sight, and why too must that cunning painter, exercise, heighten the bright carnation of your cheeks to such a dazzling hue, that the admiring eye could not behold its lustre, without betraying the emotions of the heart? Is this fair dealing, tempter? Goddesses, ye should have mercy, and remember that my hero is but a mortal.

AP TI

CHAPTER III. Our Hero is led towards a Discovery highly

interesting. W E left our hero, at the close of the fore

going chapter, like the son of Tydeus in the fields of Troy, contending with the immortals : if in that encounter any lady got a wound of Henry's giving, we, who must be tried by modern rules of honour, not by ancient lore, will be the last to boast of it ; certain it is, that Isabella stept into the carriage, and took her seat there, with an agility that argued the free use of all her limbs; neither did she Ay to her father, as her fair prototype Venus did to Jupiter, to murmur and com

L 5

plain

plain of the audacious mortal who affailed her; on the contrary, she parted with him in peace, caressed the favourite steed on which he rode, and, as she inounted the chariot, accepted his assisting hand; from all which we infer, that Isabella came heart-whole out of the fray, or, at worst, with no such visible injury as could impeach the manhood of our hero. He, on the other hand, whether disabled by some secret wound, or from whatever cause, attempted not to vaule into the saddle with his usual glee, but flowly pacing under shelter of the trees with horse in hand, unfolded the small packet Isabella had delivered to him, and taking out the contents, which Zachary's carelessness had neglected to give, read as follows

" Accept this ring : it was my gift to your “ father; the pledge of love and constancy : " the person, who pretends to have found it, “ either is Delapoer himself, or can inform ws you of his fate.”

“ 'Tis Delapoer himself,” cried Henry; “ 'tis he! How cruel is this disappointment ! How perverse, vexatious, and unpardonable the negligence of Zachary! and what fatal con. fequences might have follow'd from our al

i tercation

C

tercation in the cottage ! Heaven and Earth!
I might have been the murderer of my father!
my blood chills at the reflection! Three times
I have met him, and each time, save once,
have treated him with fullen disrespect. O
Nature, where were those secret workings -we
are told of; where that sympathy of souls,
that instinct, to impel us to each other? 'Tis
plain why he disguis'd himself; he came to
spy the land, to hover round the spot, where
his first love was planted: he knew the ru-
mour of Lord Crowbery's jealousy; nay, he
confess'd he did, and (oh strange involution
of unnatural circumstances !) accused me in
his heart of incest with a mother. Monstrous
perversion of ideas! by what horrors have I
been unknowingly encompass’d ! by what proa
vidence have I escap'd! He must be Delapoer;
he must be the unconscious author of my myse
terious birth. Where shall I seek him now?
No matter! I will ransack the whole island
ere I renounce the search. He said he was a
gentleman; 'twas truly said ! for when I rous'd
him into wrath, his pale and fickly cheeks
caught fire, and his eyes witness’d to the high-
born spirit of a noble gentleman. Thank
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Heaven !

Heaven! we parted not in anger, but in peace.”

Thus venting his sad thoughts aloud, he sauntered towards the house; and, there arrived, betook himself to his chamber, deposited the sacred pledge securely, and was summoned from his meditations to the task of dress by the tolling of the bell, which solemnly announced the arrival of a numerous party of visitors to the hospitable house of Manstock : these visitors, who were of the first respect in the county, came uninvited; but though Sir Roger's liberal stile of furnishing his board defied surprise, his table was not proof against their numbers, so that Henry, who was late in his appearance, shaped his course aside from the main body, and attached himself to a supplemental table, where sate a young officer in á captain's naval uniform, whose. open countenance and easy manners foon unlocked restraint, and put both parties at their mutual

ease.

« Jack,” cried Sir Roger, addressing himself to the Captain, “ that gentleman is a friend • of mine, I recommend him to your care, and you to his; I pray you waste no ceremony in

being

being known to each other.”—“Enough faid, uncle," quoth the Captain, and tendered his hand to Henry. · Gallant, congenial hearts, how quick ye harmonise and are attuned together!

. This officer, Cary by name, was nephew, to, Sir Roger, and youngest of five fons, which his sister had borne to Sir Nicholas Cary, deceased. He was in person short, but of athletic mould, hard favoured in his features, which, though they could boast no beauty, made ample compensation by a strong display of candour and benevolence; they needed not a herald to proclaim this is an honest, “ brave, well temper'd man; him you may “ trust without a pledge, and take into your « heart without a trial.”—He was a prime favourite with his uncle, of which he had received many unequivocal proofs at times when pay run short, and prize money did not come in; and this very day had greeted his eyes with the Baronet's name at the foot of an order for an hundred pounds, together with an excellent time-keeper, presented to him by the fair hands of his cousin Isabella, which Claypole, who was a great martinette in things of that fort, had procured for her in London for