long, weary time that we are shut up here, however much we long to get abroad into God's fair country, outside of these walls. I do not feel as if I could get well unless I am able to get out; and if I feel so, what must it be for those who are really ill? Do you think this siege will ever come to an end, Ensign Holbeck?"

Indeed I do; the malignants will get tired of our grand" I spoke hastily, and now stopped myself abruptly, for a deep flush crimsoned the cheeks and brow, and even the fair neck, of the pretty malignant beside whom I sat.

"I beg your pardon, Miss Woollcombe; I forgot" I began.

"And I forgot, too, I think," she said, almost playfully; "if we are to talk, I suppose we must avoid such subjects." She paused, hesitated, and then commenced again, with a determined look in her lovely face, which I should hardly have thought natural to it: "I think, Ensign Holbeck, I have spoken like a coward; can we not each be brave enough to maintain what we believe to be true, in the presence of anyone?"

My fair opponent," I said, wondering much how the words came so readily to my lips, "I would rather have your enmity even, than the friendship of any other. Only don't be indifferent to me."

She laughed a sweet, merry little laugh, that showed me she was not displeased. "A very doubtful compliment, Ensign," she said. But then she grew more serious again. "War is dreadful, is it not?" she asked. "I cannot tell you how miserable I felt when I found you searching for Mr. Collins the other day in his own house, and poor Mrs. Collins and her daughters, so frightened, and in such trouble."

"You looked your reproach, Miss Woollcombe." "Did I? I am sure I felt it."

"Would you have me disobey orders, and-be— shot ?" I asked.

She shuddered. “I would have you on the side of God and of the King."

"I cannot be on the side of both," I answered her. "The God I want to serve is never on the side of injustice."

"My poor King!" she said plaintively; "how much I wish he had a Protestant wife, and ministers who really represented to the people the loving heart he bears his subjects. Such dreadful mistakes are made everywhere about him, and he has to suffer."

"A king should be a man, Miss Woollcombe." She looked questioningly at me for a moment; then she understood my meaning, and rejoined, "I don't expect either you or I can measure his difficulties and perplexities. It must be so bad to be tyrannised over by your ministers, and mistrusted by your subjects. I would give my life, if that would save my country and my King from further bloodshed."

I could not doubt it. Lucy Woollcombe, tender, sweet, delicate, was of the stuff martyrs are made of. If only she were on our side!-a second Sergeant Gurney in this, that she fears God and knows no other fear.

We were interrupted by the entrance of her father. Mr. Woollcombe expressed his pleasure at seeing me with the utmost cordiality, rebuking me playfully, as

at my last visit, for my tardiness in coming to them. After some other chat, by no means of so deep a nature as that with Lucy Woollcombe, the old gentleman said—

"I suppose, Mr. Holbeck, you would not willingly refuse a request of mine?"

"You know whom I must obey, Mr. Woollcombe. Anything not inconsistent with such obedience I will most gladly do for you."

"It is not in the least a political matter," said the old gentleman; "merely a question of finance; money, I mean. The current coin of the realm is scarce with me at present, though it is difficult to know how one spends so much when there is so little to be bought. Manchets are not to be purchased for either love or money; but, to be sure, the plainest bread is now beyond the price of manchets; the coarsest food costs more than the finest did before these troubles came. I would employ you, young gentleman, if you would do me such a friendly act as to consent to be employed, in negotiating for me with Messrs. Greedy, at the sign of the Golden Spur, beside Frankfort Gate."

"Negotiating, sir? I have but little skill, I fear, in making a bargain; and Messrs. Greedy are cunning bankers, are they not?"

Mr. Woollcombe laughed. " Greedy by name and Greedy by nature, I fear," he answered. "But that we will arrange for. I will name a price for my goods, and they shall either give or take it; we need have no trouble of bargaining in the matter. If either my health or my circumstances enabled me to go out, I would not trespass at all upon your good nature."

"I shall be too glad to be of use to you, sir, if you can assure me, on your word, as a gentleman, that this is not a service a soldier of the Parliament need hesitate to render."

