of the real cognac; our conducteur was a good sort of a fellow, and knowing that the evening would be rather cold, had provided himself with this comforter; the flint and the steel were soon brought into contact, and never did three better humoured fellows sit smoking together; there was a sort of real luxury in the enjoyment when we popped our heads out of the cabriolet for a moment, and then drew them into our nice, snug, warm, smoky apartment. Since that evening I can never bear to hear any one complain of a smoky house but immediately set it down to the account of affectation-with our large meerschaums between our feet we puffed away most scientifically, but how long I can hardly tell: by degrees I was not aware whether I was smoking or not, the crack of the whip sounded less harsh in my ears, and the jingling of the horse bells resembled some distant music-the swearing of the postilion and shaking of the diligence, had something of the effect of "hush a baby" and the cradle, and by degrees all thoughts of this sublunary world had vanished, and I felt myself tasting the sweets of a world of fancy. The dreams of that evening are even at this distance of time, on account of the after circumstances, still vividly impressed on my memory. The immense plains of France sunk rapidly from recollection, and I soon found myself among the rocky mountains of Scotland. The scenes of Loch Katrine and its immediate neighbourhood passed forward in quick succession, the fertile districts of Ireland were also vividly painted in my imagination, and I fancied myself the only companion of a suspicious-looking carman traversing among the hills and lakes of Killarney; we had entered one of the most bleak and deserted looking districts that ever the disordered imagination of a banditti-struck traveller could dread, the frequent starts of the carman, and his angry glances to the rear, had already convinced me that all was not correct, when all of a sudden we were called upon to stop, the carman threw off his disguise and stood before me in all the ragged terror of Captain Rock-three or four companions issued from a miserable looking cabin, and commenced a strict examination of my portmanteau; one part of my dress was portioned after another, I was hurried into the cabin, and saw my books and papers rapidly consumed before a peat fire; during all this I manifested the appearance of total indifference, but the moment they

attempted to lay violent hands on my person, I shook myself with one effort from their grasp. The hands already stained with many bloody deeds, had grasped the knife which was to be my introduction to another world; already was I bound, and forcibly held down upon the floor, the knife gleaming in the well-lighted hovel was descending upon my person, when I was awakened by a shrill cry of horror,—I started to reality, but not all at once to recollection-the place where I was seemed strange; I was conscious of sitting, but where I knew not. Raising myself upon my feet, I pushed aside the leathern curtains of the cabriolet-the cold air rushed past my face, and another moment seemed to tell me where I was. I groped for my companion and found him in the arms of the sleepy god-I stretched out my hands to the place where I thought our conducteur once was, well wrapped up in his fleecy sheep-skin, but there I found no conducteur; drawing aside the leather curtains and popping my head out, I perceived that the diligence moved not, but it was too dark either to distinguish the horses or where we were; even the lamp which burned in front when I fell asleep, was gone. After several times calling on the guard and postilion but without receiving any answer, I was on the point of awakening my friend, when the shrill cry of female distress reached my ear: it awakened my companion, who starting up laid hold of me by the throat, and before I had time to explain, had almost finished my journey on the spot; however, when he became fully awake, and perceived the cries came from a little distance, he unloosed his iron grasp, and heard with astonishment my information-the vehicle stopped— the guard, the postilion, the light, and for aught we knew-the passengers and horses gone; down we descended with all the agility the case admitted of, after disburdening ourselves of our loose garments; and discovered that the horses were still attached to our vehicle, but fast asleep. We soon awakened the passengers; and magnifying the circumstances, as may be expected in such cases, put them all with the exception of the Irishman into the greatest consternation. We had no long tales of ghosts and witches, but short pithy sentences regarding banditti and robbers; some proposed to draw up the windows and fasten the doors, while others deemed it better that we should quietly submit to be rifled, and only care for our lives. The most

clamorous and noisy of the passengers was a portly looking Frenchman, who at dinner had acted the bear, and made his fellow passengers aware that they were travelling with a man who thought himself of vast consequence: raising his voice to the highest pitch, he insisted that the passengers should allow themselves to be searched as quietly as possible, and on no account offer any resistance to the banditti in whose neighbourhood he assured us we were: he descanted with considerable vehemence on the sacred nature of his office, and informed us he was a messenger travelling to Paris on the national affairs, and attempted with some shew of argument to prove that the state would suffer greatly by his safety being compromised. We had another important personage, a widow lady, who was going to meet a colonel in some regiment of the line, in order that the nuptial knot might be again tied; her exclamations and arguments all ended with the wish that her "dear colonel was here," or that "the brave fellow knew her situation:" there were also an old lady and her daughter, who said they quietly resigned themselves to their fate, at the same time imploring two young soldiers, who had been entertaining them all the evening with their feats and prowess in arms, to arrange some plan of escape, which they soon accomplished, but forgot to include their fair auditors. The most firm and determined of the whole party, however, were a young French girl and her husband; in this vehicle they had their all, and whatever the other passengers might do, they were determined to compromise nothing, nay, they would even risk the whole diligence in their violence to the robbers, the moment they appeared; the council of war soon became the seat of war itself, and high words were on the point of giving way to blows, when O'Hara, who had patiently listened to the clamour, told them all in his best franco to cease their botheration and noise. That his companions understood his words I doubt much, but they understood what they meant, and order haing been restored, he proposed to ascertain whence the shrieks which were now redoubled proceeded from, and volunteered to lead the expedition, if he could find two companions; we gladly assented, and promising to return immediately and report the cause of our detention, the Irishman putting a pistol into each of our hands, we pushed forward in the direction of the noise; what the feelings of our leader were we knew not, but the

