"so? No. They can fire them and do; but after firing them they do not clean them, Now it is a principle which every detective recognises tlio truth ot, that if of a hundred lending circumstances connected with a crime, ninety-nino of these arc acts pointing to the euspectod party with unerring certainty, but tho hundredth equally im portant act, one which that person could not have performed.the whole fabric of sus picion is drstroyed, Kccognising Una prin ciple, then, as I have said, I hesitated when it came to the point of arrest. The chain was complete, tho links were fastened, hut ocic link was ot a different size and material from the rest and this argued a break in the chain. I resolved to give her a linal chance, Summoning Mr Clavering, and Mr Harwell, two persona whom I had no reason to suspect, but who were tho only individuals beside herself who could have committed this crime, being the only per sons of intellect who wore in the house or believed to bo, at the time of the murder, I notified them separately that tho assassin of Mr Lcavcnworth was not only fouud but was about to be arrested in my house, and that if they wished to hear tho confession which would be sure to follow, they might have the opportunity ot doing so by coming hero at such an hour. They were both too much interested, though for very different reasons, to refuse; and I succeeded in inducing them to conceal themselves in the two rooms from which you saw them issue, knowing that if cither of them had com mitted this deed, ho had done it for the loveof Mary Leavcnworth, and consequently could not hear her charged with crime and threatened with arrest, without betraying himself. 1 did not hope much from tho oxpcriinont; least of all did I anticipate that Mr Harwell would prove to be the guilty man—but live and learn, Mr Kaymond, live and loam."

XXXVIII

A FUMi CONFESSION,

liotweon tho acting ol! a droadf ul tiling, And tho first motion, nil tlio interim is Like aphantasum ova hiduous dream; Tlio genius and tho mortal instruments Are then in council; and tho stato of man, Liko to v littlo kingdom, sutlers Uion Tho naturo o£ au iusnrroetion.

—Julius Cjesar.

lAM not a bad man; lam ouly au iutenso ono. Ambitlou, love, jealousy, hatred, revonso—transitory omotions with somo, are terriiic passions with me. To be sure they aro quiet and concc;Uod onoa, coiled serpents that make no stir till aroused, but then, deadly in their spring and relentless in their action, Those who have known mo best have not known this. My own mother wa3 ignorant of it. Often and often have I heard her say, " If Trucman only had more sensibility I If Trueiiiau wore not so indifferent to everything 1 In short, if Trueman had moro power in him!" It was the same at school. No ono understood me. They thought me meek ; called me Dough-face. For threa years they called mo this, then I turned upon them. Choosing out their ringleader, I fellfd him to the ground, laid him on his back, and stamped upon him. Ho was handsome before mjr foot came down; afterwards—"Well it is enough ho nevor called me Doughface again. In the store I entered soon after, I met with even less appreciation. Regular at my work and exeot in my'performnncc of it, they thought me a good machine and nothing more. What heart, soul, and feeling could a mnn have who never sported, nevor smoked, and never laughed? I could reckon up figures correctlj, but one scarcely needed heart or soul for that. I could ovon wiite day by day and month by month without showing a flaw in my copy, but that only argued I was no more than they intimated, a regular automaton, 1 let them think so, with the certainty before mo that they wontd one day change their minds as others had done. Tho fact was, I loved nobody well enough, not even myself, to care for any man's opinion. Life ' was well-nigh a blank to me; a dead level plain that had to bo traversed whether I would or not. And suchit might have con tinued to this day if I had nover mot Mary Lcavenworth. But when, somo nine months since, I left my desk in tho count ing hovise for a seat in Mr Lcavenworth'a library, a blazing torch "Jell into my soul whoso flimc has never gone out and never will, till the doom betore me sis accom* " Ursteveninft^JMUuUiM.! JVVhoa on that into tho parlour, and saw this woman stand ing up before me in her half alluring, half appalling charms, I knew as by a lightning Hash what my future would be if I remained in that house She was in one of her haughty moods, and bestowed upon mo little more than a pass ing glance. But her indifFercnco made slight impression upon me then. It was enough that I was allowed to stand ia her presence and look unrebuksd upon her loveliness. To be suro it wai liko gazing into tho flower-wreathed crater of an awak ening volcano. Fear and fascination were in each moment I lingered there ; but fear and fascination made the moment what it was, and I could not havo withdrawn if I wonld.

And so it was always. Unspeakable pain as well as pleasure was in tha emotion with ■which I regarded her. Yet for all tbat I did not cease to study her hour by hour and day by day; her smile»,her movement, her way of turning her head or lifting her eyelids. I had a purpose in this; I wished to knit her beauty so firmly into the warp and wsof of my being that nothing should ever serve to tear it away. For I taw then as plainly as now, that coquette though eho was, she would ncTer stoop to me. No • I might lie down at hot feet and let her trample over me, she would not even turn to see what it was she had stepped upon. I might spend days, montus.years, learning the alphabet of her wishes, she would not thank me for my pains or even raho the lashes from her cheek to look at me as I passed. I was nothing to her, could not be anything unjesi—and, this thought came slowly—l could in some way become her master.

Meantime I wrote at Mr Loavcmworth's dictation and pleased him. My methodical ways were just to his taste. Aa for the other member of the family, Miss Eleanoro Loayenworth -she treated me just as one of her proud but sympathetic nature might be expected to do. Not familiarly. Sat kindly ; not as a friend, but a3 a member of the household whom she met every da-v ---at table, and who, as she or'any one else could see, vfat none too happy or hopeful Six months went by; I had learned two thing*; first, that Mary Lewonworth loved her position a* prospective heiress to a lar»o fortune above every other earthly considera tion ; and secondly that she was in posses sion of a secret which endangered that position. What this was, I had for some time no means of knowing. But when later I became convinced it was one of love I grew more hopeful, strange as it may seem Tor by this time I had learned Mr Leaven worth's disposition almost as, perfectly as that of his niece, and knew that in a matter of this kind he would be uncompromising and that in tho clashing of these two wills something might occur which would mvo we a hold upon her. The only thin* that troubled me was the fact that I did not know the name of the man in whom eh was interested. Bat chance soon favoured me here. One day—a month ago now, I gat down to open Mr Leaven worth's moil as usual. One letter—shall I ever forget it' ran thus: "Hoffman House, " March Ist, 187G, " Mr Horatio Leavenwoeth : 11 Dear sir,— "You have a niece whom you love and trust, onej too, who seems worthy of all tho love and trust that you or any othe man can give her; so beautiful, so charm lag, so tender ia she in face, iorm, manner and conversation. But, dear sir, every rose has its thorn, and your rose is no exception to this rule. Lovely as she is, charming aa sho is, tender as she is, sho is not only capable of trampling on tho rights of one Who trusted her, but of bruising the heart and breaking tho spirit ol him to whom she owes all duty, honour, and observance " If you don't believe this, ask her to her cruel, bewitching face .who and what is her aumblo servant and yours, "Henry Ritchie Clavering." !