Mr. Woollcombe drew himself up to his full height, which yet was not great; his spare figure seemed to quiver with dignified annoyance, and I felt ashamed of my hesitation and apparent doubt of him.

"I am sorry, young sir, you have formed so mean an opinion of me. Let us not say another word ou this matter. I am not master of myself if honesty is questioned."

"Dear father, Mr. Holbeck has not questioned your honesty," said Lucy, interposing; "he could not. But, remember, he is comparatively untried. Youall our world knows you for an honourable man." She spoke the words proudly, as if she gloried in her relationship to a man of such character. I felt that these occurrences were at least bringing me closely acquainted with the mind and heart of Lucy Woollcombe. She turned to me and said frankly, “You will do this service for my father?"

Could I refuse her anything? Every moment only increased my admiration for this beautiful girl. Admiration? That is a small word for my feelings towards her, whose presence caused my pulses to throb, my heart to beat, my personal identity to vanish, lost in hers, whose every word, whose every glance, whose slightest tone, were of more moment to me than aught else besides. it not been for the expostulation of my commanding officer, and the dreadful realities to which it awoke me, I must have gone on in blind joy and ecstacy,

Had

living only to love her, careless of all besides. As it is, my thoughts often wander in strange reverie concerning her and myself. I can sometimes hear my parents, especially my mother and my dear sisters, asking each other why Ben could not have found some one to love in his own country-a girl of a northern type, large, powerful, commanding, instead of this sweet little flower of warmer southern climes. Above all, why not with a girl whose sympathies were on the right side? I can even imagine how they think of Judith Preston, with whom I used to play when we were children, and wonder how it was I did not grow to be fond of her in my early manhood as well. Our farms are adjoining, and neither Mr. Preston nor my father would be adverse to the match; of that my father has even informed me. But I hope Judith cares not for me, and will wholly forget me now that I am away from her. But is it fate or Providence that has called me into Devonshire, and shown me here the only woman, malignant or Parliamentarian, whom I could or would ever wed?

I answered her question as she wished, glad to obey her will.

Indeed I shall be proud to do your father service, Miss Woollcombe." If the accent deepened on the word your, would she not forgive me?

Mr. Woollcombe, directly I said this, went aside to an old ebony chest or cabinet, and unlocked it. When its outer lid was down he touched a secret spring, and drew out a small drawer from the side of the cabinet. From this drawer he abstracted something wrapped in soft woollen substance, and then fastening the cabinet in all its parts securely, came over to us with the little woolly roll in his hand. He sat down and tenderly uncovered a jewel, of whose value I could form no opinion whatever, being perfectly unaccustomed to such things. The shining rich dark red stone lay on the palm of his hand, beautiful in its colour at any rate, and finely cut, if I, who am no judge, may presume to say.

This is the treasure on which I desire Messrs. Greedy to advance me somewhat, young sir." "How much do you expect for it, Mr. Woollcombe ?"

Not a sale, not a sale! Pray quite understand me. I shall redeem it when once the siege "-here he paused, looked a little plaintively at me, and added, when once these troubles are overpast.' "How much do you consider they should advance to you in consideration of your leaving it in their hands ?"

"Just so, well put," answered Lucy's father, and I thought Lucy smiled as if she felt pleased for her father to praise me; no one will wonder that this made me the more eager to carry the business skilfully through. "It should be fifty pounds at the very least," said the old man, after consideration.

"I will do my best," I said, when I had received the stone again, carefully wrapped in the wool, and placed for security in a leather bag of small dimensions, which I could easily put in my pocket, and so avoid all suspicion.

would take more time than I have a right to take without reporting myself; besides, there is a drill to which I must go after I have been to Messrs. Greedy." I found it hard to refuse the tempting offer, tempting above all because it would again place me near Lucy Woollcombe, but I was obliged to do so. "And I shall know nothing of the success of your mission till to-morrow ?—that is, indeed, a great anxiety," said Mr. Woollcombe.

