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fm^ 11 ! 1?.- \ i \ â- '/ ' â-  SHIRLEY_BOSS : A Story of Woman's Faithfulness. " Shame touching; our mother ? That ia absurd, Shirley I" the lad said, iluahingto tba root« of hiu curly yellow hair. " Hoi touching her, 1 troat, toaobinR soiAetliing yie' oujjbrt ^ know," she whiupoMd lotr. " 1 hope the miiy be able to tell di." " Is she asleep ?" • " Mo ; she is in a atnpor, I UtioJi." " Yoji have Uncle Gilborfs letter." Jaok Boss Biiid. after a pause. " Does lie Bay nothii)^, tihirley V" " There is much that I do not under- stand," the f{irl replied. "And I have a long letter for liim which mother wrote before wa left Heidelbergâ€" a very long letter, Jack. It seemod almost as if ahe bad a proBODtiment. Oh, 1 wiali -I wish she had not come !" The bot buriiiiifJ tears rose quickly to liflr eyea ; bat she obocked them back, jack init bin arm around - bar- «ad drew her fondly to him. " I'oor little Shirley, it has been terrible tar you ; but, dear. Dr. Graham tells me that the travelling has made no difference, or very, very little." " And ahe was ao anxious to come." " Could you let me see Uncle Gilbert's latter?" said Jack, presuutly. "There may be sometLiug in it which would help SB to nnderatand what our mother fella us." Shirley took aome letters from the inner Qockbt of her sealskin coat, which she was atill wearing, aud, selecting one, handed it (a her brother. As be took it from, hef tbe Bbowel liiin mutely another latteft or tatber a thick, weighty packet addressed in Sis motber's hiiadwritiiig to her brother, Bir Gilbert Fiiirholnie, Faiiholmo Court, Uamlifo. Jack's lip i|uivered aligbtfy as be saw tbe pretty, f^racefnl Italian h|tnd- writiii|> ; then, taming; away, he ciu-isd bis Qttcle'a letter to the mantle-piece, wbere • dim lifilit was burning, and read as follows: Hy Dkau MariXm, â€" I have received both your letters ; and I did not answer the flhit because it required consideration ; and, before Ihad thoughtovcritsulliciently, your secend letter caniu. When your hus- band died â€" three years ago, I tbinkâ€" I made you a proposal to return to Hootland •nd live there (|uietly ; but your reply was decided, and you ahrunk so unmistakably from my proiosal, that I did not repeat it. Kven when yoar son settled in London you didliot aeem to Hen tbe iiecesKity of making • homo for him thereby settling there with Bhiiiey ; but that wan no aflair of mine. You preferred living abroad, and [lerhaps, in all the circumstanceu, it was just as well. You might have met persons who knew your history, you said. I should have fancied that you were far more likely to do ao wandering about the Continent than lAring cjuiutly at home in Knglaud or Kcot- land. But you said Scotland had boea oraol to you ; well, of that I cannot judge. You havu been cruel to yourself, 1 think ; Bat you were always wilful, and it is too late now to alter or regret the past. You wiah to return home, your health Is failing, J on tall me : but you are ao young ihut I ope your weakness ia only temporary, and that oar more hracia([ air will sot you up •({ain. Rhoulil you not wish to come to i''airholme (!ourt, where, however, you «ball be made very welcome, I will take a «mall house for )ou and my nioco at Uumfife. Your atory is wellnigh forgotten now, anil, even if it were not so, the fact that Lady Fairholme and myself consent to forKet it will bo sufttcent. We are still the Falrholmea of I''airhoIme, my dear Marian ; although yuu have l>een so long «bsoiit, that you may have almost forgotten that fact. " My aon Oswald ia with hiu regiment at Cliatliain. Urauie is now at home, but aha iias bi-eii s|)ending some weeks at Kdinburgh, whore she has boon much ad nirod. The two younger (;irla, Maud and Jean, are still in the schoolroom ; and Hhirley ia, I anpnesu, still young enough to share their «tuilius. Voii may rest assured that all that can be done to make you comfortable in yoar old home, or a new one if you prefer it, will be done. Happiness, perhaps, you cannot ox|iect â€" wrongdoing always brings its own punishment ; but you may (Tnd ijuiet and peace here. Yuu tell nie that your children do not know your story ; nor ia it nooosaary tliat thoy ahould, so far as I rut) see. I,Rt it die now, and bo buried And forgotten. We will not disinter it. " I inclose a chook for your travelling •zpenHos, as I wish yoo to have every l>oasible oomfort. Do not aparo uxpensu. Lady l''airholmo joins me in love to you anil Hhirley. 