A PLAIN dark-coloured chariot, whose dusty wheels gave evidence of a journey, stopped to change horses at Fushie Bridge, on the 7th of August, 1838. The travellers seemed listless and weary, and remained, each ensconced in a corner of the carriage. The elder was a lady of from forty to fifty years of age-thin, and somewhat prim in her expression, which was perhaps occasioned by a long upper lip, rigidly stretched over a chasm in her upper gum, caused by the want of a front tooth. Her companion had taken off her bonnet, and hung it to the cross strings of the roof. The heat and fatigue of the journey seemed to have almost overcome her, and she had placed her head against the side, and was either asleep or very nearly so. It is impossible to say what her appearance might be when her eyes were open; all that we can say under present circumstances is, that the rest of her features were beautifully regular-that what appeared of her form was unimpeachable-that her hair was disengaged from combs and other entanglement, and floated at its own sweet will over cheek, and neck, and shoulders. In the rumble were seated two servants, who seemed to have a much better idea of the art of enjoying a journey than the party within. A blue cloak, thrown loosely over the gentleman's shoulders, suc ceeded (as was evidently his object) in concealing a certain ornamental strip of scarlet cloth that formed the collar of his coat; but revealed, at the same time, in spite of all the efforts he could make to draw up the apron, the upper portion of a pair of velvet integuments, which, according to Lord Byron's description of them, were "deeply, darkly, beautifully blue." The lady, reclining on his arm, which was gallantly extended, so as to save her from bumping against the iron, requires no particular description. She was dressed in very gay coloured clothes, had a vast quantity of different hued ribbons floating like meteors on the troubled air,-from the top and both sides of her bonnet; while a glistening pink silk cloak was in correct keeping with a pair of expansive cheeks, where the roses had

very much the upperhand of the lillies. While Mistress Wilson, the respectable landlady of the postinghouse, was busy giving orders about the horses, a carriage was heard coming down the hill at a prodigious rate, and, with a sort of prophetic spirit, the old woman knew in an instant that four horses more would be required; and then she recollected as instantaneously that there would only be one pair in the stable. Under these circumstances, she went directly to the door of the plain chariot, whose inmates still showed no signs of animation, and tried to set their minds at rest as to the further prosecution of their journey, though, as they had no knowledge of the possibility of any difficulty arising, they had never entertained any anxiety on the subject.

"Dinna be fleyed, my bonny burdy," she said, addressing the unbonnetted young lady, who was still apparently dozing in the corner. "Ye sal hae the twa best greys in Fussie stables; they'll trot ye in in little mair than an hour; an' the ither folk maun just be doin' wi' a pair, as their betters hae dune afore them."

The young lady started up in surprise, and looked on the shrewd intelligent features of the well known Meg Dods, without understanding a syllable of her address.

"Haena ye got a tongue i' yer head, for a' ye're sae bonny?" continued the rather uncomplimentary landlady-" maybe the auld wife i' the corner 'll hae mair sense. Here ye what I said? ye sal hae the twa greys, and Jock Brown to drive them; steady brutes a' the three, an' very quick on the road."

The elder lady gazed with lacklustre eyes upon the announcer of these glad tidings.

"Greys, did you say?" she asked, catching at the only words she had understood in the address.

"Yes, did I. An' ye dinna seem over thankful for the same. I tell ye, if ye hadna a woman o' her word to deal wi', ye wad likely hae nae horses ava';-for here comes ane o' the things thae English idewots ca's a dug-cart that they come doon wi',

filled inside an' out wi' men, and dugs, an' guns-a' hurryin' aff to the muirs, an' neither to haud nor bind if they haena four horses the minute they clap their hands. They'll mak' a grand fecht, ye'll see, to get your twa greys; but bide a wee-the twa greys ye sal hae, if it was the laird o' Dal. housie himsel."

And in fact in a very few seconds after the venerable hostess had uttered these sybilline vaticinations, they received an exact fulfilment

"Four horses, on!" exclaimed a voice from the last arrived vehicle, which sorely puzzled the knowing ones of Fushie Brig to determine to what genus or species it belonged. It was a long high carriage, fitted for the conveyance both of men and luggage; and its capabilities in both these respects were, on this occasion, very severely tried. On the high driving seat were perched two gentlemen, counterbalanced on the dicky seat behind by two sporting-looking servants. Inside, four other gentle. men found ample room; while a sort of second body swinging below, seemed to carry as many packages, trunks, and portmanteaus, as the hold of a Leith smack. "Four horses, on!" repeated the voice, which proceeded from one of the sporting-looking servants on the seat behind.