I flushed hotly; if he suspected me of finding it possible to wrong him, I would not do this thing at all. I drew the precious parcel from my pocket and laid it on the table, as I said—

"We had better not speak of this again, sir; my time, my life, belong to the cause I serve; only I would willingly have also served a friend whom I honour."

"Mr. Holbeck," said Lucy Woollcombe, coming near and laying her little hand upon my arm, “you are as proud as a Cavalier," and she smiled.

Her touch thrilled me pleasantly, and I looked down at her with an answering smile.

"I have yet to learn, Miss Woollcombe, that honesty is peculiar to a Cavalier."

She answered me by lifting the little parcel from the table and giving it into my hand, while Mr. Woollcombe said

"Forgive the impatience of an old man, Mr. Holbeck. May God speed you with the crafty misers! You will come to us to-morrow at latest ?"

"Indeed I will." Directly I made this promise I reflected how often I had been quite differently occupied on the morrow of any given day to what I had expected; I thought it best, therefore, to make some reservation. "If I cannot come to you for any reason to-morrow, I will at least send you word what I have done."

"That will do," he assented, and we all three parted cordially.

Messrs. Greedy, at the sign of the Golden Spur, beside Frankfort Gate: I knew the house perfectly, though I had never before been inside. Having entered now, and explained in some sort my business to an elderly man of grave, even melancholy aspect, I was conducted, after a parley between him and his masters, to a cellar-like room below the entrance, where sat in darkness, only half illumined by a single rushlight, two old men, one on each side of a plain bare deal table. The chairs they occupied were hard upright wooden chairs of substantial make, besides which two desks of plain unvarnished deal, some shelves and pigeon-holes of the same material, and a few huge iron boxes or safes, heavily clasped with the same metal and padlocked, were gradually seen by me, peering through the gloom, as my eyes became used to the unnatural darkness of the place.

It was cold weather for this country, though not so cold as Yorkshire at this season, for as yet we have not had any snow and no severe frosts, but in the cellar of these gentlemen I found my teeth almost chattering and my body shivering. A visit to them would have nearly killed the delicate frame of Mr. Woollcombe.

pens, nor troubled themselves to look up; so far as they appeared to have heard it the remark might have been unmade. But the clerk stood still, not again speaking, and in a few minutes one of the massive heads was half, but not wholly, raised, from the desk and the ledger, and the words

"Very well, Coffin," in deep guttural tones escaped the lips of the Sphynx-like head.

In another few minutes, all which time the clerk waited motionless and silent by the desk, precisely the same thing happened on the other side. The other Sphynx-like head half lifted itself, and the lips. spoke

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Very well, Coffin."

Were they machines? The clerk bowed, but neither of his masters apparently saw the courtesy, certainly neither of them acknowledged it. Then he left the room. I almost wished I had followed him, when I had sat for what seemed quite a long while, and yet none took the slightest cognisance of my presence. The quills were driven along the paper, making as they went that soft squeak, which I have sometimes thought is like a mild protest on the part of the goose for this employment of the feathers of his wing.

. I grew so tired, at last, of the monotonous silence and absence of human voice or sign, that I drew from my pocket the small leather bag, hoping thus to tempt one of the two old men to look my way. I had a certainty in my mind that they could see what was passing, and that anything of monetary value would probably have a greater attraction for them than a member of their own species.

CHAPTER X.-A Strange Interview.

"Moonlight walks, when all the fowls
Are warmly housed, save bats and owls,
A midnight bell, a parting groan
These are the sounds we feed upon."

BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER.

ROTHER, we are guilty of an
extravagance," said one of the
old men
at last," when my
patience was well - nigh ex-

hausted.

"Not so, Roger, I hope," returned the other; 66 we have surely ceased such youthful folly as that, in whatever shape it may be presented to us."

Their voices sounded deep and hollow and uncanny to me, as if I were in the gloom of buried years, and these old men were but moving spectres of the past. I am right," returned the first speaker, Roger Greedy; we use dots to our i's and crosses to our t's, and both may be dispensed with, to the saving of ink."

