Vol. NOEL. a A Weekly Hournal Liter ature, and Alews, “'Phis is true Liberty, when Freeborn Men, having to advise the Public, may speak frec.”---Euripides. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Monday, March 9, 1863. -_——--- ~~» New Series,---No, 9, LONDON HOUSE. NEW CHEAP GOODS, JUST RECEIVED, te” At the Stand formerly Dempsey’s, opvosite | ipothecartes’ Hall, Queen Street. é, “ il HASZARD begs to inform his - 8 indthe public that he has received by the Uranus,” from London, the * Prioress"’ and * Theresa fre Liverpool, a large supply of British Dry ¢ s, Fancy Goods, Hardware and Grocerics liaving been pnrehased on the best terms aud personally seleeted, they will be sold a the lowest rate for Cash nj risilligf @ cases Dress Goods ~ bales Striped Shirtings 1 case Silks and Ribl - Bieuched do I do Bui a & triuming lo Printed Cettona 1 do Ladies’ Mai . c hs and Doeskin 3 do Hate and Cups vreat | do Blankets and Sheets variety I Wax g lo Reu ty ma le Clot ag i » Carpetin 5g & Hearth Ido Ladies’ and Gent Kues W wate proof Mantles & 7 do Paper hanging 3000 (‘ant pre 8} 1 do Gloves and Hosiery 5 easks liardware i de Hal runs ry ' uM ae t dv Shirts, Cullars, Braces 1 do Cutlery Ac l erate Coal Scuttles and 1 do Shawls and Mufflers Zine Buckets I de Jewellry, Pomatum 60 chests Tea, cheap and and Soape ood 2 dow India Rabber Shoes |5 caske Soda 3 Bales Brown Cottons ALSO Crushed and Moist Sauer, Molasses, Coffee, Rice. Mustard, Starch, Blue, Raisins, ¢ wrants, Spices, Gilaes, Putty, Nails, Leather, Buckets, Brooms, Soap; Candles, Manilla Rope, Plough Mounting, Iron, all sizes, Sheet Iron, &c., &e. Cc rlottetown, Dee. 15, [S62 1863, NEW YEAR! 1863, NEW GOODS. Jt°sT RBECEIVED AT THE ,a WY ‘ J Tet WY ‘ ‘ RENFREW LOUNE, Old Stand, Great George Street.) ( 7 mas ‘3 mur s fe v ubserihers have lately received the wing Gools, in addition to their Fall Importations Hhds SUGAR, verv bright Cheats TEA, warranted good Boxes SCOAP Boxes and Half Boxes RAISINS Currants, Spices, Pepper Muaturd, Indigo, Starch Weaver's Reeds, all Nos. Bubber Cioods: L s & Misses’ er SHOES I) de o BOOTS T s R er Dua s { « a Ru er Shoes Mens do COATS And a variety of other Goods Also on hand: Boiled and Raw OIL, PAINT Putty, Window Glass, SKATES l nud Curt Mounting Cut Nails, all sizes, &c. Xe. &e [ev We berg to call the attention of City and Country beavers to our Stock, which is now com plete in every department. With regard to price, we are determined it no fault shall be found in this reaper Our goods are bought in the cheapest murkets, and will be sold as low, to say the lenst, se any in the city DELANY & WILSON February 2nd, 1903 Premiums Reduced !! "IY HE Agent of the LIVERPOOL AND LONDON FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY has the pleasure te annou ¢ that he i# authorised tu aevept risks in this City at much reduced rates w.A JOUNSTONE, Age nt March 2, 1863 I 4i _— ED BUTLER. Mur SUBSCRIBER bas just received “0 Packages CASCUMPEC BUTTER a | choi @ arti J.8. CARVELL. ; > 1289 } pr <1 LABRADOR HERRINGS. FEXHE UNDERSIGNED has in Store a Labrador Herrings for sale J.S. CARVELL. quant y ft chose Mare] Co-Partnership Notice. oY IE UNDERSIGNED have this day entered into CO-PARTNERKSHIP as IMPORTERS & DEALERS British, French & othor Foreign DRY GOODS, Under the Style and Firm of VAEX BROTHERS, WHOLESALE and RETAIL. 2, 1863 Om Cc. GC. VAUX. H. B. VAUX. Troy lit’s Buildings, 152 Granville-street, Lo 1802 Attention! DO 4 Halifax, Nova ™ - Farmers, VENUE Subscriber thankful for past favors, | respectfully informe his customers and the publie yener illy that he hae ready for sule . Sleigh and Cart Harness ef every description, and of the best quality, snita ble for winter driving, which he will sell reasona biv for prompt payment : : , He is also prepared to execute all orders in his line, and to supply country wholesale dealers, as formerly. ou liberal terme : JOUN BOWERS, Richmond Street. Charlottetown, Jan. 15, 1863 %in APPLES! ust Received, by Schooner CECILIA from BOSTON, 50 Bbls. WINTER APPLES. DODD & ROGERS. Powna!l street, December 8, 1562 f Ylolasses. FEXHE subscriber has in Store, trom recent arrivals 180 Hhds. CHOICE MOLASSES. J. 8. CARVELL. Ch. Town, Nov. 3, 1862 isl. pro tf Barley! Barley! WV ANTED, 3000 Bushels BARLEY. J. 8. CARVELL. Char! 1863. tf PRINCE EDWARD ISLNAD CLOTH MANUFACTORY, ttetown, Jan. 12 - TRYON. VENUE Subscriber, encouraged by the very liberal support ree ived in the Cloth dressing : inhabitants of P. E from the best makers b Leilene bn Falun that in the United States, Machinery for Carding, Spinning and Weaving, ve to iutorm the he has ii ported and shortly (in addition to finishing Cloth) will be | prepared to receive Wool for manufacturing into the various des riptions of ( loth usually made in the Colonies. The « barge for Vieking, Viling, Carding, Spruning, and We uving will be One shilling and three pence per yard. Other branches in the same proportion. Wool. which must be washed and dried, may be left with H. J. Callbeck, Sidney Street, ¢ harlottetown, os any of the avents for the Mill from whom further particalars ean be learned. — CHAKLES E. STANFIELD. Tryon, April 21, LS62. NOTICE! LL persons indebted to the undersigned are required to pay the respective amounts to BessaMin Desbrisay, of Charlottetown, Attorney at Law, whois instructed to sue for the same, unless paid forth with. . JAMES EVANS, New Perth, Feb’y 6th, 1863 . describe it may not be out of place. | public servants, to place them in an apart- |traordinary’ arrangement at once on the ,over, another, and a far more serious claim }upon the State; but of that presently. ! afford. tion, tending, it may be, to idiotcy. |and subsequently remarking that ‘ a crystal of Thompsonite, boiled with hydrochloric ‘acid, deposited a gelatinous | precipitate of silica,’ ‘this must have been illusion. | warded. 