"Blaw awa', my man," murmured Mrs Wilson; "it'll be a gay while or the second pair comes out, for a' yer blawin'. Did ye want ony thing, sirs?" she enquired, going up to the equipage.

"To be sure," answered one of the gentlemen; "four horses immediate ly-we're pushed for time."

"Hech, sirs, so are we a', but time'll hae the best o't," replied the hostess. "Ye maun just hae patience, sirs, for ye canna get on this three hours." "Three hours!" exclaimed the gentleman; 66 why, what's the matter? Why the deuce don't they get out the horses?"

"Just for the same raison the Hielanman couldna' get out the bawbee," replied the imperturbable Meg Dods; "the diel a plack was in his pouch, puir body-an' sae, ye see, ye maun just stay still."

"My lord," interposed one of the servants, touching his hat, "there's a pair of very natty greys just coming out of the stable, and a pair of bays

with the harness on. them in stall”—

I have seen

"Then let us have them, Charles, by all means," replied his lordship. "Yes, my lord."

In a very short time high words were heard, from which it was evident that by no means a complimentary opinion was entertained of the gen tlemanly conduct of the nobleman's dependant by the guard and ornament of the plain chariot.

"I say, my fine chap, you leave them there grey 'osses alone, will ye? they ain't none o' yourn.'

"Quite a mistake, Johnny," replied the noble retainer, with a supercilious glance at our friend, who was still perched high in air.

"Oh! if ye come to go to be aleaving off of names, old Timothy, you'll find I've way of writing my card with my five fingers here in a text hand as no gentleman can mistake."

While boasting of his literary acquirements, our Hector in livery slewed himself down from the side of the redcheeked Andromache, and presented an appearance which apparently induced the gentleman in the cockade to believe that the mistake might possibly be on his own side.

"My lord is in a great hurry."
"So is my ladies."

"He must have four horses."

66

They must have two."

"Lauds!" exclaimed the voice of the hostess, addressing three or four stablemen who had been gaping spectators of this altercation, "bring yer grapes and pitchin' forks here, an' lift this birkie wi' the cockaud in his head back till his seat again. Tell Jock Brown to get his boots on wi' a' his micht, and drive thirr ladies to Douglass's Hotel. An', am sayn', if ony o' thae English bit craturs, wi' their elippy tongues, lays hand on bit or bridle o' ony o' my horses, dinna spare the pitchin' fork-pit it through them as ye wad a lock strae ;—I'll hae nae rubbery in my stable-yaird-I'm braw freens wi' the Justice-Clerk."

As affairs now appeared to grow serious, the Noah's Ark disembogued the whole of its living contents, and a minute inspection of the stables was commenced by the whole party. The ladies, in the mean time, who had some confused idea that all was not right, were looking anxiously from the win

dows, and if the elder lady had been an attentive observer of her companion's looks, she would have seen a flush of surprise suffuse her whole countenance as her eyes for an instant rested on one of the gentlemen who stood apparently an uninterested spectator of the proceedings of his friends. A similar feeling of amazement seemed to take possession of the champion of the ladies, as he recognised the same individual. He left his antagonist in the very middle of a philippic that ought to have sunk that gentleman in his own estimation for ever, and walking hurriedly up to the gentleman who was still in what is called a reverie, said,

"Mr Harry!-hope ye're quite well, sir?"

"What?-Copus ? replied the gentleman, "I'm delighted to see you again. Who are you with just now?" "Family, sir-great family-equal to a duke, master says ;-lady's-maid uncommon pleasant, and all things quite agreeable."

"Do you mean you are with a duke, Copus

Bless ye! no sir, only equal to it. Master has bought a Scotch chiefship, and we're all a-going down to take possession. Master made all the tartans himself afore we left off trade."

"I don't understand you-what is he?"

"Smith, Hobbins, and Huxtable, they called us at Manchester, great way of business-but master, old Smith, has retired, and bought this here Scotch estate, and makes us all call him Ben-na-Groich."

"And his family, Copus?" "Only his old sister, and our young lady."

"Well, her name?" "Miss Jane. She's a niece, they

say, of old Smith-Ben-na- Groich, I means; but I don't b'lieve it. She's a real lady, and no mistake; and, they say, will have a prodigious fortin. By dad, our old 'ooman takes prodigious care of her, and is always a snubbing."