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A low chuckling sepulchral laugh was the response which his words met. I thought at first the brother ridiculed the idea of such absurd parsimony, till the words followed, Good, Roger, good, my brother. I have made the last dot to an i, the last cross to a t. Canst thou not devise some other wise means of husbanding our poor little resources, through the

straits which afflict the kingdom, and do most particularly afflict us ?"

"See, brother," said Roger; "I beseech thee without further delay to amputate the superfluous part of our luminary."

It would have taken me longer to understand what he meant by this roundabout speech, had he not pointed to the candle as he spoke, and had not the other old man deftly nipped off the end of the rushlight with fingers that were, I shrewdly suspect, well hardened to the operation.

Then they went on writing as before. But every reason business, duty, impatience, now moved me to greater haste concerning my errand. I rose.

Sirs," I said, "if you cannot attend to my concerns, I will bid you good-day."

Again the chuckling laugh, this time of both the old men resounded through the subterranean chamber; and Roger condescended to speak to me. Youth is impatient, I well know, young sir; what may your business be?"

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I stated it briefly, not mentioning any names, save that of Mr. Woollcombe, which I had arranged to give throughout, he being acquainted previously with Messrs. Greedy, and I suppose known to them as a man of substance.

"Why does he send you here, if, indeed, he sends you?" inquired Roger Greedy, suspiciously, while the other old man eyed me, even more narrowly than Roger, if that were possible.

He is ill, unable to leave his house, and requested me, as a friend, to do him this little service."

"A friend!" the words were expressive of extreme irony. I was not at a loss to account for this. My dress, though I was not in my full uniform, revealed the occupation of a Parliamentarian officer; and if the bankers had any reason to know the politics of Mr. Woollcombe, their surprise at my employment by him could not be pronounced unnatural.

"Where is the jewel?" asked, not Roger but the other Mr. Greedy, whom, from his being termed 'brother," I concluded was the elder.

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I opened the bag, and laid it in the hand of the old man. He, in his turn, laid it on the bare deal desk, and moved the candle around it, so that the feeble light might shine on every part. Leaving it there, he, without the least preface, deliberately blew out the candle.

"What a pity!" I exclaimed, involuntarily, almost believing its extinguishment must have been accidental.

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"A pity!" I heard echoed around me, a pity!" and it seemed as if the room had grown full of voices and sounds, so weird-like and even horrible, it became to me in the utter darkness. I could not see my hand, though I lifted it before my eyes, I could not tell where the two old misers were placed in regard to me. Suppose they made away with Mr. Woollcombe's jewel! A cold perspiration spread itself over my frame at the thought. If they would take such pains to retain possession of a drop of ink, what would they not do for a stone that might, for aught I knew, be worth hundreds of pounds.

Again, was it all a conspiracy? Had Mr. Woollcombe been traitorous to me, and sent me here to my ruin? I would not, I could not think so. Lucy had asked me to do this errand. Lucy at least could do

me no unkind act. The thought of her sweetness, her purity, her loveliness, helped me here in this dark den, which avarice made hideous even if other crime were separate from it. But I remembered a text that had been expounded to us by a godly minister at Briar Grange, when I was a child, which vivid exposition had made me afraid to go to bed for many nights after: "Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." The preacher reminded us so cleverly of the sorts of men who prowled in the dark, and the character of their deeds, that I imagined thieves and assassins were lurking in every corner of the dear old farm; and time alone and my grandmother's tenderness could soften the impression.

"When you have learned to take care of that which is worth caring for, young sir, you will not wonder that we find it very necessary to study economy; we never require a candle to talk by; speech can be prosecuted as satisfactorily in the dark as in the light;" thus spoke a voice out of the gloom, but it did little to reassure me. Then the other voice asked, "How much does Mr. Woollcombe ask for on his stone?"