If a bomb-shell had exploded at my feet or the evil one himself appeared at my call' I should not have been more astounded' Not only was the name signed to the°c remarkable words, unknown to me, but the epistle itself was that of one who felt him self to be her maste/, a position which, as yon know, I was myself aspiring to occupy. For p, fov? minute, then, I stood a prey to feeling.) of the bitterest wrath and despair; then I grew calm, realising that with this letter i-.i my possession, I was virtually the arbitrator of her destiny. Some men would bitv! , is<;Ut hor there and Oieu, and by ttareatomne to placo it in her unclo's hand v/on from her a look o£ entreaty if no more;

but I—well, my plan* went deeper than that. I know that she mast be in extremity before I could hope to win her. She must feel hersolf slipping orcr the edge of tho precipice before she would clutch at the lirst thing offering succour. I decided to allow tho letter to pa«a into my employer's hands! Bat it had been opened! How could I manage to give it to him in this condition without exciting his suspicion. I know of but one w&y: to let him ace mo open it for what ho would consider the first time. So waiting till he came into the room, I approached him with the letttor, tearing oft' the end of tho envelope as I came. Opening it, I gave a cursory glance at its contents, and tossed it down on the table before him. " That appears to bo ot a private character," said I, "though there is no sign to that effect on tho envelope." Ho took it up while I stood there. At the first word he started, looked at me, seomod satisfied from my expression that I bad not read, far enough to realise i's nature, and whirling slowly around in his chair, devoured the remainder in silence, I waited a moment, then Withdrew to my own desk. One minute, two minutes passed in eilence 5 ho was evidently re reading it; then he hurriedly rose and left the room. As ho passed me I caught a glimpse of his face in the mirror. The expression I saw thero did not tond to lessen the hope that v.as rising in my breast. By following him almost immediately up stairs I ascertained that ho went direct to Mary's room, and when in a few hours later the family collected around the dinner table, I perceived, almost without looking up, that a great and insurmountable barrier had boon raised botwoon him and his favourite niece. Two days passed : days that wero for me one long and unrelieved su-pon?e. Had Mr Leaveuworth answered that letter? Would it all end as it had begun without tho appearnuce of tho mysterious Clavoring on the scene ? I could not tell. Moauwhilo my monotonous work went on, grindiog my heart beneath its relentless wheul. I wrote.and wrote,and wrote.till it scorned as if ray life blood went from me with every drop of ink I used. Always alert and listening, 1 dared not lift my head or turn my eyes at any unusual sound lost I should seem to bo watching. The third night I had a dream ; I have already told Mr Raymond what it wai and hence I wiil not repeat it here. One correction, how ever, I wish to make in regard to it. In my statement to him I doclared that the face of the man whom I saw lift his baud against my employer was that of Mr Claver ing. I lied when I said this, Tho face soea by mo in my droam was my own. It Avas that fact which mado it so horrible to me. Iv the crouching tiguro stoaling warily down stairs, I saw as in a j>lass tho vision of my owu form. Otherwise my account of tbo matter was tiue. Tho vision had a tremondoua effect upon me. Was it a premonition? a forewarning of tho way in which I was to win this coveted creature tor my own? Was the death of her uncle tho bridge that was to span the impassablo gulf between us ; I began to think it might bo; to consider tho possibilities which could mnkc this tbo only path to my olysium; evou wont so far as to picture her lovely face bending gratefully towards mo through the glare of a sudden release from some emergency in which she stood. One thing was sure; if that was tho way I must go, I had at least been taught how to tread it; and all through the dizzy, blurred day that followed, I saw, as I sat at my work, repeated visions of that stealthy, purposeful figure stealing down tha stairs and entering with uplifted pistol into the unconscious presence of my employer. I evon found myself a dozen times that day turning my eyes upon the door through which it was to come, wonder ing how long it would bo beforo my actual form would pause there, That the moment was at hand 1 did sot imagine. Even when I lett him that night after drinkiog with him tho glass of sherry mentioned at tho inquest, I bad no idea tho action wat so near. But when not three minutes after going upstair*, I caught the sound of a lady s dress rustling through tho hall, and listoiiiug, heard Mary Leavcuworth pnsi my door on her way to the libraiy, I realised that tho fatal hour wascomo; that somo thing was Roing 10 bo said or dono in that room which would make thisdecdnoccssary. What? 1 determined to ascertain. Casting about in my mind for tho means of doing so,l remembored that the ventilator running up throngh tho house, opened first into the fßeorooTnr^tttr-HDrafyyatfdir-SfdoHHlyi'la'fo the closet of the largo spare room adjoining mine. Hastily unlocking the door of com munication between the rooms, I took my position in the closet. Instantly tho sound of voices reached my ears; all was open below, and standing there.l was as much an auditor of what went on between Mary and her uncle as if I wero in the library itself. And what did I hear ? Enough to assure mo my suspicions were correct; that ir, was a moment of vital interest to her; that Mr Leavenworth, in pursuance of a threat evidently made some time Bince, was in the act of taking stops to change his will, and that Bho had conio to make an appeal to bo forgiven her fault and restored to his favour, What that fault wm, I did not learn. No mention was niaclo of Mr Clavering as her husbaod. I only heard her declare that her action had been the result of impulse rather than love, that she rogrotted it ana desired nothing more than to be free from all obligations to one she would fain forget, and be again to her uncle what she was before sho ever saw this man. I thought.fool that I was it waa a mere engagement she was alluding to, and took the insanest hope from thoe words, and when in a moment later I heard her undo reply, in his sternest tone, that she had irreparably forfeited her claims to hia regard and favour, I did not need her short and bitter cry of shame and disap pointment, or that low moan for some one to help her, to sound his death knell in my heart. Creeping back to my own room I waited till I heard her re-ascend, then I stole forth. Calm as I had ever been io my life, I went down the stairs just as I bad seen myself do in my dream, and knocking lightly at tha library door, went m. Mr Leavenworth was sitting iv hia usual place writing. " Excuse mo," uald I as ho looked np, "I have lost my memorandum book and think it possible I may have dropped it in the passage-way when I went for the wine," He bowed and I hurried past him into the closet. Onoe there, I proceeded rapidly into the room beyond, procured the pisto', returned, and almost beforo I rea lised what I was doing, had taken up my position behind him, aimed and firoiJ. The result was what you know. Without a groan hia head fell forward |on his haads and Mary Leavenworth was the rirtua1 possessor of the thousands she coveted.

My first thought was to procure the letter be was writing. Approaching the table I tore it out from under hia hands, looked at it, saw that it was, as I expected, a sum mons to his lawyer, and thrust it into my pocKet together with the letter from Mr Clavering which I perceived lying spattered with blood on the table before me. Not till thia was done did I think of myself or remember the echo which that low-, sharp report must have made in the houss, Drop, ping the pistol at the side of tho murdered man, * m l stood ready to shriek to any one who ontcred, that Mr Leavenworth had killed himself. But I was saved from committing such a folly. The report had not been heard, or if so had evidently failed to create an alarm, Ho one came, and I was left to contemplate my work undisturbed, and decide upon the best course to be taken to avoid detection, A moment's study of the wound made in las head by the bullet, convinced me of the impossibility of passing the affair off as a suicide, or even the work of a burglar. To anyone versed iv auch matters it was manifestly a murder, and a most deliberate one. My one hope, then, lay in making it as mysterious as it was deliberate by destroying all clue to the motive 'anil manner of the deed. Picking up the pistol I carried it into tho othci room with the in tention of cleaning it, but finding nothing there to do it with, came back for the handkerchief which 1 remembered having seen lying on the flour at Mr Leavenwortu's feet. It was Miss E'.canore's, but I did not know it till I had used it to clean the barrel • then the sight of her initials in one corner so shocked me, I forgot to clean tho cylinder and only thought of hosv I cou ld do away with this cvidcnc3 of her bandKerchiof navmg boon employed for a purpose so suspicious. Not daring to carry it from the room, I sought for means to destroy it' but Uading none, compromised the matter by otrono Df !' d°IP dOWD behind the cushion ot one ot the chairs in tho hope of being able to recover it some time next day when an opportunity would be given to b*m it This done I reloaded the pistol, locked it up arid prepared to leave the 'room. But here the horror which usually folio »vs such deeds, struck me like a thunderbolt and made me for the first time uncertain in mv action. 1 locked the door on Roinfr out eoincthim; I ehould never Imva done if11 had been in fall possession of my faculties. Not

