a few days later with her gallant guardian at Rivenvood Lawn, hard by St. Mark's-on-the-Sea. And this would seem to be the time to give some account of Admiral Mortlake personally. His acquaintance in a casual sort of way we have already had the opportunity of making. Colonel Fleetlands and he had been school- boys together, and had contracted one of those early friendships which outlast all others. Mortlake was a brave, willful boy, cock of the school, and deservedly respected all round upon, the very sufficient ground that he was going to be midshipman in a frigate before next half. And midshipman, dirk and all, he accordingly became, with as fair a career before him as ever was cut out for a young sailor. His family were immensely rich, with high admiralty interest ; his father chief of one of the greatest county banks in the kingdom, with the persons who would have been entitled to his men residue if he had not been named ! " The supposed omission of Colonel Fleetlands's name from Mr. Nettleton'g will, fails to afford any clue to the persons who would be entitled to Colonel Fleetlands's resi- due, with reference to that contingency. The description is unintelligible, and the gift must fail. " I assume that there are no recitals in the early part of the will, such as 'Whereas I desire that, subject to the legacy hereby given to my daughter, so much of my property as I derived under the will of Mr. Nettleton, should revert to his family,' because it is possible that some such recital might connect the beqaest so intimately with Mr. Nettleton's will, as to allow the Court to substitute the words ' to the residue of Mr. Nettleton's property,' for the word 'thereto.' 11 In short my view is, that the testator has altogether failed to describe the parties whom he intended to take his residue; the description he has given being incapable of being made sense of without introducing a large amount of extrinsic evidence to show his meaning or probable meaning. " The bequest therefore fails altogether as a gift, and the residue goes, as a matter of course, to the daughter, as next of kin, unless something in the will prevents it. " The fact of thje testator having given a fixed legacy to his daughter, and the residue to others, renders it morally certain that it was not his intention that his daughter should take the residue as well as the legacy. But if, as I hold, he has altogether failed sufficiently to describe the object of the gift of residue, and the gift on that account fails, I do nof think that his inferred intention would be considered as any bar to her taking it. " I can not see how the colonel's next'of kin (other than his daughter and only child) could possibly be let in, even if the words of the gift to the daughter went so far as to : express a positive prohibition to her taking more than the legacy under any circumstances. If you can not fix upon the proper people to take, it must go to the real next of kin, I should think," FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 51 a noble landed estate, upon which young Mort- lakc, as an eldest son, might have looked for- ward to a life of luxurious independence. But his tastes were not for flocks and kine ; while as to sitting behind a desk in pen-and- inky slavery during the best hours of every day, he would far sooner have been mast-headed regularly for the same period an elevation, by the way, which he subsequently had pretty fre- quent opportunities of enjoying. In short he seemed, as it were, born for the sea, with every quality, except one, which was requisite to en- sure success. A reckless, insubordinate spirit marred all. He could not obey cheerfully. There are men who can not. It is a base fail- ing. " Imperantur ut imperani" was not said of such. Not, at least, of one in ten thousand. And so, after rising to the command, of a frigate, Captain Mortlake came suddenly to grief. The version which we landsmen received of the affair may possibly have been even less accurate than the information usually supplied to the marines. But we all believe that one fine afternoon, when a squadron was^mnning down Channel, under all sail, Captain Mortlake received such a series of aggravating and " nag- ging" signals from his admiral, between whom and himself a private feud existed, that he lost all control over his temper suddenly beat to quarters, and sent a thundering broadside of blank cartridge right into the spectacles of that fussy old gentleman, who was only half a cable's length to leeward. Of course, as soon as the latter could be un- suffbcated sufficiently to sputter, he signaled Captain Mortlake on board in fury ; and though we don't pretend to know precisely what passed in the admiral's cabin, we are quite clear that Captain Mortlake's alternative lay between in- stantly retiring upon half-pay, or standing a court-martial. And we are morally certain that, but for the tremendous amount of interest which he was fortunately enabled to bring to bear, the result of this unlucky explosion of temper and gunpowder would have had no alternative about it. Be this as it may, it is beyond all doubt that Captain Mortlake quitted the service entirely against his own inclination, and retired to the life of a country gentleman upon his estate at Rivcrwood, a morose, dissatisfied man. Perhaps to an active and domineering spirit, no severer trial can easily be conceived than that of being summarily expelled from a profes- sion. A dark cloud is at once flung down upon the whole stretch of the future, in which it is impossible to discern the "silver lining." In C.iptaiu Mortlake's case, the sentence was sim- ply one of civil death. What were a thousand acres of grass and furrow, compared with those few feet of glossy quarter-deck ? He resented his fate both upon himself and those about him, and, avoiding society altogether, lived for some time a life of savage seclusion. No doubt sulking has it pleasures : but un- less we have reasonable grounds for supposing that we are making others at least half as un- comfortable as ourselves, they scarcely outweigh its disadvantages. To some extent Captain Mortlake had the satisfaction of believing that, if he chose to lead the life of a hermit, the neighborhood must have \iyshed it otherwise. With a noble domain, a splendid country house, and every means at his command for the exer- cise of princely hospitality, it was so much the worse for them when he sternly closed his gates. There is something almost fascinating in such a burial of unbounded wealth. Whereas, let a poor man amuse himself after the same fashion, and we simply say, ' ' Poor devil ! The sooner the coroner's wanted the better." But this gourd of his solitude was destined to cky up as it were in a night. The bank stopped payment. Not a very uncommon occurrence, but, like a railway accident, frightfully astonish- ing to all concerned, from the directors sitting in dismayed committee, down to the guilty switch- man who brought it all about, and the poor third-class passenger whose head is picked out of the ballast. It was a terrible break-down not quite irremediable as regarded the concern, but involving thousands in the most serious per- plexity and distress. To Captain Mortlake it was little less than ruin. Half the Riverwood estate was sold, and the remainder heavily mortgaged, and every sixpence of his stocks and shares confiscated, before he was out of the scrape. How it all came about, matters little now. No need to talk about that pre-eminently meek and subservient clerk, always clad in Sunday black, who wore gloves, and discountenanced sporting language in the vicinity of his virtuous desk. He is at Portland this morning, suffer- ing from a rather large padlock on the pastern, and in the way, I hope, of being liberally whip- ped, not once for good, but ever and anon, be- fore he is again 'entrusted with pen and ink. Pen and ink ! that, Captain Mortlake never could abide, and resented his dislike by pluck- ing him bare. Just at this conjuncture, news arrived in England of Colonel Fleetlands's death, and of Captain Mortlake's appointment as his executor and guardian of little Helen. A few months before, he might have surlily refused to act. But times had changed. In two points of view, the chance was one not to be neglected. In the first place, five hundred a year was just at the moment an immense object. Of course the poor little Indian baby who brought it would be a nuisance ; but she might, for the present, at all events, be kept in the nursery and per- fectly out of the way ; so that there was no sub- stantial drawback upon that head. Secondly, this very baby might, in a few years become, in another respect, a rather de- sirable acquisition. Long before the bank smash, Mortlake had begun to discover that he was making a miserable fool of himself by growling through his gates at the world, which he fancied had done him wrong. And the worst FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. of growling is, that when the good wish comes over us to wag our tails and be friendly, the difficulty of getting that said tail into motion, or delivering it at all from our hind legs, with- out conscious loss of dignity, is a sad obstacle in the way of amendment. But, with a bril- liant young heiress to bring forward, all would be easy. She would be an excuse, at once, for entering society again ; nnd the world, as he sullenly admitted, he was no longer in a con- dition to defy. So he at once accepted his new duties, and, in conjunction with Mr. Salterton, proved his late friend's will in the Principal Registry of Her Majesty's Court of Probate. That I have been neglecting Mrs. Mortlake nil this time, is quite true. In that respect, I am afraid I resemble her husband, -who hated counsel of every description, and above all, that of his wife. He was neither in the habit of listening to her reasons, nor of troubling her with his own. And if, for purely financial pur- poses, he chose to present her with a full- fledged baby instead of the callow little "pledge" which sentimental people so pleasingly describe, and w.hich, in his own case, had never arrived, she had no option, you may depend, but to accept the gift, and make the best of it. I had no intention, when I began my story, of attempting to entice any body who might do me the honor of perusing it, into the diabolical labyrinth of a Chancery suit. I will not do so now. I will not even explain the construction ultimately put by the Court upon those unfor- tunate words, " I give all the residue of my property among the persons who would have been entitled thereto, had I not been named in the will of the late Mr. Nettleton." But the result was, that in the face of the innumerable claimants whom these words called suddenly into legal existence, it was impossible for the executors to act at all, except under the protection of the court. So thSy filed their bill in Chancery, in which Captain Mortlake and Mr. Salterton were plaintiffs, and Helen, and some score of others, were defendants, and interlocu- tory and other decrees were made, and costs were ordered out of the estate, and every thing went on as comfortably as need be, and after the fashion in which things constantly go on .when testators have been so economical as to make their own wills. One result of the suit, however, you will per- haps have the goodness to bear in mind. Helen's 50,000 was ordered to be realized and paid into the Bank of England, to the credit of the Accountant-general of the- Court of Chan- cery, to be duly invested in consols ; out of the interest of which 500 per annum was directed to be paid to Captain Mortlake, as her guardian, and the remainder accumulated for her benefit until farther order. It was among the consequences of this con- siderate proceeding that she thereupon became immediately a Ward of Court. Over persons in this position, the Court of Chancery, as is well known, exercises a pro- tectorship at once jealous, vigilant, and despotic. To marry a young lady so- situated, without the Court's consent, is stigmatized as " Ravishment of Ward," of which, in former times, the Court (succeeding, as it did, the Star Chamber, in cognizance of such offenses) used to mark its disapproval by imprisonment for life, or by en- forcing perpetual abjurance of the realm. So that, as was naively remarked in an old case, " the grievousness of the punishment showed the greatness of the offense." Even at the present moment, such a mar- riage, or indeed any preliminary flirtation with marriage in view, is considered as an aggra- vated criminal contempt in all parties concerned, which the court will always resent as nearly touching its honor and justice, and severely deal jvith. The bridegroom goes forthwith to the Queen's prison, and the incautious parson is lucky if he can find any body to listen to his miserere. Ignorance, or want of notice of the fact that the infant was a ward, is an excuse which can not be ^tended to upon any account, for the plain aM satisfactory reason that every suit, or other proceeding, in chancery, is a lispendens, of which all good subjects- are bound to take no- tice. Neither, in the plenitude of itsanxiety to extend protection where protection is needed, will the court withhold its assistance, even where the cause of interference may have arisen in the case of an infant, male or female, not previously a ward. Not many months ago, for example, a certain affable Miss Richardson contrived to " ravish" a young prodigal aged nineteen, who quitted the paternal roof to enjoy her company unmo- lested, in the neighborhood of Dorset Square. So far, so bad. But the lady, not content with love, demanded matrimony also, and the feeble youth wrote home to his mamma, bidding her not grieve any more, because he had turned over a new leaf, and was really going to be mar- ried. His papa, however, who looked for consola- tion from other sources, couldn't stand this, and instantly executed a settlement of one hundred pounds upon the offending simpleton, in whose name, as next friend, he forthwith filed a bill to administer the trusts thereof. This made the bridegroom intendant at once a ward in Chancery, and the very next morn- ing, Miss Richardson's frail gayety was dis- turbed by a notice that another interview with her young friend would be purchased at the cost of her liberty. There now! If any thing in the way of " ravishment" should ever threaten poor Helen, I trust you feel competent to shake your head in good time, and to prophesy that ' ' assuming" this, and "subject to" that, and "apart from" something else (qualifications without which no legal opinion is worth a rush), such and such will be the end of the transgressors. FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 53 CHAPTER XVII. IN my last two chapters I have been obliged to ascend for some little distance up the stream of history, in order to explain the circumstances under which Helen passed into the guardian- ship of the master of Riverwood Lawn. I am now about to square my story, by bringing my account of her down to the exact period at which our friend Petersfeld set out upon his remarkable chase. It is unfortunate that I should be,obliged to leave him so long in the background, especially in such a promising scrape ; but he must take his turn like the rest of us, according to the rule of the world, and shall have no cause to complain of his historian before I have done with him. Admiral Mortlake for I may as well give him his flag at once, although he did not actu- ally attain it for some dozen years after Colonel Fleetlands's death was not naturally an avari- cious man. Few sailors are so at least we be- lieve, ashore though few "people, I fancy, are less content with their wages, or cry out more lustily for what they are pleased to call prize- money, a luxury which we land-lubbers never even expect. But the bank disaster, to which I have just referred, had changed his nature for the worse. It is among the worst results of these mercantile catastrophes that they are apt to damage a man in mind, even more than in purse. The man who limps away out of a railway accident may hope to get his leg put straight again, some day ; but ten to one, the man who has been seriously run over in a money smash; will hardly pull thorough without some crook in his mind which all the doctors in Eu- rope would fail to disentangle. It was obvious that in accepting Helen and her five hundred a year, he was treading the very verge of what could strictly be considered honorable. He knew well that her father, in entrusting her to his care, was under the im- pression that he was possessed of a splendid country seat, with a fortune to correspond ; and it might well be that it was in a home of this description, that he wished and expected the little heiress to be brought up. He knew, equally, that the house could now scarcely be considered as his own, while his affairs were so miserably embarrassed, that but for the trifling additional income thus thrown in his way, it was by no means certain that even by the exer- cise of the most penurious economy, he would be able to continue his establishment at River- wood at all. However, he was in no mood to indulge in sentimental scruples, and comforted himself with the resolution that he would take the best possible care of his ward a precaution clearly desirable under the circumstances. One point only gave him a little uneasiness. He had a vague suspicion that awkward ques- tions might one day or other be asked by the Court of Chancery, with reference to hi expend- iture of Helen's money. Trustees, he knew, were considered peculiarly "accountable" peo- ple by that intrusive tribunal, and proverbially afforded more sport than almost any other class of individuals when brought in to be badgered. His neighbor and co-executor, Mr. Salterton, had once mooted something upon the subject which rather startled him ; but after all, look- ing at the will as it stood, the case seemed straightforward enough. All he had to do was to feed, clothe, and educate the little lady, and provide her with pocket-money when she was old enough to spend it, and the rest was his plain and proper fee for quasi paternal care and responsibility. Now, although I have undertaken in some degree to furnish a memoir of Miss Fleetlands, from the day of her birth up to that upon which my story commences, I have no idea of wasting useful time and paper in an elaborate chronicle of her nursery days. She seems, by all accounts, to have been a peculiarly fascinating little creature the pet of every one at Riverwood Lawn. Even Mortlake himself found a soft corner in that tough and ancient muscle which he probably talked about as his heart, and suffered the child to follow him all about the house, and to frequent his private sitting-room at her pleasure. This latter apartment was Helen's especial delight. It. was a large, handsome room, with a French window opening upon the lawn, filled with curiosities of all kinds, of which the ad- miral, it would seem, had iu former times been a most fortunate collector. Giant lay-figures were there copper men of Patagon fellows who, like the jolly young waterman, renowned in song, " feathered their skulls with such skill and dexterity," that they looked like bad hu- man cockatoos, and were altogether real stum- bling-blocks in the way of a self-educating stu- dent of natural history. And thei* were vicious fishes and hulking birds, and serpents which yawned at the little girl, as if she would just have made one delicate mouthful, crackling like a beccafique at Bordeaux. And there were odd comers full of boarding-pikes, cutlasses, toma- hawks and working-tools of a like nature, with which man, whether savage or civil, has for va- rious good reasons, let day-light into his breth- ren from time immemorial. But perhaps the grand attraction of this won- derful room, was an immense iron safe, or "ark, "as the admiral always chose to call it, upon which the little maiden was never tired of gazing. It had once, I believe, held the books and papers of the family bank. On either side, stood one of the plumed Patago- nians, with a shocking smile upon his engraved face, looking like its guardian demon. There was a mystery about the whole affair, which quite fascinated Helen. The tawny sen- tinels, the huge lock, the clanging bolt, the ponderous doors that opened with such a re- luctant whine, and which the admiral himself could scarcely close. What did it all mean ? FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS EEWARD. It meant simply this : that ever since his grand financial disaster, Admiral Mortlake had distrusted every living soul in England, from his co-partners at the St. Mark's bank, down to the very agent who screwed rents out of the Riverwood tenantry. In this ark he kept de- posited all his title deeds when he had any to keep, most of them being, at the time of which I am speaking, in the hands of various mort- gagees all documents of any value, and not unfrequently, very large sums in ready money. It amused him to shut the heavy door with a bang, and growl to himself, " Safe bind safe find ! No clerk there, at all events." Partly out of pure rough good nature, partly perhaps because the inquisitive interest of the little mite was positively amusing, the portal of this iron cavern was unlocked most days for Helen's private amusement. And nothipg pleased her better than to plant herself cross- legged upon the carpet, gaze wistfully into its recess, and wonder, as a child will wonder, w"hat it would feel like to be locked up inside till Christmas, with other profitable speculations of a like nature. It became an old familiar friend. She knew exactly in what corner of the admiral's writing- desk its bright steel keys were kept, and would have liked above all things to have had a private key of her own, which was plainly not to be thought of. Still, there it stood ; a sturdy ac- quaintance with a sort of magnetic and mys- terious influence, the* future of which was alto- gether inscrutable, and may remain so for the present at all events. It was lucky for Helen that even this savage boudoir was at her disposal. For Mrs. Mortlake was a formidably good woman, and sternly aware of the fact. When we refer to the doings of somebody else, upon some particular occasion, as "rather too good," we are not commonly sup- posed to use*tvords in their primary meaning. And whether any lady can by any possibility be too good in reality is a delicate question. But, if such a thing be possible, I should have no hes- itation in saying that Mrs. Mortlake must have been very close to the mark. From the very first moment that Helen could understand a fact, the tale of an immaculate infancy was diligently dinned into her ears. " I never was naughty, all the time I was a little girl," was the pious fib which the child at last began to believe, and to consider what a nice mess she might make of it, if she were weak enough to follow suit. For, although Mrs. Mortlake in her angelic maturity abundantly fulfilled this early promise, nobody liked her at the Lawn a fact which, as we all know, children discover just as soon as their elders. Her goodness was the goodness of a good machine which will grind over you, body and limb, before it will go out of its groove, or give you time to get out of the way. So long as you did as she did thought as she thought and emitted an equally pungent and persistent odor of sanctity, all was well. You need only discern between Mr. Muleymist, the curate, who was right, and Mr. Salterton, the rector, who was wrong; be in your pew ten minutes before eleven in the morning, and ten minutes before three in the afternoon upon every Sunday, fast, and festival, throughout the year encourage all poor parishioners who read your tracts and said your conversation "did them good," and persecute all who would neither listen to your reproof nor smilingly ac- cept your ready-made flannels and you took your oar in her boat at once. But the crew, I can tell you, was a picked one ; and there was nothing for it but to keep stroke, or be landed, mud or meadow. Talking about tracts, by the way, Mrs. Mort- lake's mission, you must know, was not only to disseminate, but to create. I dare say you may have sometimes wondered I have, at all events whence all the myriad tracts in circulation are actually evolved. It is really a very curious question. Well then, one flourishing offidna existed, and may still exist, at Riverwood Lawn. Mrs. Mortlake's themes were drawn from sources wide as life itself, and therefore variegated and various. Sometimes she dealt in hard-headed and argu- mentative damsels who exchanged logic with the tempter until he modestly admitted his mis- take, and disappeared with his hat in his hand. Sometimes in Scipionic policemen, whose rigid and frigid moral philosophy was proof against any temptation at all. Sometimes in serious sailors, who held tobaccoless tea-parties in the forecastle, and whose conversation was seasoned with nothing stronger than ^ Bless me ! " and "Oh, my dear!" But I intend to take an opportunity before long of offering yon a specimen of her compo- sition ; devoting, if necessary, an entire inter- calary chapter to that very purpose. It was no fault of this excellent person that her inherent dislike to children was intense and in- eradicable. She detested them so much that she never had any of her own ; and of course the apparition of a little stranger, in the literal sense of the words, for whose care and educa- tion she was to be entirely responsible, was any thing but an occasion of rejoicing. Granting, however, that, in this particular, her very fail- ings didn't lean to virtue's side, they at least gave her virtues a famous opportunity of dis- playing themselves. Many, and probably most of our good deeds derive their principal merit from the amount of self-sacrifice which they in- volve ; and if the care of the friendless little or- phan had happened to have been a pleasure rather than the reverse, there would have been but little scope for self-approbation in undertak- ing it. Whether other considerations could have had any possible sway with so austere a moralist as Mrs. Mortlake, is more than I can tell. Be this as it may, little Helen's early experience might have suggested to her that she must have done something naughty in her cradle, and been FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 55 forthwith consigned to a reformatory for the re- mainder of her life. For education by way of reward or persuasion was entirely opposed to Mrs. Mortlake's prin- ciples. People ought to obey because obedience was right, and ought to be punished, if they didn't, because disobedience was wrong. Any other system was, according to her creed, a gov- ernment by lower motives, and unsuited to the case of a reasonable and accountable baby. Moreover, lest the said baby should by any means entertain the idea that any particular punishment exceeded the offense, or was indeed more than a rather liberal instalment of what might be expected hereafter, the most tremen- dous threats and texts were always at her service ; denunciations which, if they conveyed any meaning at all, produced much the same effect as the invocation of the black sweep, or the wicked old man with the bag familiars long since cashiered in all decent nurseries. And so the work of education began unsat- isfactorily enough to both parties; for Miss Helen was not very docile, and her instructress not very patient. Probably she made the pace rather trying on principle, as one who perceived that the high authority for not sparing the rod forbade her to allow any precious opportu- nity to escape unimproved, which seemed to justify a snug little whipping. And so things went on for a few uncomforta- ble years, during which Mrs. Mortlake's patience and trimming tackle were alike exhausted ; and Helen's naturally high spirit became so thor- oughly chafed and roused, that she disobeyed for disobedience' sake. She even horrified that lady one Sunday, between services, by audaciously announcing that she had broken all the ten commandments that very morning and found herself much as usual. Of course matters couldn't be allowed to con- tinue upon that footing ; and, despite the admi- ral's dislike to the incumbrance, a governess was the only resource. Firm, good-humored guard- ianship was all that Helen wanted ; and this one would suppose might, by proper exertion, have befn readily secured. But with charac- teristic inaptitude in such matters, Mrs. Mort- lake pitched upon Miss Serena Smugg, the pro- tegee, of one of her clique. There had been one naughty child in the house before. There were two now ; for Sere- na was as cunning a little humbug as ever step- ped in crinoline. Mrs. Mortlake thought her perfection, and, for once in their lives, Helen and she were of the same opinion. Serena didn't mind a little teaching, and she taught rather well ; and Helen didn't mind a little learning, and she learned exceedingly fast. But, a very mild amount of daily business once over, and the governess was only too anxious to be quit of her pupil. She had her own correspondence, which was voluminous, to attend to. She had a thrilling "Tale of Fashionable Life" fast ap- proaching completion on the sly, in which all the characters wcro peers and peeresses, whose graceful badinage was for the most part ex- changed in boarding-school French. She was addicted likewise to siestas, which Helen never ventured to disturb ; during which visions of spurred and whiskered counts jingling with jewelry and scented like Mr. Rimmel's shop, passed pleasantly in procession when la- dies lovelier than the morning were followed I about their corridors by these peeping Toms, who looked unutterable things, and occasionally said things which would have been much better un- uttered when pages, waiting-women, and sa- tanic valets all did their best to surpass their employers, and when, in short, the whole ma- chinery of modern aristocratic life in England was at last remorselessly unveiled. All that she insisted "upon was, that she was " never to hear of" Helen's being naughty ; and the young lady very sincerely promised ^that, if she could help it, she never should. And so Mrs. Mortlake, having washed her hands of the whole affair, gave herself no farther trouble whatever about the child. She had the great- est possible confidence, so she assured her own conscience, in Miss Smugg, who had been so highly recommended in the best quarters who was always so demure and unobtrusive, and whose behavior in church was enough to ed fy any body. Helen was scarcely reasonable yet. When Miss Smugg had. once broken her in, and she had fairly arrived at years of some discretion, then would be the time to resume her task, and trim and train this "warped slip of the wilderness" into the faultless model which it would be her pride and pleasure ultimately to present to society. In the meanwhile, one grand point upon which she insisted, was, that Helen should have no playfellows. It was extremely improbable that she would meet with any child brought up half so religiously as herself: and therefore, while she might possibly be contaminated, she could scarcely be improved, by chance acquaintances. She had her paragon governess for companion, a gloomy old garden to play in, and a shaggy old pony to ride upon, anfl there was nothing in the world to prevent her from being as happy as Mrs. Mortlake herself. Besides which, it was just as well that she should be kept in ignorance, as long as possible, of her own splendid pros- pects, a glimpse of which could only tend to un- settle her mind. And so the upshot was that Helen became the pet and companion of all the servants, who felt for her lonely estate, and, as they expressed it, ciid all they knew toward mak- ing her a good time. One morning in August brought round Hel- en's ninth birthday. If she had learned to look in