1 liavo very good ancounta of your eon, and at my r(K|ueat Mr. Hurni tt ia going to givn him a post in tbe Glasgow branch of hiaeatablishment. " Yeur alTectiuiiate brother, " Gtumnx KAiniioLUH." It was not an unkind letter, but somehow, as ho road it, a hot feeling of angor rose in Jack's heart against his uncle. Wliat did ho moan by his cruel aonteiicoa that it was too lain to regret or alter the past'/ Hi; mother's married life had boon a happy onea why should sho regret 7 What did lio moan, too, by the phraae that wrongdoing must always bring ita own punishment '/ What wrong had his mother done his dear mother '/ There was aomothing strange and inonmprnhonsiblo about it all, sonin- thing wliiehmade Jack anxinnaand uneaay, and inAfle hitn wish with aa great an eameatnesa aa Hhirley's own that hia mother would awake from her atunor and find Btrniigth to tell thorn horaolf what they â- u much wIsIukI to know. He foUle<l n|> the letter and gave it bank to his sister in ailouoe. I'erhaus Hir Gilbert nuiant kiintly ; but ho had an ley whispered, softly. " Ue sent the , "but that ba impossible. I waanot married, eheqae, yoa know, and he would havecooae Rdand--teU me I am not his wife." himself to Loudon if he had not been laid up with the gout." " I dare say he meant to be kind, dear," said Jack, sorrowfully. " But I wiahâ€" oh, how I wish, Shirley, that we had no need to accept hia kindMHl" "Hush, hugh. Jack!" the girl said. Jack, bak quickly, thinking that she saw her mother move; bitt it was only the liiokerlog shade oast by the lamp upon her face. There was no change in her deathlike calm. All «as very still now. The city was sleephig; its greali passionate heart was stilled for a, brief space. Not a sound was to bo heard, not the wheels of a passing vehicle or the echo of a harrying footstep and the atillneas fellheavily upon Shirley's heart like the calm which comes before a storm. So, miaute by minate, tbe long night hours passed away, and the time crept on toward tlie dawn. ' The night seemed to have grown suddenly chill and even yet more quiet. It was as if an icy breath passed over the quiet earth for a moment Any one who has watched by a sick bed knows that the moment when the one day seeins to breathe its last, and there is a strange tremulous pause before the new day dawns upon the world. Shirley bad read a description of it, and had been struck with it. It came back to her now, and she felt its truth : " Do you know that moment ia the night â€" the passage, as it were, from day to day â€" when a chill breath seems to pass over the earth, and for a space all tbe world ia huahcd as if in death '! You may feel it by sea or by land. I have shivered and trem- bled under ita spell while gasping for breath in the sulphuroua Ked Sea. Or in the heart of London, should you be awake, yoa lio and f ^el that yesterday is dead indeed, and the new day not yet fully born. This is tbo time when feeofe old men and child- ren, and death seems most terrible." I''or this moment Shirley had been wait- ing V. 'th t Bfaugo thrill of saperstitious dread. Would her mother die then- die without giving them a word or signâ€" die without telling them that secret in her past life, which, unloas she told them, they would not know ? Aa the " chill breath " swept over the room Shirley leant forward eagerly. The long lashes on the sunken marble cheeks flickered slightly, and the girl held her breath in agony. No, it was not the shade of the lamp now ; the white lids were lifted alowly and heavily, and mean ?" Shirley Unto tliodyinR pycfi Thocaseuout slowly grew a (jUmuioriDKBimaro. At the same moment, oven aa tbe white lips parted to apeak, the gray dawn of another October day stole slowly and stealthily over the east. "Shirley," Marian Uoas said, faintly, in a voice BO low that it hardly reached the girl's (|uick ears, " where am 1 ?" " We are in London, dear, and Jack is with us," the brave girl answered, in her calm, brave, gentle voice. " Jack I" A glimmer of joy flashed into tbe dying eyes as they fell upon her son. Jack bent down and put his lips to hers in silence. Hhirley, kiieeling, lifted the beau- tiful head u|)on hia arm. " Have I been very ill ?" said Mra. Kobs, feebly. "I think