THE WEIRD SISTERS.

A ROMANCE.

Bit RICHARD DOWUNG,

Authou os " The Mystery of Killakd,

PART I.

A PLAIN GOLD GUARD.

CHAPTER V.

AN UNSELFISH FATHER,

THK city of Daneford, on the river Wees. lade; is about eighteen miles from the small watering-town Beacliff, which stands in a little bay at the mouth of the river. Be. tween Daneford and Seacliff the width of the river varies, but is never les3 than a mile. At a distance o£ less than four mileß from the city the river widens con siderably into a loop, and in the loop is the island of Warfinger. The island, which rarely is called by its particular name, but is spoken |of as "The Wand" measures a mile long by half a mile broad. It rises gradually from the shores to the centre, and on the highest point of it stands Island Castle, tho seat of the Midharstsforgonera tions. In tho neighbourhood the title of Island Castle is cut down also, and no one at all familiar with the locality ever calls it anything but "The Castle." In the early part of the year 186G the tenant for life of Island Castle was old Sir Alexander Midharst, a widower, who lived in the Castle iv great retirement and the meanest economy. His wife had then been dead twenty |years. She had died in giving birth to tier only child, Maud.now rapidly approaching her majority ; a «irl of such gentlo beauty and simple childlike manners, that all who mot ber spoke of her beauty and her grace with teuder ie spoct and ready, enthusiasm. Maud Midharst did not noed any adven titious aid to make her beauty appatent and her presence acceptable, but her deli cate complexion, bur dark sweet tyes, ber pleasant smile, all came out in strong con trast with her surroundings at tho Caatle. In the building, everything, including the structure itself, seemed hastening to decay. I ho walls, the floor, the furniture, tbo servants, the master, all were old. She formed the one exception to the general appearanco of approaching dissolution. 'l'he outer walls of tho pile were seamed and lined, the water had eateu into the stone, tho frost had cracked tho mortar, and unsightly yellow stains lay upon the masonry, like loug skeleton lingors point ing to the earth into which tlie walls were hastening. When castles were places of defence as well as of residence, Island Castle was well known. It had stood two sfrges, and had been a famous place of meeting among the Jacobites. Its insular position, the wide prospect it commanded, the fact that it could not be invest d on all tide? at once except by a whole army, tho facilities it all'orded to approach anil llight of friends, and the difficulty, amouutmg almost to an impossibility, of reaching it by surprise ex cept ucder the favour of nit lit or a fog, all added together made it a place of great im portance once uf ova time. The Castle hud not aways been in the Midharst family. It had comn to them early in the eighteenth century, upon the failute in heirs male of the great incurcy family, by which failure the historic earldom of Stancroft was lost to the blood for ever. The Midharsta had some of (lir female Fleuroy blood in .their vein?, but it was of dlstaot origin ; and title to the fine ca«t'e and property was dccLved to Sir John Midhar.«t. the first of his name who laid claim to it, only after long aud expensive litiga'ion and much scandal. Up to that time the' M'dbarsts had been poo- Imroncts. Thr property accotneaoying the Inland in the year ISG(> brought in a rental of niore than twenty-two thousand pounds a y> ar. It «as a very i-ingulnr. fact that from the fiistb^onci whosa'. aania-lerm Warfinger Island Castle dowfi t» oUI t>ir Alexander, no sou succeeded a father. It was always a grandson or » nephew, or agraud-t ephew or some renio'c cousin. Now mattors were worse than ever. Sir Alexander was up wards of seven'}- years of age, with an only child, a dauthler, and the closest male was a direct decendant of the younßOst eon of the baronet, the lucky Sir John who came in for tha property that hod supportod the -extinst earldom of Stnncroft- No doubt tiiis remote cousin was.a Mid harst iv name and blood, but somehow it wa* hard f»'r Sir Alexander to feel very cordial or friendly towards one so remote from him, one who waa going to lake the property and tho title away from his im mediate family. At the time Lady Midharst died Sir Alex ander was but a little over fifty years of age, rfnd many, thought be would marry again. But even then he was ailing, and the doctors told him that between asthma and valvular derangement of the heart his chance of living even a tew years was slight. Of course, they said, he might live fifty years, but he was heavily handi capped. As long as hit wife, who had been much younger thau he, lived, ho continued to hope for an heir; but upon the death of Lady Mildtiarst, having ascertained the crease nature and import »t the diseases from which he suffered, be madu up his mind to Rive up all thought of an heir, and devote himself wholly to making a suitable provision for his daughter Maud, who was healthy and well-grown, and promised to be strong and long-lived. And now began with Sir Alexander Midharst the practices by which he dis graced his order, and made himself a bywoid for all who know hia habits and his name. He shut up - his London house and advertised it to l»o let. A rich distiller took it, furnished, at two huudred pounds a mouth duiine tho season, and a manu facturing jeweller f> r eighty pounds a month during the unfashionable periods of the year. He sold his horses aud carnages, all save one old state coach, which he could not B ell for two reasons ; first, because its pro nervation and "maintenance" were pro videdfor by his predecessors ; aud secondly, becauso no one' would pay haulage for it from the Island to the city. He dismissed all his servants but tbo housekeeper, oao maid, aud one man, allow ing, however, a nurse and " governess " for the baby, who yet lacked ol thiee months. He resigned the membership of his two London clubs, of the three county clubs he belonged to, and intimated to all institu tions or bodies or guilds to which bo whs patron, chairman, subscriber, or member, that his connection iv any way with them must cease. He discharged hi» steward, and resolved upon collecting his own rents aud super intending his own property. Up to this, anyone who chose might go over bis fine old Castle. Anyone still might go over the Castle, but an entrance foe of one shilling was now demanded from each ughtaeer,