"Fifty pounds." I said it boldly; I had no wish to parley long with these miserable specimens of humanity. If they would give it, well, if not, I would leave them. But I was not prepared for the laugh that penetrated every corner of that cellar, every corner of my own frame, and made me shiver as if I were exposed to bitter cold. Now it chuckled, now it burst forth loud and long, now it died away, only to be renewed in its unearthly tones. But my spirits rose after a few moments. I had an idea they meant to quell me, and make me come to their terms by that hideous ironical laughter. I would do nothing of the kind. I had stood unflinchingly to be shot at: should I condescend to be conquered by two wretched old men in a plain straightforward matter of business? I strode at once to the position I imagined the desk to occupy, and put out my hand, to grasp again the precious stone. Instead, I overturned an ink bottle, as I knew by the thick moisture that enveloped my hand, and spread itself so readily over every object.

"Ugh! this nasty ink-bottle is upset! Be good. enough to bring a light, and I will take Mr. Woollcombe's stone, and go." I said this, but I hardly recognised my own voice, it sounded so strangely.

"Stay, young sir; damages must be paid before that happens, and we must consider many things before we can assess them. The value of the bottle -the value of the ink___ "

"Be quick about it then, or I may have counter damages for loss of time," I said, astonished at my own boldness.

"Things of moment cannot be accomplished in a hurry," said one old man; but I heard with satisfaction that the other was quitting the apartment, as I hoped to seek a light. This was indeed the case; Roger Greedy brought a candle, and carefully examined the amount of mischief that had been done. The ink had not flowed over anything save my fingers, and in a little stream over the deal desk, from which it dropped lazily to the floor. Directly he was assured of this the miser again blew out this second candle, and said, "Stand where you are, Mr. Holbeck. and we will arrange this matter."

I made no answer. I was annoyed at the absence of means to rid my fingers of the ink, and still more that he addressed me by name.

People think we can get fifty pounds as easily as when there was no war; they are mistaken." "Let them be," I responded, curtly and savagely. "Just so," echoed Roger, chuckling again, "let them be:' a very good joke, Mr. Holbeck, but not very practical. 'Let them be,' will hardly do to take as an answer to Mr. Woollcombe, will it ?"

I was yet more troubled to remember that it would not, and I was also growing anxious about the inquiries that might possibly be made concerning my share in this transaction, which, instead of occupying only half an hour, as I had hoped and expected, was taking quite a long time, and a very dreary, dismal time too. So I was silent now, because if I spoke at all, I must show the anger I felt, which I had no wish to do. All three of us might have formed the same resolution to be silent, so still was the cellar.

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Are you meditating an escape from this edifice by the orifice that admits the luminous particles, young sir ?" asked a voice then, but to which of the two old men it belonged, I could not have told. It took my dull brain quite a long time to reflect that he meant by these high-flown words, simply the window.

"I don't see any to escape by," I said, when his meaning dawned upon me, "and I am not accustomed to fly from any place till my business is accomplished. But if you had any proper idea of the value of time to a military man, you would not waste mine as you are doing."

"Value of time! value of time. We have no knowledge of the value of time! Don't we sell time inch by inch for gold, and don't we sell gold, carolus on carolus, for time?"

"Then pray reflect how needful it is to give me an answer to take to Mr. Woollcombe, and let me go." "You may go; my brother will see Mr. Woollcombe himself on this business."

"Then return the stone to me," I said, very much disappointed at these words.

"The stone can remain with us; it is safer here than at Mr. Woollcombe's."

A light seemed to flash across my mind at these words, which served to explain in some sort what had happened, and the parlous treatment to which the two old misers had subjected me. They believed. that I-a Parliamentarian officer-had not come fairly by this jewel belonging to a Cavalier. They had kept me in a sort of durance while they sent a messenger to inquire the truth of my story.

"I shall certainly not leave the stone," I said, firmly, "unless I have a receipt for it, from you, to take to Mr. Woollcombe."

Then there was a whispered confabulation between the brothers, at some distance from me, after which they drew nearer again, and one said—

"That is reasonable, young sir," while the other quitted the apartment. On his return with flint and steel he struck a light, and in his efforts to do this, while the sparks gleamed out into the darkness, like the fire-flies of which we read in the wondrous tales of travellers to the New World, the picture they momentarily half-revealed, was quaint and curious. The old massive much-lined faces of the two