till I reached the top of the aUirs did I realise what I had done, and then it was too lato, for there before.me, candle in hand, and aurpdso written on 'evory feature of her face, stood Hannah, one of the servants, looking at me, " Lor, sir," she cried, bat strange to say, in a low tone, •' where have you been! You look as if you had seen a ghost." And her eyea turned suspiciously to the key which I held in my hand I felt as if some ono had clutched me round the throat. Thrusting the key into my pocket, I took a step towards her, " I will tell you what 1 have seen if you will come downstairs," I whispered, "the ladies will bo disturbed it we talk heie," and smoothing ray brow as best I could, I put out my hand and drew her towards me. What my motive was l hardly knew } the action was probably instinctive, but when I saw thn look which c »mo into her face us I touched her, and tliu al iciitv with which she p optircd to follow mo, I toon courage, remembering the ono or t\v» previous tokens I had had of this girl's unrcaionibln BUaccp1 ibility to my iullucnco; a suscepti bility which I mw folt could bu v ihsed and niado to serve my purpose. Taking her down to the pirlour floor, I drew her into the depths of the great drawing-room aud thcro told hor in 110 least alarming way possible whnt had happenod to Mr Licavcnworth. She was of course intensely auitatcd, but she did uot scream ; —the novelty of her position evidoutly awing her as much as it bewildered—and greatly relieved I went on to say that I did not know who committed the deed, but that folks would declare it was I it they kuew I beoa seen by her on the stairs with the library key in my hand. "Hut 1 won't tell," she whispered, tremb ling violently in her fright aud eagerness. "I will keep tto lnyeolf.• I will say I didn't see anybody." But I soon convinced hor that she could never keep her socrct if tho police once began to questioD'her, and following up my argument with a littlo cajolery, succeeded after n lone while in wiuning her consent to leave the house till tho storm should bo blown ovor. But that givnn, it was some little time before 1 couid make her comprehend that she must depart at once and without going back after her things. Not,' till I brightened up hor wits by a promise to marry her some day, if sho only obeyed mo now, did sho brgiu to look the thing in the face and show any evidence of tho real mother wit sho evidently poaaessod. "Mrs Uelden would take mo in," said she, "if I could only get to X . Sho takes everybody in who aaks her; and sho would keep mo, too, if I told her Mi«s Mary sent me. But I can't get there to-night." I Immediately sot to work to coiwince her that she could, The midnight train did not leavo tho city for a half-hour yet, and tho distance to tho dopot could be easily walked by her in fiftoen minutes. — But she had no money ! I easily supplied that.—And she waa afraid she couldn't tind her way 1 I entered into minutest dircctious. Sho still hesitated, but at length consented to go, aud with some further understanding of the method I was to employ in communicating with her, wo wout down stairs. There wo found a hat and shawl of tho cook's which I put ou her, and in another moment wo were in the carriage-yard. " Remember you are to conio and marry mo some day," sho mm inured in reply, throwing her arms about my neck. The movement was sudden,and it was probably at this time sho dropped the candle sho had held unconsciously clenched in her baud till now. I promised her, and sho glided out of tho gate. Of tho dreadful agitation that followod the disappearance of this girl, I can give no better idea than by saying I not only committed tho uddi.ioaal error of locking up the house on my re-entranco but omitted to dispose of tho key thon in my poc'<et, by flinging it into tho street or dropping it in tho hull as I weut up. Tho fact ie, I was so absorbed by tho thought of the danger I stood in from this girl, I forgot everything else. Hannah's p<ilo fac--, Hannah's look of terror as aha turned from my side and flitted down the street, wore continually before mo. I could not escape them; the form of tho dead man lying below was loss vivid. It \%«n as though I wero tiod in fancy to this woman of the white faoo fluttering down the midnight street*. That she would full in something—coma hick or bo brought hick—that I should fiud standing white and horror-stricken on the front stops when I went down in the raerning was lt^rtttft^W^orVYftv^ueWnrcWdifta or 'c'VuVa win her way unchallenged to that littlo cottajjo in a dWtnnt villuge ; that I hid but sent a trailing flag of dangor out into the world with this wretched girl ;—danger that would come hack to me with the first burst of morning light 1 But even these thoughts faded after awhile before tho realtsa ion of tho peril I was in as lout; as the key 'nud papers re mained in my possession. How to fjet rid of them ! I dared not leave my room again, or open my window. Some onj might see me and rcmembor it. Indeed I was afrakl to move about in ray room. Mr Leaven worth mignt hear me. Yes, my morbid terror had reached that point— I was foarful of ono whuso cars I myself had forever closed, imagined him in his bed beneath, and wakeful io tholoist souud, But tho necessity of doing something with those evidences of guilt finally over camo this morbid anxiety, aod drawing the two lett rs from my picket—l; had not yet undressed—l chose out tho most dangerous of tho two, that written by MrLoarenworth himself, and chewing it till it wai more palp, throw it into a corner; but the other had blood on it, and nothing, not ,even the hope of safety, could induce me to put it to lips. I was forced to lie with it clenchorl in my hand, and ths flittine imago of Hannah before my oye*,till the alow morn ing broke. I have heard it said that a year in heaven seems like a day; I can easily believe it; I know that an hoar in hell seems an eternity 1 But with daylight cam*? hope. Whether it was tho sunshine glancing on tho wall made me think of Mary and all I was ready to do for her sake, or whether it was tho mere return of my natural atoioism in the presence of actual necessity, I cannot tay. I only know that I aroso calm and miater of mysoli Tho problom of tho letter and tho key had solved Itself also. Hide them ? I would not try to ! Instead of that I would put them into plain sight, trusting to the very fact for tbolr being overlooked. Making the letter up into lighters I carried them into the spire room and phced them in a va*e. Then, taking the (key in my hand, went downn »taira, intending to insert it in the lock of tho library door as I went by. But Miss Eleanoro descending almost immediately behind mo, made this impossible. I succeeded, however, in thrusting it without her knowledge, among the filagree work of the gas fixture in the second hall, and thus relieved, went down into tho breakfast room as self-possosscd a man as ever crossed its threshold. M«y was there, looking exceedingly pale and disheartened, and as t met her eyo, which for a wonder turned npoa me as I entered, I could almost have laughed, thinking of tho deliverance that had come to hor, and of the tirao when I should proclaim mycolf to be tho mau who had accomplished i

Of the alarm that speodily foilowcH, and my action at that time and afterwards, I need not speak in detail. I behaved just as I would have done if 1 had had no hand iv the murder. Indeed, 11 icd to forget I had. Even forbore to touch the key, or go to the spare room or make any movement which I wa3 not willing all the world should see, For as things stood, there was not a shadow of evidence against me in the house, neither wai I, a hard ■ working, uncomplaining secretary, whoso pa«sion for ono of his employer's nieces was not even mistrusted I

by the lady herself, a person ti bo sus pected of the crime which throw him out of a fair situation. Sj I performed all the duties of my position, summoniog the police, and going for Mr Veelcy, just as I would have done if those hours between my leaving Mr Loavenworth for the first tirno and going down to breakfast in the morning had bscn blotted from my con sciousness, And this wns the principle upon which I based my action at the inquest. Leaving that half hour and its occurrences out of the question, I resolved to answer all queries put me as truthfully as I could; the great fault with men situated as I was usually being that they liel too much, committing themselves on unessential mat-

tors. But, alas! in thus planning for my own safety, I forgot one thing, and that was the dangerous position in which I should thus place Mary JLeavenworth as the one beneiitteti by the crime. Not till the inference wag drawn by a juror, from the amount of wine found in Mr Leaven-