As time advanced, and he became more imbued with avarice, more expert in raei.n iJess, be cut and shaved and clipped here and there and everywhere, until he had reduced hi* expenditure to about a thousand a year. But he did not rest content with cutting down his own expenses; be was fully as careful to increase his income hv every means in his power. When lea*es expired they were renewed only on pay ment of heavy fines. His care was n..t bo much to innate the rent-roll as to get in all theready-mooey be could. He had, he calculated, only a few years, if so long, to live and the rent .roll would then be the con cern of that William Midharst whom be had never seen and whom he wished uever He cut down and sold all the timber as far as his right to do so extended ; and all the trimming and underwood, which had previously buen allowed to go as perquisites the men as gleaning among the poor, he took possession of and sold. He let the right of shooting over his land and the riaht of fibbing in his streams and rivers. t» c sold off all he might of the more modern furniture at the Castle. He sold all his personal plate and jewels, and all the pictures he had acquired m his lifetime. When he was young he h&d made a collection of coins; this, too, he converted into cash. At one time he contemplated lettine one wing of the Castle to a rich tallow-chandler of the city, and was absolutely in treaty with him, whun with a shudder of shame he drew back and broke off the negotiations. When he commenced hh scheme of economy and sxactions, he had said to himself that if he pursued it for one y<ar, and sold off all tho things he then contem plated, he should Do able to leave hia baby girl 'close on forty thousand pound?. At the end of twelve months ho found he had put more money together than he h»d an ticipated. There was no new cause of anxiety with regard to his health, and he made up hia mind to continue upon the track ho had adopted. He might live a year, ay, two years yet; if he lasted two years more the leases of Garfield estate would fall in, and he should reap a harvest out of renewals. Give him two years more, that is, three from the beginning, and he should be able to leave his only child clo*e upon one hundred thousand pounds. At the end of tho three years he f"und ho had not como within several thousatm pounds of bis limit; so he resolved to com plote the hundred thousand before he changed his manner of living or of dealing with the property. When the end of the fourth year was reached he had saved more than the hundred thousand pounds. By this time he had become accustomed to the lobs of all his old associations, had grown to love the new, and, above all, had become the slave of avarice, that most inflexible and endur ing of all passions. Therefore, he threw all idea of change to tho winds, and resolved as long as he lived, whethsr for a week or twenty year?, to save all tho money he could, in order that the descendants of his hide of the family might be able to hold up their heads hereafter. At the death of his wife, Sir Alexander Midharst closed his London banking ac couut aud transferred all hia business to the Daneford bank, where he had had an ac count when he came into the property, and where his predecessor in the title had also kept his account. Now in money matters Sir Alexander may havo been a good sergeant, or even on occasions a trustworthy captain ; but ho was no general, and he knew it. Ho ac cordingly resolved to consult with Mr Groy, father of Wat. He explained the whole scheme to the banker, and the purpose for which tho money was being saved, and said that in the first place he wanted to in vest the money eafely, and iv the second of course he wanted some interest for it. The banker suggested that for the present theiuoney should be invested in the Three per Cent Consols, which could be realised readily should any more desirable form of investment offer itself, and where it would be as safe as in land. After sotna consideration Sir Alexander agreed to follow the banker's advice, on the condition that Mr Grey would buy the stock, keep the account of it, with the heirloom jewels and plate of Island Castle, but that in this case Mr Grey was to retain the key of tho chest containing the valu ables aiad transact all the business con nected with the Consols, such as receiving divideuds, crediting the amount, and buying in more Consols with the interest of the Consols themselves, and any money Sir Alexander should lodge to tho Mibharst (Consols) account. "[shallsave the money,"saidtbe batonor, "and you will take care of it." And so it was arranged. Sir Alexander gave the bunker powar-of-at'orney with legnrd to these Consols and all tbe money lodged to their account for tbe future ; all communications from the Bank of England, of solicitors, or anyone else, were to be addressed to Sir Alexander Midharst, Dane ford Bank, Daneford. These letters were to be opened and attended to by Mr Grey, who was to make a reasonable charge for the trouble. Things went on thus until tbe alder Mr Grey's death, when tbe son succeeded to the banking business and a considerable pri vate fortune in 1856. Young Mr Grey, na soon as bo came into the business, at unco waited upon Sir Alexander Midharst, and said he would advise that some new plan should be adopted with regard to the baronet's busi ness and accounts. The baronet, who knew young Grey very well, and liked him exceedingly, told him that hit father had managed tbe busi ness excellently, and that the son ought to be able to do as well. 1 ouog Grey said the responsibility was very great, the sum being now more than two hundred thousand pounds over which Grey had complete dowc. The baronet took him by the hand and said: "You are v younger man than your father, and ouzht not to be more timid. Our family have koown your bank before now ; for my part, I am not able to take charge of these things. I prefer your guardianship to that ot my lawyer's or of anybody else If your father charged too little for the trouble, you may charge more. You know tho money is for my little daughter: the estates go to a straneer after my death; and this money is the fortune of my child, that no man shall say she, a Midharst—the hwt of the direct line I may say—was left penniless and por tionless, thoudi she may be left homeless, 00. the world." "As you put it now I cannot refuse," answered young Grey. "1o )k around you." They were in tho gitfiwny loading to tho court-yard, with their facs turned towards the slope of the hil, "L mk around you. I bava shorn the land close for my child. I work night and day for her, as though her daily bread de ponded on my arms aud my brain. I may die any time. I have no friend, no relative. lam alone with my child. Everyone seems against me, That greedy rapacious young scoundrel who is to follow mo is looking with hungry eyes '.upon Warfinger Island, and nightly praying for my death. All my old friends have given me up. lam not ot them now, because I have striven to make provision for my child. They call me a