it moat bo near tbo end now, Shirley j butâ€"loan notâ€" I can not â€" ' Her voice died away upon her lipa ; but the dying e\cs, growing wild in their in- tense eagerness, went from one young face to the other in piteous entreaty ; and Shir- ley brought aomo of the restorative and held it to her lips. She could hardly swal- low, but she drank it eagerly, and it seemed to give her a momentary strength. " Lift mo, Shirley- lift mo liighor," sho said, in a somewhat stronger voice. " 1 can breathe more easily ao. And I must tell you both, becauae you will hear it better from me ; but it ia a long story," she added faintly, " and the time is so short. Ob, Shirley, why did you not let mo tell you in the train ?" " 'I'ull us now mother, " the girl said, through her tears. " in it anything al> lut Uncle Gilbert'/" " Oh, noâ€" oh, no I But it is a longstory, and I am so tired I" wailed the dying woman, with bitter anKoisli, almost as keen aa it sho could see into the future and know what miaory ignorance of her story would bring upon her daughter. " Novor miiid, mother darling," Jack said, soothingly. " Undo (lilbart will tell us." " Ah, but he will toll it so differently I" she ,nioanod. " I mustâ€" I must â€" tell youâ€"" She straggled to a sitting posture again, resting on Shirley's shoulder and supported in her arms, and began to apeak hurriedly, yit faintly, making pitiful o0orts to gather her itrength. " It wan BO long ago- in Scotland -and I was so young," she said, brokenly. " I did not know who could have gueased? it was all like a play and -no church- and " Her voice failed, her head fell back wearily. " I oau notâ€" I can not I" shesaid piteously, as her oyea went from one to the other wildly ; and Shirley bont down, tears falling aa she did ao, to utter some aiwthing worda. " Newr mind dear; wo shall know by and hy. Meanwhile lio atill and rest; you are so weary." " Bo weary- yes. Wo have travelled a long way, you know; but we can rest now," niurniurtHl the ilying lips, with the ghost of a aniilfl paaaing over them. " Uest you know the doctor said I waa to rest. There waH aome one whj who waa very kind, Hhirley. 1 could not walk, you know." " You mean the gentleman who carried yon into tho boat, mother. Am I to thank him for you '/" 'Yes thank him and tho ilootor." The painful i«Ror look was fading from ' her face now ; she seemed to have forgotten ' The two paira of watching eyea met across the pUows, the blue ones dim with tears, the hirel eyes wide and startled and miserable. What loes she whispered. , " Nothlngi dearâ€" ahe wanders," Jack answered, a lew gravity and tendernass on hie handsom boyish face. " Not hia "ifeâ€" oh, no, we never went to church 1" coWotied Marian Ross, in her ow feeble tones. " But you are my hn»band, Ro«|d 1" " She Ihina'ihe is talking to father," Jack said timnlouely. " Mother, don't you know ua Dou'tyou know Shirley and Jack ?" "Shirley!', she repeated vacantly. " Little Shirl/ |ind Jack ! Jack, take care of your sister^r'she will fall." She had goa ' back to their childhood Shirley gueaai, as the great hot tears fell on the soft dac hair, and the girl's whole frame trembU with the violjuoa of her emotion. The minuteijllpped by. Jack went to the window ac 4fBw back tbe .sortaiu ; a streak of morms suiisbine, tbe herald of a tine day, fell a<aR tbe carpet aud touched the foot of the aL Suddenly ttjjarge daiK eyes opened ; the painful, eai ' piuzled look had faded from them, anl ley had become dim and glassy ; but tly imiled. " Never mia' sSiesaid, in a faint clear happy tone. { lirley will not jadge her mother. I d<l at mind Shirley. It is getting dark na and I am â€" going home. It is darkâ€" Bot k !" Dark I Andi sun-rays were streaming into the roomi i Hood of golden light ! But she could t see it, for she bad gone home. Gone homi which had we id upon her for a score of years, withoil against tho fa< Ah, it she co ahe could not peaceful smil AFTER IV. To go, or nt and, upon my hesitate abou< consideration friend and liot opposite hiu looked mcditui him. " Of coursiii he said, in nl we are ijuite world, and v» bo committiig " At tho genial society,' carelessly thout telling the aecrot warning her daughter hich had fallen upon her ! have seen into the future, e gone home with that n her faoe ! ) go â€" that is the qaestion ; rd, it seems such a kindly hospitable inil