her glass to any useful purpose, she might have discovered a wonderful little countenance, which gave promise of unusual beauty long be- fore nine more summers should have passed over her head. Nothing could be more perfect than the pure brown complexion and delicately mould- ed features, resolute though childish, and stamp- ed with character and originality. But Helen FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. never looked in a glass, nor cared for a reflect- ed fairy face, nor knew by sight her own lithe, graceful figure, nor mused over her pretty hands, unless when exceptionally dirty. And all this bright summer day she had been entirely her own mistress, as was only fit and proper ; and had scampered her pony, and wandered in the garden, and climbed the chestnuts, and fished in the pond : while Serena's lords and ladies had an equally busy time of it, for the " assembly " sounded early, and the demure novelist allotted the whole of her idle day to passing them all be- fore her in grand review. At last Helen's rambles were brought to a disagreeable termination. The little girl man- aged to tread on a sharp strong thorn of a bro- ken acacia bough, which not only pierced her shoe, but soon stained the white cotton sock with blood. It was not her way to make the least fuss about so commonplace a casualty. But as she happened to be close to the French window which opened from the admiral's private room upon the lawn, she hopped in there to try the result of the small amount of operative surgery at her command. The admiral was buried in his great arm-chair, devouring the Times, which Had just arrived from town, and took no notice of her entrance. So, seating herself upon the carpet, between the great oak writing-table and the window, she pulled off shoe and stocking, and, placing the dainty little white foot across her lap, began leisurely to dig for the thorn with a penknife, wishing heartily all the time that she had been operating upon Mrs. Mortlake in- stead of herself. So. busily was she engaged, that she never noticed the clang of the hall door bell, which announced the arrival of a visitor. Neither did the admiral. And yet there was a footstep at the door a footstep bringing something worth attention, both to Guardian and to Ward. INTERCALARY CHAPTER. BETWEEN two -successive Acts of a serious opera, we occasionally find, what is described in the bill as a ballet divertissement, interposed with the best effect. After the appalling dagger- work, the unfathomable despair, and the uproar- ious chorus in which the last scene culminated, it is charming to find ourselves at once amid the innocent gayety of a happy valley where all the world is dancing. We have really nothing to think about perhaps the less we think the better and simply enjoy the spectacle. And, when the ball-music dies away, and the curtain descends upon a sea of smiling eyes and whirl- ing muslin, we are ready to enter with renewed vigor upon the substantial business of the even- ing. Well then, let us here interpose the intercala- ry chapter already promised, with a specimen of Mrs. Mortlake's Tracts served au naturel from a large pile of these compositions upon the table before me. The fact is, she was in the habit of sending a copy of each, as it appeared, to a maiden aunt of mine, who as regularly passed it on, uncut, to Stone Buildings, Lincoln's Inn. Whether she thought that it was likely to do me more good than she could herself, poor soul, expect from its perusal, or merely got rid of it like a bad shil- ling which it seemed extravagant to chuck in the fire, I haven't the least idea. Anyhow, here they all are, and to allude to a delicacy in one's own possession without offering a slice or a glass, is a rudeness of which I am not capable. So I have taken "Abraham Brown, Mariner," from the top of the heap, and beg leave to send the dish in your direction to taste if you like, and by all means to reject, should you find it untempting. Perhaps it may give you a more favorable impression of their authoress than you have al- ready received. In that case, I beg you, in all sincerity, to judge of her by her writings rather than by mine. Not only have I no possible mo- tive for misrepresenting her, but now that I come to peruse her works myself for the first time, I begin to think that, in some respects at least, hers must have been a simple case of misdirect- ed energy, and that we may not have seen the best of her yet. PJVERWOOD TRACTS. NO. 41. SOME PASSAGES FROM THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM BROWN, MARINER, OR ALWAYS BE FIRM. H.M.S. Crocodile was a magnificent frigate of fifty guns, with a crew of five hundred and one men, including the Captain. Among so great a multitude, it would be idle to conceal the fact that there were many whose days were passed in the careless and unthinking merriment too common among sailors to whom the flowing bowl and the lively hornpipe offered attractions infinitely greater than those of study and serious meditation. There was one, however, amid that thought- less crew, whose conduct was a marked excep- tion to that of the generality of his messmates. And yet he was only a common sailor, and his name, Abraham Brown. From the very commencement of the voyage to which I now refer, it had been Brown's con- stant habit to devote a considerable portion of each day to the perusal of various works of a moral and elevating tendency. And, in order to pursue his studies with less prospect of inter- ruption, he usually ascended shortly after break- fast to the main-top-gallant-yard, upon which, with sailor-like ingenuity, he had constructed for himself a tolerably commodious seat or cra- dle, which in fact he rarely quitted, unless for the purpose of partaking of his regular meals. I need hardly remark that this unusual course of conduct on board a man-of-war drew upon Brown the ridicule and animadversion of his FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 57 less intellectual companions. But Brown was not a man to be diverted either by jeers or threats from the plain path of duty ; and his well-disciplined mind stood him in admirable stead upon these trying occasions, enabling him, in most cases, to refute the charges of his persecu- tors with so much force and propriety, as to drive them, confused and blushing, from his presence. It so happened that, as the ship approached the latitude of the Canary Islands, a remarkable change took place in the state of the weather. Instead of the serene and prosperous breezes which they had previously enjoyed, a succession of violent gales from the south-west caused the ship to labor considerably, and rendered Brown's seat upon the main-top-gallant-yard not only inconvenient, but unsafe. His hat was so frequently blown into the sea, that the Captain at last positively refused to lower a boat again for the purpose of picking it up. The rain wetted his book : the wind curled the pages, and more than once carried away an en- tire chapter at a time. At last, the yard itself was blown overboard, and Brown only saved by his remarkable dexterity in swimming. Consequent- ly he resolved, if possible, to select a more eligible spot for the pursuit of his studies in future. Adjoining the large cabin, in which Brown and some two hundred of his comrades were accus- tomed to repose, was a small but pleasant apart- ment known as the sail-room. This our hero determined to occupy, after the hour for retiring to rest. To apply his mind in the larger dormi- tory, amid the boisterous merriment and practi- cal pleasantries, which were too frequently pro- longed far into the night, was plainly impos- sible. The scheme succeeded perfectly. Appro- priating to himself one of the candles which were issued to the men for the purposes of their evening toilet, Brown arranged for himself a most comfortable and even luxurious snuggery among the sails ; and, balancing his candle upon a beam overhead, was enabled to read and meditate undisturbed, until warned by his own sensations, of the necessity for retiring to his hammock. This was an inexpressible privilege. I am sorry to say that no sooner did the Captain and First Lieutenant become aware of the plan which Brown had adopted to secure privacy, than they raised every objection in their power to its fulfillment. Not that they were in- sensible to the perfect propriety of his motives, but they were men of routine, incapable of ap- proving any course of conduct inconsistent with the customs of the service. " Brown !" the Captain would frequently ex- claim, " this will really never do. It is even worse than reading in bed. I beg that I may never again find you in the sail-room at these untimely hours, especially with a candle loose upon the beams. We shall all be on fire some night. I am persuaded that it will be so." " You should recollect, Brown," added the First Lieutenant, " that, by this reprehensible practice, you not only expose your own life to risk, but the lives of several hundred valuable men, as well as the safety of one of Her Majes- ty's ships. Is it possible that this consideration should have no weight with one who in point of sobriety and morality is a model to our whole party?" Brown was firm, but respectful. Study and self-improvement, he assured his officers, were, with him, paramount considerations. In no other part of the ship, and at no other time, could he expect to carry out these otjects with equal advantage to himself, and consideration for the prejudices of others. The suggested danger from fire was, he observed, purely imag- inary, since no one was habitually more care- ful with a candle than himself. " Brown, you.are provoking !" exclaimed the Captain. ' ' Mr. Barnacle, " addressing the First Lieutenant, " be so good as to see that the door of this room is in future locked at nine o'clock. Brown must be taught obedience at any cost. And Brown was left alone. Strange as it may seem, upon that very night, a sensation of unusual drowsiness overpowered him. He had had hard work upon deck dur- ing the day, and his book was rather hard to understand. Between the two he began to nod gently at first, and then rather more distinct- ly, until, at last, he forgot himself altogether, and a sudden dive among the sail-racks brought the candle tumbling down his back. With a frightful start, amid sparks and smoke, and a universal crackle, Abraham Brown awoke to a sense of his situation. Bounding from the sail-room, on fire*fore and aft, he escaped by the main hatchway ladder, making the ship ring with outcries, prompted, not by any selfish sense of personal discomfort, but by the desire of ap- prising his shipmates of a common danger. For one moment, all was confusion on board. There was a general rush upon deck. But then the clarion voice of the Captain rang through the darkness, and the discipline of a Queen's ship was vindicated at once, and effectually. "Hands, away!" shoutedrfhe chief officer. "Afterguard! 'man the flying-jib-boom ! Let go the weather-back-stay, and keep her head to the wind ! Up with the helm, Quartermaster ! Marines ! start cartridges into the quarter gal- lery, and throw all live shell down the main hold! Master-at-arms send the ship's band into the fore-chains, and let them play ' Jack's Alive' to encourage J;he men." Contrary to what might have been expected, these energetic measures were not in the first instance crowned with success. In a few mo- ments a torrent of flame issued from the hatch- way, and, flourishing upward amid the rigging, actually fired the ensign at the fore-truck. The light flashed far and wide over the sea. It lit up the foaming waters all around. . . . Spectre-like in that ocean-blaze, like a giant amid "the darkness, arose, immediately ahead, the towering Peak of Teneriffe. Another moment, and the Crocodile would have been crashing and grinding upon that mag- 58 FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS EEWAED. nificent mountain, her timbers splintered and ters back ; but there is all the difference in the scattered into ten thousand fragments. j world between a bull-dog as he appears in the " Down with the helm !" shouted the Captain. ! smooth pages of Bingley, and a live bull-dog "That blessed flare has saved us! But for over a bone. this most opportune conflagration, we should all Nothing could be more savagely picturesque have been, at this moment, swimming for our , than the rough old tar, clad in the invariable lives, amid the insatiable crowd of carnivorous < shooting-suit of iron-grey, with an immense blue fishes which infest this most unsatisfactory choker knotted loosely round his great sandy- archipelago. What in the world can our helmsman have been thinking of ! Was ever such culpable negligence known ? " ' It needeth not that blood b8 spilt, For folly to amount to guilt,' as the poet wisely sings. Ah, Brown ! how can we sufficiently thank you?" Torrents of water from exactly five hundred buckets were rapidly poured -down the fore- hatchway. Gradually the flames were master- whiskered throat. Eolling himself round, in his arm-chair clutching the paper with both hands scowling under a pair of enormous eye- brows, that twitched like mice at play, and snorting as he read with that peculiar nasal expletive " Hon !" so characteristic of a French- man in a passion, one would have fancied that the editor musj have devoted his entire impres- sion to some bitter personal libel, of which he, the reader, was the sole object. ed, and magnificent volumes of smoke, rolling | Not a bit of it. Admiral Mortlake read his heavily to leeward, left behind them nothing ; paper, as he did every thing else, under extrav- beyond a pungent and rather unpleasant smell. I agantly high pressure, and all these growls and " Brown, " exclaimed the Captain, warmly gesticulations simply signified assent or the con- shaking the hand of the common sailor, whom trary to what he was reading. You had only he had summoned for that pui-pose upon the j" to listen, to hear an approving "good!" snorted quarter-deck, "it is to your firmness and good i out exactly in the same tone as " fool rogue sense that the Crocodile is indebted for this most j dolt liar hammer-headed baboon ! " which ob- extraordinary escape. Adequately to reward j viously implied difference of opinion, your service is impossible. Fortunately the As for Helen, she was so perfectly accustom- clerkship of.the weather gangway is vacant and I ed to these irregular explosions that she con- at my disposal. The emoluments are considera- j sidered them just the natural result of reading ble, including the sole use of a commodiov>s cabin, telescope, thermometer, and well-selected library. From this moment it is your own. May you enjoy it long. Never was patronage better bestowed." The British navy is not ungrateful. It cher- ishes the fame of its thousand heroes. From that day to this, wherever the British ensign waves afloat and the strains of our National Anthem resound along the deep, the initials of our humble friend are preserved in every log. When our officers desire to confer the highest mark of approval upon a sailor whose agility, integrity, and general worth appear to entitle the newspaper ; and took no more notice of them than did the spaniel, who used to be shown in the lion's den at Wombwell's, of the roar of his royal companion. Upon this particular occasion, the admiral chanced to be deep in the details of a great na- val court-martial, and had the misfortune to differ from the majority of the court, as well as from certain views expressed in the paper before him. Consequently, upon him, as well as upon Helen, the door opened unexpectedly, and Mr. Salterton was announced. The rector of Riverwood, who, it will be recollected, was co-executor with the admiral him to distinction, they know no higher enco- [ of the will of the late Colonel Fleetlands, and, mium than that conveyed in these simple words : as it were, vice-guardian of little Helen, was a " Let him be rated as an A.B.' tall, dark, handsome man of fifty, reputed to be MORAL. [I have felt myself warranted in the only human being of whom Admiral removing a sententious and rather indigestible ! Mortlake stood in the slightest degree of awe. moral appended to the above history, before In truth Mr. Salterton was not quite an ordina- consigning it to the printer. It is with no feel- ing of disrespect, or doubts as to the original propriety of the appendage, that we pinch off shrimps' tails at breakfast.] CHAPTER I WISH it were possible, by dint of mere pen and ink, to give any sufficient idea of Admiral Mortlake engaging his Times. I have described the man himself, as he ap- peared to our friend Petersfeld, some few chap- ry character. Upright as a drill-sergeant, with a reserved and rather dry manner, in which people who saw him for the first time detected hauteur and probable cynicism, he was too self- contained to be universally popular. Perhaps he was a little too fastidious in his likes and dislikes. Perhaps he was overweeningly con- fident in those terse opinions with which he BO briefly disposed of every question which it be- came necessary to dispose of at all. Perhaps a rooted and uncompromising aversion to every thing which he was pleased to stigmatize as trifling or buffoonery made average people find him ascetic. But, be this as it may, there was no one of whom opinions changed more rapidly, when once, which was not difficult, those who FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. misliked him at first came really to understand the rector. Then they found a true and kind- ly heart, with infinitely more practical tolera- tion than they expected. Mr. Salterton was a widower. A dire calamity had overshadowed him in early life. He had lost his wife within a year of their mar- riage. An elder sister kept house for him at the Rectory. She was in delicate health, and rarely seen abroad ; and it was not until long after the period through which we are now trav- eling, that Helen .became more than vaguely aware of her existence. Neither will you hear of her again, until the last hours of my story are upon the point of striking its pageant van- ishing into empty air. Naturally, all the naughty folks in his parish were sorely afraid of him, while those of a better mind regarded him as a sort of oracle, a little to be feared, certainly, but not the less upon that account to be equally loved and re- spected. $frs. Mortlake, I am afraid, was an exception. Two oracles in the same district were perhaps not likely to agree. At any rate, Mr. Salterton found himself received with so little cordiality at the Lawn, that it was not oftener than once in a year or so, and then al- most as a point of ceremony, that he ever en- tered the gates. The admiral had no personal objection to his clergyman, indeed he rather liked him than otherwise. But that fatal cloud which had overshadowed his, conscience ever since he first seized upon Helen's money as lawful spoil, had made him shy and suspicious. He knew that Salterton himself would have died rather than divert one sixpence of her income to any pur- pose not expressly calculated in some way to romote her welfare. He expected that the jctor would interfere at last, and in many a moody reverie had mused over the sort of re- ception with which it would be prudent to en- counter the enemy, whenever he advanced to the attack. Something in the rector's manner told him that the hour^was come. " Why, Salterton, is that you ? Glad to see you, indeed. Take the arm-chair, my dear sir," exclaimed he, in his deep rolling- growl, shaking hands with the clergyman and waving him to a seat with old-fashioned empressement. "Famous weather this, for the crops. Seen the paper to-day ha ? Read the court-martial on John Bonny, master of the Atalanta, for running his ship into a French brig off the Liz- ard ? Ha, sir ! What d'ye think of the egre- gious land-lubber the son of a sea-cook, who wrote this precious letter; a fellow, sir, who positively signs himself 'AN OLD TAK.' I'd tar him, sir, and feather him too, till he looked as old as his grandmother. But, perhaps you haven't seen the paper." "I have not," replied Mr. Salterton with a smile, as he availed himself of tha offered arm- chair. " Perhaps it is as well I did not, or I might have been innocent enough to believe the story. By the way, can we have ten minutes' private conversation? I took my chance of finding you disengaged, but if it is otherwise, I will drop in some other day." ' ' Not at all, my dear sir. I am at your serv- ice as long as you please. We are alone, and not likely to be disturbed ha 1" Poor Helen literally quivered all over with excitement. The little blood-bedabbled sock could not be drawn on in a moment, and even, had that been possible, the shoe was mislaid on a chair. To hop out of the window, with the certainty of being instantly called back in her dismal pickle, was not to be thought of. So she scuttled under the table like a lame rabbit, hoping to goodness-gracious, that nobody would think it necessary to search the room before this awful conversation began. " Admiral," said the rector, after a moment's pause, " I want to have a few words with you about your*ward, Miss Fleetlands. I should be the last person, as you may suppose, to intrude officiously anywhere. But as I stand in a pe- culiar position with regard to the little girl, and, next to yourself, am the person most responsi- ble for her, you will pardon me if I speak plain- ly, and without reserve.'' "That's what I do myself," replied the ad- miral with a slight snort; "and what's more, stow all palaver before I begin. If you are anxious to take any responsibility off my shoul- ders, why, sir, you are heartily welcome. Hith= erto, I have been under the impression, right of wrong, that I was accountable to the High Court of Chancery, and to that court alone, as regard- ed all matters connected with the care and cus- tody of my ward. That, sir, subject to correc- tion, was my belief," concluded the master of Riverwood, working his shoulders and twitching his brows, preparatory to going into argument upon the question. " You are quite right," replied.Mr. Salterton, quietly playing with his riding-whip. ' ' Your dis- cretion can be controlled only by the Court of Chancery, which of course would not interfere unless in an extreme case." " I presume not, sir. And now, ifyou would favorme with a little of that plain-speaking which you were so good as to promise me a moment ago, I shall probably have the honor of under- standing your meaning. Sir, you have my full- est attention." " Plainly, then," resumed the rector, in a dry, decided tone, "it seems to me speaking mere- ly as a spectator that you are in some danger of inviting the interference of this Court of Chancery. Is it right, admiral,. that at her age, Miss Fleetlands should be allowed to run wild about the place, with no more suitable compan- ions than your groom and gardener ? Of Miss Smugg, who is, I believe, supposed to have charge of her, I wish to say nothing. Whatever her qualifications may be, they have jjeen most unfortunately applied in this case. I know, from my own conversations with the child, that her education, both religious and otherwise, haa 60 FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. been strangely neglected. Positively, I am ashamed of her as a parishioner. There is not a child of six years old in my school, yonder, who is not far better acquainted with her Bible, and at least equally well read in history. And all this with a girl who, in the course of a few short years, will probably be the richest heiress in the county ! All this with a girl whose father left the munificent sum of five hundred pounds a year from her very babyhood for what pur- pose, in the name of common sense ? Surely that she might receive the very best education which money could purchase that she should have every proper luxury, every elegance and advantage which wealth could bestow carriage exercise, for exam pie ; change of scene, real sea- side pleasures, and most of all, companions and playfellows of her own age and position. I think, admiral, that might be about the view the Court would take, were its attention drawn to the matter." " My goodness gracious me !" gasped Helen, trying desperately to screw herself up into nothingat all, "only think of my being somebody else all this time, and not knowing it ! Oh, this is better than any thing Serena ever invented, and it's true besides. My stars, don't I wish the carriage full of playfellows would drive up! Richest heiress in the county! Why, I shall marry a king's son or somebody. Go on, Mr. Clergyman go on !" " Now," pursued the* rector, " I have deliver- ed my mind. Not prematurely, at all events, for I have waited long after my conscience bade me interpose, in the hope that such a step would become unnecessary. But Helen is just now at the most critical point of life, and I dared not liesitate longer. Thereisonly one other point," concluded the rector, " to which I will advert while upon the subject. No one, in his senses, will suppose th-at you would attempt to divert money especially devoted in trust for a partic- ular purpose, to any other use. But let me re- mind you that to attempt to lay by any portion of your ward's income for her future benefit, is perfectly idle. With her magnificent prospects, any possible present saving would count for nothing at all ; while, just now, every sixpence might be laid out to her great advantage, both immediate and prospective. I know you too well, admiral, to doubt your perfect honor as re- gards motive. If we differ upon a point of expe- diency, I am sorry." " Sir," retorted the admiral, who had risen restlessly from his chair, and, with his fists buried two feet deep in his trouser pockets, appeared to be inscribing hieroglyphics with his chin upon some invisible pyramid, "Sir, I am obliged to you. Say no more, sir ; say no more, ha !" " Oh, mercy !" thought Helen, who, crouch- ed in her snug recess, had been devouring every word. "This is much too dreadful. J never heard him in such a rage in all my born days. They'll fight a battle assure as I'm alive." " Fortunately, I have no more to say," replied Mr. Salterton. " I have spoken my mind, and, I believe, discharged my duty, certainly without the remotest intention of giving offense." "I am willing to take your word 'for it, sir. But let me tell .you that I will be answerable to the Lord Chancellor, and to the Lord Chancel- lor alone, as regards all that may concern my ward. I do not meddle, sir, in other people's affairs, myself. I do not catechise their children in private; neither do I presume to pass an opinion upon their expenditure or mode of liv- ing. I do not insinuate, either directly or indi- rectly, that they may be making a purse out of moneys entrusted to their care ; and, by Heaven, I think that mine's the best way, sir, ha?" " All right ! " returned the rector good-humor- edly. " Don't trouble yourself to be civil now. Next time you pass the Rectory, look in and tell us there are no bones.broke. Good-day, admi- ral." I am afraid that the gruff " good-day" of the latter was supplemented so soon as his visitor was fairly out of hearing, by a thundering roll of maledictions, in which parson, ward, and five hundred a year, were severally consigned sine die to Jericho, and several stations beyond. As for poor little Helen, the whole transaction had risen into a hideous tangle of utter bewilderment and terror. Why she was included in the anathema, and what babe-in-the-wood end might be in store for her, were puzzles too terrible to attempt. "Thank goodness, he's firing off his pipe!" was her first consolation. "Now he'll go out and smoke upon the terrace. .That's all right ; for I'm tired of being scrunched up here. It's as bad as being in church only I've heard some- thing worth hearing. Don't I wish Gi had been with me, under the table. Gi would have un- derstood it all in no time. I must talk it all over with Gi." "Gi,"you must know, was the pet name of an elderly young man, who had been groom at Riverwood for something under forty years, and for whom Helen indulged a profound affection. That he could play sphynx upon occasion, seems likely. The young lady was, however, right in her conjecture. Her guardian, after deliberately lighting his meerschaum, strolled forth upon the terrace, leaving Helen free to shoe herself, and escape undetected. But what the savage old smoker thought of himself, as he paced moodily backward and forward under the statues, is more than I can tell. I suppose he felt as many of us have felt who have been told unwelcome truths, in our time, and made strange fools of ourselves, by way of acknowledgment. I dare say he wondered whether Salterton was really in earnest, and what was after all the law of the matter. That such a comparative trifle as five hundred a year should stand between himself and virtual ruin, was the bitterest part of the business. Yet so it was : while if Helen's ac- counts were to be overhauled, and he made answerable for the excess of the last seven years' receipts over his expenditure upon her account during the same time, there would be nothing FIVE HUNDEED POUNDS KEWAKD. fit for it but to pat the shutters up, and go and live on the Continent. Whatever course of procedure with reference to his ward might otherwise have been adopted by the admiral, an immediate change, in the way of education, was rendered necessary by the sud- den disappearance of Miss Smugg. That gifted and unfortunate damsel, among other treasures of periodical literature, had un- luckily lighted nipon one of those detestable publi- cations which professto afford" a medium of inter- communication" between young ladies and gen- tlemen capable of committing matrjmony in cool blood. "Gustavus Alonzo, dark and aristocrat- ic-looking," so ran the precious announcement which onp day attracted her attention " eldest son of a country baronet, and heir to a landed estate of many thousands a year, was in search of a handsome, lively partner, fond of music and dancing, and not over twenty-three.'' Peculiar domestic difficulties combined with constitutional diffidence, prevented him from making his wishes known among the brilliant circles of his own acquaintance, and drove him with reluctance to advertise in a penny paper. He would gladly exchange cartes-de-visite with any young lady who would so far lay aside the conventionalities of rank and fashion as to condescend to answer through the same channel, with a view of adorn- ing what he rather mystically alluded to as his future coronet, and gilding with her constant smile an existence of lonely and luxurious ennui. Serena jumped at the news. The good time, for which she had so long been pining, was come at last ; supposing it possible that such a chance should not have been accepted and closed with before the paper which contained it was fairly dry from the press. So her answer .was written at once on bright pink note, in a lovely lady-like hand, enclosing a photograph of her- self in a low evening dress, reclining in a bower of roses, with a crook and a guitar, and some sheep picking at her petticoats. And, fearing, I suppose, lest her Smugg patronymic should be considered homely among the family of her futuro lord, she quietly evaded comment by subscrib- ing herself "yours most fervently, Serenissima Southamptontowers." In her case at least, the course of true love ap- peared likely to run as smoothly as could be wish- ed. The return post brought an answer from Gustavus Alonzo, expressing the respectful hope that Miss Southamptontowers could make it convenient to be in Rotten Bow at six p.m. on the following Friday, when that young gentleman would appear, .mounted on a thoroughbred chest- nut, and followed by a groom in blue livery with |E cockade in b^s hat. Would Miss Southampton- towers kindly carry a scarlet geranium ; at the sight of