sordid miser, a stain upon the order I share with them. Let them ravevi I will do what I think right by my child. Let them do as they choose. I do not ask their help, t only ask them to let me alone. But you I ask to help me; and you will, tor yon are not ennobled by the accident of j ou: birth, but by the generosity of your nature." If any power of wavering had remained ia youue; Grey, this appeal would have overcome it. So the matter was finally nettled: the son was to act for the baronet precisely as tha father bad acted before. During the year 1856 Mr Grey the younger was a frequent visitor to Island Castle. Be liked boating; and often ia the fine evrnings pulled down the rivtr Weeslade to the Island, had a consultation with Sir Alaxander, and then pulled back to Uane ford in the sweet fresh twilight. Often when it was growing du'k, and he was about to start from the Island for the city, he pushed off his boat into midstream, and rested on his oari, looking up at the mouldering Castle standing out clear against the darkening sky. There was something desolate and forlorn about that vast pile, inhabited by that aging man and tbat young girl. In front, facing the wider water-passage, it stood high above him, its blind gateway looking down upon him, a lonely round tower at the right of the archway catching the strange gleams of light reflected from the Weeslade as the river glided silently towards the sea. Winter and summer, when there was sunshine at sunset, the top of that tower cauaht the reflection of the last red streak that flickered on the polished surface of the river. This fact affected long ago the supercilious feelings of the people. There was a tradition in the neighbourhood that in times gone by tho wicked mother of a Lord v.tancroft used abominable witchcraft against her daughter-in-law, her sou's bride, newly brought homo from tbo kingdom of Spain, a country far away, and near the sun, and full of gallant men and fine ladies, whose eyes it were a marvellous fine feast to see, but who were—the ladies — treacherous and light of love. The abominable and damnable exercises practiaed by tbe wicked dowager caused the dark-eyed Lady Staucroft, who had come among strangers out of the far-away king dom of Spain, to wither up and grow old and loathsome in a year. So that the young lord turned away from her, and cared nothing for her any more. And the poor young lady, gap-toothed and wrinkled and foul-looking as she had' been made by devilish witchcraft, was still young in her mind and affections, and doated on the lord, who wouid not as mucU as come nigh the Castle while she was there, but took to wine and evil ways, So at last the poor young wife, who looked eighty, was lost, and oould be found nowhere. It was long after, and in the time of tho next lord, that, in the topmost chamber of tho round gate-tower, a chamber never used save in|war-time, they discovered tho skeleton of the young wife, and words written in a strange tongue, the language of Spain, fftying how she had stolen up there to die, as sno could not win back the love of her husband, the young lord. Ever after that the topmost chamber of the tower was red at sunset. Some thought this red ;;leam came from the fire where the wicked dowager Lady btancrofc suffered for her grentsin; others thought this was the reflection from the wreath of glory worn by the poor young'wife. Hut all agreed that it had to do with the deed of the wicked Lady Stancroft; aud so they called the tower the Witch's Tower, a name it bore until Walter Gieygavc it another. Tho year 1876 was full of remarkable events in the life of Mr Grey. In it hia father died; he came into a considerable fortune ; be purchased a house ; and grew to ho a frequent visitor at Island Castle, It often struck him as a peculiar coincidence tbat in tho same year he should have becomeowner of tbe most remarkable bouse near .Daneford, and caretaker to the fortune of the owner of the most remarkable house in the whole district.