tion that I should not pting it I" As he Bpok, Guy Stuart poared out a Hccond cap o!l flTee, sugared and creamed it with due dli eration, and proceeded to discuss his bM fast, as if it were of far more imporkii e than the subject under hile the other man,, his Sir Ilogh Glynn, sitting the long dtning-table, ly at a note lying before imtortonate way of showing kindnaas. Tl... letter was like his*unole, Jank thought, tho atory which but a few iiiimitea before Ho bad aeon hiiii only once, in London; ahe was so anxious to tell them. Khn lay but ho hail tell that thoro was noayinpathy ^*"^ <"' ''<"â-  piUows calmly enough, and the Between them. Hir Gilbert was many »'""" "'""•> •>»<* ur'H'l »<' ber lipa crept up yoaraoldor than liia mother, tall and grave >«>' further into the depths of her dark and |H)m|x>UB and dry, ami Jack oould not "y""' guess how mm h he had loved hia boautlfnl " I < »" smell the heather," ahe anid TOUng aiat«'r in the days gone by, Iwforo alio "'"•'''y «i"l aweetly. "Cannot v,.ii, had oaueod iimi Hiich grief. Roland,' How sweet it ia I Listen lunv "llecalla Aunt Oeraldine 'Lady I'air- prottily the Ixiok niurniuia among iho holme,' " said Bhirlay, huskily. " Is it not , •*^'>«* '" â- traiige and ><Jd, .lack '/" , , ',•""â- " «»â-  » B'l«ni'" ; the dawn crept " I'erhapa they don't get on very well ", I "'K'lei" over the eastern aky, and a faint Jack anawi.rod, bitterly. " Or perhaps ho rwseata tingle stola into tUa dark gruy. Wantod to i.io.reHH cinr mother with tho Over the beautiful face on the pillows llui thought thtl it WM not a sister aho waa abadow of death crept alowly and darkly. going to, hill only n aiatorinlaw." ^, " H'ny "ay that 1 am hia wife," she H»i.i " But he in»ant to bo kind. Jack," Hhir- '"<»>. wiH' » aiuldon pitiful cry of p«i„ ; s very civil and all that,' r a plaintive tone ; " but ngers in this part of the not know what we should iirselves to by accepting." to a few days of UDCOU- Major Stuart answered . i perhaps bad dinners." The last iak very serious condition. My predeceMOt here had evidently some notion of confort and good cooking. Tho cook haa beei at Maxwell for twenty years, the butler tuUi tne, . aud 1 hope ahe may remain bore lortwenty more, "rhoae catlela she gave ai last night," continued Sir Hugh, in hii languid, rather drawling voice, " made mutton seem like moat from some other apbaro." Major Stuartlaughed; he did not possess hia friend's dalioate appreciation «♦ **" "â- * o( cookery, aad to bmi tSnllat-SaTann was nothing mortor 'ess than a rather oon- teniptiblo gounnand. " The cutloli were very good, and so is this game pi^" ho said caroleatly, still devoting himialt to the fortification of his inner man, " Will the answer to Bir Gilbert's nols, then, binge ou the abilities of his cook T " I am afnid we shall not bo able to ascertain whtl hia or berabilities may be," replied Sir Hush, laughing. " It is more likely to hia|f on his womankind, if one could find oul anything about them." " I sliouki think that waa pretty easy. They must ba people of some conseqaenoe about hare-and yoar aervauta are old stagerti : I bive no doubt they know all about them." " Fairbolme is aboat seven milea from here," Sir Hugh said metlitativel^ ; "so that I conld ride over and see how things went on hereâ€" and certainly it wooM be a change. Aren't you getting just a little bit lircil of my«ocioty,Gny ?" " Not a (it," Major Slaart aiibwera<l heartily. "^1 have not bad a gliI1l^>so of you for neady three years, ninemberi until that lucky meet at King's Cross." " A lucky meeting for mo !" aaid Sir II ui;h cordially- " To think that you had returned, aid that you had been in Kng- laud for netrly throe months wiihontgiving Mie n notioO of your oxistenco I It was too bad, Slnalt I" " My doar fellow" and Major Htuart'a dark gray tyea, with a warm kindly light in thair Oeplha, went over aoroaa the breakfast table to Bir Hugh's handaomo face -" I oould not disoover your wharo aboiita. Yon wore to be heard of evary- where; bat, whenever I followed you up, you had disappeared like a meteor. Hir 1 1 ii|(e Uljtin ia evidently a person of aomo inqwrtanee in the world of fashion' and ilistinotion." Sir Iliigb laughod carelessly. He waa a singularly haiidsomo man, with a ix)«i- pli lion aa fair as any girl's, wide aleopy Muenyes, a heavy fair inastauhe, and aott fair hair. His movements wore alow, liatleai and languid, and, had ho boon a man of less size and preaem-e, tho charge iif effaminaoy might have been laid at bta door. Wall, what are we to do about thia iuvltalioii '?" he said, reverting tothoaubjeot nnoe more. " Sir flilhert evidently takes it for granted that we are tired of our own society, and ahould like a change. Ho aaya he would oall if heworonot laid up with the goat, but that his son called a day or two slnoa. 