which Gustavus Alonzo would immedi- ately dismount, and indulge himself with an in- terview which he fondly trusted was to be the turning-point of his existence? Alas for poor Serena. She made some fright- fully fabulous excuse for n visit to London, and flourished her geranium unsuccessfully before a great many gentlemen. At last a rakish-looking youth sidled up ; and pointing out his father the baronet, an innocent old stock-broker, who was cantering toward Apsley House, announced him- self as the Gustavus Alonzo of the advertisement. His horse had unluckily fallen lame, not five minutes before, and had to be led home by his gro.om, which accounted for his appearance au pied. Would Miss Southamptontowers conde- scend to excuse an accident, and avail herself of apartments at his disposal in Carnaby Street a sort of family appanage, in charge of an old housekeeper, a pensioner of twenty years' stand- ing. She would do her best to make Miss Southamptontowers comfortable after the fatigue of her journey, until her future mother-in-law could be prepared to receive her in the morning. By what extraordinary fatuity Serena fell into this open vulgar trap, it would seem at first sight impossible to conjecture. Yet, would to Heaven that it were extraordinary after all ! Such things happened yesterday they are hap- pening even while I write these words, and they will happen to-morrow and to-morrow so long as the world endures. It is a mystery, and a dreadful one. Enough that from that day to this from thenceforth, from henceforth, and forever, poor Serena's name never was or will be heard of on earth again. Her disappearance was not perhaps absolutely unwelcome to Admiral Mortlake. It gave him the opportunity of making an entire change in Helen's course of education, without the appear- ance of having been bullied by his rector. .It was quite clear that the best thing he could do with her was to send her to school ; a conclusion in which his wife cordially agreed. So in the course of a few weeks Helen found herself trans- ferred to the intensely select and fashionable establishment of the Misses Magnolia, of Luxor Court, Palmyra Stairs, Brighton, where for the modest consideration of some two hundred guineas per annum, she was guaranteed notonly the usual education of a young lady, but that last unutterable polish, which, unlike certain oth- er Christian graces, is only to be had for money. It had seemed better, all things considered, to do the business handsomely, so as not to leave the slightest loop-hole for farther cavil. CHAPTER XIX. SEVEN years is a long time a large slice out of one's existence. Physiologists, I believe, tell us that in seven years we change altogether, body and bones ; 'and that the suit of mortality which we wore at the beginning of the era, is, before its conclusion, replaced by one entirely different. If this be the case, I can only say that I suspect I have either been overlooked al- together, or repaired with second-hand material, and would give a trifle to have my old suit re- turned ia any thing like the condition I once knew it. FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. Seven years is a long time. So long in fact, that when in the regular course of a narrative it becomes necessary to dispose of it in a sentence, there is always a certain feeling of responsibili- ty and compunction. Nevertheless, seven years and upward have passed away since the date of my last chapter, and the day arrived on which Helen was to take leave of the Misses Magno- lia and their fashionable academy forever. Vividly as, at this moment, I seem to see her before me in all the elastic health and beauty of seventeen, I am perfectly conscious of my in- ability to transfer to print what I most wish to be understood, or to place before another im- agination exactly tne image which is present to my own. I had some thoughts of prefixing a photograph to this volume. But that, I am told, would look lazy and eccentric, and were better avoided. So, to the clearest imaginable olive complex- ion, with just a fair tinge of color, you may add a straight, pretty nose, and the firmest yet most delicate little mouth and chin which your recollection is able to supply. Dark and glossy and luxuriant was Helen's hair, parted smooth- ly over her bright brow, and harmonizing with eyes that looked almost melancholy while at rest, and flashed so instantly and wonderfully whenever there was an excuse for flashing at all. A buoyant graceful figure, rather full, I suppose, than the reverse, and charming hands must complete my portrait. I am not sketch- ing, or intending to sketch, a beauty, though in my opinion Helen had a perfect right to the title, but something far better a form to which one's soul goes rushing forth, because though it may be only clay after all, it is not merely a painted vase. There is light within the porce- lain real living light. Happy the man to whom God has given such a lamp. In the dark and desolate places of this wilderness it is the gift beyond all price. Seven years had also passed over the admiral, since the day that he growled so famously at his rector for interfering about little Helen. Nor had those years been quite unprofitable. The old fellow had grown decidedly less morose and more sociably disposed. Some of us mellow some harden with time ; and if Admiral Mort- lakc's life could only have been prolonged for another half century, he might have grown into an affable and benignant elderly gentleman with a smile and a present for every visitor. Perhaps this favorable change was partly owing to a good round legacy, which dropped in when least expected, and placed him, all at once, in comparative ease in his possessions. But at any rate, it was so marked as to be a subject of rejoicing to Helen when she at last returned to take up her residence at Riverwood for good. And how are we to suppose that Admiral Mortlake felt toward the frank, handsome girl, who stood before him, no' longer a little toy to be teased or petted according to his humor but erect in crinoline, ready to ride his horses, grace his dinner-table, and flirt with his guests whenever he gave her the chance ? I will tell you my own belief upon the subject, which you may take for what it is worth. Only since it | has fallen upon me to write the story, you may perhaps as well believe that I am not very far wrong, and accept it as part of the narrative. I suspect that Admiral Mortlake's feeling with regard to his ward was essentially selfish. I mean, that although he had been amused with her as a child, and glad when her school-holi- days came round, he liked her for his own sake, rather than hers. It was pleasant to see her sunny face in the garden, and to hear her voice upon the stairs. She was the life and ornament of that dull old house, and he was well aware of the fact. Still, he never cpnsider-ed her as his own ; he never, thought of her as we think of those fledglings, who, if they are not to live with us forever, are never, as we hope,, to forget the old birds and the parent nest. Helen would marry, of course, in due time, and so pass away. He would be sorry to lose her, and upon that account alone would, as long as possible, postpone the evil day. But as to any farther regard for her, I don't think it was in his nature. She was his to-day, and would be another's to- morrow and there the connection would end, so far as he was concerned. There was, however, one other consideration involved in the contingency of Helen's marriage, which had so deep an influence over his mind, that I must refer to it in this place as the key, in some measure at least, to the remainder of my story. It was briefly this. So long as Helen con- tinued in his guardianship, and remained un- married, he received, as we are aware, under her father's will, five hundred a year for her maintenance and education. Now it was a simple matter of arithmetic that, during the seventeen years of her life he had received, at the very lowest estimate, upward of .foOOO sterling in excess of what she could by any pos- sibility be supposed to have cost him in money out of pocket. To be called over the coals to ' the tune of such a balance, was a hideous pros- ; pect, and to be by all means averted, if that might be. Supposing that she remained single up to twenty-one, there would probably be but little difficulty about the matter. She would then be competent to give, and in the ordinary course of events would give, what is technically term- I ed a release in full. In other words, she would sign and place her forefinger upon the wafer of j a parchment deed, the concluding paragraph of which would perhaps run as follows : "And whereas for the satisfaction of the said Hercules Mortlake and in consideration of the premises she the said Helen Fleetlands hath ' agreed to execute to him the said Hercules Mortlake such a release as is hereinafter con- tained Now THIS INDENTURE WITNESSETH that in pursuance of the said agreement and in con- sideration of the premises She the said Helen FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 63 Fleetlands hath remised released and forever quit-claimed and by these presents doth remise release and forever quit-claim the said Hercules Mortlake his heirs executors and administrators from all and all manner of action and actions causes of action suits controversies differences debts accounts reckonings sum and sums of mon- ey and all other claims and demands whatso- ever both at law and in equity for or by reason or on account of the said annual sum of 500 so raceived by him the said Hercules Mortlake as aforesaid or any part thereof or for or by reason or on account of the payment application or ap- propriation thereof or of any part thereof by him the said Hercules Mortlake or for or by reason or on account of any other act deed matter or thing by him done committed or permitted in anywise relating to the premises." This succinct little document, assuming it to be freely given, and after a fair explanation of the state of the case, would operate to silence all possible demands, square all accounts, .and spare her guardian all farther trouble in the matter. But, in the event of her marrying under twenty-one, this smooth and easy course would unfortunately be inappropriate. Until that mystical birthday, we are all infants in the eye of the law undiscerning babes, unfit to " reck- on," or to cast up the mildest sum in compound addition by which our interests may be prejudi- cially affected. I have, it is true, known one or two infant senior wranglers in my time ; but they would have been good-naturedly repressed in the Court of Chancery, had they come there armed with the pence-table, or trusting in the rule of three. Consequently, in the case just supposed, Helen's accounts would be liable to be overhaul- ed under the direction of the Court itself; while her intended, if of a greedy turn, and given to seeking his own, would be in a position to ask questions which might easily become vexatious. I am not asserting that the admiral, under the circumstances, could actually have been called upon to refund. I volunteer no opinion what- ever. He never consulted me ; and perhaps felt a difficulty in taking direct legal advice upon so delicate a topic. It was enough to know that the money was most certainly never intended as a mere present to himself, to be tor- mented with fears of reprisal. It is not, therefore, much to be wondered at that he had long since resolved to take one short cut toward stopping all nonsense of the above description. Under her father's will he was empowered to withhold consent to his ward's marriage up to twenty-three. Upon marriage without such consent, her whole property became virtually confiscated. This power he was determined to exercise, and made no secret of the matter. He even, I am sorry to say, gave out that he had the best reasons for believing that Colonel Fleetlands's last and most anxious wish had been, that his daughter should not marry before twenty-three at earliest, and that he should hold himself ; bound to respect this desire, so far as his own conduct in the trust was concerned. Of course | this was simply a falsehood, and even if true as an assertion, would have carried with it no legal weight whatever ; but it gave convenient van- tage-ground in the event of his being scouted as an obstinate, impracticable donkey, when he stood upon the letter of his rights. I don't say that Colonel Fleetlands was wrong in the disposition which he made. Naturally, in the circumstances under which he died, he was anxious to protect his daughter from being run away with, while yet a girl, by any rascal who only coveted her money. A controlling power in this respect must have been vested in somebody, and every controlling power is, in its nature, susceptible of abuse. In all cases of this kind, we must select the most reliable peo- ple we know, and after* that, "quis custodiet custodem f" is a question more easily asked than answered. To return to' our story. With Helen once iigain established at Riverwood, the admiral's first desire was to disabuse the neighborhood of the impression that his own conduct toward her bore the slightest trace of mercenary or unwor- thy motives in fact, to convince them magnifi- cently of their mistake. Helen was now, as he perceived, too old to be kept in a corner, being indeed the ooject of curiosity and speculation to halfthe county Appearances must be kept up at all costs even of that priceless convenience, ready money. Helen's grand passion was riding. The horse to her mind outweighed all that creation ever did in the way of hair, scale, fur or feathSr. She had been allowed riding lessons at Bright- on, as part of the Misses Magnolia's gorgeous curriculum, and of course now hoped for a steed of her own. To her intense delight and astonishment, her guardian one day presented her with as lovely a blood-mare as could be bought for money so the -dealer had told him, and so I hope he be- lieved and placed Gigoggin the groom at her disposal, to follow her whither she listed. This was life itself to Helen. To regale her pet with toast and lump sugar after breakfast, to gallop her unmercifully all day, and dream about her religiously at night, made a division of time which was perfectly enchanting. She began to wonder that she had ever reviled Riverwood to her school-fellows as a dismally owlish, mopy old place, and wished she could show them Camilla. Gigoggin, alias Gi, the fortunate youth who was commissioned as Miss Helen's aide- de-camp and knight-companion in her equestri- an expeditions, was a small, brown, taciturn man, who had probably been young in his time, and was still rejoicing in that perennial bloom which, in former days, we used so often to no- tice among post-boys. He was quite devoted to his young mistress, having, in fact, as we are al- ready aware, been Helen's earliest friend on the premises, and admired her riding as an accom- FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. plishment of his own creation. He would have given his ears any day to see her follow the hounds a performance which, being strictly prohibited, she looked forward to, as the very climax of human enjoyment. And his caution- ary " 'Ware hounds, Miss Helen!" when Camil- la pricked her ears to the distant music, and the girl, who seemed to be pulling so desperate- ly, was away like the wind, before he could even kick Happy-go-lucky into a canter came from the depths of a sorrowful and sympathizing heart. By dint of continued badgering, you may make most people admit that you are in the right, or at all events consent to your wishes, which is still more satisfactory. And so it came to pass that the admiral at length gave way in his objection to Helen's taking her gal- lop in the hunting-field, the more so as the discussion had suggested an idea to his mind, for which he gave himself infinite credit. It occurred to him that an opportunity now presented itself, by which without the smallest sacrifice of his own self-complacency he might at once put himself upon a more cordial footing with people whom he had been foolish enough to estrange. It would, moreover, display his liberality and kindness to Helen, in a pictur- esque and valuable light, and lastly, "would be the correct thing to do by her, if he intended to allow her to hunt at all. He determined that the very next day the hounds met in his neigh- borhood, he would invite the Master to break- fast at the Lawn, and to bring his field with him. It was a capital notion, and seemed better afid better the more it was reflected upon. The Windmill Turnpike, on the London Road, was m due course announced as next Thursday's meet, and in answer to the admiral's invitation, Sir Philip Chevy replied, that he would with pleasure do himself the honor of bringing his hounds to the Lawn at ten upon that day, and draw the Riverwood spinney into the bargain. Whatever the admiral undertook, was sure to be executed in good earnest, and the very idea of this jolly dejeuner a la chasse, made him ten years younger at once. The "Master's eye," as we all know, is proverbially efficacious, and although to employ a slang caution I would advise him to mind it, when engaged in kitchen investigations, it certainly did its duty in the present instance. Nothing was too minute, nothing too palpably beyond its province to be secure from incessant supervision. One moment beheld its owner rearranging the gar- niture of a ham ; the next assuring himself that a due proportion of port wine and oysters were combined in the principal pie. And all this while cross-catechising his footman like a thief, as to the disposable amount of plate, and how it would make out breakfast covers for thirty ; and writing to Fortnum & Mason for terrines, caviare and canvas backs, and to Liquor-pond Street for a kilderkin of such malt as should rejoice the cockles of the huntsman, and such of the farmers and yeomen, as could not be provided for in the dining-room. In short", if he had been planning some grand naval "affair," in which details, they say, are half the battle, he couldn't have been expected to do his duty more conscientiously than while plotting this mem- orable breakfast. I am glad that I am not a fox. I should hate being cheyied, more than tongue can tell. But if I had been born to such experience, and had happened to be the denizen of the River- wood spinney when that Thursday came round, I must say I should have reckoned upon an easy bargain. I wouldn't be too hard upon any body. But I know an ugly ditch or so, and a few nasty stiles, and a quiet bit of wire in the neighborhood, and I should like to have taken my friends round that way. I think that with the assistance of that kilderkin of XXX, let alone the cider cup upon the high hall-table, I could have emptied a saddle or two, and post- poned indefinitely that spasmodic moment which survivors so complacently refer to as "the finish." If you ask' me what Mrs. Mortlake thought of the approaching saturnalia, I am obliged to confess that the subject is altogether beyond me. I suspect that she considered fox-hunting as too shameless a branch of scarlet wickedness to need a verse to itself in the commination service. I dare say that she had delivered her mind to the admiral upon the matter of allow- ing Helen to take such a palpably short cut to perdition, and I can fancy the grunt she got in reply. I can also fancy the sour odor of sancti- ty under cover of which she washed her hands of a bad business, and with the rather promis- cuous consolation that evil was probably per- mitted for some useful purpose, allowed the backsliders to slide, and Helen to go to the dogs. The important morning arrived at last. Nothing could look more successful than the dining-room at Riverwood, arrayed for a hunt- ing-breakfast. It was a large square room, wainscoted in solid oak, with a handsome pan- eled ^ceiling, and hung with time-honored por- traits of the dons and heroes of the house of Mortlake. The hearth was ample and old- fashioned, and, with its ponderous log of dry timber, made hospitable music of roar and crackle, lighting up the room with a pleasant glow, and touching the glass, and silver, and holly, upon the breakfast-tables, with good-na- tured glancing light. The admiral was more than satisfied. " Ha hum !" he growled, as, with his hands in his pockets, and Helen at his side, he stood surveying the preparations, an hour before breakfast-time. " This looks about the right thing, Helen. I don't see how it could have been made much better hey ? I wonder how many of these fellows will come. We could manage with forty; and I'll be bound that forty wouldn't get to the bottom of that pie. I wonder if we shall find any body man enough FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 65 to drink sack of a morning. ' That sack, Helen, in those black bottles over yonder, was in Riverwood cellars before I was born and that's a year or two ago hum ! What says old Sir John Falstaff ha ? ' If I had a thousand sons, the first human principle I would teach them should be to forswear thin potations, and addict thenir selves to sack.' Hey ! There were men in those days, who knew what breakfast ought to be. No slops and decoctions for them, I'll be bound only fit for o-ld women under physic. Now, look, Helen. You'll sit here, at this table, and pour out coffee. Keep your eye open, and tell me if you see any thing wanting. Call out at once never mind who hears. There'll be coffee at the sideboard for the peo- ple over yonder. Is that vase your filling? Ha ! you've made a pretty thing of the holly. Now, I suppose you want to go and sugar your horse. Good for his coat, eh ? Well, away with you, and send your groom round if you see him. It'll be all plain sailing enough to-day, I'll be bound ; but I may as well give him his course. And take care you're back in the hall by ten exactly before any body comes. Do you hear ? Mind that !" With this imperative duty twice impressed upon her mind, Helen took her way toward the stables. It was a soft, mild, January morning, with a grey mottled sky, and a delicious air. Outside, as well as within the house, were something more than promises of good cheer. The trebly X'd kilderkin stood trestled upon the terrace, garlanded with holly, and surround- ed by tables flashing with bran-new pewters. These, with the mighty loaves of home-made bread, the mill-stone cheeses, the round and the sirloin, the sheaves of tobacco-pipes, and many other good things, were for the benefit of the huntsman and whips, as well as of chance comers, if any, who might be afflicted with Sancho Panza's dislike to feasting in company. It was to be a great day, and nothing could be more promising than its dawn. Through these preparations Helen passed, wishing, perhaps, that she had learned to drink beer, which seemed so essential a part of a day's enjoyment. She was amused by all she saw. She looked forward to the breakfast as great fun, and to the draw and gallop aft- erward, as untold pleasure. And yet there was something beyond this in her mind ; some- thing that seemed to wander amid those mys- terious recesses in which spontaneous thoughts arise and often make themselves distinctly felt, long before they can be grasped and moulded by the mechanism of the brain. What it was, she could not have told us, neither can I. But I do not, and will not, believe that the great events of our lives come down upon us without warning. We know not how the tidings are carried, but I am certain there is a whisper al- ways. Drowned and disregarded at the mo- ment neglected and forgotten afterward, it may be ; but depend upon this, that you never went forth from your house upon the morning E when some crowning chance, whether of good or ill was to befall you, without that prophetic whisper. Is this what you call being superstitious ? What do you mean by the term ? I confess to being " stitious," if that will do ; but I object to being saddled with a superlative. CHAPTER XX. RATHER to Helen's surprise certainly to her great delight the very first person whom she encountered upon her way to the stables, was Mr. Salterton. If he had, as may be recollected, withstood the admiral in former days, upon the question of her own education, all difference npon that score had long since blown over, and he had been specially invited to look in and say grace on that particular morning. " So you expected me, I see," said he, play- fully laying hold of Helen's little sugar-laden fist. "How good of you to bring me such a treat ! such beautiful large lumps too !" "Oh, yes, they are all for you, Mr. Salter- ton," returned Helen, laughing, " all except one, which you won't be so greedy as not to leave for Camilla. I am on my way to pay her my regular morning visit. Come and see her. There ! do you hear that neigh ? Yes, we are coming, Camilla, coming, coining ! She know.s my step perfectly. Look, there's her pretty little nose peeping through the bars of the loose box. Oh, there you are, Gigoggin. Open the door, please, and take off her cloth. Now, isn't she a beauty, Mr. Salterton ? No, darling, I have not forgotten your sugar. Here it is ! Now arch your neck, and show yowr handsome crest. Feel it, Mr. Salterton ; it is as firm as a racer's, and her coat is as soft as satin. And her color. I do love that rich dark brown. The star on her forehead, and that white hind foot, help to show it off. Did you ever see any thing so soft and gentle as her eye, yet with a wild glance in it, too, like a deer's ? You |hould see it when she is excited by a good gallop. Ah ! you may look at her legs and dainty little feet, as much as you please. She has been too well cared for, to show any signs of work there. Are you thinking her rather tall for a lady's horse ? Oh, no only fifteen three, and she measures high. Some people don't like so much fall behind the withers, but I think it charming it helps to keep the saddle back, and you can guess what easy paces she has, with that good sloping shoulder. She is thorough- bred : you will find her name and lineage in the stud-book ; but she was too wise to run well as a racer, and so she came to me to be my dar- ling, and to obey my voice and hand as she will those of nobody else. "There that's all!" concluded Helen, as Camilla disposed of the last lump, and eagerly pushed her nose into the bosom of her mistress's riding-habit, having, apparently, some theory of 6G FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. her own upon the subject of pockets. " No more, my pet : no more ! What an affection- ate creature a horse is, Mr. Salterton. I don't know any animal Jhat shows its love for one in so expressive a way. Just look at her eye, now." "To judge from what I have just seen," re- plied the rector, ' ' your mare has very good rea- sons for being affectionate. If I got so much petting and coaxing myself, you've no idea how nice I should look in return. Don't laugh, but try me." " Ah, that reminds me of one of Leech's sketches that I was looking at last night. A lady is leading an immensely fat pampered spaniel by a ribbon. A coster monger passing by, observes to his companion, ' Now, I 9aie saf, Bill, that 'ere beast of a dawg is a good deal more petted than ytu or I should be !' lr "Thank you! That, is a compliment and no mistake. I remember i.t, however. It Is one of Leech's many bits of genuine humor. Can you tell me what it is exactly in the costeremon- ger's remark that makes one smile ? I will give you another instance from the same pencil. It is headed 'Disagreeable Truth.' A sentry, on duty at Buckingham Palace, says to a couple of little street urchins, ' Now then, you must move away from here.' 'Ah, but you mustn't, old fellow!' reply the young scamps. Now these designs are both admirable. Both are in the highest degree diverting ; but analyze them, and you will find that they are so for perfectly distinct reasons. The coster-monger need not have been far wrong in his premises, although lamentably unlueky in the conclusion which produced his remark. The little boy simply em- ployed a false antithesis which resulted in a lucky jingle, embodying an unexpected home thrust. You may get no bad lesson in logic out of the pages of Leech." They had turned away from the stables and were strolling along the broad walk at the back of the house. Mr. Salterton had seen Helen frequently since her return, but something in her brighLfresh look of youth and loveliness struck him particularly that morning. Perhaps the riding-habit set off her beautiful figure to more advantage than usual. Perhaps the excitement of the coming breakfast, and of the glorious gal- lop which was to follow her first day of riding to hounds, lit up her countenance with more than ordinary animation. He was not a man given to compliments, but he could not for the life of him help saying, "Do you know, Helen, I can't take my eyes off you, this morning. I think I never saw you looking so well and charm- ing. I hope you are as happy as you look." "Indeed, I am, Mr. Salterton. I have no reason to be otherwise. Do you know I was dreadfully sorry, at first, to leave Brighton for good. I cried right out when it came to the kiss- ing at last. I thought I should be so frightfully lonely here; and there were many girls that I cared about a great deal. I knew the admiral would never ask them here, you see, and that made it worse. But he has been very kind to me ever since I came back, and, now that I've got Camilla, I don't feel in the least forlorn. I hope you don't think it's wrong to hunt, Mr. Salterton ?" "Not in the least, my dear, or I shouldn't have been at Riverwood this morning. I should be heartily sorry to see hunting abolished in this country. Of course many people hunt who have no business to do so but that is all beside the question. To take my own case for example. I should be just as much out of my place in fol- lowing Sir Philip as he would be in mounting my pulpit. If the admiral has no objection to your hunting, do so by all means. He seems anxious to give you every indulgence, and I sin- cerely hope that you may continue happy in- his house. You ought to be a great blessing to him ; and I believe he is aware of it. He has a rough manner, and you don't expect much petting I suppose. But if you only choose to go to work with him the right way, which you'll dis- cover much more easily than I should, I'll an- swer for your making him a great deal fonder of you than even Camilla rather a triumph I should say in the way of domestication." "Mr. Salterton," said Helen, after a moment's silence, ' ' would you mind my asking you a question? There is something on my mind about the admiral which I can not shake off. You will not be displeased at any thing I may tell you will you ?" "My dear child," replied the rector, noticing her doubtful and puzzled look, " ask any ques- tion you like ; and tell me any thing in the world. Nothing would delight me more than to have your confidence. Talk to me just as if you were talking to j'ourself that's to say if you think I'm discreet enough to be trusted." " Well then," continued Helen, speaking very slowly, "a long time ago quite seven years it must be, Mr. Salterton, do you recollect having a conversation with the admiral about me in his study yonder?" "Perfectly. Stay, let me think what it was all about. Yes; I believe I remember every thing that passed. But, surely, the admiral never mentioned to you what I then said, Helen. How do you know we talked about you .