'moved stealthily through the building. An with the gifted person who composed it, ‘should, in rigid justice, have been inhumed arm. ~ LITERATURE. ~~ Ane ene SOLID REASONS. Ten years ago the mental condition of my friend Robert Bigge was such as to occasion us much secret anxiety. Robert bad held office in Dowuing-street, but had lately resigned the (wafer) seals of his department, in consequence of the sudden abolition of a class of gentlemen known by the appropriate title of ‘ clerk’s extraordi- nary. The genus being extinet, a few words to by means of a placard above their heads— | Having ascertained that for the interesting result presented to us, _we presently took our leave. our westward way. ‘ And this man is not unhappy,’ said Bob, musingly. ‘He smiles. He is jocular. He acquiesces in a bodily formation only distinguishable from the purely spherical by those two fat appanages it affords him a melancholy satisfaction to call his ‘ legs.’ No remorse visits his, I cannot say pillow— for he never goes to bed — but the back of his easy-chair, on account of those early ex- | cesses, that reprehensible indulgence in — | In the event of a sudden accumulation of pressing correspondence, it was customary in the Yawhaw Office to engage a number of misguided persons ambitious of becoming ment provided only with such rude furni- ture as is essential to the fulfilment of public duty, and to employ them, so long as the stress continued, in copying returns and despatches at the remuneration of four-pence to bie Own. a page. This surplus work (which usuaily lasted only a few days, or, at most, weeks) being concluded, the class was sifted, as it were, twoor three individuals remaining still attached to the establishment, in readiness for the next emergency. The 4, remainder were requested to leave their ad- dersses for the information of an embar- the contrary, adds daily to their number, | and a shilling apiece, besides. should I *‘ Genleman, sir, gi’ a poor boy a hap’ny !” ewed one of those young highwaymen the law hath hitherto forborne, charging viciously at Bobby with his muddy broom. rassed government, and depart. . Bat for this assault, I should have penetrated My frieud Robert had been of this) 3354°s secret on the spot. As it was, a few fortunate minority. He had even enter- days more elapsed. tained some secret hope of struggling fairly I dini . friend’ on to the ‘ establishment,’ when a few words en lon a pay os at my friend’s| from a Scotch member of parliament, in chambers when a large brown paper parcel | _made its appearance. Bob turned pale and he fi if i atory, knocke: ‘emis: sere ae SSae ee eeneregeiery, Sanene ene * ae laid down his knife and fork. Ile passed ; ‘tl in over his ferehes anes head, and condemned the recognised mem- | ne — — z — ee bers of the Yawhaw Office to the annoyance | a. ioe +) he kj hie rn on “ a of doing their own work themselves. Te ee ee et re ge : at the contents, which seemed to consist of Robert expressed kimself a good deal /°** 1° contents, whic or Mating f nothing more than a new light paletot, for- | hurt. He had ‘ done the State some Jed li t dd th + : oa rarded, accord! an address 0 saper lservice.’ If they didn’t ‘know it,’ that , —— vr i a was no fault of Bob's. He had always oo ‘Away with it! [Tide it from my sight !’ cried Bob, with a palpable shudder, siukiug his face in his hands. I flung the parce! on the furthest sofa signed his name in theattendance-book, and to the receipts for his stipend, in the very largest characiers polite custom allows. He had dated all his letters * Downing-street,’ es a i va and, on a certain festive occasion, had in-|_ It is the death-warrant, said Bob, gat sidiously engaged a friend to propose the SY looking up with & ghastly mule, .* oF health of her Majesty’s * present advisers,’ hopes. George, my boy, tho struggle ; ryt , y art . ’ . » ol or, t you will not desert me, George in order that he might respond on behalf of ' hr ne eo hai ke ‘4 on ; ° (the g sliow stretebed over and graspe that body. And so he did. ag te game A sincenbately Ne ling exp my hand). Companion of my light and To be cast aside now, without compliment, ; the iain MN . : sareiess youth, to you it makes no ¢ ‘rence without apology! His *cankered country’ eae atte Shel mares a - siiladeaais tendered him nothing but his wages. And © - a j pulpit ve 7 2 1] in? what was thirty-seven pounds fourteen shil- “ oe te foi Oct uA oo ane. lings for four mouths’ sedentary service, and ob paused fora moment, theu recommen- two thousand two hundred and sixty-two pages of manu-cript? There was, more- ced. ‘It is now some cight mon‘hs since, while attached — and very warmly so—to the Yawhaw Office, that I first became conscious ik Of aslight difficulty in buttoning my coat. Bob was, indeed, at the period I spe: oS ; : ‘ P Willing to believe that this was due to some of, in a condition to