"My dear Copus, say not a word of having seen me; you can be the greatest friend I ever had in my lifeyou'll help me?"

"Won't I?-that's all ;-'clect all about Oriel, Mr Harry, and Brussels? Ah! them was glorious days!"

"We shall have better days yet, Copus, never fear."

After a few minutes' conversation, the face of affairs entirely changed. An apology was made by his lordship in person for the mistake of his servant; that individual was severely reprimanded, greatly to the satisfaction of Mr Copus; the two greys were peaceably yoked to the plain chariot, and Jock Brown cracked his whip and trotted off at a pace that set loose the tongues of all the dogs in the village.

What a barbarous set of people these Lowlanders are," exclaimed the senior lady-"so different from the brave and noble mountaineers. My brother, the chieftain, is lucky in having such a splendid set of retainers, and the tartan he invented is very becoming."

"Vell, only to think of picking up my old master in a inn-yard!" murmured Mr Copus, resuming his old position, and fixing his guarding arm once more inside of the rumble-rail ; "after all the rum goes we had together at Oxford and Brussels. Nothing couldn't be luckier than meeting a old friend among them Scotch savages. Do ye know, Mariar, they haven't no breeches?" "For shame, Mr Copus!"

It must be evident to the most unpractised eye, that the young gentleman recognised by his old servant, and the pretty young lady in the plain chariot, are the hero and heroine of this true story. And a very fitting hero and heroine they would have been for a tale of far higher pretensions than the plain, unvarnished one which it is now our duty to deliver. At present, all we can afford to tell

the reader is the fact of their being consumedly in love, that their love proved its truth by not running very smoothly, and that, at the moment at which we have brought them on the stage, they had had no communication for several months before. The delight, therefore, of Henry Raymond on recognising Jane Somers at Meg Dods's door was equalled by his surprise. He formed one of a party going

down for the twelfth of August to the moors of his friend, Lord Teysham; but the interview he had had with his former domestic, Bill Copus, who had attended him through his career at Oxford, and afterwards for a short time to the Continent, somewhat cooled his zeal as a sportsman, by adding to his hopes as a lover. The forced embargo laid on them by the hostess of Fushie Bridge, for she was resolute in refusing to take them on with a pair, and the cattle of the last stage were miserably tired, gave him time to lay so much of his plans before his friends as he saw fit; and, long before the second pair, which had been with a party to Leith, had been refreshed, and were ready to start, his companions had unanimously passed a resolution, "that it was incumbent on the members of this excursion, collectively and individually, to give all possible aid and assistance to Henry Raymond in overthrowing the plans of all pergons of the name of Smith, or of any other name or denomination whatever, and marrying a certain young lady of the name of Jane Somers."

But Lord Teysham, who united a great deal of good plain sense with his buoyancy of spirits, took him quietly aside, and asked him

"Why, in heaven's name, if he liked the girl, he didn't propose for her in form?"

"I have, my dear fellow," replied Harry," and been refused."

"By whom?"

"The uncle. He wrote me a letter, saying my favour of 3d ult. had come duly to hand, and he declined the offer as expressed therein,-and he remains, sir, for self and niece, my obedient servant, Thomas Smith."

“But had he a right to send you this letter?"

"As guardian and uncle, I suppose he has; but as empowered by Jane herself, none whatever.'

"But what's his objection ?" "I've an elder brother." "Well, but your governor is a close old boy. He has metal enough for a frigate besides his First-rate.'

"Yes; but he has told me a hundred times that tit for tat is the only game he plays at-whatever fortune I bring he will pay me over the same; if I marry for love, I must live on it. I could give you a score or two more of his wise sayings."

"Oh! thank ye-I've a good stock of my own; but why, in the name of wonder, is he so distrustful? Can't he give you credit for being able to choose, without bribing you, as it were, to look out for a fortune ?"

"My father won't give credit to any one, especialy to me; besides, he has some little cause to be suspicious, for I've cleaned him out of a trifle once or twice, in a way that makes him slow to bite now. I have been on the point of marriage twice-once to old Crocky, and once to Stulz.” "How ?"

"Why, you see, last year I was dipt a little to the fishmonger, and wrote a matrimonial letter home, hinting at troussaus and other expenses, but mentioning no names. Nothing could please the old gentleman so much, and it was on that occasion he sent me up the paper properly signed and attested, binding himself to give me guinea for guinea whatever fortune I might get with my wife. A thousand he sent me to do the needful in the way of jewels and other presents, set me square with all the world."