*"' " I was under the table all the time." ' ' The deuce you were !" was the commentary which I am afraid rose to the rector's lips. Luckily it was suppressed before publication, and he simply said " What a good little girl !" " It was an accident, Mr. Salterton. I had hurt my foot, and lost my shoe. But I heard every thing." "Well, you had better remind me of what was said." "I think it came to this. I was to have a great deal of money some day ; and in the mean time all the allowance my poor papa left me vyas paid !b the admiral. I understood that and i that, instead of doing what you thought he ought ! with the money, he was spending every thing he FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 67 could upon himself. You told him he had no right to do so, and made him frightfully angry. Now, from that day to this, Mr. Salterton, I have never felt toward him exactly as I did before. I have never been able to feel quite cordial. And, now that I know more, the gulf appears to grow infinitely wider, and I have a miserable feeling of doubt and distrust. I wish I hadn't, but I can't help it. I want you to put me right, Mr. Salterton," concluded Helen, rather pite- ously. "Were there any children of eight years old at the Misses Magnolias when you left, Helen ?" " Oh yes two or three little chits. Why do you ask?" " Suppose one of these little chits had repeat- ed to you the import or what "she imagined to have been the import of a business conversation which she had accidentally underheard. Should you have been inclined to take her version ex- actly for gospel ? ' Little miss from under the table loquitur.' 1 What would Leech have made her say ?" "Oh, Mr. Salterton, this is not fair! I can trust myself; and I am trusting you, now." "I beg your pardon," returned the rector, feeling, I suspect, a little abashed ; "I will an- swer you as plainly as I would a solicitor. But you said something just this moment about know- ing more now. Tell me exactly what you mean, and depend upon it I will be as plain with you." ' ' Why, just this. Of course, at a girl's school we tell each other all about home, you know.'' " I dare say, Helen : although, not having been brought up at one myself, I don't speak from experience." "Well, then, we do. And I told Sophy Hunter, who was my particular friend, all I had discovered ; and we had a good deal of talk about it. In short we talked so much that So- phy Hunter, who has an 1 old brother, a barrister, or something of the sort, in London, said she would ask him to find out the real truth." "Capital! That was business and no mis- take. And pray did Sophy Hunter's old broth- er enlighten your minds ?" "Oh, dear, yes. You must know, Mr. 'Sal- terton, that there's a place near London called ' The Doctor's Common,' where every body goes to make their wills, and where you may see every will that ever was made by paying a shilling and asking. Well, Sophy Hunter's old brother paid his shilling, and saw my poor papa's will with his own eyes." " Well"?" " Why, it's just as you told the admiral, the day I was under the table. I ought to have had five hundred a year ever since I was born, to be- gin with. And I am to have a whole heap of money when I'm twenty-one, or twenty-three, or if ever I marry ; only there's some jumble which I don't quite understand, and, if certain things happen, why it seems the admiral has the right of giving all my fortune to somebody else, and what Sophy Hunter's old brother was very particular about telling was that ' I had better keep a bright lookout or the old bloke was cock-sure to chisel me out of my tin.' I wrote the very words down on the back of a French exercise at the time, that I might be certain there was no mistake. It's only slang, of course, Mr. Salterton, but still you see what he means." " I congratulate you upon the possession of such a valuable legal opinion. You said just now that you wanted to ask me a question. Was it as to whether I was of the same mind with this learned old brother, or only as to my advice in general?" " I only want your advice, Mr. Salterton. I want to be put right upon the whole subject. It is so very miserable to distrust those with whom one has to live. And there can be no helpless- ness like that of feeling that those who ought to help one are interested the other way." " My dear Helen, I have not the slightest hesitation in offering you my advice, which I earnestly en treat you to follow. When I thought it right, some years ago, to interfere in the man- ner which you so unfortunately overheard, it was for a twofold reason. In the first place, I was distressed at the manner in which your educa- tion was being neglected under the auspices of Miss Smugg, and at the idle uncivilized life which you were then permitted to lead. In the second place, I certainly felt it my duty to noint out to the admiral that he was receiving a very large sum annually for your care and mainte- nance, and that it was incumbent upon him to give you corresponding advantages. I think that my interference was not unsuccessful. Yon have had the benefit, ever since, of one of the first at all events one of the most expensive schools in the kingdom. You nowappear to have every indulgence which could be wished ; indeed, to judge from to-day's proceedings, your guard- ian has only waited for your return home to make an entire charige in his mode of living. As to what Sophy Hunter's old brother told her forget it altogether. What do you know of him ? What reason have you for supposing that he is even competent to divide a biscuit between two puppy-dogs? Can you suppose that I, as one of your father's executors, would stand by if I suspected that injustice was being done you, or ever will, so long as I have the power to pre- vent it, permit it to be done ? Leave your in- terests entirely in my hands, Helen, and forget them altogether for the present. And above all things, never, my dear girl, allow any thing in the shape of suspicion to rankle in your mind. Make yourself unhappy, if you must, in any other way you please, but send this sort of feeling to the winds forever ! Upon my honor, Helen, to discover that, at your age, you were indulging a morbid distrust of your guard- ian, and wondering whether he stole your mon- ey, would give me almost the same sensation as being told that you drank whisky on the sly." "Oh, Mr. Salterton," exclaimed Helen, in rather an unsteady voice,. " I didn't quite mean 68 FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. all I said just now. But thank you so much for all your kindness. I would give any thing that the subject had never got into my head. Why can't we pull these things out of our brains, and trample upon them, and walk away ?" she con- cluded, with a half petulant stamp. "Ah, there you have touched upon a terrible question, which we have no time to discuss now. It is awful to think how things take root in our minds, never to be dislodged again. Sometimes we sow them ourselves sometimes they seem to be chance-sown, or sown by the enemy. Hel- en, these weeds are the very bitterness of life. For God's sake guard your own garden while you may ! But it is getting late. You will be wanted within doors." "A quarter to ten, still, Mr. Salterton," re- plied Helen, not unwilling perhaps to change the subject. "Come and see my country house. It is close by. The admiral has just had it done up for me, and you can't think how fresh it looks. It will be charming in summer ; and do you know, there is actually a fire-place for cold weather poker, tongs, and every thing ! Come and stay with me some day, Mr. Salterton, and I'll order a fire!" I believe I have already described this rustic lodge in the wilderness, while speaking of Pe- tersfeld's surreptitious visit to Riverwood. A pretty little haunt it looked, and the rector was amused at Helen's girlish enjoyment of the tri- umph of possession. " Now this is my own my very own, Mr. Salterton, given to me out and out. This is where I intend to entertain my friends from Brighton school, whenever they are allowed to visit me. Here we shall smoke our pipes and talk politics, and nobody in the world will be al- lowed to come in except yourself. We have jus* time for one peep at the inside, which I never allow any body to see, except people for whom I feel the most particular regard " Probably Helen would, not unwillingly, have recalled these last few words, for scarcely had they passed her lips before a young gentleman, in full hunting costume, appeared at the summer- house door. He co'uld scarcely have been more than two- and-twenty, and might even have been younger, for his was one of those joyous, sunshiny, reckless faces which we can scarcely believe have seen much of this rough world in earnest. His fair complexion was just weather-tanned enough to set off to the best advantage a pair of pleasant blue-grey eyes, and harmonized well with his bright brown hair. Slenderly, almost slightly built, and perhaps not above what is usually de- scribed as the middle height, so firm, quick, and graceful was every movement, that you per- ceived at once that his training had been athlet- ic, and that of a good school. And if Nature had been kind in the first in- stance, it was quite obvious that his tailor had been careful. His pink and cords were the most perfect you ever saw ; new, spotless, and fitting like a pair of gloves. His boots were so pretty that they looked like those one sometimes sees under glass shades in very superior shops, and glittered with a polish which seemed nearly supernatural. All this Helen took in at a glance, with the neat spurs, and little sparkling watch- guard trinkets into the bargain. Her first impression was one of unqualified admiration. But at the same moment a sus- picion flashed across her mind that he was a fop. She had read about fops frequently, but never seen a clear case for certain not at all events close enough to talk to : so she listened with eager ears. " He will lisp, I'll be bound," she thought, " and that will settle the matter. What jnakes him smile like that ? Can't he speak?" All this took place in a single instant, and Hel- en had not perhaps observed that the smile was directed not at herself, but at her companion, who received the supposed fop with a face of wonder which was amusing. " Good Heavens, Ferdinand ! who'd have thought of seeing you here to-day ?" he exclaim- ed in a tone which struck the young lady as re- markable. " Not you, evidently, Mr. Salterton," replied the youngster gayly, as he grasped the rector's hand. " I beg your pardon for offering a bri- dle arm, but the doctors won't allow me to shake the other myself, yet ; so I musn't ask you to do it for me." "You are not going to hunt, to-day, sure- ly?" "Oh, yes. Why not? I am not, going to try any thing difficult, you know. I shall make up to some cautious party who opens gates, and we shall get along nicely. I shall explain to him that, in my opinion, going 'cross country is quite dangerous enough to be wicked. We shall agree that every rational enjoyment of hunting can be had by jogging away like a couple of undertakers, without risking our necks among a parcel of lunatics and mad dogs." " Well, but the arm ? how's the arm going on?" "Oh, as right as possible, thank you. It was nothing to signify, after all." His arm was in a sling, as Helen had noticed, when, after shaking hands with the rector, he had turned to raise his cap to herself. "Nothing! God bless the boy! Why, I thought the ball went through it?" " Well, what would you have had, Mr. Salter- ton ? Just about the best thing it could do. But I'm afraid," continued he, " that I ought to apologize for being found where I was. Do you know I tore up Sir Philip's note last night to light a cigar, and forgot the hour for to-day, which I fancied had been half-past nine and so " " Good gracious, I beg your pardon, Helen !" exclaimed the rector, as if suddenly aroused from a reverie. " What upon earth can I have been thinking about? Let me introduce Captain Ferdinand Hunsdon, of the Victosia Cross Miss Fleetlands." FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 69 Helen started at the words, as if she had been shot like the captain. Hero-worship is, as we all know, one of the es- sential elements of the girlish mind. The frightful error of judgment which she had so narrowly escaped committing confused her al- together, and she stood perfectly breathless, with open eyes and lips apart, looking interesting enough certainly, if not unusually wise. Could it be possible that this bright boy, who seemed at first sight the fit Adonis of a fancy-ball, trick- ed out for an evening in hunting-array, had really won the glorious and all-coveted jewel upon a blood-stained field, amid the thunder and tumult of a great battle ? She had a vague impulsive longing to ask him questions; but, without knowing exactly why, she felt frightened and unable to count upon her own self-control. Luckily the rector continued : " Captain Hunsdon, Helen, I hope you are aware, is an old pupil of mine. So I feel a little excusable pride in announcing him." "Were you one of the last made?" inquired Helen, with a sudden courage. "I mean, I saw an account in the newspaper some weeks ago of a grand distribution of the Cross at South- sea, I think." "One of the very last," replied the young officer, thinking how nice it was to be looked at after that fashion. " I am glad to see that Miss Flcetlands intends to hunt to-day." "Were you really there?" persisted Helen with glistening eyes* " I mean when all the troops were drawn up on Southsea Common, and the whole line presented arms, and the drums rolled, and the Victory fired ? Was that when " "That was it, Miss Fleetlands. Do you know that your question reminds me of an odd sort of sensation which came over me at the moment. It was all jolly enough till the old ship joined in ; but when, just as we were called to the front, her first heavy ' bang !' went sweep- ing over the ground, it was regularly too much for some of us. I declare I'd have given a pound to have been allowed to use my pocket- handkerchief, which is contrary to Queen's regu- lations, you know. Can't say how it was. How should you account for it, Mr. Salterton ?" ' tl I should so like to hear," interposed Helen, grown quite reckless in her curiosity, "how it was you won the Cross. Do you mind my ask- ing?" " Oh, there is very little to tell, I assure you. Besides; I only wear it as representing many better fellows who did more and fared worse. I shouldn't be here at this moment, but for one of them, who had a far better right to it than I a fellow who stood over me and got cut to pieces, while I escaped with this scratch. . I only wish he had lived to wear it." " Come, come," interrupted Mr. Salterton, "if there was to be nothing of this sort, there would be no crosses to wear. And if you ex- pect a civil answer, Helen, don't ask Captain Hunsdon to tell you what all the world knows, except yourself. But, hark ! what's that ?" It was the clear, ringing tantara of Sir Phil- ip's horn, blown by way of announcement, as he entered the Lawn gates. Far away, through the shrubbery, they could distinguish the pack, trailing in like a snake, and a scattering and scampering of pink-coated horsemen. " My gracious !" exclaimed Helen, "I must run home directly, or I shall be in a scrape." CHAPTER XXI. THE hunting-breakfast was a complete suc- cess ; and Helen got credit for the manner in which she behaved as hostess, and conducted the business of her own table. Every body left the Lawn in good humor ; and, what was more to the purpose, the run which followed proved the most brilliant of the season. A magnificent dog-fox ran his last race, and fulfilled his des- tiny on that eventful morning. His brush was of course secured for Helen. Sir Philip carried it off to be mounted, and returned it with an ivory handle, bearing her name and the date, engraved upon a tiny silver shield. But, after all, what do you care so I hope at least for these huntsmen and their glorious appetites, or for the fox dead and docked ? You are aware that a story-teller never brings two eligible young people together for purposes pure- ly Platonic. You are satisfied that, after a certain amount of variegated experience, a few ups and downs, and an entanglement more or less amus- ing, Captain Hunsdon and Helen Fleetlands will at last "fall out" (in a military, not matri- monial sense), in order to enjoy the large fam- ily and prosperous future which are always giv- en away gratis when the play comes to an end. Quite right ; and I will not only make you a present of your conjecture, but tell you plainly what were the exact difficulties which stood in the captain's way. You may imagine possibly, as I dare say you do, that Helen, with her youth, health, and beauty, to say nothing of her many thousands and good social position, would have been a partie to whom no demur could possibly have been raised : more probably the object of a gen- eral scramble when once fairly in the market. You may suppose, reasonably enough, that if Captain Hunsdon chose to press his suit, and Helen was not willful enough to say "no," the admiral was the only rock ahead likely to cause trouble. Unfortunately we live in a state of so- ciety which philosophers complain of as " high- ly complicated," and the working of which is unquestionably mysterious to outsiders. How it came to work unfavorably in the present in- stance, I will explain at once. Lord St. Margarets was a widower, with only one surviving child the youth whose acquaint- ance we have just made. He was in popular ro FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. estimation a very proud man ; and if a vast ter- : already illustrious house! And the old peer, ritory, immense wealth, an historic name, and who was an inveterate day-dreamer, made up ancient coronet things which no amount of in- his mind that, for some years to come, it was tellect or ability can ever command for any body plainly expedient that his son should not marry gave any good reason for pride, he was not . at all. He was still very young, and for the much to blame. Perhaps, however, we some- present, at all events, would be far better occu- times suppose such people proud from a con- pied with his regiment then on foreign serv- fused suspicion as to what our own feelings [ ice. The happy combination of chances in his might be, could we be suddenly placed in their shoes. Sometimes from a natural wish that they would abase themselves to our level, and not walk about as if they were, in fact, what the catechism aggravatingly describes as ' ' our bet- ,ters." Be this as it may, one would have fancied that pride itself could scarcely have desired to perpetuate a fairer lot than that which appar- ently awaited Ferdinand Hunsdon. Half a million of money, a fair slice of a southern county, with a title into the bargain, ought to have satisfied Methuselah. One need scarcely be overfrugal to wonder how it was all to be enjoyed in a modern life-time. Lord St. Margarets had all these things, and was not discontented with his lot. And proba- bly he was the happier for having the one grand wish of his heart still to be satisfied that of see- ing Ferdinand a greater man than himself. The anxious and eventful period at which his boy would naturally look out for a wife, was now coming on. Upon its result all depended. Money he did not care about. A few thou- sands more or less, could make no sort of dif- ference in his son's position, but the alliance for which he hoped and prayed with one of the oldest and noblest families of the empire, was another thing altogether. That was his object. But the event of the last few months had brought with it higher aspirations. even than these. Ferdinand had been encouraged to enter the army rather in accordance with an old family tradition, and as the best possible, finish to his education, than with any idea of treating it as a profession. The signal distinction which had so suddenly fallen to his lot, had never en- tered the calculations of Lord St. Margarets. He woke up one morning to find that his son was a soldier in earnest. Young as he was, he had done a deed of more than mere dash and daring. He had shown a cool judgment, a resolute will, and a power of self-sacrifice which commanded others, in one of the most critical conjunctures which ever tested the 'mettle of an unfledged subaltern. He had " done the state some serv- ice, and they knew it ;" a service which, for the hour, at least, was talked about at head-quarters, in every capital of Europe. The letters of congratulation which Lord St. Margarets received upon the occasion, would probably have papered a study, and brought him more pride and pleasure than he had ever known to arrive through the post. His son's path to the very highest destinies of his profession seem- ed fairly cut out. A dazzling and triumphant favor, were such as did no^ occur to one in ten thousand, and it would be inexcusable not to make the most of them. It was an odd conclusion, certainly, all things considered. One would have thought that he might have been shy ot exposing his coronet a second time to the chance of being sent down a collateral line, by some wretched ounce of lead ; and one might naturally have supposed that Ferdinand must be wanted at home. But Lord St. Margarets was an odd man, and didn't see things always in a regular light. His real home was in his London club, among a clique of gossiping old cronies, who babbled of Talleyrand and Waterloo. Of course, in this society, his son's late exploit had created a prodigious sen- sation, and Lord St. Margarets ,found the ex- citement agreeable. At any rate, having made the above reflections, he. remarked to himself that his mind was quite clear upon the subject. Its crystallization, however, was destined to be abruptly disturbed. A few days after the hunt-breakfast at Riverwood, Captain Hunsdon surprised rather than delighted his papa by the announcement that he had found him a daugh- ter-in-law ; in other words, that he had seen the girl whom, of all others, he would like to make his wife, provided his father saw no ob- jection. Lord St. Margarets prided himself upon his savoir faire. He had been embassador at the court of one of the great powers, and knew how to handle matters. He wouldn't even allow himself to be ruffled by the intelligence. It simply demanded an exercise of tact. Nothing could have been more frank and honorable than the way in which his son had spoken his mind in the very first instance. Knowing that Helen was no match for him, according to his father's views, he had come, as was right, for a " per- mit" to fall in love. The only question was how to act ? As to that, his mind was quite clear. In the first place, to run the risk of estrang- ing his son, was out of the question. Rather than that, he would have seen him turmed off" with the ' ' Ratcatcher's Daughter" herself. They must be friends always, whatever happened. In the second place, he knew that suddenly to thwart a lad in an affair of this description, was absurd in the light of all experience, and would be simply to send the last chance over- hoard. Finally, his diplomatic education had taught him, that if you wish to divert any body from a darling project, you must never allow your .objections to appear in the first instance, career, with an ultimate earldom of his own win- when they are certain to be considered as mere ning this would indeed be to add lustre to an prejudice, and treated very shortly. FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 71 However, instead of pursuing this inductive process farther, let us invite ourselves for a few minutes to the pleasant dining-room at Saints- wood, with father and son beside us, in snug after-dinner tete-a-tete. Lord St. Margarets had, according to prom- ise, given the matter every consideration, before finally clearing his mind, and committing him- self upon a point of so much importance. " Fill your glass, my boy, and give the fire a stir," he exclaimed, with easy gayety. " Well, Ferdinand, are we to drink Miss Fleetlands's good health, and may she soon be a lawful prize of war hey ?" "You have not yet given me your opinion, sir," replied the captain, laughing. "I took the liberty of giving you mine pretty freely the other morning." " You did ; and I was most pleased at your doing so. You see, Ferdinand, that if it had been' one of the Strawberry leaf girls, or any body from Hainault Towers, for instance, I should have been ready for an agreeable surprise. But as Miss Fleetlands is, as yet, a stranger, I am glad that you gave me your confidence in the first instance. As yet, I suppose, you are only feeling your way ?" "Just so, sir. Salterton introduced me to her, at old Mortlake's breakfast, last week. It was love made easy upon-my part, I can assure you. I was lucky enough to sit next her at breakfast, and I've seen her twice since, and hope to find her to-morrow mornjng at cover- side. We meet at Bunnytail End." " Well done, you," remarked his father, un- able to repress a smile at this liberal instalment of candor. "Try how you like her, by all means, Ferdinand. I only wish you to please yourself. Only don't get out of your depth be- fore you know where you are. There are peo- ple about that young lady who will bring you to book if you do. I'm quite clear abopt that." "That trying how you like young ladies, is awkward work," observed the captain musing- ly. " You see, directly you begin, they're down upon you with just the same game. ' No trial allowed,' is nearer the mark." " Much nearer. But I leave you to manage all that for yourself. It's a pity she should be in troublesome hands. She has money, they say." "A great deal, I'm told, sir. Fortunately my conscience is quite clear upon that head. I really knew nothing about her being an heiress until long after I was in for it. However, that I hope is no objection. One can put up with a little money." " Do you know, Ferdinand," replied his father quietly, straightening his legs against the fender, and holding up his glass to the fire- light as he spoke, " this money would be about my greatest objection, supposing I were inclined to make any, as I certainly am not. The idea of your marrying any girl for money, is of course absurd. Nevertheless, people will talk. Somebody is always ready to explain every thing. This money annoys me, and I will tell you why : -Miss Fleetlands of whom every one speaks well is, as I dare say you know, the daughter of an Indian officer, who was the son of a Glamorganshire parson. Of course, since you spoke to me, I have made it my business to ascertain her antecedents." " Well, sir?" inquired his son, not altogether satisfied with the last word. "Well ; her father was an officer in the Com- pany's service nothing more : and the fortune of which we are speaking fell to him quite sud- denly, under the will of an old relation Nettle- ton, I think "he was called, who was, I am told, a monger of some sort." "A what, sir?" " A monger," repeated Lord St. Margarets, as if employing the word for the first time, and undecided as to its proper pronunciation. " Not a coster-monger, I hope ?" " No. But I am not sure as to the exact prefix. Stay. I believe it was a wharfmonger. Oh, no. Wharfinger that was it! At all events he managed to hoard tip a great deal of money, which I would not have pass into our family upon any consideration. It would be a mistake, Ferdinand, and a serious one. I would rather lay it out in founding a house for decayed people of that sort or get rid of it in any way and even then we should be laughed at for our trouble. But let that pass. Miss Fleetlands, I hear, is fresh from a boarding- school at Brighton, where she has spent the last seven years. All very charming. I only wish I were her age. Of course we don't send our own daughters to boarding-schools ; but, as to that matter, she was probably better there than living with that cracked old admiral, and his muffin of a wife. I really have now told you all that has passed my mind upon the subject. I don't pretend to see exactly the person I should have chosen for you, Ferdinand ; but you are to choose, not I. You ask my advice. I advise you to please yourself. With your prospects here, and the position which you have won with your own hand, I don't believe you stand second to any man in the kingdom in the way of a splendid marriage. You might probably wait at least a year or two with advantage. You are not tired of your profession yet, I suppose, with a staff appointment waiting for you. But, as I said before, please yourself. Isn't that quite clear?" " I should like to ask one question. You spoke just now of Helen's being in troublesome hands. Of course I know that old Mortlake has locked himself up a good deal, and behaved al- together in an odd way. Is that all ? I declare I took rather a liking to the old fellow the oth- er morning. I could have fancied myself talk- ing to Admhra^ Benbow !" " I am glad that you have asked the ques- tion. When I said that this young lady was in troublesome hands, I meant, of course, as his ward. He is her guardian in Chancery. I call him troublesome for this reason. Some years FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. ago before he locked himself up, as you say he got into a shocking mess when the St. Mark's Bank stopped payment in fact he lost the best part of his property. lie had to sell a good deal of land ; and I happened to know that a few hundred acres in our direction were actually in the market. I wanted them, to square our map on the north-west, and wrote to him about them. I declare I had no idea that I was doing him otherwise than a friendly trrn ; in fact, I offer- ed to take his title without inquiry, and named around sum for the land. However, he chose- to fancy that I was riding the high horse, and about to amuse myself by buying Mm up, and re- ferred me at once to his solicitor. Since then, we have scarcely spoken. Therefore, in the present case, I must not be expected to open the ball. I am rather sorry that I did not know you were going to his breakfast the other day ; or I should have mentioned all this. That, how- ever, is of little consequence. Only recollect, that no correspondence, between myself and the admiral, should such ever become necessary, can begin from this house. I will answer any communication, the other way, most willingly. It is more than likely that in your case he may find himself inclined to show temper. Now, only one word more, my boy. A few weeks ago you caused the whole land to ring with your name, by making up your mind in a moment, when the lives of hundreds depended upon your decision in fact upon the next words which fell from your lips. That was well done : that was glorious ! But depend upon it, Ferdinand, that whenever you hear a man boast that his rule is, never to hesitate, but to decide instantly in im- portant affairs, that man is either a charlatan or an imbecile. Fellows of this kind are either simply reckless, or too nervous for the regular game of life. They would rather toss up for the stakes and have done with it, than play the rub- ber fairly out. Take your time and mind your moves while you can ; and never trust to luck what you may make by play. Now, ring the bell, and let us have coffee." The test of diplomacy is success. Young Hunsdon Avcnt to his room that night in a rest- less and undecided state of mind. If his father had spoken of his lady-love with open scorn, or pronoiinced himself decidedly against the match, he would at least have had the consolation of feeling himself unfortunate, if not ill-used. But he had no such solace. Not one single word in- dicative of the slightest disrespect for Helen her- self had Lord St. Margarets let fall. All that he had said was true enough, and infinitely less than most fathers would have said, in a case in which such interests were at stake, and the de- scent of a noble and ancient house immediately involved. What more could a fellow, in his position, ask than to be told to please himself 7 What more do any of us desire ? And yet, after all, isn't it generally the most aggravating pel-mission which i{ is in the nature of words to convey ? When your groom or gardener retires from ar- gument with a stolid shrug and misbelieving eye, and remarks, "Well, sir; of