I worth's glasj in the morning, that he had come to nis death shortly after my leaving biro, did I realise what ah opening 1 had niadp for suspicion in her direction by ad niitting that I had hoard a rustic o'e the' stair a few minutes after going'un. That all present believed it to have betju made]

by Eleanore did not reassure rue. BKb wai to completely disconnects with the cr;mo I could not inngino suspicion ho'di g to her for an in tant. But Mary—lf a outiin had been let down before mo pictirod with tho future as it has since develop d, I could not have sen more plainly what her position would be if attention wore onco directed towards her, So, in tbe vain endeavour to cover up ray blunder, I began to lie. Forced to admit that a shadow of disagreement had boon lately visible be tween Mr Leavenworth nnd one of his nieces, I threw the burden of it upon E'eanore, as the one beat able to bear it, adding to this denial of the fact that any letter had been received by Mr Leaven worth whit" could in any way tend to explain the crime. The consequence j wefo more serious than I anticipated. Direction had boon given to suspicion which every additional evidence that now came up soemed by s mie strange fatality to strengthen. Not only was it proved that Mr Leavenworth's own pistol had been mod in tho assassination, and that, too, by a person then in the house, but I myself was brought to acknowledge that Eleanorc had learned from me only a little while before how to load, a>ni, atid fire this very pistol—a coincident mischievous enough to have been of the devil's own making. Seeing all this.my fear of what the ladies would admit when questioned, became very great. Lit them in their innocence acknow ledge that upunniy ascent, Mary had gone to her uncle's room for the purpos- of per suading him not to carry into eft'eot tho action he ontcmplateii, and what conse quences mitfht not ensue! I wis in a torment of apprehension. But events of which I h d at, that tine no knowledg.i.bad oamrro'l to influence them. Eieanore with some show nf re isou, as it scums, n >t only suspected her cousin of the crime, but had informed her of the fair and Mary.ovcrcoms with terror at li odina there was more or less circumstantial evidence supporliog the sus picion, decided to deny whatever told against herself, trusting to Kleauoro's geuo rosity not to be contradicted. Nor was her confidence misplaced. Though by the course she thin took, Eleanore was forced to deepen the prejudice rife against herself, she not only foreboro to contradict her cou s'n, but wheu a true answer would have injured hor.aotually refused to return any, a lio being something she could not utter, evon to save one especially cndoirod to her. This conduct of hers h id one effect upon me. It aroused my admiration, and made me feel that hero was a woman worth help ing if assistance conld be given without danger to mysolf. Yet I doubt if much wjuld have come of my sympathy if I bad not perceived by tho stress laid upon cer tain w<!ll-kaown mutters th it actual danger hovered about m all while the letter and key remained in the home. Even beforo the handkerchief wai produced I had nnde up my mind t) attempt their destruction, but when that was brought out ami shown I became so alarmed I immediately rose, and making my way under soma pretonce or other to tho floors abiva, snatchod the koy from the gas fixture, the lighters from the vase, and hastening with them down the hall to Maty Leavenworth's room, went in under the expectation of there fi iding a fire in which to destroy them. But to my heavy disappointment there were only a fo* smouldering ashes in the grate, and, thwarted in my dengn, I stood hesitating what to do, when I heard someone coming upstairs Alive to the consequences of bfing found in that room at that timo, I cast tho lighters into tho grate and start d for tho dooi. But in the quick move I made, the key Hew from my hand and slid under a chair. Aglwr at tin mischanco, I paused, but the sound of approaching stops increasing, I lost all control over myself, and flod from the room. And indeed I had no time to loso. I had barely reached my own door when Kloinoro Leavenworth, fol lowed by two sorvantf, appeared at tho top of tho staircase, and proceeded towards the room I had just lift. The sight re-assured mo; sho would sco the key, and take tome means of disposing of it; and indeed I alw.iys supposed that s-Ih did, for no further word of key or letter ever came to my oars. This may explain why the questionable position iv which Elcanoro sson found herself awnkoncd in mo no greater anxiety. I thought tho suspicions of the police rested upon nothing more t:mj;iblo than the peculiarity of her manner at tho inquest, and the discovery of her handkerchief on the sceno of tho trajjody. 1 did not know thuy possessed whit tlioy might call abso'uto proof of her cnv>">r';<vi v"'V 'Vi crimo. BmiMnad, I doubt if I should have pursued a much dillccnt course. n"ry's peril wjs tho one thine; capable of Uuuiii" me, «uu sue <im not appear to be iv peril. On the contrary, every ouo by common consent seamed to ignore nil appearance of guilt on her part. If Mr Uryco, whom I soon learned to fear, had given one .'ign of suspicion, or Mr Kaymond, whom I speedily recognised ai my nvst presisteut though unconscious foe, had betrayed tho lesst distrust of her, I thould have taken warning. Hut they did not, and lulled into a fulso security by their manner, I lot tho dayi go by without suffering any fesra on her account. But not without many anxieties for myself. Hannah's existence precluded all senso of personal security. Knowing the dctermina'ion of the police to find her, I tr id tho vergo of an awful smpense continually. Meantime tho wretched certainty was forcing itself upon mo that I had lost, instead of gained, a hold on Mary Leavenworth. Not only did blio evince tho utmost horror of the deed which had made her tho mistress of her uncle's wealth, but, owing as I believed to the influence of Mr Raymond, soon gavo evidence that she was losing to a certain extent, the characteristics of mind and heart which had made mo hopeful of winning her regard by my action. Thi« revelation drove mo almost insane. Under the terrible restraint forced upon me, I walked my weary round in a state ,pf mind bordering on frenzy. Many and many a timo have I stopped in my work, wip-d my pen and laid it down with tho idea that 1 could not repress myself another moment, but I have always takon it up again and gone on with my task. Mr Kaymond has sometimes shown h's wonder at my sitting in my dead employer's clnir. Great heaven | itjwas my only safogua'd. By koeping the murder constantly beforo my mind, I was enabled to re-train my disippointmont a its failure to bring me the reward I nntici pated

At last there carao a tlmo when my agony could be no longer suppressed. Going down too stairs one evening with Mr Raymond, I saw a strange gentleman standing in the reception-room, loosing at Mary Leaven worth in a way that would have made my blood boil, even if I had not noird him whisper these words, —" But you are my wife and know it, whatever you may say or do !" J

. It wai the lightninm-stroko of my life. After what I had dono to make hor mine, to hear another claim her as already bis own, was stunning, maddening. It lorced a demonstration from me. I had cither to yell in my fury or deal the man beneath some tremondous blow in my hatred. I did not dare to shriek, so I struck the blow Demanding his nnmo from Mr Raymond, and hearing that it wa«, as I expected, Claverine, 1 flung caution reason, common sense, all to the winds, and in a moment of fury donounccd him as the murderer of Mr ticavenworth.

