servation of Augustus, who, dressed up in antiquated female attire, was a singular mixture of the handsome and the ridiculous. Miss Belmont and Rebecca passed as much of their time with him as possible; and the former lady had now entirely recanted her opinion concerning the homeliness of his appearance. She thought him, though a little pale and thin, the beau ideal of youthful beauty; but she spoke truly, when she told Rebecca that their minds were too similarly constituted ever to permit them to do aught but admire and wrestle with each other for a spiritual ascendency.

Rebecca was all love and abandonment for Augustus. Her heart had deified him; he was beyond and above all men. For three whole days, whilst he was undergoing this blissful imprisonment, and though Rosa was burning with curiosity, she would not suffer him to relate his adventures; because, she said, he should not degrade himself, by thus indirectly putting himself upon his justification; and, perhaps, she felt herself unequal to bear all that she knew that he must have suffered.

In the meantime, the ladies acquainted him with everything that had occurred. Much did he deplore the dismal state of his mother's mind. At first, they attempted to address him by his title; but it failed; and both ladies called him usually, by abbreviatives, Gus being the term patronized by Rebecca, and Gusty that by Miss Belmont.

Though thus lapped in indolent luxury, Augustus longed for the open air, activity, and to embrace his mother. He well knew that he could not, for many more days, remain where he was. Some steps must be taken to break the strange nets that the wicked had cast about him. But he still dreaded to go to the prison as a common felon, and stand at the bar and be arraigned for crimes so very foreign to his nature; and with the chances so terrifically, as they now appeared to be, against him.

At length, the irksomeness of this confinement bore heavily upon all of them, with the exception of Rebecca. She wished for no change. He was under her protection-she could listen to his voice almost the whole of the livelong day; and, clasped hand in hand with him, and drinking a passionate life from his eyes, for what more had she to wish?

But Miss Belmont was heartily sick, instead of feignedly so-sick of playing the sick lady. The four daily entrances of the four baskets of medicine were revolting to her; and, though she a little relieved her spleen by mixing them all up together in a water-jug, with the wicked intention of sending them, flavoured strongly with brandy, in half-gallon bottles, as a present of foreign wine to the apothecary, she felt inclined, every time the abomination made its appearance, to fling it out of the window. She dared neither sing nor play; and the amusement of seeing others make love, if they do it badly, is annoying-if well, much worse. So she drew a little,

and scolded a little, and yawned a great deal; but, as yet, very heroically, she had refrained from openly complaining.

"My good folks," said she, on the fourth day, "you have entirely cured me of my romance. I grow nauseated at the least term of endearment. If any one were, just now, to call me 'my beloved,' I should slap his face; and 'my angel' would be as good as a box of the ears to him. Come, come, Gusty, let us have a little common sense. If you go on in this puling way, you will never be fit to wear anything else than that ridiculous old woman's dress, that really does become you."

"Shall I swear a little?" said his lordship.

"Ah, do; so as it is not by Becky's bright eyes, or anything of that sort. For the sake of variety, swear us a good round sailor's oath, provided that there be nothing naughty in it."

"By the jeer-blocks, dead-eyes, and catarpin shrouds--"

"O stop, that is too horrible. Only give us your adventures, and tell us why they want to hang you."

"For shame, Miss Belmont."

"Is that your gratitude, Becky, for my being within death's door, for the best half of an eternity, just to oblige you? Playing at being ill is but ill play, after all, and deserves good words. The adventures, my lord, or I shall walk down stairs; which may be deemed my method of taking up my bed and walking.”

"You shall have them, if you'll promise not to belord me any more."

"No, Augustus," said Rebecca; "no adventures, if you please: who ever doubted but that you have always preserved a high character ?"

"I don't," said the perverse Rosa; "but let us hear how. Was it very difficult?"

“You slanderous

"Well, if we do but preserve ours, after all this-heh, Rebecca; but come, the adventures."

Miss Bacuissart clung the more closely to Augustus, who, gathering up a few of the ample folds of his rich damask gown, in the manner of a Roman mantle, and surveying the embroidered petticoat, thus disclosed for a moment, as if in thought, commenced his tale.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Thus Bethel spoke, who always speaks his thought,
And always thinks the very thing he ought.

POPE.

The commencement spoken of in the last chapter we shall not inflict upon the reader. We shall take up the story at the point when, being on board the Terrific, like a silly fellow that he was, he was upon the point of taking to the salt water.

"I would wish," said he, "to speak respectfully of my uncle; but, Becky dear, he showed himself, at that time, a brute and a tyrant. I appealed to him, in your name, not to flog me-the appeal was vain. I call God to witness, that I did not contemplate suicide-only escape from ignominy. I even watched for my opportunity. I could swim but little; but when I saw a hen-coop floating past, that had been thrown overboard in preparing for action, from one of the other ships, I determined to confide myself to that rather than trust any more to the tender mercies of the tyrant. I sprang out well through the cabin-windows, and luckily gained my precarious vessel. The old Terrific lagged to leeward dreadfully; and, when the boats were lowered, and were pulling about in her wake, I was half a mile to windward.

