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+ "Wait a bit, Nancy, I want a 'word 'with you, if you please."' | 8he turned: pale as death. Was this the fulfilment already of her vague presentiment? x . 'You 'seem to have somethi your - mind, Nancy,' Cra on . weit on, fixing her with his eyes; | "have you had 'bad news 'from home 1? The last sentence roused her an- ger. "I have Crawshaw ; leave you, 'Your business can 'wait," he © said, quietly, and at his tone she i shrank back. : a There was a nasty air of detef- mination about him; she felt'a sud- den loathing gnd fear spring up anew for this rr "I have waited for this opportu- nity, Nancy," Crawshaw went on; slowly, "and 1 am not going te lose it, now I've got it; I have a good deal to say to you, my girl." business indoors, Mr, you will pardon me if 1 from her 'long, anxious wi &Y, Mr. Crawshaw took 'out' gorge: without an apology | are ing away mateh, * my hands whether I will prosecy him or no; or, rather, 4 should it reste in yours, Naney." 'In'mine?"' iL The two words were whispered faintly. 0 oF é "Yes, in yours. Marry me and} I'll say 'no more abont it, thought the old chap has, done me. out of {two hundred quid. But you refuse we, and--well, Henry Chaplin will son.' x © : : - Naney paused; her brain reeled. Her uncle; her mother's beloved 'brother-~the only creature in the | wide world who had given her love and tenderness in those old miser- able days--her poor, hreken-down uncle in a prison cell I=i% was hor- rible---it--- "I do not believe it!-I do not believe it!' she eried, fiercely, turn- ing on him. "Then your unele's own hand He sed, and N: : kened [must prove the truth. Miss Leioes- she fell prone on the gro Phe ey tal ter entrusted me with some letters | lent agony and unfathomable de- h. an exultant rt, Crawshaw obeyed hn . 'I 'have won," he # antly, to 'himself; but moving away he tur : stand;?' he said, curtly not to utter one word of this living soul: Let the world ki nothing, except. that you are 'my wife of your own frée will. If 1 find out you have spoken to any one of them, 1 shall pwt your uncle's case in the hands of the proper authori- ties without delay." Goi If Nancy heard, she made no sign, and as shé walked away, glorying in his cowardly conquest, b msi st le, and faint with the heat, [for you that have arrived by the|spair. Sa 3 De en el And still the sun shone and the leaned her hand on the top of the rustic seat to suprort herself. But though. she was physically weak, her 'mental' courage was strong. "You can have nothing to say to me to which I care-to listen," she 'said, in quiet, forcible tones. A flash of anger shot across Craw- shaw's swarthy face. 5 "I've got a question to ask you," he replied, shortly, "and I want an answer!' : Nancy turned her eyes upom the roses nodding near. Oh! if they were but human, and could help her to escape this man! "Bhe felt a curicus sensation, as though a net were suddenly flung about her, and she was being gradually drawn toward her old life. She passed one cold, trembling hand over® her eyes, while Craw- shaw watched her carefully. "You kmow what it is, Nancy, he remarked, coming a step near- " er. X She shook her head and shrank away from him, Crawshaw's face darkened. "Your memory must' be bad, then,' he said, ocurtly. *'There is only one question I am likely to ask vou, Nancy, and you've heard it before." She was trembling in every limb now. "Then I have but to give you the same answer as I have always done,' she replied, in a voice That would tremble. "I. think not." x Crawshaw spoke in ominously calm accents.. He paused, and then said, "with great deliberation: {1 you 'be my wile, Nancy Hamilton®'( ! She retreated shudder. "No--no--never!" she murmur- ad, overwhelmed with fear and dis- gust. 'II would sooner dip! Let me pass, I---" But Crawshaw was not to be dis- " 'missed so easily; . he caught her i arm, and drew her back. I 'Die or not; vou shall be my wife !"" he muttered, furiously. His face was pale to his lips. and the "aftoct was horrible; with his coal- Xx A : from him with a 4 'Nancy wrenched her arm trom hi grasp. by 3 am not the lonely, friendless irl I was," she answered 1 she was trembling in Ep 3 5 jerids | shudd {second post. Unleas I am mistaken see Henry 'Chaplin's scrawl among them." He took the letters out of his coat pocket and handed them to her. Despite herself she took them. Bhe let the others fall 'to the ground; they were only invitations to garden partis, etc., in the neigh- borhood ; 'and sinking onto a seat, she opened her uncle's. Her eyes were dim with growing horror and pain, but she read enough to know that Chawshaw had indeed' spoken the truth. 'Nancy, for God's saks,'"' the poor creature wrote, "save me! I Have seen him, He tells me it rests in your hands, child. By your mo- ther's memGry, I implore you, save me from a felon's shame--a felon's cell!. 1 was mad--mad with trou: ble; but I am sane now. I will work to repay him, but he will give me no time. You can alone save me, Nancy--you!"" : She crushed in her hand the writ: ten cry of the broken-hearted man, her head sank on her breast; while Crawshaw, standing close beside, watched with breathless eagerness the agony 'she was enduring. She lifted her eyes, and gazed at the flowers shedding their fragrance on the air, and some words of the poet came back to her in a vague, strange way: "I shall never again be friends with roses." Never again would she feel the tumultuous happiness, the exquisite delight, that had' grown with their scent "only a'few short' hours ago. It was gone, never {« be returned, never to come again! ooh A lover's ® dream, short as a midge's life, had been born 'beside those roses; and now a fragedy-- for what else could such a sacrifice be called ----was in progress beneath them. 4 5 . Bhe was silent so long 'that the. man grew impatient. , o 'Well," he said, roughly, ig it to be? '1 am waiti Nancy put out ber {of course, roses nodded, heedless of her bro- ken heart 'and ruined lifé, Heedless that her joyous spirit is lowered, her loving nature.' Fala "All bereft, Rr 8 when some tower doth fall, With battlements and wall, And gates, and bridge, and all, ' And nothing left." + ig the long summer day whic ed the evening of Derrick's return; and she expressed such a decided wish for Miss Leicester's compan- ionship, that despite 'herself the little mistress of =Ripstone Hall had to throw up her own inclina< tions and attach 'herself to her aunt, who was alss her guest. Luncheon -wax: but scantily at- tended, for Lady Burton and he tw Mrs. Fairfax, had driven over to anéther lawn-tennis meeting so miles off ; and although Lord M field was present, and Mr. Cra shaw also; the meal was only a du! affair. i 3 Sg . Dorothy struggled hard to j in her aunt's chatty conversation but she was depressed with heat, and distressed at Nanoy's sud den and most unusual attack of i ness. 3 esi, Nancy tor be "It is 'the heat,' Liord Me hastened' 'tos '"'Pon 'my word, 'Dolly, my bas been aching. like anythi the morning.' 2 ; "Oh, yes, your head would; Dorothy replied, glancing at that very boyi as she 'But Nancy obj o .daughters, with = Capt. and thoughtfully, dangerous things, and only by ro health and strength of his fat. work rob } Equal ST hee thas they ill-advised is the sufferer | who evolves a method of trea! for himself, and without an iota of | real knowledge of his own constitu- |. ion or its needs, starts in to starve |" purge ndition true. tha or exerci se himself into a |: n