Xho next iuatant I would have given worlds to recall my words. What had I done but drawn attention to myself iv thus accusing a ruau agaiust whom nothing could of course be provod ! Bu1; recall now was impossible. So a'lor a night of thoughl I did the next best thing, gave a supersti tions roison for my action, and so restored myself to my former position without eradi cating from the mind of Mr Raymond that vague doubt of the man which my own safety demanded. But I had no iutontion of going any further, nor should I have done so if I had not ob-orved that for some reason Mr Raymond was willing to suspect Mr Claverin*?. "But that, once seen,revenge took possession of me, and I asked myselt if the burden of this crime could be thrown on this man. Still I do not believe that any results would have followed if I hud not overheard a whispered conversation be tween two of the servant", in which I learned that Mr Clavcring had been seen to entar the house on the night of the murder, but was not seen to lenve it. That deter mined me. With a fact like that for a starting-point, what might I not hope to ac complish ? Hannah alon<-. stood in my way. While she remained alive I saw nothing before me. I made up my mind to destroy her and satisfy my hatred or Mr Glavering atone blow. But how? By whot means could I reach hoc without descrtinsr my post, or make away with her without exciting fresh suspicion? The problem seemed lnsolvable; but Trueman Harwell had not played the part of a machine so loug without, result. Befora I had been n day Btndyins; the question,light broke upon it, and I saw that the only way to accom plish my plans wa3 to inveigle her into destroying herself

JNo sooner had the thought matured than I hastened to act upon it. Knowing the tremendoui risk 1 ran, I took every precau

tion. Locking myself up in my room, I wrote her a lotter in printed characters she having distinctly told me that she could not road writing, in which I played upon her ignorance, toolish fondness and Icish superstition, by telling her I dreamed of her every night and wondered if she d'd of mo, was afraid she. didn't.so enclosed her a little charm which if she would use according to directions (which were that she should first destroy my letter by burningit, nex1, tike in her hand the packet I was careful to enclose, swallow the powder ac companying it, and go to bed) would give her the most beautiful visions. The powder wai a deadly dose of poison and the packet was as you know a forgod confession talaply criminating Henry dlaveriag. Unclosing all these in an envelope in tlie corner of which I had marked a cross; I directed ie, according to agreement, to Mrs Belden and sent it. Then followed the greatest period of sus pense I had yet endured. Though I had purposely refrained fiorn putting mv name to the lutter.l felt that the chances of detec tion were vcryfgreat. The least departure from the course I had marked out for her, would prove fatal. If she opened the packet, or mistrusted the powder, took Mrs Belden into her confidenoo, or even failed to burn my letter, all would hi lost. I could not be sure of her or know the result of my scheme except through the newspapers. Do you think I kept watch of the counte nances about me ? devoured the telegraphic news, or started when the bel rang? And when a few days since tead that wiort par agraph in the paper winch a-surcd me that niy elForts had atleas.t produced thp deatli of the woman I feared, do you think I ex perienced any sense of relief?

But df that why speak? In six hours Jiad come the summon* from Mr Gryce, and —Let these prison wa'ls, this confession itself, tell the rest. lam no longer capable of speech or action.

XXXIX.

THE OUTCOME OF A GKEAT, CRIME. Leavo her to Heaven And to those thorns that in her bOßom lodge To prick and sting her,

—Hamlet. For hlio in wise, if I can judgo of her ; And fair she in, if that mine eyes bo true, And true sho Is, as sho has provod herself; And therefore, llko herself, wise, fair, and true, Shall sho be placed in my constant soul. —MunciuNT of Venice.

"0, Eleanoue!" cried I, making my way into her presence with but little cere mony I fear, " arc you prepared for very good news ? News that will brighten these pale checks and give the light back to these eyes, and make life hopeful and sweet once more ? Tell me," said I, stooping over her where she sat, for she looked ready to faint. "I don't know," murmured she, " I fear that what you will consider good news will not seem so to me. No news can bo good but—" "What?" asked I, taking her hands in mine witd a smile tint ought to have re assured her, it waa one of such profound happiness. " Tell mo jdo not be afraid." But she was. Her dreadful burden had lain upon her so long tint it bad become a part of her being. liow could she rcaliso it wa* founded on a mistake; that she had no cause to fear the past, present or fnture I But when the truih w.n madi known to her; when with all the fervour and gentle tact of which I was capabU, I showed her that h«r m.picions hod been groundless, and |that Trucman Harwell, and not Mary, had been tho pcrprotrator of this deed, her first words were a prayer to be taken to Mary—"Take mo to her 1 0, take mo to her! I cannot brea'he or think till I have begged pardon of her on my knees. O, ruy unjust accusation! My unjust accusation I Seeing tho state sho was in, I deemed it the wisest thing I could do. So procuring a carriage, I drove with her to her couein's

homo. " Mary will spurn mo ; she will not even look at me, and she will bo right," cried she, as we rolled away up tho avenue. "An outrage like tlrs can never be for given. But God knows I thought myself justiliod in my suspicions. If you knew—" "I do know," 1 interposed, "Mary acknowledges that the circumstantial evi dence ugait'athcr was so overwlielminp, she vtf almost daggered herself, asking if >hi> could be guiltless with such proofs against her. But—" " Wait. O wait: did Mary Eav that?" "To-day?1

" Yes." " Mary must be changed." I did not answer; I wanted her to see fof herself to how great an extent! But wh'n, in a few minutes later, the carriage stopped and I hurried with her into the house which had been the scone of so much misery, I was hardly prepared for the difference in her own countenance which the hall-Hght reveulod. Her eyes were bright, her sheeki were brilliant, her brow lifted and free from shadow; so quickly Hoes the ice of despair melt in the sunshine of hop™.

Thomas, who had opened the door, wa« sombrely glad to see his mistress agiin, " Miss Lo*vonworth is in the drawing room," Raid ho.

I nodded, then peeing that Eleauore could scarcoly more tor agitition, asked her whother she would go in at onco or wait till she was more composed. "I will go in at once ; I cannot wait." And (slipping from my gra«p, she crossed the hall and laid her hand upon the draw ing-room curtain, when it was suddenly littod from within and Mary stepped out. "Mary 1" " Klcanore 1" The ring of ihoso voices told everything. I did not need to glance that way to know that Eleanors had fallen at her 'cousin's feet, and that her oou-in had affrightedly lifted her. I did not ;need to hear, -" My sin against you is top great; you cannot forgive me! followed hy the low—" My shfline is great enough to lead mo to forgive anything !" to know that the life-long shadow botween thess two had dissolved liko a cloud, and that for the future, bright days of mutual confidence and sympathy were in store,

Yet when, a half hour or so later, I heard the door of tho recoption-room into which I had retired, softly open, and lookiug up, saw Mary standing on tho threshold with the light of true humilty on her face, I own that I wjs surprised at the extent of the softening which had taken place in hor haughty beauty. " Blessed is the shame that purifies," I murmured, and advancing, held out my hand with a respect and sympathy I never thought to feel for her again.

The action seemed to touch hor. Blush, ing deeply, r ho camo and atoed by ray side. " I thank you," said she ; " I have much to be grateful for; how much I never realised till to-night; but I cannot speak of it now. What I wish is for you to come in and help me persuada Kleanore to accept this fortune from my hands. It is hers, you know, was willed to her, or would have been if — "

" Wait," said I in the wild trepidation which this appeal to me on such a subject somehow awakoned. " Have you woigood this matter well? Is it your determined purpose to transfer your fortuuo into your cousin's hands?"

Hor look was enough without the low, Ah, how can you ask me 2' that followed

Mr ClaveriDg was sitting by the oido of Eleanoro when wo entered the drawing room. He immediately rose. "Mr Raymond," said he, drawing me to one side, " before the courtesisa of the hour pass between us. allow mo to tender you my apoioay. You have in your possession a document which ought never to have been forced upon you. Founded upon a mistake, the act was an insult which 1 bitterly regret. If, in consideration of my mental misery at that time, you can pardon it, I shall feel forever iudelned to you ; if not—" " Mr Clavcriog," I interrupted, "say no more, iho occurences of that day belong to a pasf, which I for one have made up my mind to rorget ns soon as possible. The future promi«o<i too richly, tor us to dwell on by-gouc miseries."

And with a look of mutual understanding and friendship we hastened to icjoin the ladies.

Ot tbe conversation than followed, it is only necessary to state the result. Klea nore remaining (inn in her refusal to nccept property so stained by guilt, it was finally agreed upon that it should be devoted to

the erection and eustaintnent of some charitable institution, of magnitude sufficient to bo a recognised benefit to the city and its unfortunate poor. This settled, our thoughts ruturned to our friends especially Mr Veeley.

