The warning of Mrs. Herbert flashed on my mind. "Where did you get it ?" asked Herbert.

"From a lady," I replied,

danger."

66 as a charm against

"Champagne, sir ?" said the waiter again. "Not any, I thank you," said I.

Herbert bent his eyes on the table, and smiled, at

the same time treading on my foot.

"I beg your pardon," he said, "but I was thinking of that rose." Play a bold game," he added, in a low voice; and I did so.

Whether I was really in luck, or that the sharpers -for though bearing the names, and some of them the arms, of nobility and knighthood, my brotherin-law being foremost in iniquity, they were nothing but sharpers, whether they intended to proceed upon the old principle of allowing their victim to win at first five hundred from them that they might win a thousand pounds from him before the night was over, I know not; but so it was that I won what appeared a very large sum of money, and at length rose from the table, regretting my inability to remain, as I had ridden a long way during the day, and must be on the road again in the afternoon. I never saw the countenances of any set of men look more blank in my life.

"Come," said Hailey, "you don't mean to be shabby, and go so soon with all your winnings!"

"You have had an equal chance," said I, "so I see nothing shabby in it."

"I do though," said my whiskered friend, whom I mentioned before.

"If you repeat that observation, sir," said I, "I shall take the liberty of knocking you down."

He did repeat it, and I kept my word. In an instant all was commotion; the men rose from the table, and, with one accord, with the exception of Hailey and Herbert, the former of whom disappeared most unaccountably, advanced towards me with fury in their looks, and I considered myself as lost. Sundry epithets of the coarsest description were applied to me, and one fellow had the audacity to shake his fist in my face. I seized him by the throat, and hurled him from me, and, rushing to the fire-place, took up the poker, and vowed if they did not let me pass I would strike to the ground the first that attempted to oppose my departure. All this time Herbert stood aloof, as though to test my courage: at length, an epithet more coarse than the rest being applied to me by one of my antagonists brought him to my side, and advancing resolutely between us he said,

"Gentlemen," and his assumed foppery being cast off, he spoke boldly, and like a man, "this must not be. Mr. Stanton is my guest"— They laughed

"At least," he added, "he supposed himself to

be so when he entered this house, and go he shall as free as he came. He was grossly insulted, and he resented it most properly. Let him pass, gentle

"Let him pass, I say, or "—he paused, and looked significantly at them, "you shall rue it, one and all of you, to the latest hour of your lives."

They stared at each other in silence, and then, with "curses not loud, but deep," and sundry exclamations, the import of which I could not gather, turned on their heels, and allowed me to depart without further molestation.

"Come, sir," said Herbert, motioning with his hand for me to precede-and following closely, he shut the door, and we left the house arm-in-arm. On the steps we found George Hailey; I looked hard at him, but passed on without speaking a word. Herbert's cabriolet was at the door.

"Jump in," he said, and, following me, he gave the whip to his horse, and we drove off at a rapid pace.

CHAPTER III.

"Simo.

Interea inter mulieres

Quæ ibi aderant forte unam aspicio adolescentulam
Forma! So: Bonâ fortasse. Si:-Et voltu, Sosia,
Adeo modesto, adeo venusto, ut nihil supra."

TER. ANDR. Act I., Sc. 1.

"Duke. Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful." MEASURE FOR MEASURE. Act III., Sc. 1.

THE rapidity with which we dashed through the streets, now almost deserted, and the noise of the wheels as we rolled along, prevented me from expressing my gratitude to Herbert otherwise than briefly.

66

'You are welcome," said he; "but you may thank Eleanor when we get home, for to her you owe my interference. Besides, I remember you at Oxford, although you seem to have forgotten me; and, indeed, it is scarcely to be wondered at, for I was about to leave the University when you came up,

and only there long enough to give you a friendly warning."

I was lost in amazement to find my friendly correspondent then sitting by my side.

"You are surprised," said he; "but I noticed your conduct at a fair, when you took the little gipsy girl's part."

"Indeed!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, indeed," he replied, smiling, "to her you owe that letter, for your interest from that hour seemed wedded to my own, and, unknown to you, I determined to do you good some day, if in my power. To Eleanor you owe, more particularly, my conduct to night." Saying this, he urged his horse to his speed, and we soon left St. James's and its iniquity far behind.

ness;

"Do not thank me, Mr. Stanton," said Mrs. Herbert, when I expressed my grateful sense of her good"the first thing that interested me in your favour was the conduct of Mr. George Hailey; but, when you entered the box at the Opera, I was struck by the resemblance you bear to a dear friend of mine. That, I need scarcely say, told volumes in your favour, but when you so kindly promised to execute my wishes, I was determined, at all hazards, to serve you, and, if I could do no more, to warn you, at least, of the danger to which you were exposed."

"You are very kind," replied I, "and I only wish