impossible Cotherstone should fail to remark the alteration and embarrassment of my manner.

"Nogo," said he, in his usual frank, good-humoured manner, "you are bored with this; let us leave off. And Kate !" added the paternal hypocrite, without a blush on his open countenance, "play us something lively, instead of that confounded thing you have been hammering at all night."

My half-inaudible and absent answer was not remarked; for Kate, dashing off a brilliant conclusion, shut the pianoforte, and, lighting a candle, retired for the night, leaving me with her father, in a state of painful indecision as to how I should act.

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"Well, Nogo," said he, as soon as the door closed upon her retreating form, "I wish we had not played quite so high. I see you lose more than eighteen hundred; but of course, my dear fellow, you need not trouble yourself about an immediate payment, if it is any inconvenience to you. I only play, as you know, for amusement; and, therefore, whether you pay me now or two months hence little matters, or if you like to give me a bill for the amount

“Mr. Cotherstone,” I replied, in a voice almost inarticulate with a mixed feeling of anger, annoyance, and a certain degree of apprehension for the probable consequences of such a demonstration, whilst my whole frame shook and my lips trembled with the violence of my agitation, "I distinctly refuse to pay you one farthing of the money I have lost tonight, and out of which I have been swindled-yes, sir, most disgracefully swindled!-by an ingenious combination between your daughter and yourself."

I saw him look up for an instant with a guilty, startled expression, as I delivered this home-thrust, that convinced me more and more of the truth of my suspicions. His cheek grew perfectly livid, and his nostril dilated, with an expression that changed his whole countenance, and which even then brought forcibly to my recollection the glance his daughter threw at me that evening, in the conservatory. There was the same fiendish expression of malice and re

H

venge disfiguring the shapely feature; the same scornful sneer on the well-cut lip, that betokened pain and disappointment, curbed and kept down by the strong will within. There was, if I may so call it, a family likeness of evil between father and daughter; nor did the well-schooled man of the world more readily recover his equanimity and usual bearing than she that heartless girl-had previously done under parallel circumstances, when her schemes of enrichment and aggrandisement were foiled by the clearsightedness of her victim. But Mr. Cotherstone had only one course to pursue; and Bayard might have taken a lesson in chivalry from the temperate bearing, the firm manner, and high tone adopted by this most consummate of knaves.

"I am at a loss to account for your extraordinary behaviour, Mr. Nogo," was his quiet and gentlemanlike reply. "I should be sorry to believe that I had sat down to play with a gentleman in a state of intoxication-the only excuse I can think of for your conduct. You will allow me to ring for your carriage; and I trust that to-morrow you will see the propriety of making an ample apology. In justice to myself, however, I must insist upon the trifling sum we have been discussing being immediately paid over; and I am sure in your cooler moments you will see the absolute necessity of such a proceeding."

And with these words, he bowed me out in a state of complete distraction, staggered by his coolness, alarmed at what I had entailed upon myself, and with no very clear perception, except that advice and assistance must immediately be sought from Jack Raffleton, and from him alone.

CHAPTER XI.

Sir Toby. He is knight, dubbed with unhacked rapier, and on carpet consideration; but he is a devil in private brawl. Souls and bodies hath he divorced three; and his incensement at this moment is so implacable that satisfaction can be none, but by pangs of death and sepulchre. Hob-nob is his word, give't or take'tSir And.-Plague on't, I'll not meddle with him.

Twelfth-Night; or, What you will.

I Do not set up for the character of having more nerve than my neighbours; and I can conceive no anticipations, except perhaps those of a gentleman engaged to be hanged, more disagreeable than the forebodings which darken the existence of a quiet steady-going man, who for the first time in his life finds he has got a duel upon his hands. When I left Cotherstone's house on the night of our fracas, it was evident to me that, come what might, the thing could only have one conclusion. If I steadily persevered in my resolution of refusing to pay, mine adversary would of course take such steps as should make it imperative on me to call him out. If, on the other hand, I accepted the unpalatable alternative of "booking up," I was not at all satisfied that the language I had made use of would not be sufficient to provoke a man in Cotherstone's ambiguous position to the immediate use of fire-arms at a short distance ; and view it whichever way I would, one thing was clear-the business must end in a fight. With this soothing lullaby, I sought my pillow; and feverish was the rest, and disturbed the dreams, that hovered over my couch. Now I was Gustavus, of dancing memory, threading the lively "galop" with my fascinating Kate, through the conservatory, out into the garden, round the shrubberies, while Mrs. C. beat time, and nodded with a mother's pride in the graceful pair. Anon, Papa, in the guise of the jealous Ankerstrom, rises from the Ha-ha, with a long rifle-barrelled pistol in his hand, and Kate, flying into the house, disappears with an eldritch