"He oug'U to know," said Mary. "He has grieved like n father over us." And in licr spirit oE penitence, sin would have undertaken the unhappy ta a k of telliiK him the truth. ' °

Bnt Eleanors, with her accustomed generosity, would not hear of this. "No, Mary," said she; "you have suffered enough. Mr Raymond and I will go."

And leaving them there, with the light of growing hope and confidence on their faces, we went out again into the night and so into a dream from which I h.ave never waked, though the shine of her dear eyes has been now the load-star ot my, life for many happy, happy months.

(Concluded )

The Comet.

(By Archdeacon Stock.)

It will be well now to answer the ques tions, Wnat is a comet ? Where do they cotne from, &c. ? The best answer that could be given would be: No one knows; but it is not tlie fashion now-a-days to confess to ignorance upon any subject, but rather to hide that ignorance by any amount of words and theories, which are, after all, but guesses—which may, or which may not, be true. Theories and guesses innumerable have been started on comets, and there is here some excuse, for they are bodie3 of a somewhat erratic nature, and behave very differently to the sober planets of our solar system.

Planets, as is well known, all move nearly m one level plane, called the plane of ecliptic, or of the earth's path round the sun ; and all the p'nncts above in the order of signs, or, as it is >-aid, with a direct motion ; a body moving in the oppusitu diree'lon is said to move with a retrograde motion. Jsut comets move at all angles of inclination with fie ecliptic, and some are direct, others rctroi;radj. And yet this delinition U unea'i-factory, as our present comet, in approaching the sun, moved directly, anrl now, while leaving the pud, its motion is ictrograde. Comets are helievod to ho wanderers in space, and to be intro duced into our s-ystem by the attraction of some of the planc'.s. Comets move in hyperbol c pirabolic, or elliptic carves. A comet moving in a parahclic curve may, by the attraction of a planet, lose somotvhat of its velocity, and move thenceforth in an cllips1, to circulate now around the sun, a permanent body of our system. A para bola is a curve formed by a shell moving through the air, and according to the eleva tion of the gun, will the paraWa be open or contracted. An ellipse is formid by fastening act ing loosely to two fixed points If this string he drawn tightly by a pencil, and the pencil be moved around the points, the curve drawn is an ellipse, which Will hi flattened or not, according as the points arc distant from or near to one another,

Comets must be made of some matter or stu(F,';for they arc influenced, as arc the planets, by gravity, but this matter is of very loosely gathered material, as stars have been seen right tbrougn the head of a comet. Some comets have a more con densed head than others, as, notably, our pre^eut comet. The heal, or nucleus, ia generally surrounded with light, called the coma, and from the nucleus a tail projects, following the head as the comet approaches the sun, preceding it as the comet recedes. The spectroscope has revealed that there is a very lirge amount of hydro-carbon gas in a comet, and the polariscope shows that some of the light of the tail is due to reflected sunli»-hf, Tbi« comet has been so notably brilliant, and astronomers are now so well prHctised ia these delicate re searches, aad have such good instruments, that we may hope ?oon to know, at least, what this comet is made of, and so, pre sumably, what others are made of. Tho tail of a comet is always turned away from the sun." When a comet is first seen it commonly has no tail, but as it approaches th« sun a tail is thrown off; but when a comet leaves the sun the tail becomes far longer and brighter than before. Tho tail surrounds the head as a hollow cone. The dark streak is an appar ent darkness only, as the edges of this cone must appear brighter; we look through much less light at the centre than at the sides of the cone. No ooe who has watched this comet could but say that the tail mat ter belongs ti the comet, thrown out by the ciinct, and repulsed by some action of the sun. Anoihcr theory has been s'arted th it the tail is from some mys'erious action of a comet upsn empty space, to get over the difficulty that the sun attracts the comet as a who'c, but repels the tail. A comet's tail often decreases as the *un;is nearcd, as iyicmattcr thrown off was lost altogether. VVlien the Comet le-iYes the oun, this mat ter is thrown off also, but is ingathcrcd by the comet onco more, as the comet ad vance* along the space the t til occupied ; but tliii lngatlnrcd mater is cooler than bctore, and so gradually the conwt foJt in biightne-" by loss of tail, and by an in creasing distance. Can com-ts d> us any harm? The head of the comet is so light, or has so little stuff in it, that if it came full at the earth it would behave as do the meteors, sho jving brightly for a tecond or two, and then dying out. It is believed that the earth passer! through the tail of Djnati's comet in 1858, but all the effect was a peculiar ■ight visible at sunset, and duriug one night. Proctor said that we are to be scorched out by a comet impinging upon the sun some twenty years hence. He strangely forgot tha', as the comet ap proaches the suo, at each visit matter is lest, and tho nearer the approach the greater the loss ; that the comet, in approaching, as it must travel spirally, would lose more and more matter as it grazed the edges of the denser gases nroand the sun, so that tho last plunge would be a very trifliog matter. But if a comet plunged into the Mini drectly,as the ma«sof the comet is so infinitely small compared with that of the sun, it would seem that the result would bo not of such destructive violence. Phil osopher talk now of meteor trains follow ing comets. Meteor trains are but ma«ses of email planets revolviog peaceably round the sun. They belong to comets only in the_ sonse that that the comet has run against them, and they got entangled to its top and not ours, At all event's, Lexei's comet ran ag«inst Jupiter, and there has been no alteration ia the motion of the cat ellites, and Biela's comet is gone, so tha we may gaze fearlessly at our present via ltant, and not credit it, or any of its fel lows, with such rude behaviour

German Without a Master.

Lass mir den jungen Herrn in ruhe— " Give the young man a rest." Sic ist im mor artig— "She is ever {esthetic." Wo ist Ihre Frau Mutter?—" Where is your mother-in-law ?" Minchen sass am clavier —"Minnie sat on the piano." Das Haus chen stand in hcllen Flammen—"The bouse was wrapped in Gehenna flames." Und scbauetc vor sicli nieder in tiefen Gedankos—" And he looked down at his feet in great astonishment." Sic war krank und gebrechlich, und konnte ihre Fuesse nicht gehrauchen —"She was a 'crunk," and all broken up, and hor feet could not wiggle."

Honesty in Building.

HONESTy is, perhap?, raoro abused than that of any other ethical or intellectual virtue. It is applied as a cloak for ignorance, as the apology for bad manners, or even for worse purpoaos. The man who, without regard to time, place, or company, gratifies his vanity by blurting out Ms crude notions on any possible subject, is too often called an honest fellow. In fact, he is only so ill-bred and si ignorant as to be supposed incapable of deceit. That may be so, or not. We have known cases—and no doubt somo will recur (o the memories of moat [at our readers—in which a man may be held to have purposely adopted the dlsguisa of incivility, have Iked for years under the title of " Hoaest Tom Speakf >rth," and at length, generally ton late for human retribu tion, have been discovered to have left behind him only au unexplained family of children. The honesty which causes this kind of pitying or even of affectionate regard h simply that, so far as it exists at all, of not telling lies: or rather of not putting matters m such a light as may be most agreeable to the sympathies of others. This kind of honesty is sometimes applied to building. A man will declaim against the imposture of , stucco, and will give you hideous brick work in place of it. " Houest brick and mortar," lie calls it. But he omits to mention two points. One, that the imperfections of English stucco are mainly due to the -very rude and imperfect way in which we treat our lime. Xhosc who aro most familiar with the use made of this material in Italy, from scarlioia work to the preparation for tre?co pointing, will be aware that this is (he case, Secondly, while there is a real beauty in bvick work it requires so muck care in the selection of clay, aad in the making, burning, and lay. ing of bricK? to insure it, that noble brick work id almost a lost art in tfnglaud. Uur honest friend, therefore, only gives the cheapest and meanest material that comes o hand, and excuses that slovenliness of his by calling it ■' honeat."-" The Builder."