About that time be read an account of a ccrtaiu tree said to ha in sympathy with a certain tower. The idea was fresh to him, and seemed to open up a new field of speculation, and he dwelt upon it a good deal. Ooe evening, as he was rowing from tho castle to his own home, a thought flashed into his mind. There was a striking coin cidence in the fact of bis being connected so closely with two such houses. Each was unpopular, each was weird, strange : there were queer stories about each, each had a tower. The tower of one had an unpleasant history connected with tbc skeleton of that poor Spanish lady ; the tower on his house had that rusty frame work of a tank that looked like a skeleton. " Might not," he thought, with a smile at the absurdity, "there be some sympathy botween these two houses t" Ho ceased to row, and looked at the vast pile that brooded over the dark waters of tho Wceslade. He rested upon his oars. "It looks, if like anything human, like n witch charming the river. My house, too. looks like a witch sitting at bay within her magic circle of grove. It wouldn't be bad to name them both The Weird Sisters., They are uglier than the cronos in ' Mac beth.'" He pulled a few strokes and mused aguiii, resting on his onrs. "They don't use that tower. I dou't use my tower. They found the skeleton of the Spanish Lady Stancroft in the top of that tower. There's the skeleton of that old tank on the top of mine. Towers and skeletons suggest Bombay and the Farsees. By Jove, tbc Towers of bileuce would not be a bad name for those two." Next day he told several people the names he had given the two houses and the two towers. All who heard of the new nomenclature smiled and admired the cleverness ;' and from that time lorth in Daneford tho two houses were known as the Woird Sis-tors, and the two towers as the Towers of Silence. CHAPTER VI. " TO THE ISLAiD OR TO ." EARLY in the yeir 1866 the Midharst (Consols) account book with tho Daneford Bank showed that, after deducting all charges and paying all expenses, the prin cipal and interest reached the enormous cum of live" hundred and fifty thousand pounds, enough to buy such a property as the old baronet eDJoyed. By this time Sir Alexander had passed out of middle life into age. He was now thin and bent to ooe side, and very weak, but still firm of purpose. Be had defeated the doctors by living so long; ho had de foated " that ungrateful whelp," as he called bis in ir-presumptive, Of thisdistant couain he had no knowledge whatever; he declined to listen to anything about him. Why he called bim ungrateful, no one over knew ; he called him a whelp because ho was young. It was believed that Sir Alexander had never in all his life set eyes upon him, or even got an account of the young man from one who knew him. At the time of his wife's death, the baronet made outline enquiries through his solicitor as to the age and descent of the boy, In tho year of Lady Midliarst's death,

