"Charles, I find, has been to fetch this woman, and she is come with a young man, and they are now. with Issachar. He said his en

largement would not be found out by his cruel detainer till to-night, as that would be the period for his bread and water.

"Rover is still with Morgan, more in favour than ever, you may reckon; but the animal remembers Issachar. Morgan waits for this despatch: he's off for London. So now adieu!

He will relate it all next week.

farewell!

Dearest Ellen,

"Issachar begs to present his dutiful esteem to you, but not to name one word to Lord Darmaya. So Morgan begs also; for until he has consulted with the Duke, he says, silence must be the watchword. You do not name the day we may expect you, or the one on which you leave London. Morgan fancies it is Thursday, by what you say.

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Morgan is impatient; but says, 'Where's the Duke's dog?' as he takes the cushion to the chaise; giving Rover importance, mais en bien des choses qu'on n'aperçoit que par sentiment, et dont il est impossible de rendre raison.' "Addio, Cara."

CHAPTER XXIII.

"Not dew-drops glittering in the morning ray
Seem near so beauteous as that falling tear."

"Your questions are but natural, and I will tell you all about him, Charles," said Morgan, as the chaise rattled along over stones and ruts. "You wonder why Lord Darmaya could keep me out of my own just inheritance, and so oblige me to be an outcast from my patrimony. I must explain the man, and then you'll know as much, or more than I.

"We were near about an age; our parents were intimate;-I was secondary always. He had a wilful temper from his birth: small, childish faults led on to worse errors, and these

were uncorrected. His principles were loosened, warped, perplexed by all his habits. Caressed by all around, he never thought he could be called to judgment. When he borrowed of me, he meant, in his own convenient time, to pay; and did not intend to speculate so desperately as to deprive me of my whole fortune for this long season. The bond was signed, naming a time for his redeeming it. So, to get a prolongation of the period, he consulted with my father's agent, Frasier, who took advantage, and got an annuity out of him, as well as a share in the sacking of our property. He signed him the annuity, provided he surreptitiously obtained possession of the bond. He plundered and fired, and the house was ruined by the thieves who herded in the glen.

Nichols saved this box to keep Lord Darmaya in his own power; and would not be bribed out of it. But Ruth got it away, and Issachar took it from the hamlet. I saw

Nichols one day outside Darmaya's door in the gallery, and heard him speak of the fire and of my poor father; and so I quitted Darmaya the next day. But I like Lord Belnovine exceedingly, and would not hurt his feelings for anything; and he is high in honourable pride.

"Then, as Darmaya's granddaughter is my cousin's child, I bade Issachar be very silent on who it might be that buried him alive in the cave, till we knew the truth. He says they took him from Mr. St. Germain's, in masks, a few weeks ago; and that he was sent to Mr. St. Germain by his Lord on a pretext as to his health, and was led to expect that he was to return soon. But my being in England, he thinks, was the real cause; and that they somehow discovered that he had got possession of this will; for that he was starved, half frozen, beaten, to make him give it up. But he would not say yes or no, even in the cruelty they put upon him-they could make nothing of him.