"And your progenitor was indignant at the disappointment?"

"Oh! horribly; and unless it had been for a four-year bill of Stulz, I shouldn't have troubled him so soon. But, as I was aware that Walter knew of the obligation about my future fortune, I gave him to understand that I was devoted to Miss Coutts, and that I had no reason to despair. The very thought of such a thing was death both to the old Jack Daw and the young. The squire and his eldest hope would have been both in the poor-house if I had succeeded in carrying off the heiress, and had kept them to their bond. So, after a week or two, I let them off for their alarm, and a moderate tip. But all these things, my dear Teysham, are over now. I am resolved to marry Jane Somers, and cut both Stulz and Crocky."

"If you can get her; but this old monster, with the uncommon name, has her in his power. We must concert measures calmly, and we need not despair. Will she herself help us ?"

"To be sure she will. Her new home must be misery to her. She is the daughter of a sister of this old Smith, who, by some chance or other,

married a gentleman. She had a large fortune, which now belongs to this only child. Colonel Somers has long been dead; the widow died a few years ago. Jane was then educated in the house of another guardian, a cousin of Colonel Somers, who lived near Bath; and, on his lately being sent to India on a high command, she was claimed by this Manchester hobgoblin, and torn from all her old friends."

"Yourself among the rest?" "Just so-and now you know the whole story."

In which respect, as we conclude, the reader is by this time on a par with Lord Teysham, we quit the conelave at Fushie Bridge, and proceed to the more splendid apartments in Douglas's Hotel.

In the little drawing-room that looks to St Andrew's Square, the evening seemed to have passed stupidly enough. Aunt Alice, after yawning till tea time and scolding the greater part of that excellent timekiller, had at last, at about nine o'clock, betaken herself to her bedroom, to bring down the Scottish Chiefs-a book of manners and statistics from which all her notions of the Scottish nation of an early period were derived. Waverley, and the

other northern stories of the enchanter, supplied her with all her modern information; and not very bad sources they would have been, if Miss Alice had been able to understand the language in which they were written. But our noble vernacular was to her a more impenetrable mystery than any revealed at Eleusis, and it was, perhaps, on this account that she entertained so decided a preference for the performance of Miss Porter.

Jane Somers, whom we have hitherto represented as either listless or sleeping, was sitting busily engaged in the somewhat unusual occupation of thinking. And, as her thoughts were wandering about Lansdowne, and a vast apartment, nobly lighted and filled with the sounds of revelry by night, we need not be surprised if they occasionally made a detour to the stables of Fushie Bridge, and the sight that met her there. While musing deeply on these very interesting subjects, our friend Copus entered the room and said

"Please mum, one of the vaiters

here knows all about them there places as master talks so much on ; p'raps Miss Alice would like to hear about 'em ?"

"I will tell my aunt, William," said the young lady, and returned to her former musings.

Copus retired and shut the door. A low voice at her ear as she again rested her head upon the arm of the sofa, whispered "Jane!"

On looking up she saw a tall man dressed in the usual waiter's costume, with a large white cloth spread over his left arm.

"Harry Raymond!" she said, but by some unaccountable instinct speaking, even in the extremity of her surprise, in a tone of voice that scarcely reached beyond the person she addressed,

"In Heaven's name, what do you here?-in this disguise? Aunt Alice will detect you, and then my situation will be made doubly miserable."

"Then it is miserable, Jane?Why do you submit to it? Ah, Jane, you have forgotten, surely, the promises you gave me.'

"Forgetfulness seems to have existed on more sides than one. I have been four months in Lancashire, and am indebted, at last, to a chance meeting in Scotland for being recalled to your recollection."

"Recollection!" echoed the young man, in the liveliness of his emotion, flinging the white cloth upon the floor. "Good heavens! what can have put such a notion into your head? I have written letter upon letter, both to you and your guardian-that is, after I found out where you had gone tomy letters to you have not been answered; my letter to him was answered by a refusal."

"Harry, Harry, he never consulted me-I never"- but here she checked herself, as perhaps she considered that the vehemence of her denial might be construed into something very like an anxiety to retract it,-and whether this was the construction put on it, or not, all we have to say is, that on Miss Alice Smith slipping quietly into the room, with a volume of the Scottish Chiefs in her hand, she almost screamed, as she saw a stranger seated on the sofa beside her niece, and holding her very earnestly by the hand.

ex

"How!-what's all this?" claimed Miss Alice. "Them Scotch is the oddest people!"