the boy, whose lather had been a poor naval officer, wag aged eight, having been born in 1838. The boy's father had died at sea. There cmld not be the shadow of a doubt that this William ttidharat was heir-pre sumptive, and, if he lived, would inherit the title and the property, should Sir Alex ander die without leaving a son. liittla of the baronet's time wag spent with his daughter; often a whole week went by, and he did not paas more than an hour of the whole time with her. Sbe had a suite of rooms for herself, where she lived with Mrs Grant, au officer's widow, who knew much of the world, and was now glad to accept tbe position of lady's companion to thtt baropet'a only child. . Owing to the eccentric life led by Sir Alexander, tbe facts that he saw no com pany and bad no intercourse witb any of the county familie*, Maud never went into society, and was wholly dependent on good sympathetic little Mrs Grant for any know ledge sbe might gain of tbe great ontside world. Mrs Grant, who was of a gay and pleasure-loving disposition, had no patience with the whims and meannesses of the old man. "You know, my dear," she said to Maud, as they sat over their tea in Maud's little drawiDg-room, "it's all very well for Sir Alexander to ro on saving up money for you, so that you may be a great heiress one of these day* ; but that isn't all. He treats you as if you were a eirl of twelve yet. Why, my dear, I bad been out three years before 1 was your age, and had re fused three or four offers, I had, indeed. I know you don't want offers, my dear; but I did; for I was oaly a poor rector's daughtcr,and hadn't even beauty to helpme. " Indeed, I »m sure you must have been wonderfully pretty, "you don't know how nice you look now, replied the airl, softly. 11 Ah, well, my dear, after a few seasons you get to know all about your good looks; and then, my dear after a few seasons more you get to know what is of a great deal more consequence, a;l your defects, or at least a good many. I don't suppose any woman ever found out all the weak points in her appearance, and that's a mercy. But as I was sayinn—what was I saying ?" "I thinK," said Maud, with an expression of great innocence, "that you were blaming papa for never having given me an oppor tuuity of finding ont the weak points in my personal appearance." " Yes, that's it. That is, not quite it. Maud, 1 won't have yon twist things I say in that way. You know lam always for your good ; indeed I am." "I am quite sure of it, dear Mrs Grant," returned the girl gratefully, and with a trace of moisture in her large soft eyes, as though isbe relented having taken advantage of the other's impetuosity. The woman took her hand, stroked it briskly, and said : "There, there, Maud, don't be silly. Look at this very case in point. Why, you tarn sentimental over a few words from an uninteresting middle-aged woman 1 Sow is that a proper thing in an heiress of twenty ? Why, my dear, you'd have no account to give of oilerß refused if once you went out. You'd marry the first booby who asked you, rather than disoblige him or cause him pain." " I shall never marry anyone I do not love," said Maud, with an air ot quiet decision. "Maud, be silent; you are only a school-girl, with a lot of sound rules in your head, and not the least idea of bow they are applied, or where. I tell you / know something of the world and girls and love and marriage. 1 tell you, you'd marry the first stupid lout who said to you, 1 Maud, i love you 1'" "Was the first who proposed to yoa a stupid lout ?" a?ked the girl simply. '• No, he wasn't; at least I dia thiDk he was then, but I afterwards knew that he was the best of them all; and I was often sorry I did not take him." • " Anldid he marry ?" " Yes; he married a fool." " Who had just come out—her first season ?" asked Maud, with her hands folded, serenely on her lap. '' But how did you guess ?" " Well, you see, you told me I should marry the first stupid lout who asked me, and I thought it likely a girl only just out did marry the first stupid lout who proposed to yea." " Bat, dear, I told you he wasn't a stupid lout; then i thought he was stupid, and was often sorry afterwards—of course I mean before I married—that I did not ac cept him." "This gives me more hope for my own case. You Bee, ihe girl who had only jnst come out took the man you thought was a stupid lout, and was right in taking bim.' f Maud looked np and smiled. For a moment Mrs Grant tapped her foot impatiently on the carpet; looked hither and thither, rose a little hastily, and cried : " Well, Maud, if yon don't think I have a very serious interest in what I cay, I will say -" Sbe paused, and looked at the sweot, half-flightened face of the girl. All at once her manner underwent a change. Sbe drew near the girl, and putting her arm round her waist, "I will say,"she con tinued, "that whoever sets you cannot help loving you. Men are of tea bad, Maud darling; but I don't think there is onesnch a villain and a fool as to be unkind to you." As April of 1866 grew into May, the asthmatic affection from which tbe old baronet suffered abated; but tbe valvular defect of beart increased. He had fainted three or four times in tbe month of April, and in May bis debility became so great that he was unable to leave his bed. Other symptoms now showed themselves, and complicated the case, and so embarrassed the action of the heart that the doctors declared he must expect a speedy termina tion. Towards the end of May the doctors declared he would never rise from his bed. Tho old man, whose spirit was in arms against these doctors, would not believe them. Twenty years ago they haa told him tbe same ching. They said : No, the circumstance* were different. They had then said he might go at any moment; things were worse than that now. There was no longer any chance of recovery, and the dread was things would grow worse. The doctors lound it necessary to be almost brutally candid with him, for they had learned he had not yet made his will. Insecure as was the tenure upon which he had for the past twenty years held his life, he had gone on from day to day defer ring iho arrangement of his affairs on the grounds that he was too busy, and that if he made his will now he should have to add codicils according a9 his savings increased. His lawyer assured him that no such thing waa necessary, becautc, after all bequests had been mentioned, he could leave his daughter residuary legatee absolutely or with uny provisions and restrictions he liked to impose. As the lawyer had failed In the old time, the doctors failed now. But they were resolved to leave no stone unturned in their attempt to get him to settle his affairs. The dying mau'a daughter was too young, and too timid, and too closely interested in tho execution of the document to think of asking her aid; so they resolved to sum mon Mrs Grant, and request her to press the matter home to the mind of the in valid,