1 don't remoinlwr tlio circuiu- atance." "Dou'tyou? I do. It waa the day wo went into Dumflfo. Oh our return wo found his oard In tho hall, and Martin aaid ho bad ridden over. He ia itt tho th Hiiasars." •â-  Oh, well, I wiah her ladyship would lot US have her ni< iiii and a list of tho mombora of her household I" said tho young baronet, lauilhing. " I lind that ladies who have marriageable daughters are generally very civil to me, Stuart, and I dare say you have foaud the same." " I ? /f uflo mio, you forget. I am not a baronet with an unlimited rent roll," an- swered Major Stuart, laughing. " Unlimited I I find mine limited enough," Sir Hugh said lightly. " I asures you that I did not ^d old Uncle Robert's legacy come at all tmiss. It added thia place and nearly five thousand a year to my poaaassiona, aiid I needed it." " Not a legacy to be despised," observed Guy Staapt. "At the same time, you could have done quite well without it I However, you'll be able tp give me some good gronae-shooting here in the sea- son, and you must be content to submit to the feminine maternal persecution which invariably follows auch an eligible un- married man as youraelf." And again Guy Stuart'a eyea. with a laugh in their depths, sought hia friend's face, and Sir Hugh, meatiug the glance laughed also. As they sat opposite to each other in the dining-room of Maxwell Hoase, no greater contrast could have bo>-n found than these 'two men, and yet they bad been friends for many a year. Sir Hugh was exceedingly handsome, and be had used his great wealth to add tc his piesUge which b'S good looks gave him in tbe fashion,ib.e world. He kept a Irst-ratc .;tud, lived in the most luxurious mac ner, gave the best dinners and the meat charming entertain- ments of the Loudon season ; bis horses and carriages were the best appointed in the Park, his drag the cynosure of all eyes at Epsom. It was no wonder that all men spoke well of him, that the great ladies of his set smiled upon him, and that a shower of invitations poured down upon him all through the season. He was such a charm- ing flirt, the great ladies said languidly â€" and, his waltzing waa as near per- fection as waltzing could be ; and his taste was so unexception- able that no belle would have deemed bar court complete unless be formed one of her courtiers, aud " Handsome Hugo " was a household word in many a dainty boudoir. Life had always been a very pleasant thing to this petted prosperous favorite of fortune ; be had never koown a care or a aorrow; but the thirty years he bad lived had not fitted him to bear the atorm which breaks almost inevitably, and more or less heavily, over every life, and which broke over Hugh Cilynu with additional fury. Tbe friendship which had existed for so many years between Bir Hugh and Major Stuart had been a source of surprise to more than oue of their ac<|uaiutancea. The young baronet's lite aud tastes seemed so directly opposed in their luxurious indo lenoe to the brave, simple, aelf-deuying life of tbe soldier. But those who wondered did not know that the founda- tion of that frieudahip had been laid in their school days, when Guy, a few months the elder and considerably tho stronger, had defended the more delicate boy from the bullying which seenis in- separable from a public school. Nor did they know that the friendship thus begun had been cemented by a life saved. Tbo occurrenoe had taken place mauy years previously, but Hugh Glynn'a gratitude was warm aud living atill. He had not forgotten that at tho riak of his life Guy had thrown himself iato tbe angry waves which were hungering to make Hugh their victim, and bad brought him with great difficulty saiely to land. The paaiiouate gratitnde which had welled ui) in the boy's heart as ho lay, faint and braised, watching the endeavors of two or throe roii«h sailors to restore hia <.i«id lu couauiousneas had never died away. Even