feeling of the army under him was that of mischief. As we quickly marched along, the sound of voices and the rattling of chains became distinct, and we soon arrived at the scene of action. The cursing and swearing of the men, and the screams of the women, joined to the pattering of about a dozen horses' feet, made in the stillness of the night a harsh and disorderly sound, and it was not until we recognized our conducteur, that we could get any explanation of the disturbance. He informed us, that we were entering the outworks of Abbeville, and that owing to the darkness of the night, the postilion had brought the wheels of the diligence which preceded us, in contact with the wooden ramparts of the drawbridge; we found on examination, that the vehicle was firmly fixed and partly turned over; the screams of the women in the coupé were occasioned by their discovering, by means of the lantern, that they overhung a deep moat, and but a few inches, seemingly, intervened between them and destruction; they screamed at the danger, and vehemently insisted on being let out; but their conducteur would not permit it, as he expected to be off immediately. We were soon convinced that it was impossible for the heavy, lumbrous machine to fall over, yet admit, that had we been inside, we should have been more incredulous; we advocated the cause of the ladies, and insisted on their being released,―still the conducteur was inexorable. The Irishman called us aside, "Come," said he, "it is no use talking to these fellows, we must take the girls out," and addressing himself to me, said, "do you engage the attention of these boys, while your friend and myself liberate the females, and we will give you the hint when we have done it; we can easily find a stone to break the lock with, and the moment they are out we will give you the signal." I immediately told the conducteurs that they would wait there till doomsday before they unloosed the machine, by attempting to drag it forward, but unloosing the horses and fixing them behind, they would succeed in dragging it again into the road. My plan was adopted; and while they were busily engaged in this rather tedious task, I received the hint that the cage was open: to the coupé I ran, and received a slender figure into my arms. We soon rejoined the other four, and marched forward; we now found ourselves within a fortified town, the ladies seemed to be acquainted with the

pected occurrences.

He had arrived in New York but two or three days previous, with an intent to enlarge his mind by an assiduous observation of matters and things in general, as they appear in that great metropolis; and especially of the theatres, opera, fashions, Broadway, and the city-hotel, where he had established his quarters.

Taking the stops and slow pace into consideration, the omnibus may be fairly supposed by this time to have reached Maiden-lane; and John Atherton Hastings was fast sinking into a reverie of no particular character, when his thoughts were suddenly turned in a new direction, by an abrupt halt and the opening of the door: humiliating reflection, that such a common-place incident should have power over the workings of man's lofty intellect ! But we won't enlarge upon that just now. The door opened, as has been mentioned; and the young Virginian's incipient speculations as to the idiosyncrasies of the new-comer, were cut short by the apparition of a bundle of female habiliments, at the top of which was a close calash, of green silk, with a thick veil hanging from it in front, and, at the other extremity, at least one very neat little foot; a fact of which the disclosure was unavoidably made in the process of stepping into the vehicle. John Atherton Hastings was on the point of undergoing a tête-à-téte with a woman, shut up in a moving apartment of five feet by eleven.

The door was shut with a bang; the figure advanced and seated itself opposite the young southron; the horses moved on; and his face assumed the colour of England's meteor banner. The veil worn by the stranger was thick enough to defy his gaze, if he had ventured to look, which he did not; but he felt in his inmost soul that eyes of some sort or other were fixed on his blushing coun

tenance.

The embarrassment was, perhaps, mutual for a time; but that of the lady soon passed away, if such was the case; his alarm probably gave her an equal degree of courage; there was a slight motion under the huge cloak that enveloped her form; then an exceedingly white, small hand, peeped from beneath its folds; and, in another moment, the hand was raised, the veil twitched aside, and a young, lovely, and laughing face shone out like the silver moon from under a cloud, of which the most remarkable features were two large, black, mischievous eyes, and a small red mouth,

which rivalled them in the playful malice of its expression. John Atherton Hastings looked up; blushed deeper than ever; and, for a moment, wished himself safe in his college once more, poring over a volume of Euclid, or (which is much less readable) one of Don Telesforo Trueba y cosio y Metricias y fal de ral's novels.