In the great- banqueting-room th* Tl. physicians in attendance eat when it"* resolved to invoke Mrs Grant, / *|l The vast apartment had been allows fall almost into ruing. It was theT*> room in the house, pnd few houses in !$& county that claimed the banki jCI Weeslade at this point could bowl^ noble a chamber. rsjia But twenty years of neglect had it and defaced the room. The curtaini^ faded and worn, the hair grinned tin!!? the torn cavers of the fine old oafcSi Damp had attacked the moulding d* picture fram?s, and here and the!,'* moulding haa fallen off, leaving th.jp of the discoloured frames exposed to 3? The ceiling, formed of oak croanJj with flowers and fruit pieces in the £3 had felt the corroding touch of wilful fH Here and there the canvas bnlgej i«S panel, and hung in loose fiabbv uL* from the roof. The five oak floo?? grown dull and woolly for want of m»^ care. Sii Alexander <*ept. no ternll 11' look after the apartmentß he did nS •* use of, and refused to allow even h&5? for the floors. The dog-irons, which had stood I^l^ over' the home-fire of generatim, „>*£> name and blood, were rusted, iv, tries banging across the doors km. ** ' there torn from their hooks,' t,? neglected disorder from the'rod1 ? hospitable greeting •' Welcome "In 7, enamel in the wreath of carved vmS ' round the top of the huge sideboard 1 lost some of its letters. ThegkJlr.T lamps held by the bronze NabiaHL 6 tbe doors were reduced to half their«« ,st The leather thongs lacing th e Sl *' armour that held the groups of m, ,ii of either end of the sideboard had 2 s '! parted, and the belmetsandbackanrf !h "^ plates gaped at the sutures. 'etJ* The chamber smeli lite a v ~ . opened, and, although the weat?., JB* bright and fine, all the fMnit Me , 4 " the floor, felt damp andfiU'my, mvtßh As soon as the doctors W filiiw . lunchooa, Mrs Grant was sent L J? anived in a state of great agitation, i feared that Sir Alexander was»•«.' .™J extremity. . • . ""UK Dr. Hardy, the eemoi• physic, a pjU soft-voiced, self-contained man oifi>»»s!p was the spokesman, flesaid: WMlls> " You will be glad to hear, and von-iii be kind enough to ioform tim MioW that there is no cause foi any alarm S count of the present condition of £ Alexander." W te Mrs Grant looked infinitely -reiievs! Straoge and unsympathetic a father sg S invalid ha 4 been, she did not like a! thought of haviDg to tell anything die* about him to Maud. 1 "I am glad to hear it. Shall I■» .1 once and tell Miss Midharst the Vw news t" .™ . Dr Hardy held up his hand with agate which said quite plainly: "If yomim, so kind as to confine your attention to m you may rest assured of knowing entf what I wish to have done in this cutfer" Having allowed the gesture a little sii) sink into the mind of Mrs Grant, lit k Q j on with his lips: " But," he said, with strong emptu^ the conjunction, to show Mrs Grant tint she had interrupted him, and that he it. garded the interruption as frivolous,''ti ß case has now arrived n-t that state of jm, gress when almost at any time the parent's head may be attacked. Should tbe had be attacked, Sir Alexander will loss tij possession of those mental gifts and pmrtn which he now possesses undiminished ml unim pared." " Poor child 1" cried the widow, thMdi! of the guileless daughter of the stock man. " And," continued Dr. Hardy, with the Fame resolute emphasis un the