when, later on, both men were dazzled by one woman's face and the death-blow to their friendahip was struck, oven when one of them stoopoil to the blackest treachery, the basest betrayal, that gratitude did not quite fade ; it lived to add tho bitterest sting to the remorse of the betrayer, the moat poignant angaith to tba traitor's suffering. Vary dilTeront in physique were tho two men. Beaide Guy Stuart, Sir Hugh, although by no means a short man, became almost insignificant, for Gay waa unusually tall and strong, towering, like Saul of old, above all hia fellosva. For the rest, his features were irregular aud almost rugged, and, if thoy ware not plain, it waa because hia eyea were unusually beautifulâ€" ilark deep gray, with long lashes, which gave them at times almost a feminine Boftness. " It ia not such a very severe {icnalty aftAr all," Major Stuart said, laughing. " I'm not an eligible, so I have never been obliged to submit to it ; but we had one or two rich fellows in tho regiment, aud it used to be very amusing to see how aweetly the mothers useil to smilo upon them-^ib, and the daughters likewise ! There was a handsome young ' detrimental ' amongst us too, and one or two of tho girls were in olinsd to favor him ; butâ€"" " The mammae wore too wise," put in Bir Hugh, laughing. " I wish you'd decide about this, Guy. You'ro my guest, And 1 am at you disposal. Go or stay, juat as you like l>eBt." " I'm porteotly happy here," said Guy Ht'iart, laughing â€" " excellent quarters, and uuminisaariat department perfectly managed." " Then we'll stay at homo." "But," Major Stuart aaid thoughtfully, as he pushe>l his chair from the table aiid Kauiitered over to tho mantolpieoo, where he had left his cigar-oaso, " i>erhaps Sir Gilbert might be huffed ; and it will net do for the new master of Maxwell to get into bad repute in tho neighborhood." " No, (wrhaps not ; but even that would ho better than being bored." " Of two eviU chiKiao the lesser," said Major Stuart laughingly, as he selected a cheroot. " Suppose you tosa up, Hugo?" " Not a bad idea ! " resiHinded Bir Hugh, looking np eagerly. •' Uihmi my word, I have a mind to adopt yoar suggestion ! " " Do," said Major Stuart carelessly. " Let chauoe decide it." Bir Hugh took halfa-orowTi from his pocket and lookivl at it meditatively : then, meeting bis triend'a glance, he laughed lightly. " I don't Buppoao it is tho firat timo in our lives that we have let ehanoo deoido for us," he aaid gaily. " What will it do for us now, do you think '/ Will the fates be propitious ?" " 1 wonder it there ia such a thing aa ehanoo ','" said Major Stuart, ooming to the table, cigar in hand, with aome interest lighting up bis dark faoe. " We won't â-  di80t:ss that question," anawerml Sir Hugh, laughing, as lie played with the coin iHitween his fingers. " It is far too detip for you or for uie. But "â€" be lifted his eyea for a mooaent to hia friend's faceâ€"" yo« ar« strangely in earneat, Guy 1" â- â€¢ Am 1 1" said tbe other, t'sroing away with a laa^h and a flush on hia cheek. " Well, (lerhaps I was. For a moment 1 had a lund of feeling that somethiog serious would come of it ; but it's all nonsense of coarae !" he added, aa he lighted his cheroot ; then, snddenly oomiag back to tbe table, he went oa with a strange earnestness.. "Put back the half- crown, Hagb, and let us discoaa the prat and COM dispassionately, and decide accord- ingly." Sir Hugh looked at him for a moment in silence. " No," he said quietly, " we'll trust to chance. 'Heads' â€" we will accept Sir Gil- bert Fairholme's invitation. ' Tails 'â€"we will refuse it!" " Come in," aaid Sir Hugh sharply, cov- ering tbe coin with his hand as he turned toward the intruder. The door opened quietly, and a servant out of livery came in and walked alowly ap the long room toward bis matter. Major Stuart glanced at him indiffer. ently, bat, almost as he looked, tbe indiffer- ence faded out of his gray eyes, and something like interest replaced it. He was a man of Sir Hugh's height, and very much the same build, a trifle narrower across the chest perhaps, but with do material difference. He waa fair, too, like his master, but with no pretensions togood looks ; and altogether between tbe two men there was a faux air or resemblance which might easily exist between two persons ol the same ' height and complexion, and having