course you will please yourself!" how do you feel toward the ras- . cal ? Of course Ave want to please ourselves, and intend to manage it if we can. No need to tell us that ! But we want to be helped to do so in our own way ; and not dismissed to the endeavor with a suppression which is an abuse of language. Again and again, Ferdinand thought over the whole conversation. The more he did so, the more was he impressed with the conviction that his father had been most kind and self-denying in the business. That an union between him- self and Helen would be a disappointment, he felt keenly enough, and infinitely the more so from the light easy way in which certain topics had been touched upon. He admitted to him- self that marriage at his age might be la bad be- ginning, if his father's ambitious views for him as a soldier were to be at all regarded. He per- ceived also, what had naturally never occurred to him before, that, in point of worldly position, Helen was a mere nobody in Lord St. Marga- rets's eyes ; and that her money was, in his own case, by no means a desirable part of her be- longings. The, idea of his proposal being made the subject of an unworthy squabble upon the admiral's part was highly annoying and the ex- pression ' ' brought to book" rested unpleasantly in his mind. Upon each and all of these topics his father might easily have enlarged ; and he could not help feeling the delicacy and good na- ture with which they had been allowed to pass, as mere hints for his consideration. Then he set himself to work deliberately to consider all that had taken place between him- self and Helen. He had, after all, only seen her thrice, and he had to confess that even her attractive presence and engaging ways would perhap* hardly have produced the effect they did, but for the flattery of their first interview. The curiosity and admiration with which the young girl had regarded him, as the living wear- er of a Victoria Cross, had been more than re- paid upon his part. His passion for her had be- gun with vanity. Was it, after all, real or not ? He had not yet committed himself. - Did he know himself? Another meeting might render these questions superfluous. Lord St. Margarets had known his son's mind thoroughly. Ferdinand Hunsdon had his own good, and even great gifts, from nature ; but they were of a kind which are conspicuous rath- er in the field and the drawing-room, than in the chamber of meditation or debate. To the most perfect amount of nerve and physical cour- age consistent with penetrable flesh and blood,, he added a singular degree of out-of-doors judg- ment. This last is rather a rare, and, to those who have it not, a very inscrutable instinct. Its characteristics almost defy description, and fortunately, scarcely require it. There are two very different sorts of people in this world. I am not thinking of the good and the wicked among one of which classes FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 73 every body is supposed to sit but of two prom inent sets : people who always know how a thing is to' be done, and people who always know (or rather, want to know) why it is to be done. Ferdinand Hunsdon was one of the former. When he troubled himself about whys and becauses, he was out of his depth directly. He had no turn for argument, and gave way under the feeblest pressure of "pro" and " con." Action was his forte. Action whether in the football-field at Eton, in the happy hunting-ground around Riverwood, or in a sterner arena where life and death are laid in balance, and every faculty of mind and body strung to quivering tension amid the "dreadful reyelry" of battle. It was then that he knew how to trust himself. And, young as he wasj he was wonderfully trusted by others. The men of his company thoroughly believed in him. Not one of them but looked upon young Hunsdon, as an inspired soldier a chief to be followed through thick and thin an officer for whom it would be worth while to sacrifice one's light of day. There wasn't his equal in the regiment, from the colonel down to the small boy in the band such was the creed of rank and file ; and I don't know tliat they were much out in their estimate. And yet, with all this, nobody could be more easily led by those whom he was accustomed to regard with affection and esteem. Nobody was more ready to take advice, in cool blood, upon points as to which he felt that others were better qualified to judge than himself. In short, he had all the weaknesses of a trusting and sen- sitive nature, and, accordingly, not only took his papa's diplomacy greatly to heart, but torment- ed himself through a night of sleeplessness, by wondering .what the deuce he had better do about Hclent At last it occurred to him, that obviously the best plan would be to call upon Mr. Salterton the next day, after hunting, and ask his advice. He had known Helen from her infancy; and was, besides, a man whose opinion was really worth having. And this seemed such a good resolution, that he slept up9n it for a whole hour before it was time to rise. There was, in Lord St. Margarets's dining- room, a picture, upon which he had once s"et the greatest value, and held the pride and gem of his whole collection. He had purchased it, many years ago, at Florence, and a check of four figures had paid the price, a reflection which, so far from being disagreeable, only add- ed to his enjoyment as its possessor. "Diana Venatrix," was the subject; and certainly, if buxom beauty, in its lustiest and least embar- rassed form, gorgeous coloring, and wondrous power of animal painting, could justify implicit belief, the gilded scroll beneath, which bore the name of "P. P. RUBENS,'' was rightly worn by that magnificent canvas. Day after day, Lord St. Margarets was never tired of feasting his eyes upon its breadth of splendor, and congratulating himself upon the possession of a work which might even bear his own name down to posterity. It was already known, in the leading hand-books of art, as "The Saintswood Rubens, " and report said that the town counsel of Antwerp had sent a special envoy to this country, for the purpose of ascer- taining whether it was to be reclaimed for money. One day, a foreigner called, as many for- eigners did, for permission to view the Rubens. Lord St. Margarets chanced to be at home, and good-naturedly received the visitor himself. Nothing flattered him .more than these little pilgrimages ; while, to stand beside the shrine, and enjoy anu>ccasional whiff of incense in per- son, was doubly pleasant. The foreigner in question chanced to be a dried elderly man, of particularly small stature, with high shoulders and wide, spectacles, who looked as if he had been littered in a dust-bin, and brought up upon rusks and snuff. His card bore the name of "Ant Krinkel,"and he received Lord St. Margarets's attentions "frith a business-like air, observing that he was pressed for time, and alluding to an appointment at Amsterdam. This might easily have been excused ; but, not so the way in which he inspected "the Rubens." Instead of looking at it from the best light in the room, to which he was courte- ously invited, or looking at it from under his hrfnd, or through a roll of paper, or in fact, as it seemed, to any useful purpose whatever, this abominable little cinder of humanity began to peer-into corners of the drapery, and ferret about the frame, in a manner which appeared to Lord St. Margarets scarcely less than impious. " Confound the fellow, does he think there's a rat behind the arras !" he growled to himself. " Come here, sir ! Did you never see a picture before? Come and look at one now!" . "I, have looked at a great many pictures, milord," replied 'Ant Krinkel, hitching himself together, and readjusting his spectacles in a complicated fashion. ' ' And I have looked at a great many pictures by Rubens, milord a great many indeed. But this is not one. Ex- cuse me. Bift lam right." " What the devil do you mean, sir ! and who are you ? Go to Amsterdam, and " 1 declare I mustn't finish the sentence ; Lord St. Marga- rets was so outrageously angry. "One moment, milord!" implored the in- truder, with the air of a man Avho had been kicked aforetime, and deprecated the practice. " One moment. Will you listen tome ? Yah? Lord St. Margarets did listen ; and this was what he heard. Unrolling as he spoke a dirty paper, and twisting his spectacles more ominously than ever, the fawning Low Countryman reminded him of every circumstance connected with the purchase of his picture. He gave him names and dates ; and even went to the unnecessary length of producing for his edification a copy of the draft on Coutts, to which the money had been paid. With equal circumstantiality, he 74 FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. detailed the exact ^tory of the work, and of the sublime and patient ingenuity by which it had '. been worked into the market as an accredited . original of the great master. All this, he explained, was practically known j to no man in Europe but himself. Milord had been imposed upon, no doubt. But by men who were dupes themselves. The greatest critics had been deceived, and vfVfQ at that moment without suspicion. He ventured to place with his lordship a paper embodying every word which he had just uttered. He had no conceal- ments. He requested none. Would his lord- ship condescenson for making such a fool of himself, and considered that the Court had been hasty, and taken a great liberty into the bargain. However, he wrote a very kind note in reply, informing Fer- dinand that he would take immediate steps to procure his release, in order to get into any fresh scrapes he thought p%per. What these "immediate steps" were, you will probably never know. Lord Chancellor Bacon, they say, was open to arguments more tangible than those employed in our " windy war," and his wink was as good as his bond. No writer in a penny paper, nowadays, would hazard such imputation upon even an imaginary judge at least when deciding between conflicting parties. But Ferdinand's transgression might, in an in- dulgent point of view, be looked upon as a mere question of violated etiquette, and disposed of without vindictive displeasure. And if his father couldn't arrange thus much, why where would have been the use of being Lord St. Mar- garets at all, and as good a Conservative as the chancellor ? . In the mean time, having in disregard of Mr. Jacobs's friendly caution so rapidly succeeded in getting himself "quodded for nothing," or rather for love, which in popular phraseology means much the same thing, Ferdinand had am- ple leisure to review his own conduct, and find excuses, if he could, for what, considered in calmer moments, looked far too much like rash and reckless folly. He would have given a great deal to have been able to undo much of the past, both upon Helen's account and his own. His father's so- licitor could only inform him that his position was not one to be trifled with. He stood com- mitted to prison in downright earnest, and dur- ing the pleasure of the Court. Beyond ques- tion, all intercourse with Miss Fleetlands must be suspended until that young lady attained twenty-one ; and since it could serve no possible purpose to remain where he was, merely to in- dulge in the reflection that she was daily grow- ing older, the sooner he made his submission, and took leave of the Borough Road, the better. The necessary steps should at once be taken. Probably the chancellor might be disposed to view the case indulgently. It was just one of those matters which nobody could prophesy about. Shortly afterward, an intimation was received from the Lord Chancellor, directing that Ferdi- nand should attend at his private room in Lin- coln's Inn, the following afternoon, at three o'clock. Thither he was escorted in a cab. Business was encroaching upon romance. He was received with a degree of distant and freezing gravity, which might have chilled even the courage of a Victoria Cross. It was not un- til after some moments of saturnine silence, that his lordship condescended to appear aware of his presence, and ultimately to address him ; and when he did, it was in a low, icy tone, and in syllables so far apart, that you might have counted them easily. He was grieved, he said, and surprised, to see a person in Captain Hunsdon's high position, wantonly encountering the displeasure of the Court. For his conduct there could be no ex- cuse. He had been warned, and had slighted the warning. He had disobeyed, and it was for the Court to weigh the circumstances of that act of disobedience, and inflict commensurate pun- ishment. One consideration alone, induced him to stay his hand. Upon perusing certain papers before him, he perceived a statement to the effect that, in the event of his being dis- charged from custody, it was intended that Cap- tain Hunsdon should at once leave England to join his regiment, then on foreign service. With a proper assurance to that effect, with a sufficient undertaking upon the part of Captain Hunsdon that he would thenceforth hold no communication whatever with the ward, until she should attain the age of twenty-one years and upon Captain Hunsdon's making due sub- mission, and paying all costs of his commitment, he was disposed to direct his discharge from custody. His lordship trusted that a warning so lenient would neither be misconstrued nor forgotten. Captain Hunsdon might be re- moved. There was nothing for it but to grin and knock under. Ferdinand would perhaps have been pleased to hear that, just before he entered the chancellor's room, Admiral Mortlake had quit- ted it, after a "wigging" which would have as- FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. tonished a midshipman, and for which he had been expressly summoned up to town. The Lord Chancellor in fact had told him, in those peculiarly reassuring accents for which he was famous, that he considered his conduct in allowing Helen to appear in the hunting-field so insufficiently attended and escorted, was a breach of his duty, grave and scandalous ; that out of regard for her, whom the Court would presume to be innocent, he had directed the present pro- ceedings to take place in his private room ; but that, had it been otherwise, he should have vis- ited him with marked censure at the bar of the Court. He warned him against supposing that he was himself the judge as to who might be a proper match for his ward which it was for a higher intelligence alone to determine ; observed that he intended to consider at his lei- sure, whether or not it was fit and proper that farther inquiries in the matter should be direct- ed, and concluded by pointedly desiring the ad- miral to observe, that what had already befallen Helen was nothing less than a marked calamity, the result of most grievous negligence and to pay all his own costs of the application. After this benediction, the admiral jumped into his cab, firing broadsides right and left all the way to the station. Even the ticket-porters themselves, those dreamy sentinels of the virgin apron and the pewter badge, who see a little of this sort of thing occasionally at the Court door, roused up sufficiently to nudge one another, as he drove away. Selfish people have at least one considerable pull over others, which need not be grudged them, considering that in most respects they are at no small disadvantage. Your thoroughly selfish man generally has the credit to which most of us aspire of knowing his own mind. Nothing conduces more to this sort of self-ac- quaintance than the caring very little what other people may feel, and not a bit in the world what they may think or say. It was Ad- miral Mortlake's custom to make up his own mind, and then act upon his resolution as in- flexibly as if he had only his late ship's company to deal with. And it so happened that, just as Helen's little preparations were upon the point of completion, her guardian, one morning at breakfast, an- nounced a plan which drove her either to put J her project into execution without delay, or to consign it to indefinite postponement. It had occurred to him, while smoking his afternoon pipe in the grim yew avenue, and med- itating upon his late encounter with the keep- er of Her Majesty's conscience, that a trip to the Continent would be the very thing under ex- isting circumstances. Helen had latterly begun to behave so very much better, that she deserved some reward. A month abroad so, in his abys- mal ignorance of the female heart, he imag- ined would be quite sufficient to change the whole current of her thoughts, to fill her mind with new ideas, and cause all recent trouble to be regarded as a dream of the past. Paris cured most people, and a round home, through the pleasant roads of Normandy and Maine, would settle the business. To tell the truth, he rather wanted to get out of the way himself. He couldn't think of Lin- coln's Inn without choking. He had revenged himself, after his fashion, upon Lord St. Mar- garets, and found himself cut by the county. People who had previously tolerated him as ec- centric, now avoided him as cracked. Lord St. Margarets, indeed, secretly chuckling over the whole affair, lost no opportunity of referring to it as an excellent joke, and declaring that it served Ferdinand perfectly right, and would be the best possible lesson to him against making promiscu- ous acquaintance in future. But this was not the popular view. Mortlake could not even walk through the village without being saluted by shrill cries of "Cotched another capting, guv'nor?" and similar specimens of ju*venile wit. Rough allusions to himself and his behavior were chalked upon his park fence. Mr. Salter- ton's studied silence upon the subject was a re- proach in itself, while Sir Philip Chevy, and young fellows of the Scatterley stamp, threw all delicacy to the winds, and chaffed him in a free- and-easy manner, which he felt plainly enough was intended to be insulting. In short, he was in a very bad position. The proposition was a startling one to Helen. The idea of the admiral, of all people, talking of going to France was almost too extraordinary to be credible. Under happier auspices, she might have been delighted with such a change ; but the prospect of traveling in such company was not amusing, and she .felt an irrepressible- misgiving that the proposal was intended to cover some deep-laid scheme of which she her- self was the object. A vague sense of insecuri- ty tormented her. She felt that, once across the Channel, she would be perfectly in her guardian's power, and the story of a month's trip might be really only a blind. Young ladies, who had b?en even less imprudent than herself, had been coaxed ^ into convents, and expiated their incaution by life-long imprisonment in a human menagerie. Was it possible that the admiral had some intention of this kind, and proposed to return and take possession of her fortune, leaving her to the uncovenanted mer- cies of a Lady Superior? Vague and childish as were these alarms, they were sufficient to induce her, at any risk, to put her scheme ef escape into immediate execution. This was Monday. On Thursday the admi- ral had proposed to leave Riverwood, and take the early train from St. Mark's to London. " Wednesday must bo my day," thought Helen, and proceeded to remark how very pleasant it all would be, and to wonder when they might expect to find themselves in Paris. Upon the whole this sudden arrangement seemed rather in her favor. Her plans were already matured; her summer-house-hidden disguise complete ; and the bustle of preparation would probably render her task all the more easy. 91 FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. Nor was it without a sensation of mischievous ' gage debt," began Mr. Twick, a jolly-looking, delight that she reflected upon the strange con- chestnut-colored man of five-and-forty, with a stcrnation which would follow her sudden and curly head. "And half a year's interest, less inexplicable disappearance at such an unlucky income-tax, is seventy-three, two, six. You moment ; and upon the fine unpacking which i had a fancy, sir, Clover tells me, for the money would have to take place in the morning. in cash so I've brought you three thousand- Wednesday arrived at last; and although, to pounders. Not every day one has the chance do Helen justice, she had never for one moment of handling a thoujpnd-pound note. Pretty wavered in her determination, or allowed her paper, isn't it?" mind to flinch from the enterprise, it must be I "Ha, ha!" growled the admiral. "You've confessed that, as the hour drew near, her ex- had your laugh against me as 3 - ou came along, citcment became almost uncontrollable. She I'll be bound. But money is money, Mr. had determined to get away, if possible, about Twick, and if you'd lost what I've lost by trust- half-past five o'clock, which would enable her ing to banks and clerks and all that sort of to reach the railway station shortly after sunset; humbug, you'd do as I do keep a strong box but, as the story of her travels belongs to of your own. Give you a week to see your way another department of these pages, I shall at through that door," added he, glancing over his present say no more of her movements than is j shoulder at the Ark. "Now you want a absolutely necessary. Fortunately for her, the house was in that outrageous state of bustle and disorder which commonly precedes a journey upon the part of people altogether new to road and rail, and which is so highly amusing to seasoned okl stagers like ourselves. Still more fortunately, Mr. Salterton happened to be just receipt, I suppose, ha?" " And your execution of this reconveyance, please," replied Mr. Twick, spreading his deed upon the table ; " and then Clover and I will look over my client's documents together. This is the parcel ?" "Those are the deeds, sir, as I received them. then absent, upon a month's holiday. To have j Probably you will attest my signature. I de- taken leave of him under the circumstances liver this as my act and deed. Is all square, would have been more than embarrassing to sir, ha?" Helen. It would have been impossible. She had, as you may imagine, been at Mrs. All right, sir." And the admiral, after having carefully scanned the three thousand- Mortlake's beck and call during the whole of- pound notes, and compared their numbers with the forenoon. The good lady hated the pro- jected journey more than can be told ; and what with providing against every possible con- tingency, and anticipating every conceivable disaster, gave one the idea of a person booked for the moon, and laying in traveling-stock at short notice by the light of nature. In fact Helen was called away from an agonizing dis- cussion as to the best method of economizing a list handed to him by Mr. Twick, enclosed them in a great red leather pocket-book ; and placing it upon one of the iron shelves of the Ark, shut the door with a bang which made the room shake. " Safe investment," observed Mr. Clover with a slimy smile. "So I fancy, at all events," returned the admiral dryly. " For the present, at least. I space, as presented in the empty skull of a huge i have been advised to give matters a few weeks' imperial, by a summons from her guardian to his study below. She had been sent for to rummage among the book-shelves for an old road-book, or "itinera- ry," of Northern France, which he had some turn before making the reinvestment which I purpose. Things are going down in the city." " There was a wonderful safe, shown at the exhibition of '62, by a man from Cork," re- marked Mr. Twick, sorting his papers. "You idea would be of use to them in their expedition. I should have seen it, admiral. You locked the But while spendingagood deal of time upon her door, and then dropped the keys into a little knees to no purpose, the front door bell sud- slit in the lid, which shut up of itself snap ! denly rang, and " Mr. Clover and Mr. Twick" and there you were, safe as a church." were announced as visitors. "How the devil did you get it open again?" "Don't go," said the admiral sharply, as inquired Mr. Clover, without taking his eyes off Helen rose to leave the room. "Find the ' the table. Mr. Clover was a stubborn man of book first, at all events, or we shall start with- out it to a certainty. Ha ! Good-evening, Clover. I am happy to see you, Mr. Twick." It was evident that business of some sort was about to be transacted, for a broad new parch- ment deed, crackling like a bonfire, was unfold- ed by Mr. Twick, and the admiral produced a bundle of brown documents upon his part from the recesses of the iron Ark. And then, bis- business, and beyond a joke. "Ah! that's just what lost him a medal. The jury askedjthe very same question. Un- lucky, wasn't it ?" "Can you and Clover stay and drink a bot- tle of port?" interposed the admiral. "We dine at seven." "Thank you, impossible! I have to be in London again to-night. Directly I've looked cuits and sherry were rung for, and an animated over these deeds of my client's with Clover, I conversation took place, the purport of which must be off to St. Marks, and catch the six was not clear to Helen. " Three thousand pounds, we make the mort- o'clock up train, if I can." " Sorry for it. You shall give me a cast to FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 93 St. Marks in your carriage, if you will. I have a matter to attend to there, which I quite forgot this morning. We are off to the Continent, all of us, to-morrow. Helen, tell Mrs. Mortlake where I've gone, and ask her to put off dinner. I shall be back by half-past seven to a second." This was all in Helen's favor. Her guardian would be out of the way, which was one good thing ; while, by suppressing the message to his wife, a great deal of bewilderment and mystifi- cation would be introduced at the critical mo- ment, which was still better. For the admiral was a rigidly punctual man in the matter of his meals. All sailors are so by habit. And to find him missing at dinner-time, would be almost enough to throw her own disappearance into the shade, and make his wife believe that chaos was come again. The examination of the papers lasted some quarter of an hour, during which the admiral retired into an adjoining dressing-room to change his coat. At last the documents were pro- nounced satisfactory, and stuffed by Mr. Twick into his great black leather bag. Another glass of sherry was filled all round to clench the busi- ness, and in two minutes more the post-chaise was clattering through the lodge gates. Helen looked at her watch. It was twenty minutes past five. " Now or never !" thought she, and was just leaving the room, when a sud- den idea struck her.* It was one of those pre- sentient impulses, which have occurred to most of us at some period of our lives, and of which it is impossible to give any reasonable account. She walked straight into her guardian's dress- ing-room, and examined the coat which he had just taken off. Ajingle in the breast-pocket, in which she had observed him deposit the keys of the Ark, rewarded her curiosity. They were actually there ! clean forgotten, and left behind ! Oh, man of Cork, you should have had this tale to tell, when the jurors waxed so foolishly funny over your invincible strong box. With light, deliberate step, Helen proceeded to the Ark, unlocked it, and put the red leather book into her dress-pocket. She then refasten- ed the door, replaced the keys exactly where she had found them, gave one glance round the room, and was gone. I don't know that I am bound to account for every action which I may happen to have to re- cord. What on earth could have possessed her, if I may be allowed "the vulgarism, to carry off these bank notes, passes my comprehension al- together. Whether it was a mild access of kleptomania which, however, is commonly sup- posed to molest ladies under circumstances to which she had no pretension ; whether she in- distinctly fancied that she was securing a "ma- terial guarantee" for the restoration of thus much of her fortune, at all events ; whether it was sheer mischief, such as prompts the Gazza Ladra to make away with silver spoons, which are useless and out of place in her rubbishy nest, I have not the smallest idea. My conjecture, were I bound to conjecture at all, would be, that she was simply bent upon making the greatest row possible, and forcing on, at all hazards, a general explanation. Felony was certainly a strong measure ; but a young lady who has been wronged, and is bent upon righting herself, is not apt to stick at trifles. Certainly, if she could only have been invisi- bly present at Riverwood that evening, her sat- isfaction ought to have been unbounded. She had been missed, almost immediately aft- er her departure, by the eve^-watchful Crimp, who lost no time in informing Mrs. Mortlake of her suspicions. For a long time that lady was perfectly in- credulous, and stubbornly refused to see any thing remarkable in the story. Miss Flcetlands was somewhere about the place, she was certain perhaps in the shrubbery, the garden, or the stables, and would re-appear in due time. Crimp was talking nonsense ! But when another half hour had passed away, and Helen was still unaccounted for, she was obliged to confess that it was a strange business altogether. A rigid examination of her bed- room only made matters more perplexing than ever. There was her trunk, half packed, just as Crimp had left it in the morning. Her toilet- table was exactly as usual. Not one single ar- ticle even so much as a brush or comb had been removed. Not one iota of wearing appar- el was missing from its proper place. That she had run away, seemed out of the question. Run away, without any thing but what she actually carried upon her back ! But where in the world could she be ? " May have made away with herself, you see, mum," suggested Crimp, adopting an explana- tion of absence which always suggests itself to waiting-maids. " My aunt's mother, mum, drowned herself, fourteen years come Michael- mas, with nothing on but a strong calico che- mise ; and she having to walk four miles, too, to get to the water; and, what's more, was carried eleven miles down stream before she was swal- lowed up leastways, it was that distance before, she was hooked out of the river by a strange gentleman in a morriing punt, if you'll believe me, mum, and she not able to swim no more than me, which is the most amazing and fabu- lous part of it all." "Nonsense!" replied her mistress. "La- dies don't make away with themselves." "Then she may be pursuing of her captain, mum, in a po-chay and pair, which, to my mind, she is morally doing at this solemn moment.'