Silence remained unbroken for several minutes; his alarm began to subside, at finding himself not only unhurt, but not likely to come to any very desperate harm: and, after two or three efforts, he succeeded in raising his eyes once more. Those of his pretty companion were now cast down, but he felt certain that such was not the case a moment before; the sweet little mouth seemed ready to melt into a smile, and the aspect of things in general so encouraging, that he ventured to utter, "Allow me," and to take from the other white hand, (which, by this time, had also emerged from its hiding-place), a small, silk umbrella, dripping with moisture. The courtesy was repaid with a slight bow, a glance from the bright black eyes, which now seemed much less formidable in their expression, and a barely perceptible severing of the pretty red lips, which he was content to receive as equivalent to a "Thank you." John Atherton Hastings began to suspect that an omnibus might be as pleasant a place as

a small, uncarpeted, fourth-story room in a college.

66

His second attempt was, of course, an observation upon the weather; and this called up a decided smile, and an audible Very unpleasant, indeed, sir." The collegian thought conversation a dreadfully awkward thing to manage, and silence resumed its sway; the lady perceived the necessity of making a demonstration, knowing that where people have nothing to say, every moment increases the difficulty, and a small, prettily-bound volume made its appearance; it was one of the Annuals, and luckily, one too that Hastings had not seen; his courage revived, and a remark was hazarded, which happily met with favour and a responsive answer; a delicate finger was gently insinuated among the leaves, and the youth, taking this for an overture, put away the umbrella, reached forth his hand, and possessed himself of the volume.

Matters are now in excellent train, and the reader will have the goodness to manage the rest of the interview to his own liking. It is enough to say, that,

all things considered, the parties made themselves very agreeable; that any third person coming in at this juncture, would have taken them for acquaintances of several weeks' standing; that smiles had grown into fair samples of laughter; and that when the vehicle stopped far up in Broadway, the door opened, and a gentleman made his appearance, in whom the lady appeared to recognise a father, an uncle, or some sort of protector, resumed her umbrella and got out. John Atherton Hastings did not know which to confound most heartilythe omnibus for stopping at all, or his own stupidity in not ascertaining the name and residence of his charming companion.

He was once more alone, and his thoughts were exceedingly pleasant; he had, indeed, taken no steps to secure a renewal of the acquaintance; but he hoped to accomplish that very desirable end, somehow or other, and he felt proud and happy in going over again the incidents of the ride, in which he had acquitted himself with so much heroism and gallantry. John Atherton Hastings firmly resolved never again to be in the least afraid of a woman.

A few moments more brought him to his own place of destination; the machine stopped, and he rose to get out; as he did so, his eye was caught by a glittering object, lying amidst the straw that in rainy weather serves as a carpet in those travelling houses; he picked it up, and found that it was a very small, handsome pocket-book, with a polished steel clasp; of course it belonged to the lovely and lively stranger, and would, no doubt, prove the means of discovering who she was. With a thrill of delight, he placed it beside his own, in the pocket of his surtout, and went on his way rejoicing, and full of gratitude to the omnibus.

It is painful to have to say, that his expectations were not fully realized; he found, indeed, a name and a very pretty one, too-written within the treasure, and also a lock of beautiful dark hair, enclosed in a small gold frame, with a glass, attached to the inside of one of its covers; he learned, indeed, that the book was the property of a certain Catherine Somerville, but all his researches were fruitless in ascertaining the residence, or even the very existence of any such personage. For weeks, and indeed months, he employed himself in the search, but to no purpose; Longworth's Directory gave him no clue to the incognita; and of the four or five hundred

persons whom he teazed with inquiries, not one could give him any intelligence of a Mr. Somerville, likely to have a daughter, and such a daughter as his own lost and lamented Catherine.

He might, indeed, have advertised the pocket-book in the papers; but this measure either did not occur to him, or, if it did, he cared not to resort to it; perhaps he had no inclination to give up his treasure without securing an interview with the fair proprietress, and feared that an advertisement would only bring forward some brother, or father, whose thanks he should consider by no means a fair equivalent. Be that as it may, advertise he did not; and his hopes grew every day fainter and fainter.

It was about three months after the date of that memorable encounter, that circumstances, or, to speak more correctly, another heavy shower of rain induced him to enter an omnibus once again. This time the huge conveyance was full at his entrance; that is, full in the opinion of all the passengers; the driver practically announced that it would hold five or six more, by taking in all that offered. Our friend soon found himself very unpleasantly situated, between a stout gentleman, whose thoroughly soaked great-coat imparted to the collegian's garments and person more wet than warmth, and another gentleman, not at all stout, whose sharp elbow made an extremely unpleasant impression upon his ribs. In fact, before he had ridden a hundred yards, John Atherton Hastings had heaped on the omnibus nearly as many curses, and was now on the point of concluding to give up his place, and "bide the pityless pelting" without, when his ear was suddenly struck by the sound of the name with which his feelings and hopes were so closely mingled. Catherine Somerville was decidedly mentioned by one of two dashing-looking young men who had Our come in within a few minutes. young friend concluded to stay where he was, for the present.

At length there was a ring of the bell, and the omnibus stopped; several got out, and among them he who had spoken that word of power. Our Virginian did the same, accidentally revenging himself, in his haste, on his sharp-elbowed neighbour, by planting the heel of his boot precisely upon the most sensitive corn in that person's possession; without stopping, however, to offer any apology, he descended the steps and pursued the young stranger, on whom his hopes were