the same colored hair. For a moment the resemblance struck Guy Stuart, but tbe impression was a deeting one. " What is it, Latreille?" demanded Sir Hugh, with Bome impatience. " The stud-groom ia here. Sir Hugh," said the man, qaietly. " He ia just leaving for town, and he desired me to ask if yon had any directions for him." "For Willis? No â€" tell him to let ma hear from him on arrival," Sir Hugh answered quietly. " That is all." The man bowed low, with an air of extreme respect which had something foreign in ita courtesy, and turned to leave the room. But Sir Hugh recalled him. " Latreille !" " Yes, Sir Hugh." " I suppose you know nothing about Fairbolme Court ?" " Only that ilia a flue building. Sir Hugh, with handsome grounds, situated aboot eight miles from here." " I know all that; but you know nothing of the family ?" '• No, Sir Hugh." " Do yoa think tho butler coold give yoa any information ?" " I have no doubt on the subject. Sir Hugh," the man answered, a slight fleeting smile crossing hia faoe. " Then go aud make inquiries," said bia master quietly, " and come back here and tell me tbe result." " Yes, Sir Hugh." With another low bow, Latreille turned away and left the room. Bir Hugh, with a laugh, selected a cigar. " That fellow bows like Beau Brammel," aaid Major Stuart, laughing, " and morea like a pridoe." "He is an odd fellow," Sir Hagb answered lightlyâ€" "Claude Melnoite atyle, yon know." " Where did you pick him up? He waa not in your service when I went to India." " No, I got him on tbe ooatineut laat year." " And you find him trustworthy?" ".\8 trustworthy aa most men in hia poaitiou,"' said Sir Hugh carelessly. " I dare say that he robs me, but I hai-e not succee^led in finding it ont- He told me a long story when 1 met him first, which may or may not be true," " What is it ? Will it bore you to repeat it ? " asked Major Btuart, who had been struck by tbe valet'a appearance and unuflual air of refinement. " Not at all. Vou aro weloomo to aa much of his history as I can remembtr. He has knocked about, and seen a good deal of the world, aud ia an amusing fellow enough." " He ia a Krenohraan, of course?" " Not a bit of it. He ia a Scotoh- mau. Yes, you may well look aurpriaed. but it is nevertheless quite true. His father waa a hairdresser in Kdin- burgh, who was, I believe, unfortunate, aa many men are, in his domestic relationa. He left Kdinburgh aud settled in I'aris, where he bad not much auocesa appar- ently, for, when he died, he left his aou for a legacy seme wigs, hair brushes, rar.ors and some bad debts." " Not much ol a capital tu begin the world upon," said Major Stuart, laughing. " Bo our friend soon discovered. How- ever, he converted his eto<^k in trade into money and joined a circus, where for some months ho distinguished himself by Htand- ing on his head and contorting hia limbe : then ho became a public singer â€" comic, of courseâ€" and weiit the round of tho c<ife$ ch<intants. When that failed, he waa ' general utility ' at a minor provincial theatre," Sir Hugh continued ; " and I am convinced the stage is his vocation. He is a firstrato actor, and makes up capitally. It was at Poitiers that I first made hia acquaintance. I was travel- ling, and had met at a oafe the manager of the theatre there, a pleaaant gentlemanly fellow enough. There were one or two pretty actresses IndonKing to tho company, and one night I inviteii the troupe to sup- iier. Latreille waa among them, and I oon- feaa ho attracted me. Ho waa so frankly insolent, ao amusing, and ao iude(x<ndent that 1 found him irresiatible. Tho next morning, to my nurprise, he oalled ojion me, aaid he waa sick of tho stage, and otTerol his servioea iis valet and coarier ; and 1 engaged him." " And you have not repented ?" • Not once. Ho iaaniostuaefnl servant; hia only fault is an occasionally alight free- dom of manner, which never approaches insolence, but attimeaiasomowbatfaniiliar. Hut he ia far tiw Valuable an aoiniailion to dismiss for ao trilling a fault. 1 dare aay ho robs me, tor wo aro of tho same size and build, and my clothes tit him perfeotlv ; but he is i>erfeoi in his own line and he never chatters." " .\nd ho entertains a profound admira tion for his master." (To l>eooullna»d.) -Deputy- Reeve MoEvoy, of Amlisnt- burg, weighs 800 pounds. •/. i'-'MB" ''il nii'">i>.. ^.iBithiriri^'i^ â- .'»^iiX ^