* As .Captain Hunsdon happened to be just then in the very middle of the Bay of Biscay, this supplementary suggestion was repressed with equal brevity. " I wish your master were nthomc," groaned Mrs. Mortlake. " I wonder what keeps him out on this particular evening !" " Lassy me, mum ! Well, I thought of course you knew. The admiral, mum, set out of his own accord, an hour ago or more, in a glass conch with two lawyers Lawyer Clover and another, 96 FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. and drove right away down the St. Mark's Road. Quite fearful fast they went, mum." Mrs. Mortlake started at the news. Not of course that she supposed he had eloped himself, and smuggled off Helen, disguised as a couple of solicitors ; but his going without leaving word appeared exceedingly strange, and things seem- ed to be tumbling into confusion around her, like the difficulties of a dream. " I can not understand it," she gasped at last, subsiding into an arm-chair. " Crimp, let no- bod)- in the house suppose that Miss Helen is not in her room. Go about exactly as usual. The admiral will certainly be home by dinner- time. He will know what to do. At least I hope so !" But when dinner-time arrived and passed, and the admiral was as scarce as his- ward, she really felt that if the floor were to open under her it would be more vexatious than surprising in such a bewildering bouleversement. Her husband returned at last, and entered his study alone, by the garden door. He had already missed his precious keys, and was annoyed to the last degree at his own carelessness. Hastily lighting a candle, he plunged into his dressing- room, and was gratified by hearing their clink in his coat pocket. To unlock the Ark, and ascertain that all was secure, was the work of a second. Imagine, if you can, his blast of rage and execration at the sight of the empty shelf! It was something too terrible for description. His face turned absolute indigo ; and if he hadn't torn open his necktie, to let the oaths out, he would certainly have burst upon the spot. Who the thief could have been he couldn't form the slightest conjecture ; but oh, my goodness, if he could only have caught him, then and there ! "Gone gone, ma'am!" he shouted, as his wife came hurrying into the room. " Gone, since I left home, not two hours ago !" " Isn't it dreadful ?" exclaimed Mrs. Mortlake, thinking, of course, that he referred to Helen. " What in the world will become of us ? Where did you see her last?" " In this confounded safe, ma'am ; locked up with this infernal key ! I left it in my pocket, like a fool as I am, when I went across to St. Mark's and'look there !" pointing to the empty shelf. " Why, surely you never locked her up there when you went out!" cried the lady, looking horrified in her turn. " What an awful thing to do !" ' ' Of course I did ! What else do yon suppose safes are made for? And why the plague do you keep on calling it ' her,' like a Welsh wom- an ?" retorted the admiral, thundering with rage. " I'm talking of Helen !'' shrieked the lady. " And I'm talking of a red leather pocket- book, with three thousand-pound notes in it! What about Helen ? She's not gone too is she ?" Avigorous explanation followed, duringwhich each party endeavored to throw the blame of the young lady's disappearance upon the other, with | the result usual in such cases. The mystery of j the pocket-book was however cleared up at once. | It was morally certain that Helen must have taken it, and almost equally so that it would some day or other be accounted for. Indeed the admiral leaned to the belief that she had only removed it out of sheer mischief, and hidden it somewhere about the place, not a very wel- come piece of pleasantry, by the bye, considering its contents. As regarded Helen herself, he at once formed a conjecture which, although incorrect in fact, was plausible enough at the time. He fancied that some deep-laid scheme, at the instigation of Captain Hunsdon, was at the bottom of the whole affair. Somebody had driven by in a carnage, according to previous arrangement, and picked Helen up ; while, probably through some misunderstanding as to the time, or in the confusion of the moment, she had been unable to make the slightest preparation for her journey. That, he fancied, would account for what was otherwise inexplicable, and instantly addressed himself to active measures. Applauding Mrs. Mortlake for her previous discretion, and desiring her upon no account to allow the truth to be known in the house, but to say that Miss Fleetlands had gone to bed .with a severe headache, and was to be kept quiet, as the only chance of being able to start in the morning, he sent a servanfcoff at once, to procure the immediate re-attendance of Mr. Clover. In his note to that gentleman, he desired him to telegraph to London for a couple of detectives from Scotland Yard. In the mean time slops and dry toast were ordered up stairs for Helen, and the secret was kept with entire success. As may well be supposed, the conference be- tween the admiral and his solicitor, when the latter arrived about ten, was long and anxious. The predicament of the Chancery guardian of a runaway ward is never a nice one ; for the Court is apt to be horribly inquisitive in such cases, and to overhaul the unlucky custodian with a degree of acrimony which it would be difficult to exaggerate. In the present instance the admiral, who had no mind for another excur- sion to Lincoln's Inn, had determined upon one desperate course of proceeding not, as his legal adviser warned him, free from very serious risk, but still offering 'some chance of preserving ; Helen's name from the greatest possible scandal, ' and allowing her guardian, at the same time, to creep undetected out of a most awkward scrape. If, by any ingenuity, the servants could be so far imposed upon as to believe that the morrow's journey took place with Helen in company, the story of her indiscretion might possibly be con- cealed altogether. The detectives and Mr. Clover could obviously do their work just as well, during the admiral's absence, as if he were present at Riverwood ; while to break off the journey at the last moment, would be simply to invite every body's curiosity, and probably ensure the discov- ery of the truth within twenty-four hours. In the mean time, should Helen be recaptured, she FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 97 could be quietly conveyed to London, and her guardian telegraphed for at any moment. Noth- ing compromising need ever transpire ; and they must all take better care for the future. Such was the plan of operations which it was ultimately determined to adopt. The two ad- vertisements, which you may recollect already to have read, were at the same time sketched out by the admiral, and ' ' settled" by Mr. Clover. The first, you will remember, had reference to the bank notes. The amount represented by these securities was far too large to be trifled with. Whatever might have become of the pocket-book, its restoration was well worth the one hundred and fifty pounds offered, irrespect- ive of the fact that, if recovered at all, it might not improbably lead to some trace of Helen herself. The story of its having been lost upon the high road was merely a fable, intended to make matters easy, should it ever happen to turn up. The second, and descriptive, advertisement, which had so serious an effect upon poor Peters- feld, it was arranged should be suppressed until the detectives had had a fair run. Guarded as its terms intentionally were, they could scarcely fail to excite an undesirable amount of general curiosity. Besides, although the admiral would at the moment readily have paid down five hun- dred pounds, were that the only condition of having his ward safely back again, he winced exceedingly at the notion of handing over such a sum, so long as there was the faintest hope of obtaining his object at a less ruinous rate. Nothing at present remains but to describe the device by which the household were to be deluded into the belief that Helen was actually of the party next morning. It was the joint in- vention of Mrs. Mortlake and her maid, and as a specimen of what very superfine people might stigmatize as low cunning, may be recorded. Crimp, for her own part, undertook to leave Helen's room in such a state that no house-maid alive would suspect that she had not slept and bathed as usual. And in the mean time she carried so many messages down stairs from Miss Helen, that although to serve her was the delight of the servants' hall, people began to think her exacting. In the next place, a half-length figure, com- posed of air cushions, traveling wraps, and the like, was dressed up in Helen's hat and burnous in the admiral's room. ' When the carriage was at the door, and after Helen's trunk had been ostentatiously corded in the hall, it was easy enough to get the servants out of the way, while her bedroom door was thrown open, and the figure handed by Mrs. Mortlake and her maid into the farther corner of the carriage, instantly followed by the lady ; the admiral engaging the coachman's attention upon the opposite side. The transaction, taking place under the carriage portico, could not be criticised from the windows, which was an ad- vantage. In short, nothing could have been more successful. G Nobody had the slightest suspicion as how should they ? Tricks like these are easily play- ed when no one is upon the alert, or concerned in detecting them. Otherwise, you may de- ceive children and white mice, but not the fellow-creatures who live under your dining- room. What you know, they know : make up your mind to that. During the drive to St. Mark's, Helen's effigy was quietly dismantled ; and, while the.admiral talked to the driver, Mrs. Mortlake and Crimp walked into the station. That coachman, honest fellow, could and would have sworn, had need been, that he had driven a gentleman, two ladies, and a maid to the railway station upon that especial Thursday. Every servant at Riverwood would have abetted him in his involuntary perjury, and not only pledged his or her oath to the effect that Helen accompanied their master and mistress, but sworn that they saw her in the carriage. So much for humantestimony. It had been arranged that they should arrive at St. Mark's a little before the train started, in order to give the admiral time for a flying in- terview with Mr. Clover. In that gentleman's office he found the two detectives, just arrived from Lomlon, looking as like conjurers as they could, and asking questions with rich gravity like medical men. And here let me assure you that you will hear no jnore of these worthies. I never yet encountered a detective in a story who was not about as much like the original as an average Englishman is to. the John Bull of a Paris novelist. I declare that sooner than meet with such a character in a friend's book, I would find one under my own bed. It was then settled, for reasons hinted at in the outset, that instead of inserting the names of Mr. Clover's London agents Messrs. Talbot & Castle in the advertisement, Mr. Blossshould be the person to receive applications, and pay the reward, if claimed. It was Mr. Bloss, if yon remember, who, a great many years ago, prepared the will which made Colonel Fleetlands a millionaire ; who wrote, upon old Ncttleton's death, to apprise him of his good fortune ; and who had actually re- ceived Helen herself at Southampton, upon her first landing in England. Naturally, as Nct- tleton's solicitor, he had been concerned with Talbot & Castle in the administration of the estate, and seemed the fittest person to fix upon for the above purpose. It was hastily arranged, at the same time, that the Mortlakes should, by every jncans in their power, while abroad, keep up the delusion that Helen was in their company. It would be as well, for instance, always to keep a room in her name at hotels write messages home in which she should be mentioned, etc., etc. But there was then no leisure for details. And so, while the flag waves, and the whistle screams, and the train glides from the platform, let us allow the curtain 16 descend upon the Second Act of our drama. FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. CHAPTER XXVII. I DON'T mind telling that this is the first time I ever found myself in the thick of a big story, like the present. It has grown, in the telling, to a length which I never intended, and, like certain unruly plants, may not have grown quite as straight as I could wish. When I undertook, some chapters back, to make all square, by bringing my account of Helen down to the time at which Petersfeld thought fit to set out in pursuit of her, I little expected to drift away down- stream, till our friend, and all be- longing to him, dropped clean out of sight. No matter now. What is writ is writ : and critics must live. Let us, however, return for one mo- ment to the Albany. We left Petersfeld, if you recollect, in about the most dismal pickle in which a man could well find himself. Dunned by his tailor, with- out a penny to pay, and accepted by a young lady to whom he ha'd never proposed, there was only one thing to be done. Tearing Mr. Bags's letter and Linda's delicate little note severally into a thousand pieces, and confounding the writers with fierce impartiality, he hastily packed his portmanteau, sent for a hansom, and set off at once for St. Mark's-on- the-Sea. It was a pleasant place to stay at. Mr. Maldon and his wife were civil and socia- ble ; and, now that it was clear that Miss Fleet- lands had not traveled with her friends to the Continent, there was no reason why he should not resume his search in good earnest. The inveterate dislike which all young Englishmen feel to being baffled, awoke with fresh force in his mind ; and he vowed that, this time, it should go hard, but he would succeed. You may have forgotten, and are forgiven !f you have, .that I myself, John Worsley, so far from being a mere narrator of other people's deeds, am an actor upon the boards. Indeed, now I think of it, I don't see why I should not have made a good deal more of my own part from the very beginning. There is, however, no. help for it now. On my return from the country house where I had been spending my Easter vacation, I lost no time in calling at Paul's chambers in the Al- bany, to hear, if possible, the latest news of his adventures. But I found his outer door closed, and at the entrance-lodge I got no farther information than that Mr. Petersfeld had left some days previ- ously, in a hansom, saying that he was going abroad. Returning to Lincoln's Inn, the first person I chanced to encounter, in crossing New Square, was Mr. Buttermere himself, in his wig and gown. Directly he saw me, he shouted rather than called, ' ' Worsley Worsley ! I want to see you at my chambers, immediately, if "you please !" He had just come out of court, and was evi- dently desperately busy, with more than one con- sultation-party waiting for him in his anteroom. But he snubbed .his clerk for reminding him of the fact, with a fiery brusqucrie which was quite alarming, and bidding him get the gentlemen to wait, led the way into his own room, and de- sired me to take a seat. " Now, Worsley," he began, flinging his wig upon the table, " I want to know what has be- come of your friend Petersfeld." "Unfortunately, that is -just. the question which I am unable to answer. I have this mo- ment called at his rooms in the Albany, and found them closed. The porters ^ell me that he left, saying he was going abroad, some days ago. Beyond that, I know nothing whatever of his movements. As to where he may be at present I have not even a conjecture." " Went abroad !" exclaimed Mr. Buttermere, who was fast losing his temper. " That's ex- actly what I was told myself. Worsley, do you mean to pledge me your honor, as a gentleman, that you don't know where he is ?" " I have already told you all I know on the subject," returned I. "I suppose you do not require me to pledge my honor to 'that state- ment?" " But, confound you ! I beg your pardon, I mean confound him I thought you lived to- gether. At all events, you told me so, and you came to my house one night to dinner together. Worsley, you see that I am annoyed, very seri- ously annoyed, indeed. Here's this young fellow been making all sorts of love to my youngest daughter Linda, you know and sent her all manner of letters and presents besides ; and now, in one moment, I'm to be told he's gone abroad ! Gone abroad, indeed ! without a word to her or to me, or to any of us. Of course the poor child is terribly cut up. That infernal Mrs. Springletop has been spreading the news of her engagement all over London, and boast- ing that she managed it all. I only wish to Heaven that something unholy would fly away with her ! Gone abroad, indeed ! This won't do, you knowl" I had never suspected that the smooth, creamy tones peculiar to Mr. Buttermere, could have been exchanged for accents so ferocious, or ca- pable of a clinching malediction, which it would be irregular to produce in print. "I am quite certain," I replied, after a mo- ment's pause, " that my friend Petersfeld is per- fectly incapable of trifling with the affections of any young lady. That he should have done so in the case of your daughter, whom he met' at your own table, is; to me, simply incredible. Of course I am not going to suggest an explana- tion in his absence. But that you have mistaken his conduct altogether, and are bringing a very needless charge against him, I would stake my existence. I am satisfied that when he turns ' up as he is certain to do before long he will be able to justify himself." " Satisfied, indeed ! It is I who have to be satisfied; and as to justification, he shall justify himself, by George! or I'll know the reason why ! Worsley, I now give you a message for FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 99 him personally, and I call upon you to deliver it." " Mr. Buttermere, nothing has ever passed between us to warrant you in making me your messenger in this peremptory manner. If you like to entrust any communication to me, I will convey it to Petersfeld, next time I see him. If not, you will probably allow me to withdraw from an unpleasant conversation, respecting mat- ters with which I have nothing whatever to do." For a minute at least Buttermere looked at me with a steady mistrustful gaze, drawing his hand slowly over his chin. Then he took a sheet of note-paper from the stand before him, and began to write. Then he suddenly stopped short, and offering his hand, said : " Worsley, you must excuse me. I have be- haved confoundedly ill. But Linda was my pet my darling. Worsley, what I have to say can equally well go by the post. Good-bye. I am sorry that you should have seen me make such a fool of myself." There was something to me inexpressibly touching in the emotion of my old friend, whom I had always regarded as the rcry impersonation of easy and unchangeable good humor. Alas, there is in- this world as Lambro, that famous sea-solicitor discovered in his day many " A deep grief, Beyond a single gentleman's beliefc" Especially among people who have daughters to marry. " If you will send your letter to our chambers, Mr. Buttermere," I rejoined, "you may de- pend upon it that Petersfeld shall receive it within an hour after I meet him in town. In any event, the moment I ascertain his where- abouts, he shall be informed that it is awaiting him, and demands his instant attention. Good- bye, sir." "Good-bye, Worsley, Will you tell my clerk as you pass, that I am disengaged, and de- sire him to show in the first consultation? Good-bye." It occurred to me, before I reached Stone Buildings, that there was at least a possibility of Paul's beating up his old quarters, at the St. Mark's Bay Hotel. In short, it seemed so far from unlikely, that I wrote him a short note there, mentioning in a few words, the subject of the interview which I had just held, as well as the letter which awaited him, and strongly advising him to return to London at once. In point of fact, as you already know, Peters- fold, so far from having gone abroad, was all this time indulging himself in economical re- tirement at that sequestered watering-place, little suspecting the trouble which ho was giv- ing his friends. He found his good-natured host and hostess, Mr. and Mrs. Maldon, in excellent health and spirits. The weather was fine, and the season had opened well. There was more than one visitor in the coffee-room, and business was go- ing on, and the private apartments going off, at a rate of which nobody could complain. Paul had a grand scheme in his head for re- commencing his search after Helen, and the very day after his arrival took the precaution | of dropping a line to Mr. Bloss, to inquire if ! he was quite sure that she was still at large. An answer by return of post, brought him Mr. Bloss's compliments, and an assurance that the five hundred pounds still remained un- claimed. It began to strike him, however, before he ! had been more than a day or two in the hotel, j that although nobody could be more civil or at- I teative than were Mr. Maldon and his wife, there was something in their manner not altogeth- er as cordial as before. Nothing is more difficult to analyze than the conduct of our acquaintance, when, for some undisooverable reason, we are obliged to suspect that they like us less than for- merly. In Paul's case, the change in their be- havior, although utterly indescribable in words, was sufficiently marked to occasion him both annoyance and surprise. His landlord, however, was not a man to keep things to himself, or to expend needless curiosi- ty upon his customers for want of asking ques- tions. So, a few days after Paul's arrival, dur- ing a conversation respecting rifle-practice and volunteering in general, he suddenly broke ground. " Seen Mr. Tobacco to-day, sir?" he inquired mysteriously. "Seen whom?" retorted Paul, puzzled. "Oh, I recollect. The dirty little rascal you told me was a spy. Not I ! By the way, it's odd enough, but, do you know, the day I left your house last, he got into the train after me followed me all the way to London Bridge Sta- tion and saw me off to Paris ! " "I know he did," remarked Mr. Maldon gravely, and with an oracular nod. "Come, come, my good friend, what the deuce is the matter with you ? Tell us what you mean, and have done with it. Only don't cock your head, and say 'I knew it,' like a bully at the Old Bailey." "Beg your pardon, sir, I'm sure," replied Mr. Maldon, with the air of a man unwilling to give offense " but the trouble seems to be about those notes, sir ; ns you must surely know." "Troubje! What trouble? What notes? My good friend, pray don't equivocate, but speak your mind at once, if you've got one." "Well then, sir; as wo were saying in this very parlor you and me and Mrs. Maldon to- gether, not so many evenings back there were three Thousand Pound notes lost by Admiral Mortlake of Riverwood over yonder, in a red leather pocket-book. Well, those notes were not only advertised, ef course, to be brought to the bank here, but two chaps inspectives, de- tectors, or whatever one should call them were sent down from London, just to rout out, as we understood, all about these bank notes, and makb plain, as it were, why they didn't turn up. And a precious lot of questions they ask- ed, to be sure ; as much about Miss Helen as 100 FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. the notes, so I hear ns if she was likely to have found them, poor young lady. Well, at last they went away, leaving word that it was all most uncommonly odd. ' No need to come all the way from London to tell us that,' says we. Well, and when they went away, they left that little prowling chap behind them, what for I don't know. Always drinking at the ' Six Bells,' close by the bank, he is. Well, sir, and when you went into the bank t'other morn- ing, and asked Mr. Crackleton, the manager, quite sudden, and as it were sagacious, about these very notes ; and told him to take the conse- quences, and all that sort of thing, if he didn't let out all he knew before you left the counter, why Mr. Crackleton, very naturally, I mean for him, took it into his head that he should like to know a little who yon might be thinking you wouldn't likely have asked the question just for the mere fun of the thing. I'm only telling you, sir, simply what I hear, you know, and, what with being church-warden, and all that, I naturally do hear a good deal of what goes on up at St. Mark's. And so, as I couldn't and shouldn't have thought of giving Mr. Crackleton any information about you, sir, even if, in fact, I'd had any to give, and wouldn't hear him mention the matter twice over, what does he do but set this chap, Tobacco, to dodge about here, rfnd track you all the way right up to London, till he could lay the regulars on, don't you see? That's what he was up to. Only you gave him the slip. That you did ! They never expected you were going foreign, not they, and didn't find him money enough for that sort of travel. Be- sides, ho can't talk FreHch, of course, or any thing over the way ; npt even if he kept sober on purpose to try. So you got away, don't you see ? I'm told he cried like a, pump, all over the platform, directly the train started." " Go on," retorted Paul, severely. " Well sir ever since you've been back here, I've noticed him as it were snuffing about after you. He ain't a pleasant follower to have about one, is he? He asked me a question or two, only last night; and said it might be worth a ten-pound note to him yet, to keep his eye on "yon." "I don't know what he values his eye at. Under ten pounds, I hope. Go on." ' ' Well, that's about all, sir. I'm sure I've meant no offense. I'm sure it's all quite right. I've made Mrs. Maldon quite clear as to that, sir. She's of the same mind as I am. I know it's all right, sir. I'll take my oath to that, as soon as you like. Pray, sir, name something that I can have the pleasure of doing for you." " If you will have the goodness to let my bill be made out within ten minutes, I shall be obliged." Poor Mr. Maldon ! He was absolutely un- conscious of having done wrong. He had been a little inquisitive to be sure ; and had told Paul, unasked, what other people had said of him. And yet he fancied that he was either very roughly treated, or that Paul must be a per- fect Claude Duval. So little was he versed in mankind. Still, it is only justice to Paul to observe that, great as the provocation may have been, it was aggravated in the sudden overthrow of his grand scheme, which was thenceforth out of the question. To go gossiping and ferreting about, with Me. Tobacco at his heels doing as much for him, would be too ridiculous. Be- sides, it could end in nothing less than homi- cide. It occurred to him, to be sure, that he might go to the bank and explain, once for all, who he was, and what little good could come of dogging him. But the obvious retort would be "You may be, as you say, Mr. Petersfeld of the Albany, and we are quite willing to be- lieve you respectable : but what made you ask that extraordinary question about the bank notes ? What business was it of yours ? You must hare had some reason. Satisfy us as to that, and we will let you alone and welcome." And what answer was it possible for him to give ? To tell the truth was out of the ques- tion, while to invent an excuse, even if such in- genuity couldhave been justifiable, w>as altogeth- er beyond his power. It was a severe blow. Was this to be the end of all his vaunted energy and resolution, of which we heard so much at first starting ? Shouldering his knapsack, and informing his conscience-stricken host that, under the circum- stances of the case, it was impossible that he should prolong his sojourn at St. Mark's Bay, he marched straight for the railway station. What he meant to do whether to return to town at once, and send for the tailor and Linda to divide him between them, or how otherwise to dispose of himself, he had not made up his mind. In short, he not only didn't know where he was going, but, what is more remarkable, it is quite certain that the fact never will be known. For, on his way up the long straggling street already described, and when just opposite the " Six Bells," there came a loud cheery shout fro'm a small, stout man, who had just mounted a copper-colored-pony before the door. "Hoy! I sav, sir, how d'ye do how d'ye do?". "Well, much as usual, thank ye!" replied Paul, taking the friendly inquiry for market chaff. ' ' Remember mejdndly when you get home!" "No, but, hoy! hang it! Stop, won't you, Mr. I forget your name ?" " Why', you, Mr. Bunny tail !" Paul was one of those lucky people who nev- er seem to confuse names or faces, and have the former always handy for use. " Thank ye, sir, I'm sure, for recollecting me. It was at Master Buttermere's we met last, wasn't it? Something like a blow out, that was ! Will you come across and see ns, sir, now that you're close by ? Make my good lady as happy as a Princess Royal, that would. You'll do it, won't you ?" FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 101 Mr. Bunnytail called his fat wife his good lady, and revered her as a bloated aristocrat, in consequence of her connection with the But- termeres. To be redolent of Harley Street, was rank and precedence at Bunnytail Bottom. There was no reason in the world why Paul should not accept the good-natured invitation. His time was his own, and Bunnytail Bottom as good a base of operations as St. Mark's-on- the-Sea. Better, in fact. Indeed, this meeting seemed a piece of unusual good luck. " Do you really mean, Mr. Bunnytail, that you would offer me a night's lodging ? I was just on my way to catch the next train for Lon- don ; at least, that would have been the end of it, for I've had about enough of St. Mark's. But I'll leave London alone for to-day, and pay you and Mrs. Bunnytail a visit with the great- est possible pleasure." " Come, that's kind now ! Lodging for the night, indeed !" exclaimed the farmer, who ab- sorbed ideas gradually, and to whom a moder- ately long sentence was worse traveling than a ploughed field. " Lodging for the night ? that's good ! That would be a joke, indeed, wouldn't it ? Say three weeks, Master Peters- feld say a month. The longer the better. That's to say if you should be spared so long ; as it's hardly reasonable to hope you will." "Spared so long!" echoed Petersfeld. "I hope I'm not on my last legs yet ! Not got any thing infectious down your way, I hope. No cholera ?" "Lord love you, no ! 