Amusing Blunders.

SobN after the arrival of tha welcome news from Waterloo, a Cornish squire,- meeting some miuew, thought to gratify their cms by the announcement that peace was come at last, bat was dumbfoundered by one of them replying " I never beered as theer'd been war yet. Such indifference regarding what is going on in the world is nothing uncommon, Codrington, a few days after his return home as victor of Navarmo, was greeted by a country acquaintance with, V How are you, Cudrington 1 I haven't seen you for some time. Had any shooting lately ?" " Yes, I have had some remark able'shootlng," said the adnrral as he passed on his way. At the ansious time when war or peace depended upon America's answer to England's demand tor the release of Messrs Mason and blidell, a gentleman going into the smokingroom of a We sh hotel was astonished to lUd the company there not only unaware of the existence of the envoys of the South", bttt actually ignorant that there was any trouble at all in the States-an ignorance shared by the farmer who declined to subscribe to the Lancashire Relief Fund on the plea that' Lancashire folk bad no bu-iness ta go to war wi'h the Yankrc. M. Thiera oue day entered a cottage nc»r Cauerets, occupied by an old n»au named Firiiaa, mid inquired it he was not «it the scho>l of the Truis F'ikos wilh Th'ers. " Thiera ! Thicrs I' echoed the cake-seller; "yes, I rememicr him; a very mischievous boy." " W311," sail the great little man, "I am he." 'I he statesman's old schoolmate, not at all disturbed, asked what h« was dong, "Well," Slid the President, ' I'm doing nothing just now, bu' for a long time I was MiuUtc." Wbat sort of minister the village aostor supposed he had been was shown by his replying, "Ah, you were a Protestant, weren't you?'

It wonld be interesting to know how many of th: electors of the United Kingdom have any idea of what they mean when they dub themselves Liberal or Conservative. A vast number, we fancy, are no batter thin Stephen Noyos, the strouo voter, who deposed that he only knew of two pirties, the yellows and the blue; and, beiDg a man wno could not understaod, was unable to say whether Mr Disraeli was a ycllowor a blue—indeed, he had newr heard that gentleman's name before. That of Mr G!adstone was more familiar to him ; he was a Liberal, he sup posed. Pressed to give his notion of what Liberals were, he replied, "I think they be the beat side of the party," under which impre^s;on he bad doubtl as cast hi* vote. Such political innocence is far more common tban some peopc imagine. We once in terviewed an old voter in the Midlands who protested he was neither liberal nor Tory, blue nnr yellow; he Was a cocked hat like his father and grandfather before him ; but what a cocked hat might be, as to principles, was more than he or anyone else could cell us. Ue hid seen a good many tou«h contests in his time, and with all his ignorancs of political parties was not so verdant bb the three young fellows who once stood gazing at a placard at Wymondham, informing passers by that the Northwich eltction had resulted thus :— Tillett ... ... ... '.„ ... 5.877 Wilkinson 5,079 Majority ... 798 Said one, "That's about that election! there Wis only two on'cm got in tho'.' "Wo," quoth the second, " that's all, the two -op ones ;" while the third as he walked away, obsi rved, " Old Majority didn't get many, did he?' A traveller on the Ohio overhear.) an odd dispute between two boatmen, fc'aid the first: "I hat was an awful winter, I tell you. The river was froze tight at Cincinnati, and the therm ometer went down to twenty degrees below Cairo." "Below which?" queried his puzzled mate. " Below Cairo, you lubberhead I You see, when it freezes at Cairo, it must be pretty cold; so they say bo many degrees below Cairo." The unconvinced one replied : " No, they doit, you've got the wrong word, it's so many decrees below Vero. I don't know what it means, but that'B what they say when it's dreadful cold."

The Honolulu Settlement for Lepers..

The following painful account of the set tlement set apart for leper* in the sardwich Islands, is from tho pen of a recent visitor:

"1 went with Dr Fitch' to the branch settlement for lepers. It is an enclosure of several acres on what is called Fisherman's Point, on Honolulu Bay. Scattered over the crninds are scotes of cottages, Borne connected, others detached, and the offices and buildings used by Doctor Fitch's assistants. Imagine, if you can, a settlement of Anglo-Saxons, or people of any other highly civilized race, all of them aflncted with, and more or le.«s deformed, oy an incmrablc and horrible disease knowing it to be incurable, and seeing themselves and each other dropping to pieces from its iU dread effects. I cannot

imagine such a picture, because I honestly believe that suicide would make a settle ment impoasib'e among any other tban a people still barbarians, or else in

the chilhood of civilisation. Such was the scttltment I visited. There were men, women and children living in a world apart from ours, having nothing worth living for save mere existence, a succession of days, marked only by slow consumma tion of the death that had already seized upon their bodies, and had a'ready deprived them of portion?, which were already re turned to dust.

There were in that strange and unnatural community, marriages, births, deaths I would not attempt to describe in detail the unrelieved ghastline?s of toe sights there, yet not one of the inmate; who helped to make up the absolute dreadfulness 6f the scene failed to greet us with a smile and cordial aloba, . ,

That only served to emphases the dark ness of the picture. I said not one; yet there was ooe. On a bed in a little cottage room, wbWopen door faced the dark, cool cannons back of the city, and whose window' looked out upon the lovely biy aad let in the lazy murmur of wave 3 breaking over the coral reefe, lay a native womin, dying. Nearly all of her right hand had dropped off, but in the remnants of her finger? *he held a feather fan, which she faintly wavad across her dis torted face, to cool the hot, '■ acbing eyes' tbat_ had not been closed for months, the palsied muscles of her eyelids refusing their duty.

As the doctor spoke plqisantly to her, she turned her glaring eyes towards Us, but did not speak. " Her mouth is affected, too," the doctor said.. We ttood aside from her door to admit a cooling breath of air that juitY^en came down from the moun tains Tne swollen /ace' rested, and the feebly moving hand fell, in gratitude for' the mountain breeze, yet, when it died away, the hand did not move again ; it was' her last moment. The numotainV gentle breath had comforted her, and when n died away her brea'hing ceased too. ; In one cottage we saw a little girl whose fingers had been drawn up until her hand was half closed. Sbe had experimented with a novel cure by calmly stepping on the bent fingers until she had straightened thorn out. She exhibited the result with pride; four finders straight and stiff, and as useful as so many wooden pegs would have been. Out on what is called the play ground were some boys playing ball, one with a useless hand, another with a palsied leg, another with a foot partly gone, and others with swollen, senseless faces. On the veranda of a cottage sat two old natives, both with useless legs, but neither of whom showed any trace of leprosy in face or hands . As I watched them one began chanting a huluhulu, accompanying it with appropriate movements of his bands. Pos sibly, observing the look of astonishment on my face, the old man's companion, with a meaning wiak at mo joined in the chant, and soo-iboth the old lepers were chanting and waving their hands in the sensuous measures of the hulu hulu. It was a dance of death indeed ; Puuchinello's mask over a moulding skull; a rollicking revelry in a chnrnell house ; life nmcking a gaping tomb. The medical profession here in Honolulu is in terrific dispute about what leprosy is (!) and whether or not it is contagious. This, of course, is an old dispute, but it has been revived with sreat violence by the assertion of Dr. Fitch that it is, if not curable.amen-. able in a large degree to treatment, and that it is not contagious from ordinary con tact, such as would demand the transporta tion of lupers into isolation. Dr. Fitch has been bore two years, and naturally liis youthful but dogrnaticil contradictions of She theories of. the old and experienced practitioners has raised a discussion of a rather warm nature However, his practice appoak to the sympathies of the natives, and he has a large, if rather ignorant, following. . , ,

TERRIBLE DISASTER ON LAKE ONTARIO.