shriek. Then the scene changes, and I am driving with Jack Raffleton to witness a private trial, from which we both expect great things. It is early morning as we arrive upon the Downs; and the sun, just peeping above the horizon, throws his slanting beams over as fair a scene as merry England can produce. The lark is rising into the deep blue sky, marbled here and there with light and fleecy clouds; and never, I think, was the world so beautiful-never was life so enjoyable. I get up to ride the trial!—such are the inconsistencies of a dream-but the animal I bestride is rooted to

the ground. "Give it him!" says Jack, as he puts a pistol into my hand. John Scott assumes the form of Mr. Cotherstone, and Alfred Day shoots suddenly up into a truculentlooking gentleman, six feet high. I find myself placed within arm's length of my antagonist, and in a frantic attempt to cock my pistol, the hammer of which no power seems able to displace, I awake! with that heavy feeling of oppression which makes us conscious of misfortune, ere our faculties have shaken off the influence of sleep sufficiently to perceive the whole extent of the troubles in which we are involved. It was later than I should have thought; and hurrying my toilet, I ordered my hack, and galloped off to the barracks at Windsor, to gather counsel and assistance from my friend Jack Raffleton. That gallant defender of his country was in the act of sitting down to a late and luxurious breakfast, after the fatigues of a "marching-order field-day" in the park, when I was ushered into his presence in the mess-room. Jack saw by my countenance that the mission with which I was charged was of no pleasant nature; but as several brother-officers were present, it was not a time for explanation, and I accepted, though with no great appetite, the cordial invitation to join these joyous spirits in their merry repast. Fun, good-humour, and " chaff" were paramount as ever; and although in low spirits myself, and by no means in a frame of mind to make the companionship of a lot of devil-may-care fellows any more acceptable than the profuse breakfast which tempted my unwilling palate, I could not help envying my companions

their hilarity, and thinking within myself, "What a jolly life these fellows lead!" The repast, interminable as I thought it, at length came to an end, and over a weed in Jack's barrack-room I explained to him the scrape I had got into, and asked his advice as to how I was to act.

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"Why," said Jack, to whom, as an oracle in these matters, I listened with undivided attention, we have nothing to do but to keep quiet: you have distinctly refused to pay, and have, besides, given Cotherstone a pretty good piece of your mind. If he takes no further notice, well and good; though, from my knowledge of the man, I think such a chance extremely improbable. He is a fighting sort of fellow, confound him! and I recollect his 'parading' Brampton of the Bays, about a disputed bet at Newmarket: everybody said Brampton was right, but he had to pay, notwithstanding; and Cotherstone, not satisfied with receiving his money, must stand upon his character, forsooth! and have a shot at him, besides."

"How did it end ?" I inquired, somewhat aghast to hear of these strong fighting inclinations.

"Cotherstone shot him in the wrist," was the reply: the ball took off the lock of his pistol, and ran up his arm to the elbow. The whole thing was badly managed by the seconds: however, it was hushed up, and made all right. But I'll tell you how we must act. It will never do for you to be out of the way should a message arrive. We will drive back to your villa together; stay there all the afternoon, and have an early dinner with a bottle of light claret,"--Jack settled it all as if it was a picnic-" and then if anybody calls we shall be ready for them, and I should hope, with a little good diplomacy, it will not be necessary to come to extreme measures."

With this consolatory remark, Jack ordered his dog-cart, and sending my horse back by his servant, we drove together through the glorious summer noon, striving to converse on indifferent subjects; but, as far as one of us was concerned, I can answer for the effort being most unsuccessful. Why did Windsor Forest look more beautiful, bathed as it was in that