conjunction, " we consider that he snould be at once in duced to make his will, and we hiTt resolved to request you will use yoni fa. fluence with him. We h»ve tried and failed, May we count on you I" ■ Mrs Grant looked up with a half-Bmnied, half-astonished air. As soon as she hid some what recovered from her surprise, ale said very earnestly : "Theie 19 nothing in this world 11 mid not try to do tor Miss Midharst; butttere is no more chance of Sir Alexander listen ing to me on any business matter tiua ot bis askiDg advice of the wind. He betas women can and ought to know nothing about business. It would only vex Moil I spoke; of anything of the kind to him," The poor little woman looked quite fr tressed and helpless. The three men glanced from one to the other in despair. In a few seconds Dr, Hardy spoke again to the little widow, "la there no friend of tbe patient's whom youcould suggest as likely to nave influent! on him ? Do you think his lawyer would have weight? we know how he ha secluded himself from tbe world end hit own clasp, and that wo are not to look among those who would naturally hvhii friends for the assistance we now want. Do you think his lawyer would be likely to succeed with him in this ?'■ "I am greatly afraid not, I have heard that—although he has a high opinion of Mr Shaw, his lawyer—he would never in any way accept advice in his affairs beyond legal matters, I understand Sir Alexander has no personal liking for Mr Shaw, Aid he won't speak to any clergyman." | Again the three Ben looked MM another in doubt and difficulty. Again ft. Hardy spoke :— ■ ■ ■ ■, , " This is a matter oS the utmost import ance to those who come alter Sit Alexuwer, and we are most anxious, it shooid be settled, and at once. If we thought« mi a disinclination to make a will, or a deter. minaiion not to make one, that kept™ back, we should feel no respoMibilityiww the matter. But he refees to settle.to worldly affairs solely upon thegronwiuat we are deceived as to bkcondiuon W"). Now we are canfideot we are raw He will never rise fron- his bed apsin., Altwoj ■ dropsy has maoe its appearancerrt any moment that may, directly ot,,).adtt«Uy, affect tbe head; in his owe .ft .»•««* sure tn do so at some time." • _ Dr. Hardy paused a m ment; m W ceeded wilh more decision than.netw Or»Pe"rhaps yon, Mrs Gr«n», ?*&* kind euough to ask Mws MifflwW she could give you tbe name of Iff on whose advice Sir AlexaDder vpaw^ lilcely to rely in an important ton"" affair? You need not distress Mia■» harst with anything more explicit. . Mrs Grant rose with prompt willing acdbuiried away in the susUint«Mp that Maud might be able to solve tup When Mrs Grant had gone, the IK* mm drew near one of ihe tall wWJ windows that looked west alon? thouiMJ and commaiided the beautiful valleyjftM brjad river, and the broad, blue, TO" Weeslade itself. ciji'iU An everlasting Sabbath filled O» luxuriant, valley with a peace wnichiewra too fine f r earth. B causa of «■«*■ on which the Castle st.od, and ited^ from the nearest shore beyond tn«»««» end of the Island, all detail was «*»» and lost; nothing was left to tronoiaw® eye or excite enquiry. The eye ConW^ nothing but broad green pastorag»»» vast expanses of emerald ing down to the river's brink, and«wPß

STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, JUNE 2, 1885.

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