flocking up the lanes from their pastures, the cries and whistling of the boys that drove the herds, the joyous barking of their dogs scampering in chase of some wayward and unruly heifer, and the first notes of the evening song of the birds.

Meanwhile the golden sunlight in which the landscape had all day been bathed was grown ruddy. The river had been transmuted from gold to crystal. The white houses and the church-spire of the distant village upon its farther shore, all tinged with a rosy blush, their windows sparkling like rubies and diamonds, were mirrored upon its glassy surface. The wan pale face of the full moon rose from behind the purple hills. Suddenly a gray, shadow fell upon the nearer plain. It crept rapidly athwart the landscape. It reached, it crossed the river. The white cottages turned pale, their gleaming windows were extinguished. The gilded vane of the church-spire burned for a moment like a blazing beacon and then went out. Slowly the shadow crept up the side of the eastern hills, the rosy light lingered for a space upon the highest summits, then vanished, and their long, undulating, gray outline showed in sombre relief against the blue and silver sky. The summer's day was gone, and the faint shadows of the vine leaves trembled in the moonlight upon the floor of the

verandah.

"Tea is ready, gentlemen," said a pretty girl, in a checked apron, coming to the window.

The Judge snorted, started suddenly, roused himself, winked hard once or twice, rose to his feet and volunteered the supererogatory remark that he had been asleep. Cranston put up his tablets, and we all followed the pretty girl in the checked apron to the dining-room.

After tea was over I determined to walk down the hill and have a look at the house of my old friend, Frank Eliot. I think I should have formed the same resolution, even if I had not been told by the deacon that Captain William Smith lived upon the opposite side of the street from Eliot's residence. This information, however, by no means diminished the desire that I already felt to visit the neighborhood of the old mansion, which, in times long by-gone, Eliot had so often described to me.

"You'll go straight down the hill," said the Deacon, "and jest at the foot on't, where the road takes a leetle sorter bend, you'll discover a white, two-story. dwellin' on the right, with a piazzy on

the south end. That's Cap'n Bill's. Well, right over opposite you'll notice a long range of white, square-picket fence, with big posts, and balls on the top of 'em. You won't see the house at fust, there's so much trees and scrubbery about it, and it stands back from the road a piece; but there's a carriage-drive right up tu the front door, with big trees on each side. From the gate you can look right up to the house. It's a big, gamble-roofed house, and you can't miss it."

It was obvious from the appearance of Captain Smith's residence that its owner was a man of wealth. It was a large, square house, built in modern style, with the grounds about it laid out fashionably, with summer-houses, pavilions, espaliers and nondescript affairs of trellis work here and there, a large green-house plain in sight and plenty of thrifty young trees growing all about, but none of them large enough yet to shade the house, the tall white walls and tinned roof of which gleamed like silver in the bright rays of the moon. I could see a very tall man, in a white jacket, walking to and fro on the south piazza, with a regular quarter-deck gait, smoking a cigar and hemming at every turn so loud that you might have heard him at the deacon's. I concluded that I had the honor to behold Captain Smith. "Hem away, Captain Bill," thought I; "but I'll be your son-in-law this night twelvemonth." Isauntered by slowly, and tried to guess which were the windows of the apartment irradiated by the presence of Mary Smith; but as there happened to be no light visible at any of them, I was much at a loss to determine. So after walking back and forth so many times that I at last attracted the attention of the gentleman on the piazza, who paused in his own promenade to observe me, I crossed over on the other side of the way, impressed with a vague fear of being mistaken for the artist and consequently worried by the dog, and directed my regards towards the house of Frank Eliot. It stood, as the Deacon had told me, some twenty rods from the street at the end of a broad, straight avenue of giant elms. All along by the fence was planted a row of thorn locusts, so that the sidewalk was deeply shaded. stopped at the gateway, at the street end of the avenue, leaned over the gate, looked up the arch formed by the spreading branches of the elms, and watched awhile the play of the moonbeams flickering on the white front of the house, as they

I

struggled through the dense and breezestirred foliage by which it was shaded.

I stood leaning over the gate and looking up the avenue a good while; for the house and grounds immediately surrounding it were so densely shaded, and looked so cool and pleasant that warm summer evening, that I was loth to turn away. "And this is the place about which Frank Eliot and I used to talk so much," said I to myself; and thereupon I fell into a reverie for I don't know how long, and I can't tell all that I thought about, but the nature and subject of the latter part of my musings may be guessed at by an exclamation that I uttered, as I suddenly moved myself on hearing the nine o'clock bell ring in the village, straightened up, brushed the white paintdust from my coat and turned quickly to resume my walk. "No, sir," said I, quite aloud, and very emphatically; "I'll be hanged if I would now-give me a chance for that girl in the coach yesterday, and Frank Eliot may have his cousin Helen and be I beg your pardon, madam— ladies.'