demand the utmost habe ery sympathy and watch‘ulaees friendship could accidental shriuking of the cloth, or other You might not unnaturaliy imagine ©*‘T@beous Cause, l simply had the or that Bobby wounded by the ungrateful re- altered. Again, in a few days, the difheulty turn for his public service—dismissed into recurred ; nay, other garments—my vest, . : h aistbant i sers- — beg: ‘an uncared-for, and, what is teu times more ‘& W® stband of my trousers--began to evince a similar reluctance to meet on the usual easy terms. It was useless to shut my eyes to the miserable fact. I was grow- | iug fat, and that with startling rapidity. Eight hours a day at my desk had done the abundantly evident that his bodily health business. What could I do? I was in-| did not suffer. It was a matter of con- ‘lined to work, attached to my at sage gage gr-tulation among us, that our friend had [ felt —a me nO ordinary a. oe of late grown singularly stout. But that COPY! My aaa allows - ut > vere his heart was a prey to some seeret melan- ‘ red a oe 4 I bli ot fi way choly, had been for a long time a subject of ate “ ae - ay ‘lod re — 7 strong suspicion to those who loved the bo le Ph ” ae “3 eaten ie ae e* "ee. tee (Bobby was but twentysthree), and thid 27 aware, Dy ror eee » sii | wystery I, at the instigation of his aunt, set = ri pra 7 ae sag i myself diligently to fathom. For a while iy iE ome eine oe my endeavours proved fruitless, Hoping to ‘ ay é ern ner "1 = ie So “ y| fall in with his humour, I tried him, in the “SS0" Ren aoa De deel “otal as first place, with a quiet dinner, finishing the a stn ea ; sud Pa Pr 7. y: | evening at a cheerful little lec'ure by Pro- ae : a © . —— “d 3 Cea! fessor Grumbelow, ‘ On the molecular vari- |. : 0 et te ‘at ef inadichneed ations exbioited by the application of acids Otte pas Bo bs Jy %O Bill. to metamorphic rocks.’ | is Ae eh ee : | © You will see. Well, sir, I was resolved At the dinner Bobby ate ; at the lecture to know the very worst. Face my tailors 1 | he slumbered. 1 myself was a not wholly | sould not. They are remarkably fastidious | disinclined to doze. 1 remeinber the Pro men, I wrote to the firm, humbly, appeal- fessor holding up something that looked like ingly, ‘ Gentlemen, I euclose you a careful a pink artichoke, after a pie-nic of cater-| noasurement of what was but recently re- | pillars, which he called a * fibrous dolonite,’ ‘eognised by you as my waist. If such pro- portions will not utterly disgrace a frock jecoat of your design—send me one. If, otherwise, then forward to me a paletot | ‘suited to my misfortune.’ Behold their | answer. | With an effort Bob rose, walked to the | | sofa, seized, and shook out the paletot. The | 'wide folds expressed but too eloquently the | strength of the opinion entertained by | | Messrs. Stilts, on the case of their unhappy | galling to a sensitive mind, unpensicned ob- scurity—was sinking into mental prostra- It was scarcely so. [is mental facul-* ties were wholly unimpaired. Again, it was transparent Here, I thought the leeturer handed round plates filled with flint broth, wherein floated slices of red sand-stone for bread. Candidly, I believe Neither there, nor scenes of wilder dis- sipation, appeared‘to answer my end. I sometimes conducted Bobby, docile enough, ell dient. po lie he theatre, where my reward | “lien ‘ poor fellow, to the i y : ing was to see him sit through a ‘screaming ’ rs But, teha! that is not the worst, old) i | fe low.” as ‘ ¢ Vai; | farce without changing a muscle. er. a a aoa wht om Once, and but once, were my pains re-| At any other period of my Lh ante > co | vey 7 ted. . e p | It happened in Slangster-square. | ™Y flesh to do its worst. uve, indeed, | We had attended one of the most dismal ‘always looked forward to a certain amount | dioramas ever, perhaps, designed by artist’s of obesity, as the distinctive feature of my | haunted brain. A few mournful creatures | "8° My governor was a nineteen stun-er ; | my mother was likewise a stunner, and her | ‘name was Lambert; she was descended | from the illustrious Dan‘el, and I have in | my possession the very last coat and waist- | ‘coat worn by the greatest of living men.’ | | «T have always heard that your mother | was very beautifu!,’ I remarked. ‘She was so fair,’ returned Bob, in his invisible (would I could add inaudible) har- monium exceated a fuveral dirge of the days of Queen Anne; the score of which, with the above Jamented princess. As we issued forth, L glanced with some anxiety at | ; my friend’s countenance, deeming it not im- | sentimental tones ‘ that it seemed impossible possible that the degree of depression to | there could ever be too much of her, it which we both had been reduced might lead | did, however, become expensive, when it to a burst of tear!ul confidence which would took three people to place her in her reveal all. |garden-chair! My good mother, you are, Suddenly his face lighted up. He paused | aware, was not of ducal extraction. She | before the entrance to one of the smaller ex- had occupied that position which society ia | hibitions. | its careless, generalizing way, has agreed to | * Let us enter,’ said Bobby, grasping my leall a * cook.’ In her case, it was the | ‘poetry of feeding. In her bands, the gross | We paid a shilling each. I followed my ‘elements with which it was necessary to| friend into a large apartment on the ground | deal, changed, without the loss of any nu- | floor. There was a sort of dais in the centre, | tritive feature, into flowers and suushive. upon the dais a huge chair, and on that | My father married her by accident. chair, the very fattest individual I ever be-| ‘ By aceident? ' | held. The latter welcomed us with graceful) ‘ Pure toss-up,’ said Bobby, descending to | ease, invited us to perform the tour of his prose. : person, and then, pointing to chairs, begged| ‘The governor was spooney on a girl of us to offer any persocal observations that | the neighbourhood. Popped. She refused. might suggest themselves to our ininds. | Governor gallopped home in a rage, vowing ‘Tbe situation was not without its embar- he would marry whichever of his maid ser- | ‘rassments. ‘The cheerful countenance ot our | vants opened the door to him. (Nota-bene. | mighty host forbade all idea of condolence. | There was at the time a pretty little rustic, On the other band, congratulations to a man the gardener’s daughter, who did occasional | in hopeless captivity to his own fat were duty as portress.) Fate decreed that | erucl aud absurd. No question occurred to Susanna Lambert should be sweeping the, | namely, what he had been fed upon ? | ceptible. The strange sight had not quitted Bob's absurdly) termed,‘ in love.’ Tospeak more countenance during the whole interview. logically, love, sir, hath dwelt in me, from | tot. Ilis eye was brighter, his step more elastic the moment at which the most dazzling face | than I had seen for wecks past, as we took imagination ean conceive, looked suddenly |‘ and under the shadow of ni 'round the partition of box B, at the Hay- | carriage. parent. ‘1 take after my sire. I am, I own it, sus- I am what is popularly (but market Theatre, gazed straight at me, and disappeared. There were twe other objects | reduce the to the rank of Jack P. in that box—human, probably—I did not| But, George, should she invite me to ap- | use. note. 1 was conscious of but one fact; elbow, sat the Fate of Robert Bigge.’ Bob paused, applied his handkerchief to his features and resumed. ‘The play, Hamlet, was on that evening prolonged to an indefinite extent. mention that [I watched that box. rich burnous concealed her delicate form, | but revealed the exquisite foot that bore her about to speak,‘ I have reconnoitred the | and slightly incoherent. to the awaiting carriage. [ flung myself into the nearest Hansom. * Follow that | Not too closely!’ I shouted through the little hole, as our horse began nibbling at the retreated calves of the count- ess’s footman. We took the direction of the Regent's Park. | turning sharply to the right, led us to a street in the immediate vicinity of Russell- | treatment of lunatics,’ square, ‘at last,’ | thought, ‘1 have thee !’|* involves, I conceive, as complete an ac-|in being confined to these odd ways of meet- Foiled again! The surviving companion quiescence in the ruling fancy as circum-|ing, which, however, suit me, for the pre- got out, waving respectful adieus, and once stances will allow. For this one evening, | Sent, admirably.’ Returning Robert, I am yours. more the carriage proceeded, towards the Regent's Park, we skirted that | beautiful enclosure on the Hampstead side, | when my cabman suddenly pulled up, and | shouted down the orifice, ¢1 say, sir, would Hin you mind “aving another cab 2?’ * Nonsense !’ [ bellowed back. ‘Get on, eonfound you! You'll lose.’ * Tell’ee what,’ said the cab-| man, ‘I ean’ go on this ere game all night. This ‘ere ’oss’e ‘asn’t ’ad ‘is supper, nor [ an’t’ad mine. der.’ ‘ It certainly appeared so, and the upshot Oss won't go no fur- was that I fouud myself al@me on. foot, at might become the cheek of a youthful | © | burglar, cracking, to speak technically, his| half-past two in the morning, lurking in th neighbourhood of Nasturtium Villas, with | as much hope of getting a cab as if I were on the banks of Newfoundland, ‘How 1, got home I hardly know. know, however, that this failure by no means blunted my purpose. No Countess | de Clerville appeared in the Court Guide. | [ therefore, on the very next day, repaired | Bob to Nasturtium Villas, and took up the scent where | had lost it. positive my beautiful fawn had run to| covert. An intelligent-looking ecossing- | sweeper attracted my eye: ‘* Did she, hem, know any of the resi- dents in Nasturtium Villas ¢ ‘ «Yes, a plenty. Mrs. Biblicott.’ * * Nobody else ?’ ** Yes, Mrs. Jones.’ ‘* Had she ever heard the name of the Countess of Clerville ?’ ‘* What name, please ?” * ¢ Clerville.’ ‘* Knows her well. A very nice lady, giv’ her tea-leaves. She was hunder 'ouse- maid at number seventeen,’ «+ Who? **Kearwell, Susan Kearwell,’ ** Ridiculous!’ The donation I made to this interesting person woald not place her in absolute independence of her crossing. ‘In vain I pursued my inquiries. No Countess of Clerville could I hear of, in that or any other neighbourhood, ‘It was about this time that you must have’ noticed a marked change in my de- meanour, In spite of much bodily exer- cise, as well as mental agitation, neither of which tends much to corpulence, I found mysclf, George, becoming fatter and fatter every hour. Living on one hope — that of once more seeing her who was the star of my existance, 1 could not but dread the actaal meeting. There is something essen- tially inapt in a fat lover. ‘One evening about dusk, some three | months after our first meeting, as I was walking, or rather waddling in the neigh- bourhood of Nasturtium Villas, a carriage dashed past me, a face looked out, a beam- ing brilliant face! Sir, it lit up the whole rank of villas like —like———’ ‘Gas ? I suggested. * Not at all,’ said Bob, with sudden in- dignation. * She was gone; but my eyes straining, like twin detectives, in pursuit of the thief that had robbed my heart’s till (and used it very roughly in doing so), ob- other obese animals, is commonly anticipated and that young lady became my honoured burnum Cottages, third turning to the left at twenty minutes past eight, on Thursday. ‘George,’ continued Bobby, rising aod C.deC.’ To-morrow, George, is ‘ Thursday.’ ‘tators, tripe standing in an easy attitude with his back I shal! avail myself of this gracious prohibi- and sausages,’ were principally responsible to the fire, and his coat-tails over his arms, | tion. Will you accompany me ? , | Robert assented,and we walked home high- ly delighted with the prospect of affairs. | Wednesday week, according to Botanical | tradition, proved a day of terrific storm and tempest. Tents there were, indeed, but, from peared the important words ‘ Fancy Dress.’ | I understood in a moment Bob’s exul- tation. ‘And how,’ I asked, ‘do propose to |dress for it? Something am a * Per- I pressed my friend’s hand, not without the spouting, dropping, and dazzling in all sian, or—— emotion. Bob thanked me with a melan-! directions under their fictitious shelter, |choly smile, for his eye had lit on the pale- | | | Why, then, she came, leaning gracefully on the arms of Mine is low and sweet. , | her two companions. The ample folds of a| speaking, you the acting. Excuse me.’ | more, In Portland-place a|proach the house so closely as to be on sudden pull up nearly flang me on the|speaking terms. I propose to avail myself horse’s tail, The carriage had stopped at |of their friendly cover, while you, standin one of the doors, and my donkey of a driver |out just far enough to allow yo all but ran into it. ‘It was, however, only one of the com-|/pany my observations with appropriate panions who alighted—-when the carriage, |action. How say you, my George ?’ /stmall carriage-sweep led up to each, and the /gates, in the instance of Number Three, standing open, there would, we saw, be no the house. | Bob, I stole into the laburnum corvet. | was growing dark, I do the appointed time, when the sound of a | window, gently opened, reached our ears. je—em ! In that locality I was |), y { word.’ I had been dying with curiosity to see the | spoken under ordinary circumstances, proach nearer, so that the outlines of—what was, on this occasion, both to show and speak that there, within nine inches of my right|{ dare no longer designate—my figure, for himself. wight become visible, sir, 1 could not do it. Revolt her taste at the very outset? Crush short ; a change came over his really hand- the tender buds of her young affection be- some face, the colour mounting to the roots neath this shapeless mound of flesh? Let There | me win her first, then, by those discreet what did he say ?—tripes and sausages, that | were, I should say, nineteen acts, with mu-| degrees by which a certain cat is reported slowly into view, as if rising from a nest of singular predilection for the interior of other | sical interruptions of moderate duration. (whether correctly or otherwise) to have de- flowers. It greeted him with a frank, sweet animals which has proved so fatally nutritious At the conclusion, I held a conference with voured the candle, reveal myself to her in | smile, after which an animated convereation He has broken no affectionate the book-keeper touching box B, ‘The |all my fearful rotundity. It is here, my | ensucd, a tall hedge of rich blossoms alone ties; he has estranged no friend. He, on| Countess de Clerville and party.” Need 1/| friend, that you can help me. There is| separating the pair. This lasted nearly half coutinued Bob, interrupting me, as I was place. The object of my fair warner-off is to hold converse with me through the window | old fellow. which looks upon a little lawn, which is enthusiast ! flanked by a shrubbery,which is open to the road, which is innocent of travellers nine- teaths of the day. Certain laburnums ap- form to be distinctly visible, will accoi- ‘ The system at present in vogue for the ur noble | discol ving views! Now, ean anything be, | display of waterworks provided by the society. ‘In that hideous garb,’ he said, bitterly, | ght, I may per- | gardless of long dresses, fought his desperate chance, venture upon expressoins which, | way to the region of rhododendrons, the eyes ; ' } I replied, slowly, Ob, my Bob, will I) second, for this once, your intended assault | you openly. Did she offer no sort of ex- upon the common sense, not to say peace of p!anation 7 made a turn or two, and bad reached a/ mind, of a lovely and confiling woman. place called, I observed, Nasturtium Villas, | What a goose she must be !’ Fight o'clock that evening saw us strol- g leisurely past Laburnum Cottages. A difficulty in slipping unobserved into the little shrubbery which, as Bob had said, reached at one point within a few paces of It was not without a slight blush, such as maiden crib that, fallowing the intrepid | It) Bob’s watch indicated ‘ A—he--em !’ remarked a soft voice. * Thank you, I am aware of it,’ murmured ‘I see you distinetly, sweet. Ehe— (A little to the front, George, my I stepped out just clear of the trees, Bobby, with his bead in the fork of a large labarnum, close in my rear. ‘ Come no nearer,’ said the voice from the window. ‘I obey in all things,’ replied Bob, with alacrity, while I made a graceful bow. ‘I see your fizure quite well.’ ‘Thank Heaven you don't!’ said Bob, in a fervent whisper. ‘ But I have very solid reasons for the caution I exhibit.’ ‘ Mine are still more solid,’ Bob. * And I must beg you not to misinterpret my present line of conduct. I cannot, sir, be insensible to the persevering nature of your pursuit of me. I have seen you many times, when you were not aware of it : * The deuce she has !' said Bob, rather un- easily. ‘And, dark as it was, have never failed to recognise that countenance which, I, I must own at our first meeting, impressed me in a manner only to be understood by those who have tested the imponderable essences in the crucible of rational experiment. For, do not imagine that the meeting of our eyes on the occasion I refer to was accidental, A powerful magnetic impulse compelled me, as it were, to look round the partition, and I was no wise astonished to find your look awaiting mine. It is useless, my unknown friend, to contend against these occult in- fluences. In that conviction, I have laid muttered sex, and permitted this interview. 1 did, indeed, make some effort to contravene the decrees o! fate, since, destined as we prob- ably are, ultimately, for each other, I yet forsee difficulties to be encounterd, obstacles to be reduced, prejudices to be overcome. In short, I Hark! [ fear we are about to be interrupted. You may approach the window for one moment, but do not utter a aside, in some measure, the reserves of my | | i might have imagined it rather an interesting The crowd was immense, and as Bob, re- I followed, but not closely, as Bob. Suddenly I noticed my friend stop dead | of his hair. Following his gaze, I saw the beautiful face that had fascinated him come Forth much, I am told, in the magic of voice. | an hour, at the end of which the lovely head | management I will do the subsided into the crowd, and was seen no Bob came back to me hopelessly enslaved ‘She is all that man’s soul could covet, | Oh, George, George! Sweet. Is it not wretched—is it not frightful, sir? Condemned to an inalienable inheritance of obesity! ‘Tied to this un- wieldy log of a body! But she loves me, George—she loves me! We shall meet. What do you think is our next rendezvous ? The lecture-room of the Polytechnic — the luckier? Totally dark. She will be in the second seat from the back, just perceptible, in a white lace mantilla. We are to corres-| pond, too at pleasure, for it seems that she | is perfectly free to act as she pleases, except ‘ Independent, and yet unable to receive ‘Spoke vaguely of ‘ reasons,’ merely re- marking that, were I acquainted with them, I should allow them every weight.’ ‘ You might have retorted, Bub.’ ‘She talked, too,’ said he, ‘in her sweet, fanciful way, you know, of the width, or breadth of some barrier which at present keeps us asunder.’ * My dear Bob, rely upon it she has seen ou.’ : ‘Impossible!’ said Bob. ‘I have never been oif my guard. The precautions I have taken would bafile Robert Heudin himself, At parting, she gave me a word of consola- tion. * Though mountains rose between us,’ said the eect girl, with her bewitching smile, ‘ the spirit of love shall reduce them into smoothest lawns.’ ’ ‘Mountains! Bob, this woman is quizz- ing you.’ ‘Does this look like quizzing?” asked Bob, reverently producing a silken tress, | about two feet long, wrapped in silver paper. ‘ She passes it through the pelargoniums,’ ‘The what ?’ ‘The flowers,’ replied Bob, generally. I saw my friend no more till after the meeting of the Polytechnic, of which he gave me a succinct account. Obscure as it was, he detected the glimmer of the white mantilla, Tho white man‘illa was attended by two sister robes of grey, one of which appeared to yield place to the opaque shadow that approached them in the person of Bob. A little cool hand was ready to weleome him, and the silver voice had so much to say, thar Lisbon flourished and was des- troyed, the fight of Waterloo resolved itself into Ascot Races, the eruption of Vesuvius was quenched in the waters of Niagara, and the final (picterial) dissolution was at hand, before its topics seemed half exhausted. Before, however, the light returned, the three mantillas—like phantoms+rose, and glided away, Bobby receiving a caution which he was well content to obey, to re- main for the moment where he was. He had contrived to glean from his be- loved a considerable amount of information | touching herself. Here it is: Carolina de’ Clerville was an Englishwoman. Though | scarcely twenty, she had been for two years | the widow of a Freach nobleman, who died within a fow weeks of his marriage, leaviog | her in affluent circumstances. A cousin of | her deceased husband resided with her as | ‘dame de compagnie,’ and a cousin of her) own—the second grey mantilla—was her | frequent visitor. Both averred that, over, and above her exterior charms, she was the | most sensible woman he had ever known. She spoke, for example, with the most su-. preme disdain of mere personal appearance | (indeed, this seemed to be one of her fa- vourite topics), and was constantly inculcat- | ing the doctrine that the body being but, as | it were, the handmaid of the soul, it mattered | little in what guise it went abaut the latter's work, So charmed was Bob with these liberal | | sentiments, and with the undisguised intcrest | his beautiful mistress took in him, that be | served a something fall from the carriage window. I harried up. A bouquet! More, sir, more! Among these blessed stalks nestled a serap of paper, torn off a mantua-maker’s bill. On the blank side had been written, with haste and a pencil. ‘To-morrow. Later.’ | dined that evening at the Starve-and-Tatter Club, upon whose elder and steadier members my feverish gaicty seemed to make a copsiderable im- pression. ‘| was on the ground on the morrow at the appointed time. It was darkish. | wore my widest paletot, and walked with a carelully-studied lightness, more in keeping with my mind than body. Few carriages passed Nasturtium Villas. The excellent inhabitants did not evince symptoms of being in the full tide of London fashion. The conseqnence was that when the sound of |approaching wheels was heard, my heart throbbed almost to bursting. Again the carriage, again the face. Again that | across—?’ began Bob, discontentedly. speaker more distinetly, for the voice was silver-sweet as Juliet’s own; and without one * As tight as possible,’ retorted Bob. « I shall £0, sir, as it is very fitting I should do, in the character of my own maternal ances- tor.’ ‘ Daniel Lambert ?” ‘The same,’ said Bob, with dignity. would of more than ove fair train-carrier spoke ‘ His owe coat, his identical wai udding ! those daggers it is not considered polite to | widest eee Summer trcusers, a cushion bere, towels there, and the thing is done, I say, old fellow, I wonder how she will go? A sylphide? Virgin of theSun? Twilight ? Snow? Undine? Yes, Undine, that’s her style; and so he bade me good night. The interest I felt in the result of this singular love-affair induced me to assist at Bob's toilet, and in trath I was astonished to perceive how amall an amount of adyen- a aid had become necessary to the ex- emplification of the illustrious c¢ ar selected. er After allowing him a few minu habituate himeelf in some degree te the of hie augmented person, we sent fora cab: but little more time was lost, for, om presenting our revived Lambert on the door-steps, the man, etruck with sudden terror, departed at a gallop, and was seen no more. A second driver, more col- lected, and confining himself to remonstrance, was quickly eatisfied that the load was not so immoderate as it appeared, and Bob was at length fairly under way. If the real Daniel Lambert ever went to a fancy ball in the height of a London season, it is to be hoped and presumed he went early. Poar Bob had quite forgotten the unusual difficulties that would naturally attend his getting up and down stairs. Now, Lad ennard’s house, though large, was i - cient for the number invited, and when the door which, previously open, had been daly slammed in Bob's face, in order that the form of knocking might be gone through, finally admitted him, hall, lobby, and stairs presented a mass of plumed and jewelled heads which seemed impenetrable. Nearly an hour elapsed before Bob could succeed in reaching the ball-room. To him it seemed like twenty years. There were people coming down as well as going up, and the remarks that emanated from the des- cendants, dreve Gobo nearly frantic with im- patience. ‘Superb, indeed! TI had no conception of her beauty,’ remarked a Circassian, his large false moustache tickling Bob’sear. * Madame de Clerville is, what her costume would in- dicate, the queen of the ball ?’ ‘She rarely goes out, 1 think,* said a spiteful-looking Roxalana. ‘Such faces are not for every-day’s wear,’ * Magnificent dress !’ ‘ Looks the character to the very life.’ They now approached the ball-room. Bob's name was announced. * What's the attraction ?' asked a man at Bob's side, of a friend in front. ‘ Madame de Clerville is standing up at last. I think she is going to dance.’ The crowd in front of Bob opened, and made way for Lady Pennard, who greeted her extensive guest with a merry smile. ‘Oh, Mr. Bigge, I am so glad you are come! Madame de Clerville says she is en- gaged to dance the first set with you, and bas refused half the room already. Come | along!’ * Dance, Lady Pennard !’ panted Bob. «I —eh—’ * Ob, it will be lovely!’ cried the merry little hostess. *‘ What an excellent idea! What could have put it into your heads?’ * Heads !’ Bob was conscious of having but one such organ, and devoutly wished ¢ it’ had never entered ‘ha/; but there was no help, and as he waddiled up the entire length of the room, his immense ooat-skirts swaying, like mighty banners, from side to side, and the protuberance covered by his vast striped Waistcoat moving in unison, the entire as- sembly were in eonyulsions of mirth, Happily, Bob's mind was too much engrossed with the impending introduction to be very captious about general criticism. ‘ Llere, my dear countess, is cavalier,’ said Lady Pennard. A circle of admirers had opened, and Bob stood face ta face with his ea ‘I present Mr. Daniel Lambert to the first beauty of Teheran,’ laughed the hostess, as she glided away, Beautifal as he had known her to be, Bob was perfectly dazzled with her loveliness on this occasion. She wore a Persian costume of the richest kind, so arranged as, while concealing the actual figure, to make it ap- pear that the fair wearer was prodigally far- nished with the most important item in the Persian estimate of beauty—fat. One might have thought it a little over-done, but for the perfect ease and grace with which the beautiful creature seemed tv manage that ‘fair mountain’ with which nature—or a sugar diet—was supposed to have invested her. ‘In the name of all that’s absurd, why thus disfigure her charming form?’ was Bob's first thought ; and, perhaps, he might have put it into some politer form of words, but for a sudden change which came across the Countess’s face. From evincing a very de- cided inclination to laugh, she became sud- denly grave and pale, and seemed almost about to faint. Bobby instinctively extended his tremendous arm, whieh she shook, and, avoiding the quadrille about to be formed, moved towards a side-room, which conducted into a sort of conservatory, tenanted at the moment by nothing but geraniums. Thero she sank down on the first seat. ‘Robert you have divined my seeret,’ she murmured. ‘Generous, noble man! how indly, how delicately have you conveyed to me your conseousness uf—of my—" your tardy was half tempted to put them to the test,’ «"\hem!? said the ombarrassed Bob by revealing his portly presence in all its « Your ° tf | waiting to consult my principal, made but rorundity, when a letter—a sweet little letter throe paces to the window, concealing my | of love—reached his hand, containing, in a/ considerably broader than [ am long!’ said footman’s calves, two white meteors, re. | ‘eeded into the darkness, Again a bouquet | features as 1 might. One glance at the face that bent over the window-sill sufficed to as- | ‘sure me that Bob had not been romancing. | pail given by @ friend of hers, from whom I had never seen anything lovelier in woman, The stars that had begun to gather over us seemed to reflect themselves for an instant in those eyes that gazed down on me, A hand glistened out from the darkness ; it was not very far from my lips ; it present- ly became nearer; it was soft, and white, and rather plump, that band, and it bore a sapphire—poor counterfeit of the glitteriug eyes above, ‘Wednesday week. The Botanical. Across the rhododendrons,’ was whispered hurriedly. There was a burst of light in the apartment, Back I skipped to covert. ‘Across the rhododendrons! Why ‘Ingrate! Can anything be more fortu- nate? Your rhododendron [ take to be a and anote! I hastened with my prize to! plant of considerable volume. Proteeted by the nearest tonishment, I read as follows: lamp. There, to my utter as-| one of these, you might, were you as fat as your materuai ancestor himself, hold con- ‘« Why this extraordinary persecution ? | verse with your princess as lightly and un- If it be your fancy to haunt our quiet pre- concernedly as though you bad the waist of ‘me beyond that which, in the exhibition of hall. That young lady opened the door;'cinets at least avoid Number Three, La-'a wasp.’ postscript, the information that the writer | would be present, on a certain evening, at a she would obtain a card for Bob. Bob turned pale; bis courage had entirely | vanished. No escape now; substitution was | impossible. Show himself he must, and that in a costume calculated to do even more than common justice tohissize. Fancy the tight body-coat, the swelling white waistcoat. Madness! The poor fellow subsided into a profound melancholy, shut himself up, refused nou- rishment, would not even see me, his friend. It was the night before the ball, at which Bob must appear or be fer ever ruined in the good graces of his beloved, when, as I was calmly smoking the cigar that closed the day, my friend burst into the room in the highest state of joyful excitement, literally | dancing round me, aod flourishing a card! over his head. ‘Look there, sir! look there!” he ex- claimed at last, panting for breath, as he thrust the card into my band, ‘ left hand corner, George. Huzza!’ L looked. Ln very minute characters ap- * Being, to use the popular expression, the countess, smiling with bewitching eweet- ness. Bob's pulse stood still. She was exqui- sitely beautiful. Ifer skin was whiter than the pearis she wore. You might have laid a tender young rose-leaf on her cheek,and never known the difference. Her rounded aring were the perfection of symmetry. But she was immensely veneee - ‘ But,’ stammer ob, ha what be said, ‘ this decep— way 20 * Was useless, indeed, dear Robert,’ said the still smiling countess. * Your reproach is equally tender and just. Think you 1 have forgotten Low eager! you coincided in all my opinions reiative @ very subor- dinate position held by the body in our mixed being? Perhaps a little childish vanity whispered me to keep you @ short time lon ser in the dark upon this minor point,”’ (‘ * Maximum,’ rather!’ muttered Bob.) * And when | found you kuew it, and had dressed yourself in that bideous guise for iny sake thus silently expressing your noble in- difference to any amount of size, think, think Rebert, bow my heart reproached me for my — — in — " tly pressed the beautiful li that laid iteslt in his. a ‘Hem!’ said Bob. ‘Yoo haye used, I think, the term ‘hideous’ in reference to my