Only Three Survivors of tt Wrecked Steamer.—About One Hundred Persons Drowned.

Collingwood (Ont.), September 17,-D A, Tinkis, Christy and Mi s Morrison supposed to bu the only survivors of the steamer Asia, have arrived here. Tinkis reports that he boarded the Asia near Owen Sound, in company with 11. JJ. Tinkis and a. IS. tiallagher. Tinkis tells the follow ing story of the disaster :—

"The Manitou Bteamcr was crowded All the state rooms weie full, and many persons wcro lying on sufas ann the sibi* floor. About dlefen o'clock on Thurs day morning the storm struck the vessel. My undo, J. y Tinkis, jumped and said tho b;at wa3 doomed, lushes and chairs were jumping in every direction. We left the cabin ana foand difficulty on the deck. The boat was rolling so heavily that I got a life p-e ---sever and put it on. The boat fell into the trough of the sen, and would not obey the helm". She rolled heavily for about twenty minates when she was (.-truck by a heavy sea and foundered with the engines working, about 11 30 o'clock. The Asia was making for French River, and had men horses and lumbermen's supplies for shantie:'. I saw three boats loaded, Iwas in the first boat, and about eight were with me, at firsr. More ssot in, till the boat was overloaded and turned over twice, the people clinging to my life preserver, which got displaced, and I threw it off, 1 thes left tbrs boat and swam to the captain's boat, which tVas r.car by, and a>ked John McDougall, the parser, \o help me in, fl e said it was of but little use, but gave me his hand.

"When I got in there were .'eighteen in the boat. By that time thero was a large number in and clinging; to the boat I had left. I know nothing of the ibid boat. Our bw rolled over and I missed McDou c;all. The people were hanging on tc spa>s and otber parts of the wreckage. Our boat was full of water and the sea was con stancy breaking over u». One of the first to die on the boat was the cabin boy. Be was djingand bcirjg supported by one of the men when a wave, washed him over boaid. The nexr, to go was a boat-hand, who jumped out. I cou'd see him pad dling around in the water for nearly 100 yards, Our number was now reduced to seven, five of whom died bef re reaching the beach. Captain Savage was the last to die, He died in my arms about midnight on Thursday. Johu Little, of the steamer ftlaril, Mate Mclonald, and two others whose names are unkuown alto died.

"The boat finally stranded near Point Barre about daylight on Frirtay, with Miss Morrison and myself, the only survivors. I put the bodies out on the beach and pryed the boat off with an oar, but did not sail it out. Miss Morrison aud I went down the beach in the boat to the derrick, about two miles distant, and lay on the beach all night. At 8 o'clock on Saturday morning an Indian cime along and I engaged him to bring ns to the Barry Sound. Ho would not bring the bodies. The steamer Northern Belle, of the same line, Which reached here this morning, has been furnished with ice, etc., and has left for the bodies. There were probably aobut one hundred persons on board the Asia.

[Collingwood, wbich the survivors reached, is at the south-eastern point of Georgian bay, a branch ot Lake Huron, it is a post vil lage of Simcoe county, Canada West, ninety-five miles north-northwest from Toronto. The point where the vessel was wrecked is about midway off the northern shore of Georgian bay, which is frinecd with small islands. French river, for which the steamer was bound, i» the outlet of Lake Nipissing J Toronto, September 18.—The Govern ment inspector bcrc states that the Asia Waß running without a license, haviut? been refused one on account of her carrying an insufficient number, of lifeboats and life preservers. Collingwood (Out,), September 19.- The steamer. Northern Belle, despatched from Parry Sound to the scene of the disaster to the steamer Asia, returned to-day, bringing the bodies of Captain Savage, First Mate McDonald, John Little, J. McAlpine, and an unknown man, supposed to be a lumberman, a n in terview with the rescued man Tinklss elicits in addition to reports olicady pub lished at the time of the accident, the Infor mation that the steamer was ab ait twenty miles from JanH, that a heavy «ea struck the vessel and sent her over on one side. Boats were cut from the daritt", and as the vessel went down were choired off. The upper decks floated aftrr tne hull sank. One alter another of the occupants of the boats were either washed overboard by the heavy >ea or died from exhaustion, until only five were left in the metallic boat which con tained the two survivors, Tinkiss and Miss Morrison, their companions dying one after another. They reached shore at daylight,

A New Cure for Consumption.

A prominent citizen of Geneseo, N.Y., has been prolonging his own life at the expense ot the canine creation. Some two or three years ago the gentleman in ques tion, who was pronounced by physicians to be in quite an advanced stage of consump tion, began the habit of taking his pet dog to bed with him. The dog soon exhibited unmistakable signs of lung difficulty; coughed a'most constantly, and finally died. The ppntlcman procured another dog, and slept with, him for a time, when the animal also fella victim to the disease. Another dog was proeut ed, with which the man now sleeps, and though the third animal will probably die the Bame way the others did, the man 's constantly improving and is better than before in health. He is a well-known business man of Geneseo, and we would give his name if necessary. ■

George Darrell on the Drama.

George Darrell is in London, and haa been doing the rounds of the metropolitan theatres. He says he is unable to employ; terms to adequately express bis admiration of the mounting of "Romeo and Juliet ". at the Lyceum. Irving is a " scholar, an artist, a gentleman": and Miss Ellen Terry, a '"sweet sympathetic interpreter of the master." George then goes' to say : " Will it ever re worth while to. risk such a production in Melbourne ? I sincerely hope it may. At the other, theatres they are playing for ilib mosti part light comedies and sensation dramas.' One statement let me make. Away; from the mounting, d easing, and scenic embellishments, I have seen equally good, performances, a? a rule, in Australia, and New Zealand as in England of America. Naturally thny laugh at this remark here and in the "States, but the fact remain?. It is excessively difficult,' to break the ico and secure an appear ance in London; hut 1 have boenfortu-' nato enough to sign a cm tract to that, effect with Holt and Wilmot. These gen-, tletnen read, immediately accepted, an Australian drama of mine, and have stipu lated to present it in London in the fall of, 18S3. It will ba produced under my super vision, with entirely new sceDic and mechanical effect!', Sod 200 supers. Mean-' while I visit the tape and Australia for the presentation of another new drama,' and return to England in July of next year."

Emperor Alexander.

A terrible risk is incurred by those who attempt to approach the Fmperor Even when walking in his park he is watched by unseen protectors. In tho course of bis ramb'cs a short time ago, the Emperor came upon some workmen. He beckoned to one of them with a view to ask-

ing some questions, and the man, who seems to have recognised his majesty, re linguisliud his tools and ran towards tho Emperor in respouse to this invita-

tion. He hsd almost reached the spot where tre Czar -was sanding when

tho report of a rifle was heard, and tho un fortunate workman iell dead at the feet of his sovoicipn. The faithful scn-aat of the Kmperor had not seen the signal given, and supposed that the hurried approach of tho workman cou'd mran nothing else than bii attempt at ns-assination. It is said tbat

the Emperor showed much distress at the shocking occurrence. As he helped to raise the lifeless hudy from the ground, he must have nali-cd veiy keenly the unenviable position thai he occupies among bis own people.

Many young ladies at [he seaside take wore interest in the wave of one handker chief than in all those of Old Ocean. .

STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, OCTOBER 81, 1882.