The last six words formed no part of my soliloquy, however. They were addressed, very hastily, to a brace of ladies that I had all but run against, as I suddenly wheeled to commence my return home, and stepped forth upon the sidewalk from behind the big gate-post near which I had been standing. Good

heavens they were none other than Miss Mary Smith and her cousin. My appearance must have been very startling, coming suddenly out of ambush and speaking with such a very determined tone, and, if I remember rightly, also flourishing my walking-stick to give emphasis to my remarks. Miss Smith screamed almost, and the dark-eyed cousin recoiled in dismay. I touched my hat in extreme confusion and stepped off the sidewalk to give them room to pass. The cousin slightly bowed at this, and both rapidly crossed the street, went in at Captain Smith's gate, and were finally going in at the front door when I heard the Captain hail them from the piazza.

After talking a while in a low tone with the Captain, that gentleman finally said "qh!" and hemmed three times in a manner most wonderful to hear, and the ladies went into the house.

I concluded that it would be better to make my way to the Deacon's with all convenient despatch. Accordingly I started up the hill, when I met about half way, my friend Cranston.

I explained to him at some length that

I had given way to a very natural curiosity, and had walked down to look at Eliot's house.

"Um, um, yes," said he; "didn't hope to see any thing of a pair of pretty girls down this way, I suppose."

"Whether I did or not," said I, “I did see them."

"No!" said Cranston, with interest; "how was it?" "Well," he continued, after I had briefly related my adventure, taking care however to suppress that part of it which related to my soliloquy; "Well, Lovel, how absurd it is for you and I to be so close towards each other about these very respectable young women; eh! I think so. Come, tell me now which of them you fancy, and I'll do the same. Come, I'll speak first. My favorite is," here he hesitated and looked at me a moment with his usual quizzical expression- "is the dark-eyed one-you know I can't distinguish them by name."

"The cousin?" I asked, anxious that there should be no mistake.

"You forget that you wouldn't tell me which the cousin was. I mean the darkeyed one, the brunette-the one that sat on the left-hand side."

"Very well," said I, quite satisfied at this explicit declaration, and quite carried away by my friend's frankness; "I'm willing to own that the fair one has rather- -in fine," I added with a burst of enthusiastic confidence, "Cranston, I really believe that I'm clean gone with Miss Smith-in love, for earnest, and no mistake!"

I was a good deal annoyed by Cranston's laughter. It was by no means the proper way of receiving such a communication. I think he perceived my irritation, for he evidently strove to repress his merriment, and after a while added:

"I'm going to call on Captain Bill Smith!

"What do you mean?" I inquired, surprised out of my reserve; "do you know him?"

"Not a hair of him-still-nevertheless, I intend to call upon him, and I intend to have him retain me in those cases the Fitz Howard cases- you've heard of 'em, I suppose. you sly dog; you find out every thing." and with this Cranston burst out laughing again.

"Yes, I have heard of the cases," said I, gravely, and secretly uneasy with a feeling that Cranston was making fun at or out of me, in some incomprehensible way. It couldn't be at, my confession of

"Why?" I demanded, my suspicions aroused at once.

"Because you'd just spoil it all-you are not impudent enough."

"That's true," said I, "but is that all the reason?"

"It's reason enough, at all events," replied Cranston. Come, say good-night. I must go along-it's getting late, and once more let me beg you to be assured that the dark-eyed maid only has any I chance for the honor of my hand, let her be Miss Smith or Miss Smith's cousin, or whoever else she may be. Good-night. I'll see you in the morning and tell you all about it. Go to bed, dear-don't sit up for me."

So saying and waving his hand, Cranston left me. I stood still and watched his progress. By Jove! he did stop at the Captain's gate, opened it, went in and walked up the footpath towards the piazza. I went farther down the hill that I might have a better view of the catastrophe of this impudent enterprise. I saw the tall form of Captain Smith standing on the edge of the platform, emitting stentorian hems, while he watched the approach of his visitor. Cranston stopped at the foot of the piazza steps, bowed and lifted his hat. The Captain evidently was rather gruff, for he stood his ground as if to bar an entrance upon the piazza; and although I could not distinguish words, I was near enough to hear that the part of the short colloquy which ensued, borne by the Captain, was uttered at first in a very unamiable tone of voice. Finally the Captain backed a step or two, and Cranston bowing again went up on the piazza, where the two shook hands with great apparent cordiality; after which the Captain pointed to a chair. Cranston seated himself, took off his hat, wiped his brow, and taking advantage of

the Captain's back being turned for a moment, waved his handkerchief at me.