'Twasn't that sort of sparing I meant. But if somebody that I mustn't name, I suppose leastways, only as Venus, as my good lady would say could only spare you, I'll be bound we won't quarrel about any thing till you come to speak about starting. My good lady, down yonder, has talked of noth- ing but you for the last two days and mor6 ; nothing whatever." " Talked of me ! Very kind of her, I'm sure. Why she should have taken the trouble to rec- ollect my name at all, is more than I can im- agine." "Eh?" exclaimed the farmer, with a tre- mendous wink. "Quite fay-, sir, quite fair; ha, ha, ha ! But now let's see. Out with the filly directly, Joe, and claj> the new saddle on. Dust her down, Joe, and look alive. And then, Joe, you step over to the Bottom with this gent's knapsack. That's about the time of day, sir! Won't my good lady be proud and happy," con- tinued he, looking at Petersfeld with the sort of honest pride which comes over anglers when they regard a twenty-four pound salmon fairly landed on the grass. Just at that moment the postman passed, and handed my letter to Petersfeld. " For you, I think, sir ? It's directed to the St. Mark's Bay Hotel. I believe you were staying there." " Quite right, thank you. Oh, from Wors- ley, I see. Wonder what the old boy's found to write about!" And Paul thrust the note, unopened, into bis breastpocket, for he was ex- tremely curious to know what Mr. Bunnytail meant. "Aye, she's talked of you, off and on," re- sumed the farmer, as they jogged along down a by-street, ''ever since that day she met you at the Zoological Gardens, you recollect, and you sent her home half-seas over with cherry bounce. Ever since that famous dinner at Master But- termere's, when wo spoke, I remember, about that handsome young woman as had run away, and was going to be rewarded if any body could find her. I'm not much of a reader, myself, and I never saw the story in print. Not found yet, sir, I suppose, is she?" " Not that I'm aware of. By the way, Mr. Bunnytail, you told me, if I was lucky enough to find her myself, to bring her to Bunnytail Bottom." " So I did, sure enough, and so IMo. What I mean, I say, Mr. Petersfeld, and what I say, I mean. And welcome you are to do it any day. Ah, yes : now I recollect the whole story. She ran away because she didn't want to stay at home wasn't that it? And they offered a re- ward for her persecution. More shame for them, I say. Oh, yes. You bring her to Bun- nytail Bottom, and let's see if they'll persecute her there. Not while I've a cart-whip and a horse-pond on the premises. She'll be quite company for you, Mr. Petersfeld, won't she ? Oh, no! Bless me I forgot. That would never do now, would it?" "Really, Mr. Bunnytail, you are determined to puzzle me. Come, that's no use ! You might wink your eye out without making me any the wiser. And, if your're bent upon poking me off my horse with that big whip of yours why, do it at once, and get it over." " Eh?" chuckled the farmer, who was mani- festly laboring under that tremendous amount of internal pressure characteristic of pastoral badinage. " Quite fair, sir, quite fair ! ha, ha, ha!" As there is nothing to which even the most good-natured people, who have not been brought up to it, feel a more wholesome aversion than waggery of this description, Paul changed the subject as soon as possible, and their talk ran upon bullocks and barley, all the way to Bunny- tail Bottom. CHAPTER XXVIII. I AM not going to put your patience to the test by any labored description of the agricultu- ral retreat, which for little le'ss than a century had been the modest castle of Clan Bunnytail. I will only say that the first coup d"ccially when invoked as a simple consonant, ho pre- pared for the worst. Hoping something, per- haps, from a little experimental demonstration, he began by backing against his parlor door, and saying "Wo ho!" like a carter. " Come, come, my good friends, all this is foolish. You don't think you are going to arrest me, I suppose. Why not part without quarrel- ling, if wo can ? Mr. Bunnytail, you appear 10-t FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. to be trying to sit down, which is impossible upon a perpendicular surface. Hadn't you better come back to your chair ?" " B. ! why don't you seize him, before he escapes ?" cried the good lady, at the top of her voice. "Madam, because I'm not so sure he'd let me loose again," replied her husband, brushing the wall behind him in all directions, with his eyes fixed on Petersfeld, like a comet with tail turned away from th,e sun. "My nephey's blood's up. I can see that. Now, look here, you two ! Can't we see a cool and kindly way out of all this ? So long as nephey likes to stay with us here, and the longer the better say we both, why not promise to say nothing to no- body ? Why should we? So long as he's safe to hand, where 's the good of driving on matters ? They'll come all right in the end, I'll be bound. He's not up to the mark at present, madam, our nephey ain't. That's clear as the day. Look at him. Lean as a tree, with no red about him anyhow. Let me feed him up here for a fortnight, and he'll take off his hat to him- self in a glass, that he will ! He's pining now : nothing else. Won't be fit for trussing forever so long. Come, madam, what do you say ?" After considerable discussion, Mrs. Bunny- tail was induced to promise that, so long as Paul chose to consider himself as one of the family at Bunnytail Bottom, and made no attempt to elope without warning, she would refrain from denouncing him to her sister in Harley Street. Not that she gave her consent without mis- givings of the most complicated description, which were all volubly reviewed for Paul's benefit. But her husband, who, to do him justice, was animated by all good feeling, and actuated by considerable good sense, ultimately carried his point. As for Paul, he certainly was to be pitied. The humiliation of being pounced upon by a farmer's wife, and finding himself after capture a sort of prisoner on parole, was a horrible absurdity, But what was he to do ? Was he to allow himself to be driven out of the house, as he had been out of the St. Mark's Bay Hotel, by his own over-sensitiveness, and roam the country like a wandering Jew? Was he to permit this disastrous woman to write what she liked of him to the Buttermeres, and not only keep the dreadful question alive, but perhaps render any satisfactory solution impossible? Was he to give up his pursuit altogether, and return to Stone Buildings a beaten man, with his character for energy disposed of altogether, in exchange for the consequences of a painful and deplorable blunder? He resolved to sacrifice every thing for a little breathing-time, and with very bad grace at must be confessed reaccepted the farmer's hospitality, and consented to make himself at home at Bunnytail Bottom. The preliminaries of peace thus settled, were ratified by the high contracting parties over a tea of tremendous proportions. Story-tellers are fond of making ill-natured fun of these rustic hospitalities, and describing the amount of home-made bread, reeking toast, and pig in all its phases, forced upon the distended and per- spiring guest. However, I can safely say that all descriptions which I ever read, fall short of a reality in which I was myself an actor. Probably I have got hold of the wrong word. I don't imagine that the Dean of Canterbury would allow a man to be an actor (active) who only sat impatiently still to be stuffed (passive). But I declare that I left the table with some thoughts of having myself stamped "proof," like a gun-barrel, since, after that, whatever may happen to me, I am certain never to burst. Next morning Petersfeld was called out of bed at cock-crow to behold the milking, and the whole forenoon was devoted to a grand in- spection of the farm and its belongings. Bunny- tail was delighted with his visitor, and made no secret of his contempt for the policy Avhich had cut up the making of a first-rate farmer, to manufacture nothing better than a limb of the law. Solomon, the bull, was first visited, praised and patted, and his various points of excellence, and noble pedigree, enlarged upon with unspar- ing eloquence. And once set going, Bunny- tail took care that Paul should know no rest, until he was almost as well acquainted with the stock and premises as he was himself. Like Farmer Philip in the idyl, taking our young friend remorselessly in tow, " He led him through the short sweet-smelling lanes Of his wheat suburb, babbling as he went. He praised his land, his horses, his machines; He praised his ploughs, his cows, his hogs, his doga ; He praised his hens, his geese, his guinea-hens ; His pigeons, who, in session on their roofs, Approved him, bowing at their own deserts. Then from the plaintive mother's teat he took Her blind and shuddering puppies, naming each." And so on, until another gluttonous bell an- nounced the hour of noon, and that the board was again covered, for more serious work than ever. Dinner over, Petersfeld was pleased to find his host and hostess retire to their respective arm-chairs, and begin to snore like a couple of old-fashioned giants. Availing himself of the welcome opportunity, he lost no time in turning out for a quiet stroll. "Oh, solitude, where are thy charms?" may have been the song of Alexander Selkirk. To any person undergoing a course of penal educa- tion upon the "separate system," the absolute immunity from interruption, and the liberty of pursuing, in consequence, any desirable train of thought to its utmost limit, may savor of what gormands deprecate as toujours perdrix. But as clothes to the cold, food to the famishing, sleep to the weary, and balm to broken heads, so is perfect loneliness to one who has been bored to extinction, and escaped as by a mira- cle. We seem to drift idly on, through sheets of delicious calm, and the very sensation of ex- istence becomes, in itself, enjoyable. FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. But PetersfelJ had a great deal to think about. Now or never was the time to put into execution the grand scheme of which we have already heard. What this scheme was, I need hardly be at the trouble of telling you, for rea- sons which you will discover for yourself, before you have read five pages farther. I will only say that it was based upon the fact that, by his recent journey to Paris, he had ascertained, be- yond all possibility of doubt, that Helen had not left home with her friends, and that consequent- ly he felt himself released from all obligation to conduct his inquiries with the care and reticence which he had scrupulously observed while that question remained open. He knew, now, that something was wrong somewhere, and that peo- ple had been deliberately deceived. He there- fore -considered himself at liberty to act upon his own discretion, and cut, if he could, the knot which appeared so difficult to untie, with- out farther ceremony. Just at that moment, while rummaging for his cigar-case, he pulled out my still unopened letter. Its contents horrified him. Matters had been black enough before, but he had al- ways trusted that the misconception, as between himself and Linda, was one which Vould right itself easily enough, and that he might at least count upon Buttermere's practical good sense to view the matter in its proper light, should it ever become sufficiently serious to call for his attention. But to find that the latter had al- ready taken it up in such uncompromising ear- nest, was a frightful fact, and seemed for the moment to paralyze his energies altogether. So this was the result of that fatal advertise- ment ! Angry, irresolute, and in utter despair, he wandered for hours about the country, wonder- ing what was the best thing to be done. To rush off instantly to London, and ask my own advice, was his first impulse. To be sure, Mrs. Bunnytail would consider him a deserter, and send hue and cry after him by the evening post. But that was of little consequence, as matters stood. It might be more gracious, after all, to go back for his knapsack, and wish his late en- tertainers'a^proper good-bye. He had still plen- ty of time. ' It was but little after three o'clock, and it might be better not to arrive in London before dark. His meditations were interrupted, or rather his attention distracted, by finding that he had quifie inadvertently arrived at the boundary of the Riverwood estate. He had approached it, in fact, from a direction contrary to that which ho had previously taken, and his proximity was altogether a surprise. A low stone wall was all tli at separated him from the pleasure-grounds, and within little more than a hundred yards from the road he could distinguish the tftiy weathor-cock which surmounted Helen's sum- mer-house, veering and twinkling in the sun. Nothing could have been more disconcerting at the moment. "It is well," he growled, " that I should own myself a fool and an im- postor, upon this particular spot. I have thrown away both time and money in a pursuit which none but a lunatic would have undertaken, and I am justly punished by finding myself in a scrape of which goodness only knows the end. No matter ! I am awake at kst. I will clear my mind of the whole of this egregious business while I can. In that arbor I will stand and swear the most solemn oath I can think of to abandon this accursed chase forever, and tiy to be wiser through time to come. Energy, in- deed ! I hate the word. Mine has been the energy of Milo if the comparison isn't too pre- posterously in his favor. Let me only find my hands loose again, and Worsley may thraSh me like a donkey before I give another- kick with- out reason. As to this Miss Fleetlands," con- tinued he, striding leisurely over over her countenance ; there was nervousness and almost terror in every quick movement of her gloved hands. "We have just come in from driving," she said ; "I hope you have not been kept wait- ing?" I perceived that she spoke because she could not help saying something. The excitement of the moment was unendurable. I would have given any thing to have known how best to soothe it. I could only do my best. "I have not waited a moment. I have only just strolled down from Lincoln's Inn. I be- lieve, Miss Buttermere, that I am here to take a great weight off your mind ; at least, I sin- cerely hope so. I am here, at all events, upon the part of a friend of mine, to offer you the most submissive apology which man can make for having made your papa very angry, and yourself, I fear, very unhappy, 'by one unfortu- nate act of incaution. If he were not at this moment probably somewhere off Finisterre, I would bring him here to plead for himself." " Oh, no, no, no, Mr. Worsley. It is I who have done wrong. It is I who have made my- self unhappy. It is I who have spoiled my whole life, and learned what real misery is at once and forever. It is I who ought to ask his forgiveness ; it is, indeed. You don't know all, I am sure." " Pretty nearly so, I believe. It began with a conversation about a certain Miss Fleetlands, at your papa's dinner-table." "Yes yes. At least not exactly. I had made a most foolish wager with my sisters I did not know how very wrong it was and I led him to suppose that I knew something about that young lady. In reality I knew nothing only her name. I had happened to learn that by the merest chance. I have never ventured to say a word about this either to papa or mamma ; it would have made them so dread- fully angry. And a day or two afterward he wrote me a letter, and sent me a bank note. I* could not quite understand the letter; but I felt certain that the money was never intended for me." " You were quite right. Tfte twenty pounds was intended for his tailor. He put it into your envelope by mistake. It is just the sort of thing he is always doing." Linda fairly sobbed. " I see it all now. I see at last what I have done. Oh, why did I ever go to Mrs. Springletop ! She is a friend of mine, yon must know, Mr. Worsley ; and as misfortune would have it, I went to her to talk about the letter. I wanted advice, in short. Well, she persuaded me that it could only have one meaning, and made me lay out the money on an emerald snake-bracelet, and write and thank him for it, and so on ; and so it all came about. Oh, how dreadful it seems now. Is there any hope any help for me, do you think ?" "My dear Miss Buttermere, these little contretemps happen every day. We will put yours to rights at once. Your acquaintance FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 125 with our friend Petersfeld was, at all events, a very short one." " There was no acquaintance at all! That was what made the whole thing seem so fright- fully shocking. But, say what I would, I was always met by the same answer, that I was only a child, and that it was lucky I had people about me who knew how to manage affairs. I am so thankful to think it is all over. Will you take back the bracelet ? Pray do. I will fetch it directly." " You shall give it me presently. He would of course wish you to keep it ; but I agree with you that it had better be returned. That is the right course. And now, one word upon my friend's behalf. He is in such perfect despair at the annoyance which he has inflicted upon you, that he has actually left the country, and is at this moment upon his way to Egypt. He has thrown up his chances at the bar probably incensed his relations ; and will most certainly never come back until he feels that you have forgiven him." "Forgiven him, indeed! He must forgive me first ; or, rather, let me forgive and forget myself, which I can never do." "Upon my word, I never had such an im- practicable pair of penitents to deal with in all my life ! You're just as bad as he is. You both tell me you can't forgive yourselves, so I advise you to try what happens after forgiving each other. However, I shall now know what to say to him when I write by the next mail. Now, my dear Miss Buttermere, I took the liberty of asking for this interview in order that this foolish entanglement might be cleared up to yourself in the first instance. I was quite right you see. If Mr. or Mrs. Buttermere had known of the very innocent little trick which brought it all about, a good deal of trouble might have been saved. Every thing must now be explained to them, and you may take my word for it that they will be intensely relieved upon learning the whole truth. There really is nothing to be angry about, which is rather a pity, after all the fuss that has been made. Have I your permission to tell the whole story to your father?" "Papa has just come in," gasped Linda, in a choking voice. "I heard his footstep in the hall." " Capital. Then we will get the business over in no time. Allow me for one moment to assume the freedom of an elder brother, and beg you to ask him to join us." " Well, Worsley," he said in his old cordial tone, yet looking fagged and worn to the last degree, "is the consultation over already, or am I called in to assist? Can you give us any new light upon the subject hey?" " I hope so, at all events. You will scarcely believe what a ridiculous little blunder lies at the bottom of the whole affair. Your daugh- ter will explain it all ; but, before she does so, let me say one word. You remember, doubt- less, an evening when I had the pleasure of din- ing with yon, not very long ago. We talked, if you recollect, of a young lady whose mysteri- ous disappearance had just been announced in the Times, and for whose recovery five hundred pounds reward was offered. " "To be sure we did. I remember the ad- vertisement perfectly. It made Brindlebun quite curious. What then ?" . "Petersfeld was at that moment engaged in trying to find her. He had taken up the pur- suit simply upon seeing what we all saw in the paper. He had been in Paris, upon that very business, during the morning of the day when he was last in tttis house." "What on earth had he to do with her? What do you mean, Worsley ? Are you going to make him out non compos ? no brains not accountable for his actions?" " My dear sir ! He has found her." "The deuce he has!" exclaimed Mr. Butter- mere, as if using up his last ounce of breath. " Went to work and found her, did he ? Most extraordinary thing I ever heard of." "I say the same. And now, to save Miss Buttermere the trouble, I will try to explain how, in the middle of his hot pursuit, he man- aged to commit the most unlucky mistake which has caused so much annoyance both here and to himself.'' Step by step the confession was accomplished. Buttermere took his seat upon the table, be- tween the lamps, and listened with knitted brows. " So that Mrs. Springletop, confound her, was at the bottom of it all! I almost. guessed as much. And the bank note was never in- tended for Linda ?" "It was intended to pay for trousers. He was writing to his tailor at the moment, and put the bank note intended for him into the en- velope addressed to your daughter. That's the whole story." " Upon my word, Worsley, I thank you very heartily for all this. What's done, can't be undone ; but we shall weather it somehow, I suppose. And so Petersfeld has gone to the Pyramids ?" ' ' Gone, in despair of ever being able to show his face again in London. I have just asked your daughter to send him her forgive- ness; but, I tell you candidly, I don't think even that will bring him back." "Well, it's all a pity. The whole thing is such a joke, if you look at it only in one aspect, that it's hard not to be able to laugh at it. Write to him, Worsley, and tell him to come back. And so Linda really took him in this clever fellow who found the lady at last! Upon my honor, the whole thing is most extraor- dinary. But there is no sting about it now. We must manage to rub through. It will only be a nine days' wonder, after all. These things happen every week eh, Worsley ? If one could only box Mrs. Springletop's ears ! But as for you, darling, don't fret. It wasn't your mistake. And, Worsley, I shake hands with 12G FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. yon, and thank .you with all my heart. We shall rub through somehow. It was a mistake altogether, from first to last. Mrs. Buttermere and I must talk it over. And as you said just now, Worsley, it will only be a nine days' won- der, and we shall rub through perfectly. Yes, darling, it was all a mistake a silly stupid mis- take of people who ought to have guided you bet- ter. We are all right now. We won't be too hard upon poor Mr. Petersfeld. Don't let him catch cold on the Pyramids, Worsley. You have done us all a service to-day ; and, so far as he is concerned, the past is dismissed, and we hope that you will tell him so." That self-same evening a letter, which you will never read, followed Petersfeld to Alexan- dria by the Marseilles mail, and an emerald- headed snake slept in an iron box on the top- most story of No. 9 Stone Buildings, Lincoln's Inn. Let us return to Helen. Every one, I suppose, must remember certain passages in their lives which have left behind them the impression rather of a sort of nebu- lous mist, than of a series of separate events, con- nected, yet distinct. Some rush of circumstances, unexpected and overwhelming, has blended things in one perplexing maze, and we shrink from the task of dissection, as from something laborious, long, and hopeless. Something of this sort was the case with Helen after her return to Riverwood. A few facts only stood out solid and certain, against a general background of confusion. ' Mr. Bloss himself reached Riverwood the day after her arrival, charged with the mission of bringing her up to town. Upon this occasion it appeared that her presence before the Lord Chancellor was indispensable. Mr. Salterton accompanied them. As her guardian next in succession, it was rightly considered that he would do well to be upon the spot, to accept the office which would probably at once devolve upon his hands. Of Helen's meeting with the rector you must forgive me if I do not speak. Something of its purport you may, perhaps, presently learn. He was kind for he never was otherwise. He was loving for Helen was to him as his own daughter. But let the interview itself remain within the veil. It tore Helen's heart to think of, afterward. The mere recollection was like a rending of the very roots of pain. She was, at last, conscious how grave had been her fault how blind and inexcusable her folly. But she is now in the train, and upon her way to London. It was the first time that Bloss and she had met since the day when he received her a little Indian baby in Southampton harbor, and es- corted her to the very station from which they were just departing. Events since then had indeed run their mysterious round ; and one may imagine the interest with which the jolly old gentleman surveyed his fellow-passenger. The latter, upon her part, listened with the deepest interest to much that Mr. Bloss had to tell. He could speak to her of her own papa, when a bright and curly boy. He could talk about the making of the will penned by his own hand which had brought him wealth in his dying hours ; wealth, alas, too long delay- ed. He could say something about her Indian birthplace, as it had been described to him by his correspondent of the firm of Joy, Jingle & Jump, and amused her with a description of her own tiny self, as she first opened her eyes in his face upon the deck of the mail-steamer. " Oh, by the bye, Mr. Bloss," she said, after these topics had been at last exhausted, "I wonder if you know Mr. Petersfeld, the barris- ter of Lincoln's Inn. I am afraid he got into sad trouble about the bank notes which he was so kind as to take charge of for me, and I was really grieved. But that, I hope, is over now. You can not think how kind and considerate he was. I really almost wished that I had wanted his assistance he seemed so burning to give it." "Ho, ho, ho!" chuckled Mr. Bloss. "My dear Miss Fleetlands, it's a capital story, and I ought to have told it you before. Yes, I do know Mr. Petersfeld ; and, what's more, I am indebted to yourself for the honor of his acquaint- ance. You may well look surprised. Never was such a droll affair known since the world began. When your guardian, the admiral, thought it right to advertise for you, he chose, as you know, to put my name in the paper, as the person to receive you in town. He pitched upon me, you understand, as being the person who first brought you to his house ; independ- ently of which there were reasons for wishing that his own London agents should not appear in the matter. Had they done so, the chances were that inquisitive people clerks especially would have put two and two together, and your name been discovered and blazoned right and left in no time ; and this, to do him justice, he spared no trouble to prevent. My own name you see afforded nobody any clue whatever. Well, the very morning that the advertisement appeared, who should march into my office but Mr. Petersfeld himself, just as I wasin the mid- dle of my luncheon. ' Give me full particulars of the young lady, Mr. Bloss, for I'm going straight away to find her, as sure as you sit there ! ' That's what he said, or something like it. To tell you the truth it was our first meeting you must remember I doubted whether his head would ring quite sound if one tried it ; but he came with the card of a very good friend of mine, Mr. Worsley, and upon his account I really told him all I dared. As to his finding you, the idea never once entered my mind. And that you should after all have encountered each other in the strange way you did, just at the critical moment, is almost more than strange. Of course he might have claimed the reward. " "Is it paid yet?" inquired Mr. Salterton. " Paid ! Lord bless you, no ! We shall FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 127 have claims from half a dozen quarters. When the detectives abandoned Riverwood, they left an agent of theirs, a dirty little understrap- per of the name of Tobacco, to keep a lookout upon their account. He seems to have put the Riverwood constabulary upon the scent as to the notes, at all events. Of course he will stand out for his own. I have had other notices al- ready. It is quite exceptional, in a case of this kind, to find the reward pass peaceably into one pocket. " " I feel quite certain that Mr. Petersfeld would have nothing to say to it," remarked Helen. " Not he ! Oh dear, no," chuckled Mr. Bloss. " Not in his line at all. But now you mention his name again, it reminds me of another most singular fact. One never knows exactly how these things get wind, but I had this from the very best authority. Just fancy. Since his visit to me that is to say while in full pursuit of yourself he has managed to snatch a hasty moment to get himself engaged to one of the prettiest little girls in London a daughter of one of the magnates of our Chan- cery bar!" "Nonsense!" exclaimed Helen, laughing. " That was really making use of spare minutes, which, somebody says, is such an excellent hab- it. What is her name her Christian name, I mean ?" "Oh, Linda Linda Buttermere. I have admired her often, at her papa's dinners. Charming little girl, indeed! Really Peters- feld is a most remarkable young man. Never knew any thing like his energy. One doesn't know what he may not do next. I shall send him a good heavy brief, I know, before he's a week older !" "Linda what a pretty name!" And for the next thirty miles, Helen, with her usual im- pulsive generosity, was considering what wed- ding-present she should choose for Paul and Linda, as some acknowledgment of the debt which she felt she owed to the former. London was reached at last, and Helen con- ducted to a private hotel in Cork Street. Thenceforth, for the next two days, all seemed mist and confusion. There was an interview with the Lord Chancellor, during which she was seriously taken to task, and punished with a lecture of which she too painfully admitted the wisdom. And there was a formal reconcilia- tion with her guardian, which took place in his lordship's presence. It was not a very gracious affair; but neither party could be expected to feel quite at ease. To her great relief, nothing whatever was said in her presence about the notes, which had, as a matter of course, been lodged at the Riverwood Branch Bank. And now, resisting all temptation to encum- ber my story with technical minutiae, I will only add that the conclusion of the business was as follows : Admiral Mortlake was ordered to pass his accounts pay certain costs and hand over Helen to Mr. Salterton, who was appointed guardian in his room. Riverwood Rectory was to be Helen's future home. CHAPTER XXXIV. " I HOPE, Mr. Salterton, it is understood that these rewards are all to be paid out of my own money; and that the admiral is never to be troubled about any thing which he has received upon my account," said Helen, a few days aft- er she had taken up her abode at the Rectory. "That must be an after-consideration, my dear. For the next three years, the power to bind or to loose lies neither- with you nor me." Three years ! A desperately long time it seemed, all things considered. Could it be pos- sible that they had indeed to be faced ? Sad or unprofitable they need not be. And yet, years of discipline and penance Helen knew that she had deserved. Wisely and bravely she resolved to submit with patience, to trust to the endur- ance of a love which was all in all to her in life, and in the meanwhile, by genuine and unfail- ing cheerfulness, to make Mr. Salterton rejoice that he had found a daughter. The only hope to which she permitted herself to cling was that, some day or other, long perhaps before the three years were expired, the prohibition against letter-writing might be relaxed or withdrawn. That was the real sting of the separation ; and, to her, it seemed an unjust, a needless, and a cruel measure. She could not understand why she might not at least be allowed to correspond with Ferdinand. If either she or he had been actually in prison regular convicts at Penton- ville that indulgence would not have been for- bidden. However, there was no help for it. She felt that she had much to be thankful for. Mr. Salterton was always delightful ; and in his sister, a quiet, lady-like person whom she had scarcely more than known by sight in the years during which the Rectory had been forbidden ground, she began to discover the makings of another friend. In-doors, there was work in plenty. Out-of- doors, Camilla neighed from her stall. She had of course accompanied her mistress. Gigog- gin, alas, was not there to attend her, and sad- ly the old fellow was missed. One would naturally have supposed that, after his conduct in the matter of Helen's hnnting-field flirtation, the admiral would have sent him about his business in no time. But Gigoggin had lived at Riverwood almost as lo'Ag as his master, and was not to be parted with upon a single quar- rel, however serious. So master and| man fought it out between them, and matters went on as before. The latter, we may be quite cer- tain, would gladly have followed Helen to her new home, but the admiral was obstinate and inflexible. Not in that way, at least, should Gigoggin, with his consent, enjoy the reward of his duplicity. And, without the admiral's formal acquiescence, Mr. Salterton. was firm in 128 FIVE HUNDEED POUNDS REWARD. his refusal to allow the matter even to be dis- cussed. It was a great sorrow to Helen, who, independently of other and more recent consid- erations, entertained a sincere regard for the old friend of her childhood. But, like severer troubles, it had to be borne. So broke the morning of what appeared to be a new era in Helen's life an era of quiet pro- bation, and of hope deferred. Misty and doubt- ful in its dawning, how immeasurably distant appeared its close ! Would she ever live to behold that hour to see matters finally at rest the ravel of her life at last combed out smooth and even ? Never, in wildest dream of the night, came a glimpse of the plan by which the knot was to be so swiftly, so instantly disentangled. One morning, scarcely three weeks after Helen's arrival, a large old-fashioned carriage drove up to the Rectory door. A tall, elderly gentleman, of military air, with a white mus- tache, and a golden - headed cane, gravely alighted, and was ushered into the rector's study. "My dear Lord St. Margarets, is it possible that I have the pleasure of seeing you again ?" ' ' You not only see me, Salterton, but you see me with a favor to ask." " A new sensation, I should think, if you are in earnest. Am I to take my pupil back again?" "Why, no. I am not clear that I should trust you with him a second time, " replied Lord St. Margarets. "What do you say to his late escapade ? I suppose you have heard the par- ticulars." " I have, and with infinite concern. Of course, in one's own heart, one finds every ex- cuse for a lad of his high spirit and perfect courage, with such a girl as Helen before him. But that he should have rushed right into the jaws of the Chancery Lion, is upon all accounts to be regretted. I was rejoiced to hear from himself, however, that he was not in any sense acting in defiance of your wishes in fact, that he had some reason to suppose that, had he succeeded, you would not have been seriously displeased." "Quite right. Quite^rue. He has acted toward myself, thank God, with the most per- fect honor and good faith. I have not a word to say. Indeed, I take a great deal of the blame upon my own shoulders. I have lived too much for myself, Salterton. I have not held for him the position in the county which I might and ought to have done. But that is not the ques- tion now. Never having had the pleasure of Miss Fleetlands's acquaintance never, in fact, having beheld her in my life the match was not one of which I could be supposed to be person- ally desirous. My relations with the admiral, Iher guardian, were far fromcordial, and I could riot help feeling that Ferdinand might, after all, be acting upon impulse, without the considera- tion which an affair of such extreme importance demanded. Still, I was so anxious not to ap- pear to thwart him at starting, which is worse than useless in matters of this kind, that I fear I left him in a position which was only too likely to end as it did." "Perhaps we have not seen the end yet," sug- gested the rector, easily. " It is highly impor- tant, upon Helen's account, that I should be precisely aware of your views and wishes. That her heart is entirely fixed upon Ferdinand lam certain ; and that she will, if necessary, wait with patience and courage three years and long- er, I know quite well. But, since she lias been in my house, we have never exchanged a syllable upon the subject. I felt bound, in the first in- stance, to learn the aspect in which you regarded the match ; and I only deferred writing to you upon the subject until you should have had time to hear from Ferdinand upon his arrival out, and matters had cooled down a little after the late hurly-burly." " My own views, Salterton, "replied Lord St. Margarets gravely, "may depend much upon j'our answer to a question which, among other things, I came hither to put. I am come, as I told you, to ask a favor ; but the question comes first. If my son has done a foolish thing, I am afraid your ward has shown herself more than his match. You will appreciate the circum- stances under which I now ask you to tell me the whole story of her disappearance and return. I give no credence whatever to rumor ; and, ex- cept from rumor, I have heard nothing. Let me understand, first, what we may suppose to have been her object in leaving Rivenvood." "To avoid remaining under the same roof with people who had treated your son so scan- dalously," replied the rector. "Helen was in- dignant, and with some reason. I was away from home at the time. They were upon the point of starting for the Continent ; and the poor child, with nobody to appeal to, was, I verily believe, afraid of their company." "Good," observed Lord St. Margarets, with deliberate emphasis. " You will agree with me, Salterton. The way in which they kidnapped Ferdinand was simply scandalous. I am aware that it was merely done to gratify an old feeling against myself. But she did weH to distrust them, after that. I admire her spirit. But the world will ask for more." "More is at their service. Helen left home at five o'clock on the afternoon of the sixteenth of April last ; and, from that moment to this, not one half hour of her time is unaccounted for. She traveled direct to Izzleworth in com- pany with a Mrs. Feltham, a parishioner of St. Mark's, whom she had met near the station. On her arrival at Izzleworth, she very sensibly inquired for the clergyman of the place ; and by the greatest conceivable good fortune, if we are to call it by no worthier name, found herself at once in tho house of Dr. Orchard, the vicar. Orchard is a well-known man. He was some years my senior at Balliol, but I remember his name and fame very distinctly. A little crotch- ety, and given to physiognomy, or some hurr.- FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 129 bug of the kind ; but true and honorable to the backbone. Fortunately the admiral has had the good feeling to enclose to me a letter of his, describing the events of Helen's stay with him, and the sensation of love and admiration which she contrived to excite in his family. I will read it to you at once, if you have no objection." "Good again," repeated Lord St. Margarets, at the conclusion of the letter, "and there you will agree with me, Salterton. Upon my honor, I like her better than if she had stayed at home. In fact, my good friend," continued the ex-em- bassador, subsiding into a diplomatic attitude, "I consider that this episode in her life may be at once consigned to oblivion. Are we so far agreed?" "In so far that we may so consign it yes. But not she, poor child. I felt it my duty to point out to her, in all gentleness, the greatness of her error, and I assure you I was frightened when the thing broke upon her as a reality. Her distress was agonizing." "What a pity. Come, Salterton, I am ready to say the word. Give me your honor that she is the person to make Ferdinand happy you know them both." " I give you my honor that, in my opinion, he will never meet with any one as likely to do so. More than that, I tell you plainly, Lord St. Margarets, that if he loses Helen he will lose one in ten thousand." " Good ! I consent. You may tell her that at the age of twenty-three she is nineteen, or nearly so, I think I shall with pleasure receive her as the mistress of Saintswood, and retire upon Grosvenor Square. Tell her that my mind is quite clear upon that point." "At the age of twenty -three ?" repeated the rector, musingly. ' ' Twenty-three, of course. You don't seem satisfied, Salterton. Isn't that the age specified in her father's will ?" " Otherwise her fortune goes over ? And the Court would of course listen to no proposal which might endanger one penny of it. Yes, I believe you are right. But, my dear Lord St. Margarets you are in earnest, I know, in your consent is there no possibility of abridging this deplorable this, I must say, shameful loss of time and youth to both parties ? Five years ! Must they really wait five years ? Is it possible that these, the best years of their lives, are to be consumed in satisfying the injunction of a Court of Equity ? Could any thing be more prepos- terous ? If we are to be ridden over rough-shod after this fashion, why not call things by their right names, and have a High Court of Iniquity at once?" Lord St. Margarets never laughed. But sometimes, when he was really amused, a curi- ous smile would break at his lips, and then trav- el quietly all over his countenance before it dis- appeared. It came and went, upon this occa- sion. " Why, yes. Five years is a long time to wait. I am not defending the system; but it I exists, and there is only one person in existence who could strike off a single day." "You mean the Lord Chancellor?" ' ' Most certainly not. Neither the Lord Chan- cellor, nor Guy Fawkes, nor any body but your- self. I told you that I came here with a favor to ask. I am now ready to ask it. What do you say to consenting that the marriage shall take place, say a couple of months hence, just with notice enough in fact to make proper prep- aration?" "Have I really any such power, my dear lord?" exclaimed the rector, jumping out of his chair. ' ' Certainly. I half suspected that you might have found it no part of your duty as executor to read your testator's will. Avail yourself of the chance now ! Here is the copy with which I persuaded my solicitor to furnish me." "God bless me! Why, of course you are right. Admiral Mortlake's veto has no longer any effect. How could I have been so stupid as not to perceive the fact ! " " As not to recognize yourself as reigning guardian ?" replied Lord St. Margarets with a smile. " The king is dead long live the king ! Well, in that capacity I ask your consent." " Stay one moment. Surely my consent as guardian will not have the effect of annulling the injunction which is at present hanging over your son ?" "It will not. But upon our joint application to the court, I understand that it will be dissolved as matter of course." "But how as to Ferdinand? It is hardly a month since he sailed. Are you about to sum- mon him back at once ?" " No need. He is at this moment in Gros- venor Square." Mr. Salterton returned to his seat. "No more guessing upon my part, Lord St. Marga- rets. I can not afford to be surprised at this rate. Will you explain ?" "The explanation is most simple. Fortu- nately or unfortunately, Ferdinand chose to go into a fever on the voyage out. I am not cer- tain but that he was sent too soon before, in fact, he was fit for traveling, but I suspect that other things may have had -more to do with it. Be that as it may, he was landed at the first port touched at, and the military authorities there sent him back by the next transport. They said it was his only chance. He is now getting all right, thank Heaven. I had ambitious dreams for him once ; but after all that has happened, I am content to see an augury in this last occur- rence, and to accept it as the appointed termi- nation of his professional career." "And you have said all this, Lord St. Mar- garets, without even seeing Helen?" " Why, yes. I do not intend to be told that. I was myself the victim of fascination. I be- lieve in her good looks, and for the rest I trust to you, Salterton. You have known her from childhood, and I am satisfied. It seems to me that Ferdinand's mind is quite cfcar upon one 130 FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. point, and that's the great thing. Now you may introduce me, if you will." Helen had just come in from a gallop upon C;imilla. You know how she looked upon these occasions; and though recent events had stamped her features with a trace of care and sadness, they had perhaps given even more than they had taken away. Without the slightest guess as to who the stranger might be, she felt fascinated by his commanding air and stately presence. Wonderingly she allowed him to take her by both hands, and look tenderly down upon her fair young face. She stood bewildered under the clear gaze of those calm grey eyes, and the curve of that silken white mustache. "You do not know me ?" he said. "I do not indeed," replied Helen. "But your face is not strange to me. At least, I think not." " It will never be strange, I hope. I am Ferdinand's papa. He has asked me to be yours." Huzza ! At last we sail within earshot of wedding-bells. Let us not linger now. ******* " Helen," said Ferdinand, as they slowly walk- ed their horses, side by side, beneath the waving branches of a summer wood, " I have a surprise for you to-morrow. Whom do you think you will see?" " That I can not possibly guess ! There are so many people in the world." "Your friend Petersfeld will be at Saints- wood this evening. I made a point of calling at his chambers when I was in town yesterday, to thank him for his kindness to you. He is really a thorough good fellow. Of course, we fraternized immensely when I reminded him that we had both gone to jail upon your account." "You didn't bring that to his recollection, I do hope," cried Helen, coloring. " It is not a reflection which I am fond of, I assure you. What did he say ?" " Quoted an old Agamemnon chorus, which I perfectly recollect Salterton trying to drive into my head called you " ' Tai> Sopiyanfipov uptveiy.n T' ' EAENAN !' I hope you appreciate the compliment. Tbv S" 7ra/u(/3o/vo, I asked him to come down to Saintswood'and stay for our wedding ; and, now I think of it, he shall be my best man. That will be a capital climax to his adventures, won't it?" " Capital ! It was very kind of you to invite him. I shall be delighted to see him again." " You must know that he has been half over Egypt since you saw him last." "Egypt! Impossible." " It is a fact. He only returned last Mon- day." "Well! as Mr. Bloss remarked in the train the other day, his energy is something extraor- dinary. I feel certain that he will become a very great man." "There is no doubt about that." Let me interrupt the conversation. Wheth- er or not my own letter to Petersfeld had any effect in contributing to his rapid return, I do not know. Probably another, which he re- I ceived by the same (Marseilles) mail from his ; father, and which, consequently, reached him a ; few hours after he landed, may have had more to do with it. The old gentleman wrote in a ! rage, informing his self-expatriating son that if he chose to neglect his profession and waste his time upon the banks of the Nile, he might make up his mind to live upon the backsheesh of his fellow-pilgrims ; Jbr not one English shilling would ever be remitted in that direction. " Now," resumed Helen, " I find that I must have another brides-maid. Mr. Petersfeld is engaged to be married to a Miss Linda Butter- mere ; and if you take the one, I mean to lay claim to the other. Could it possibly be man- aged, do you think? Ferdinand, you must really contrive it!" "That I will, darling! My father will be only too delighted with such an opportunity of firing off his diplomacy. Nothing on earth will please him more than to be told that it is your wish, but that -we fear the thing is impos- sible ! Hey ? Can't you fancy the grave twink- le in his eye, and the tone with which he will repeat the last word ? It will be a whole day's employment to consider the proper scheme, ar- range the exact means, and write the necessary dispatches. And the best of it is, that he'll succeed. You'll see!" " It will realfy be great fun !" "It will be a piece of luck, too, for Miss Linda," laughed Ferdinand. "What do you think that same prodigal father did when I went up to town the other day ? Absolutely gave me three hundred pounds to lay out upon lockets for the brides-maids ! They are, of course, all alike, with our initials intertwisted in brilliants. I think you will be pleased with the mono- gram." " Three hundred pounds ! I never heard of such a thing." " Oh, and I forgot to tell you that the Gigog- gin business is settled at last. The admiral has given way, and allows him to follow you. I suppose my father was right in insisting upon a regular written character, just as if old Gi had been a perfect stranger. Like Salterton, he has a strong feeling about what he calls tam- pering with other people's retainers. However, all is right now. Your henchman is again in your service." "What! Another piece of good fortune! Oh, Ferdinand, how very kind you all are. I don't know how I should have managed with- out Gi." "I say much the same, for my own part. In fact, I'm not so certain that I should have been where I am without him," rejoined Fer- dinand, gayly. " He won't find me ungrateful. He is a made man for life." The wedding was a brilliant affair. It took FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. 131 place, of course, at Riverwood. I am not ashamed to confess that few things would amuse me more than to read a circumstantial account of it written by a snob. "And so," said Mr. Salterton, as Helen ap- peared at their early breakfast - table on the morning of the eventful day, "I find that Lord St. Margarets has been considerate enough to provide me with an accomplice upon this occa- sion. I suppose he thought the knot would be all the tighter for a pull at both ends." "Indeed !" replied Helen, who felt just nerv- ous enough to be glad of an indifferent matter to talk about. " One of his friends, I sup- pose." " I expect him here presently. He said he should ride over from Saintswood. He is a man whom I remember well at Oxford, and hadn't seen for years until yesterday. " And here he comes, I believe." There was a clatter of horse-hoofs along the approach, and then a rattling ring at the front- door bell. f The door opened, and the visitor was an- nounced. "Doctor Orchard, sir."*- "Ha! my dear Miss Fleetlands! You told me that we should meet again ; but you didn't tell me how very soon it was to be. That was inconsiderate. I must have a kiss for my journey ; and here are a thousand good wishes in advance of to-day's business. Mrs. Orchard sends the same. So does my sister. Three thousand in all! My dear young lady, how shall I ever thank you enough for coming to my house ?" " How can I ever thank you enough for com- ing here to-day ?" returned Helen, ready to cry with pleasure. "Do you know, Doctor Or- chard, I scarcely felt as if my happiness could have been added to; but you have made it really run over." "Oh, dear me! If we are to compliment each other at this rate, we shall certainly .be late for church. The good fortune is all upon my part. Your gallant young bridegroom was kind enough to write to me the other day, and offer me his father's hospitality at Saintswood for the wedding, in case I could manage to come and lend a hand. What a princely place it is ! Long and happily may you live to reign over it. And now, Helen," continued the doctor, taking her once more by the hand " I'm always going to call you Helen, in future, you know I congratulate you in earnest. You have chosen well. There is no mistake about it. That cross was not won by vulgar muscle, nor by blind carelessness of danger, nor by the instinct which makes all ^rue men happy to fight. That glorious cross fell to a man whom God had fashioned as one fit to win and wear it ; and if that young fellow had touched his hat to me at a stable-door, I should have taken off mine to him in return. I should indeed. To mistake that face would be to insult its Maker. You are a heretic as to all this, Salterton ?" " Open to conviction ; sine comburendo, if possible. Not, I confess, upon the strength of two individual instances, and those two Helen and Ferdinand." Doctor Orchard ought to have made his bar- gain for at least ten more kisses before Helen retired to her bridal toilette. He had indeed made her love him dearly. Of the wedding itself, one or two incidents are all that I feel it at all desirable to. record. In the first place the admiral made his appearance, in accordance with a formal invitation. He shook hands cordially with Lord St. Margarets, as well as with the bride and bridegroom ; and went home with a lighter heart than he had car- ried for some years before. Linda was not present. Diplomacy had done its best, but had failed upon this occasion. Shortly after the ceremony, Petersfeld found an opportunity of approaching Helen. " You must let me offer you this little talis- man, Mrs. Hunsdon," he said, "with my warm- est congratulations and good wishes. Will you wear it sometimes for my sake ? I brought it from Egypt. We can never be quite indifferent to each other, I hope." " Indeed, we can not, Mr. Petersfeld," replied Helen, admiring the sparkling toy. " Thank you very much indeed. Did it really come from Egypt'? It shall always have a place on my chain. It is a talisman for good, I hope but I am so sorry that Linda could not be here." " Come, Helen, we mustn't ask questions," said Captain Hunsdon, approaching. " Peters- feld and I had a conversation last evening ; but never mind that now. Petersfeld, I am going to 'give you a commission. Will you undertake it?" " With pleasure." " It is to convey this bridesmaid-locket to Miss Buttermere. I trust to your honor to present it personally. You will tell her, please, how grieved we all were that she was unable to be present, to wear it in her place." "And tell her, from me," added Helen, " that I hope she will be as much in love with her talisman as I am with mine." " Must I really " began Petersfeld. " Certainly. It is in your charge." There was no time for more.*; .There is not much opportunity for private conversation upon these occasions. "Then I will carry it." Petersfeld kept his promise like a man. But I shall not tell you what passed at the interview. I have special reasons for this reservation. Whether or not, to use ladies' language, "any thing came of it," every lady in the land is at liberty to conjecture fof herself. And the lady who guesses right will have read my story to greater advantage than the lady who guesses wrong. THE END. FRANKLIN SQUARE, NEW YORK, March i, 1868. 1868 SPRING BOOK LIST OF HARPER & BROTHERS. * HARPER BROTHERS will send any of the folio-wing Works by Mail, postage paid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of the Price. HARPER'S CATALOGUE and HARPER'S TRADB-LIST sent by MaUan receipt af Five Cents, or obtained gratuitously on application to the Pubtishers personally. MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHER- LANDS. History of the United Netherlands : from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Years' Truce. With a full -View of the English-Dutch Struggle against Spain, and of the Origin and Destruction of the Spanish Armada. By J. LOTHROP MOTLEY, LL.D., D.C.L., Author of "The Rise of the Dutch Republic." Portraits. 4 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $14 00. Vols. IIL aud IV., completing the work, just ready. SMILES'S HUGUENOTS. The Huguenots : their Settlements, Churches, and Industries in England and Ireland. By SAMUEL SMILES, Author of "Self-Help," &c. With an Ap- pendix, relating to the Huguenots in America. Crown 8vo, Cloth, Beveled, $1 75. BARNES'S EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIAN- ITY. Lectures on the .Evidences of Chris- tianity in the Nineteenth Century. Delivered in the Mercer Street, Church, New York, Jan- nary 21 to February 21, 1867. On the "Ely Foundation" of the Union Theological Semi- nary. By ALBERT BARNES, Author of ' ' Notes on the New Testament," &c. 12mo, Moroc- co-Cloth, Beveled Edges, $1 75. KRUMMACHER'S DAVID, KING OF IS- RAEL. David, the King of Israel : a Por- trait drawn from Bible History and the Book of Psalms. By FREDERICK WILLIAM KRUM- MACHER, D.D., Author of " Elijah the Tish- bite, " &c. Translated under the express Sanc- tion of the Author by the Rev. M. G. EASTON, M. A. With a Letter from Dr. Krummacher to his American readers. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75. QUEEN VICTORIA'S JOURNAL. Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands,\ from 1848 to 1861. To which are prefixed and added Extracts from the same Journal giving an Account of Earlier Visits to Scot- Iftnd, and Tours in England and Ireland, and Yachting Excursions. Edited by ARTHUR HELPS. 12mo, Morocco - Cloth, Beveled Edges, $1 75. QUEEN VICTORIA'S MEMOIR OF THE PRINCE CONSORT. The Early Years of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort. Compiled, under the Direction o Her Majes- ty the Queen, by Lientenant-General the Hon. C. GREY.. Two Portraits on Steel. New Edition. 12mo, Morocco-Cloth, $2 00. GOLDWIN SMITH'S THREE ENGLISH STATESMEN. Three English Statesmen: Pym, Cromwell, and Pitt. A Course of Lec- tures on the Political History of England. By GOLDWIN SMITH, Author of " Lectures on the Study of History," &c, 12mo, Cloth, $1 50. THE LOVERS' DICTIONARY. A Poetical Treasury of Lovers' Thoughts, Fancies, Ad- dresses, and Dilemmas. Indexed with nearly Ten Thousand References as a Dictionary of Compliments and Guide to the Study of the Tender Science. Post 8vo, Cloth, $3 50 ; Gilt Edges, $4 25. DU CHAILLU'S GORILLA COUNTRY. Stories of the Gorilla Country : Narrated for Young People. Ry PAUL B. Du CHAILLU, Author of "Discoveries in Equatorial Africa." Profusely Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75. Harper & Brothers' Spring Book List. WHITE'S MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOL- OMEW. History of the Massacre of St. Bar- tholomew. By Dr. HENRY WHITE. Illus- trations. 8vo, Cloth. (Nearly Ready.) AGNES STRICKLAND'S QUEENS OF EN- GLAND. Lives of the Queens of England. From the Norman Conquest. By AGNES STRICKLAND, Author of "Lives of the Queens of Scotland. " Abridged by the Author. Re- vised and Edited by CAROLINE G. PARKER. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00. (Uniform with the Stu- dent's Histories.') MACK'S FAIRY BOOK. Home Fairy Tales (Contes du Petit Chateau). By JEAN MACE, Author of "The Servants of the Stomach," &c. Translated by MART L, BOOTH, Trans- lator of "Martin's History of France," "La- boulaye's Fairy Book," &c. Beautifully lUns- trated. 12mo, Cloth, Beveled Edges, $1 75. WOOD'S PHYSICAL EXERCISES. Manual of Physical Exercises : Comprising Gym- nastics, Rowing, Skating, Fencing, Cricket, Calisthenics, Sailing, Swimming, Sparring, and Base Ball ; together with Rules for Training and Sanitary Suggestions. By WIL- LIAM WOOD, Instructor in Physical Educa- tion. With 125 Illustrations. New Edition. 12mo, Cloth, f 1 50. SCOTT'S PARTISAN LIFE WITH MOSBY. Partisan Life with Mosby. By Major JOHN SCOTT, of Fauquier, Va. , late C. S. A. With a Portrait of Col. Mosby, Engraved on Steel by Halpin ; also one by Jewett, and nearly 50 Il- lustrations, embracing Portraits of Field Of- ficers and Captains of the Battalion, a Map of Mosby's Confederacy, and numerous spirited Illustrations of Fights, Raids, and Humorous Incidents. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50. JAMES'S BANKRUPT LAW. The Bankrupt Law of the United States. 1867. With Notes, and a Collection of American and English De- cisions upon the Principles and Practice of the Law of Bankruptcy. Adapted to the Use of the Lawyer and Merchant. By EDWIN JAMBS, of the New York Bar, and one of the Framers of the recent English Bankruptcy Amendment Act. With General Orders and Forms. 8vo, Cloth, $4 00. M'CLINTOCK AND STRONG'S CYCLOP.&- DIA. The First Volume of a New Cyclopae- dia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. By Rev. JOHN M 'CLINTOCK, D. D. , and JAMES STRONG, S.T.D. With Maps and numerous Illustrations. To be completed in about Six Volumes, Royal 8vo, of about 1000 Pages each. VoL L, comprising the Letters A and B, is now ready. The remaining vol- umes are in rapid progress, and will appear at short intervals. Price per Volume, Cloth, $5 00 ; Sheep, $6 00 ; Half Morocco, $8 00. NICHOLS'S GREAT MARCH. The Story of the Great March : Diary of General Sherman's Campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas. By Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel GEORGE WARD NICHOLS, Aid-de-camp to General Sherman. With a Map and Illustrations. A New Edi- tion, with an Appendix containing some new and interesting matter relating to General Sherman's March. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00. BENCH AND BAR. A complete Digest of the Wit, Humor, Asperities, and Amenities of the Law. By L. J. BIGELOW. With numer- ous Portraits of Distinguished Judges and Ad- vocates. New Edition. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $1 50. HASWELL'S POCKET-BOOK. Engineers' and Mechanics' Pocket-Book. Twenty-second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. By CHAS. H. HARWELL, Civil and Marine Engineer. 663 pages, 12mo, Leather, Pocket-Book Form, It has been officially adopted by tlie United States Navy Department, and by the United States Treasury De- partment. DUFF'S BOOK-KEEPING. By Single and Double Entry, practically illustrating Mer- chants', Manufacturers', Private Bankers', Railroad, and National Bank Accounts, in- cluding all the late Improvements in the Science. With a copious Index. By P. DUFF. Twentieth Edition, Enlarged and Re- vised. 8vo, Cloth, $3 75. THE LAND OF THOR. By J. Ross BROWNS, Author of "Yusef," "Crusoe's Island," "Aa American Family in Germany," &c. Ulus- tra'ed by the Author. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00. BY MRS. OLIPHANT. BROWNLOWS. A Novel.' 8vo, Paper, 38 cents. THE LIFE OF EDWARD IRVING, Minister of the National Scotch Church, London. Illustrated by his Journals and Correspondence. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50. MADONNA MARY. A Novel. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents. MISS MARJORIBANKS. A Novel. 8vo, Paper, 75 cents. AGNES. A Novel. 8vo, Paper, 75 cents. THE DAYS OF MY LIFE. An Autobiography. A Novel. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50. THE LAIRD OF NORLAW. A Scottish Story. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50. THE LAST OF THE MORTIMERS. A Story in Two Voices. I2mo, Cloth, $1 50. THE HOUSE ON THE MOOR. A Novel. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50. LUCY CROFTON. A Novel. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50. A SON OF THE SOIL. A Novel. 8vo, Cloth, $1 50 ; Paper, $1 00. CHRONICLES OF CARLINGFORD. A Novel. 8vo, Cloth, $1 75 ; Pa- per, $1 25. THE PERPETUAL CURATE. 8vo, Cloth, $1 50 ; Paper, $1 00. THE ATHELINGS; or, The Three Gifts. A Novel. 8vo, Paper, 75 cents. KATIE STEWART. A True Story, 8vo, Paper, 25 cents. THE QUIET HEART. A Novel. 8vo, Paper, 25 cents. That the authoress of the "Chronicles of Carlingford" is entitled to a prominent position in the upper chamber of modern novelists, none will be inclined to dispute who have been fascinated by that delightful series Compare Mrs. Henry Wood's stories with the creations of Miss Bronte, Mrs. Gaskell, the authoress of "Adam Bede," or Mrs. Oliphant; gauge them respectively by the tests of truth* insight, force, and grace of style, and the difference is as between paste and diamonds. London Reader. Mrs. Oliphant's books are always characterized by thought and earnestness some purpose making itself manifest in them beyond that of merely striking the fancy of her readers, or gaining their attention for a moment. London Review. We are entitled to look for something beyond the common in all that Mrs. Oliphant writes, and we find it in her masterly delineation of character, in the perfect keeping of her personages, whose conduct changes naturally with the natural growth and decay of their ruling motives. London Daily News. Some writers seem to have no power of growth ; they reproduce themselves with more or less success. But others, who study human nature, improve instead of deteriorating. There is no living novelist in whom this improvement is so marked as Mrs. Oliphant. London Press. Mrs. Oliphant is one of the most admirable of our lady novelists. London Post. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. HAKPEB & BBOTHEBS will send the above Works by Mail, postage free, to any part of the United States, on receipt of the price. Sir Brook Fossbrooke. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents. Tony Butler. 8vo, Paper, $i oo; Cloth, $i 50. Luttrell of Arran. 8vo, Paper, $i oo ; Cloth, $i 50. Barrington. 8vo, Paper, 75 cents. One of Them. 8vo, Paper, 75 cents. A Days Ride. A Life's Romance. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents. Gerald Fitzgerald, " The Chevalier?. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents. The Martins of Crd Martin. 8vo, Paper, $i 25. Maurice Tiernay, The Soldier of Fortune. 8vo, Paper, $i oo. The Dodd Family Abroad. 8vo, Paper, $i 25. Sir Jasper Carew, Knt.: His Life and Adventures. With some Account of his Overreachings and Shortcomings, now first given to the World by Himself. 8vo, Paper, 75 cents. The Daltons ; Or, The Three Roads in Life. 8vo, Paper, $i 50. Roland Cashel. W T ith Illustrations by PHIZ. 8vo, Paper, $i 25 ; Cloth, $i 75. Glencore and his Fortunes. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents. Published ly HARPER 6- BROTHERS, New York. HARPER & BROTHERS will send the above Works ly Mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of the price. A n r r ""