The Judge was standing lonesomely in the hall door, with his hands in his pockets, when I arrived at the Deacon's, and appeared quite delighted to see me. In the course of a brief conversation that ensued between us, it was suggested that a glass of iced punch would not be inappropriate to the weather and the occasion, and it was thereupon agreed and arranged to have a small pitcher of that agreeable compound sent to the Judge's room. The necessary orders to that effect having been given, we adjourned thither to await its coming. It presently arrived, borne, with the proper number of glasses, upon a tray, by the pretty servant girl of whom honorable mention has several times hereto fore been made.

"Well," said the Judge, as he poured out his second glass.

"This is really extremely fine punch. I must say," he added with the air of candor that should ever characterize the spoken opinions of a judicial functionary, "I must say that Curtiss keeps remarkably good wines and liquors."

I expressed a coincidence of opinion, and the Judge continued: "By-the-by, Lovel, have you found out yet who those pretty girls in the stage were?

"Well-yes-" said I with some hesi

tation.

"No! who are they though?"

"A Miss Smith and her cousin," said I. "Smith?" repeated the Judge, biting up a strip of lemon peel; "Smith-whatof Guildford ?"

"Yes," said I, "a Miss Mary Smith of Guildford and her cousin from the city."

"Can't be Captain Bill Smith's daughter?"

"I believe she is," said I.

"Ho!" said the Judge, softly, as if he'd found out something, and then he began to sip his punch with an air of abstraction.

ly inquired the Judge, coming to from his absent fit, and taking a full swallow of punch.

"Oh-I-met her this evening," said I, somewhat loth to confess to the pains I had taken for the purpose of obtaining information.

"Where?" asked my companion briefly, in the style of a cross-examination.

"In the street," I replied.

"Oh, met her in the street, and so found out her name," repeated the Judge, still pursuing the cross-examination; "had it painted on her somewhere, probably, like a vessel, for instance."

I thought it the best way, on the whole, to confess at once, and so, beginning with the night before, I briefly narrated to my companion how it was that I came to find out the name of Miss Smith, and that the other lady was her cousin, and, in a word, posted him up to the time.

"Small chance for you I fear," said the Judge when I had concluded. "In the first place," he continued, seeming to take it for granted that I was resolved to win Miss Smith if possible; "the young lady herself is a belle and a coquette, as I have heard, and secondly, her father is a retired whaling captain and ship-owner, rich as a Jew and cross as a grizzly bear. One peculiarly amiable trait in his character is, that on account of some old lawsuit or other that he had long ago, he contracted a dislike to the whole legal fraternity, and in a word hates lawyers as bad as he does cold fresh water. He won't even employ one to manage the cases he has in court, and will probably be saved a default at this term only by your old friend Eliot's appearing for him, without, as I suspect, his knowledge or consent. They're neighbors you know, and since Eliot has ceased to practise law have been, or rather their families have been, very intimate and friendly.

"By George!" said I, "it's a shame that Eliot and I should persist in our stupid misunderstanding. Faith, I believe I'll call on him before I leave town."

"Well, I would," said the Judge; "still, I don't think that will help you with the Captain's girl a great deal."

"Oh, I wasn't thinking of that," said I, lying most outrageously.

"No, I suppose not," replied the Judge, committing, I fear, the same grievous sin.

"She's a very independent sort of a character, I've heard," he added, after a

"You have heard, it seems, of the way he served that artist, eh ?-what's his name?"

"Something about it."

"Well," said the Judge, first going to the window and looking around him; "if you'll be as close as if I were your client, I'll tell you something more. The

Captain has a sister, an old maid, about forty, homely as a hedge-fence, but with a snug little fortune of her own-ten thousand in bank stock, and something handsome besides. Well, when this daguerreotype fellow was here last summer, the old girl went up to have her miniature taken, as I suppose every other woman in the village did; but somehow the artist couldn't get a good picture, and she had to call again and again; and the upshot of it all was, that she had five or six different miniatures taken, and had to sit three or four times for each one; and every other old maid in town got envious, for the fellow's whiskers were irresistible, and began to talk, and shake their heads, and raise the deuce with Miss Jemima's reputation. So she had to discontinue her visits to the artist's saloon in the Deacon's dancing-hall, and he in turn called upon her Occasionally. There's no doubt that the lady was smitten with the fellow, still she rather hesitated at marrying him; while he, very much in love with the old virgin's bank stock, and perfectly well aware that he might as well hope to marry the queen as her, if the Captain should find out what was going on, was constantly urging an elopement. Just at this interesting juncture, Miss Mary Smith unexpectedly arrived at home from Newport, where she had been all summer with the Eliots; and the black servant-girl, Dinah, who, by listening at key-holes, and the artist's trying to tamper with her, had found out pretty much what was going on, but had been afraid to tell the Captain, lest there might be a murder committed forthwith, revealed the whole affair to her. Indeed, the fact was, that the worthy wench had written a scrawl to Newport, which had been the cause of Miss Smith's sudden return before the fancy-dress ball. What was to be done? It wouldn't do at all to tell the Captain; for in the fit of rage consequent upon such a communication to him, something would be broken-either one of the Captain's own blood vessels, or the artist's neck. Miss Mary, for a while was disposed to give the artist a horsewhipping with her own fair hands ; but at Eliot's suggestion, milder coun

sels prevailed. What's-his-name was to call that very evening on the old maid, by previous arrangement. Dinah was despatched to the artist's saloon, and that gentleman was given to understand, that in consequence of the niece's return, he had better defer his call from eight o'clock to precisely twelve, when, if he would be so good as to have a carriage provided, he should not be obliged to go away without the society of a lady. Imagine the delight of the artist at Dinah's guarded but intelligible hints. Eight o'clock arrived-nine-ten o'clock struck, and Miss Jemima, too uneasy to go to bed, was told by Dinah, whom she consulted and questioned, that the artist had been seen by her driving out another rich old maid of the village. Miss Jemima repaired to her chamber, but sleep was a stranger to her eyes, and repose to her pillow. As the clock struck twelve, she heard a carriage stop in the street. She got out of bed, went to the window, saw the artist walking softly up the path; saw him wave his hand, and cautiously opening her blind still further, saw, to her utter amazement and unbounded indignation, another hand waving a handkerchief from the window of her niece's apartment. What's-his-name's treason and her niece's frailty were apparent. Nay, she heard a door softly open, and the tread of careful footsteps descending the stairs. She instantly repaired, by the way of the back stairs, to her brother's room. The Captain had retired to rest that night rather more sober than was his wont, and so was awakened, and made to comprehend that his Jessica was about to elope, with comparative case and despatch. He rose at once, and rushing in his shirt to the front of the house, saw, as he supposed, his daughter and her lover, walking swiftly down the path to the street, where, sure enough, a carriage was in waiting. Conscious that it would be in vain for him to pursue them, he called upon them to stop, and shouted lustily for his dog, which, at this summons, at last succeeded in breaking the rope by which he had been tied in the woodshed by the careful Dinah; and being thereto incited by his master, at once gave chase to the fugitives, and the luckless artist would probably have been killed outright by the savage beast, that seized him just as he was getting into the carriage, had it not been that the skirts of his coat were torn off in the struggle. As it was, however, he succeeded in making his escape, and the carriage was driven off with the most pre

cipitate haste, leaving the lady to encounter the anger of her- -master, for-you mustn't breathe it, or it will spoil the prettiest piece of fun that ever come off in a court-room-the errant damsel was none other than the black wench, Dinah, who, being an exceedingly athletic and two-fisted young lady, had been by no means dismayed at the proposition inade to her by her young mistress, to personate Miss Jemima on that occasion, until the artist had ravished at least one fond kiss from her delicate lips. It is to be presumed that the scene in the Captain's parlor that night, between the hours of twelve and one, was somewhat piquant. But, however that may have been, one thing is certain, that unless the artist should get wind of the real state of the matter before the trial of his cases, there'll be a piquant scene in the courthouse over yonder, when that Dinah testifies; for the artist, still believing that Miss Jemima Smith actually started to run away with him, has encouraged people to believe that he had the dog set upon him while preparing to give a serenade, and confidently trusting in the assurance of his lawyers, I suppose, that the Smiths will never permit the scandal of having the truth proclaimed, as he supposes it to be, especially by the means of so public a proceeding as a trial to a jury, has sued the captain for an assault and battery, laying damages at five thousand dollars, and Miss Jemima in another suit for breach of promise to marry, same amount of damages laid, and hopes to worry them into terms, and paying him something handsome." Now, sir, what do you think, isn't Miss Mary a young lady of spirit?"

"But who told you so much about this? How came you to know so much more than other people?"

"Well," said my companion, "I suppose, to be sure, that a judge who may perhaps try these cases, ought to know less than other people about 'em, before trial at least, though the facts, to be sure, are things for the jury to find and deal with. But I'll tell you. Eliot, as I before said, has probably intended to appear for the defendants, without being authorized so to do by either of them; and he has been afraid, I suppose, that the counsel on the other side would be sharp enough to suspect this want of authority, from the very fact of his appearing in them at all. So, for the purpose, as we suppose, of not having a default ordered immediately, if the question should be asked him, and he obliged to confess, as it natu