"O Rebecca, I was dreadfully cold, and very, very repentant. I thought upon you then-I did indeed; and was sorry that I wrote that incautious letter to my mother. I was tossed about dreadfully, and, first of all, grew very sick; I saw our fleet make sail and leave me; low as I was in the water, they appeared like huge mountains. Several fishing boats passed me; but the night had now set in, and I felt the cold intense, or, rather, began not to feel it at all. I tried to hail the boats, but my voice was scarcely heard by myself, it was so weak; so, after a few attempts, I abandoned myself to chance.

"Not for one moment did I apprehend that my destruction was near. I had then great faith in my good fortune. It was only when I had men for my adversaries, more cruel and ruthless than the waves, that I began to despair of my fate. But then, Rebecca, I had Providence and the strong flood-tide in my favour; and thus -I will not say that I found myself, for, just then, I had lost all perception-but that I was found under the cutwater of the French admiral's ship."

"Bless me! Cutwater-what is that? Did it wound you?" said Miss Belmont.

"O no, for it is sharp enough to cut only water. The edge is about as broad as a horse's back."

There were many similar interruptions, explanatory of seaphrases, all occasioned by Rosa, for Rebecca was so absorbed in every word that he uttered, that, if he had spoken Greek, she would not have interrupted him to ask what he meant by it.

"I must say that the old French admiral treated me nobly. In fact, the good man took a liking to me, and, as he was childless, offered to adopt me, and make me his heir. He also endeavoured to instil into me those wild democratical principles that were then steeping France in the best blood of her sons and daughters. He confounded my judgment often by his arguments, but my heart was in England with my mother and Rebecca. So his eloquence could not reach that, you know."

A look of the deepest gratitude repaid him for this piece of incidental gallantry.

"I was kept more than a year in this state of honourable bondage, when, by the freedom with which I too often expressed my opinion of the atrocities then acting in France, having made many enemies, M. Fresnoy, the admiral, was forced to part with me. Whilst with him, I wrote several times to England: it appears that no letter of mine ever-reached its destination.

"With the letters of recommendation from M. Fresnoy to the authorities, there went with me also other letters, recommendatory of anything but civil or even christian treatment. I was not allowed to enjoy either the privileges of an officer or of a gentleman. I was confined at Verdun, and confounded with the lowest of the low of all nations that it had been the evil fortune of France to contend with, either by sea or by land. There were there but few English seamen, and those few, with scarcely an exception, had been captured on board our merchant-ships. Even these, if they were healthy, but seldom staid long-generally, I blush to say, entering on board the French men-of-war.

"It was intimated to me very plainly, that it was expected that I should do so likewise. The temptation was great-it was not, Rebecca, the fresh air of the open country, nor the mountain breeze, nor the ever-extending prospect, nor the communion with good men, nor wholesome food, nor the rapture of once more bathing in the running waters-none of these tried me so severely as the hope of escaping and being once more blessed by my mother, once more embraced by my dear little wife; but, then, I had to give my word of honour that escape I would not. Over that barrier I dare not pass, even to you, my love; so I remained, and ate the bitter bread of captivity, and contumely, and insult; and almost died of very weariness of heart."

"My poor Augustus!"

"At length, but not with the remotest hopes of success, but

more as an occupation to prevent my mind sinking into fatuity, I commenced planning my escape. I began at first, in mere mockery of myself; but, as I proceeded, a faint hope dawned: the eagerness of life again came over my frame, and I worked, and I undermined, and I bribed, and was discovered, and was confined the more severely, and then I recommenced, and, at length, succeeded." "O tell us all-tell us all."

"It would interest you but little. As yet, every attempt proved abortive. I believe my keepers amused themselves with my proceedings, and let me go just as far as they pleased; and then they came and maliciously crushed all my hopes."

"It was an inhuman cruelty."

"I will never so deem it; these attempts saved me from despair. At length I walked out quietly, without plan, plot, or forethought. Five minutes before, I had reckoned upon almost a life of captivity. I could not, at first, believe that I was on the outside of the hateful fortifications and moats of the depôt."

"But how did you walk?" said Miss Belmont. "Had you the fairy invisible garment, or the seven-leagued boots of Jack the killer of giants, lent you for the occasion?"

"On commemoration of one of Bonaparte's victories—which, I care not now to remember-there was a general festivity throughout the fortress. I will not say that the sentinels and the gaolers who had charge of the numerous wickets were all intoxicated, or intoxicated with anything but the wildest enthusiasm, for with the news of the victory there came three or four large detachments of Austrian prisoners. The depôt was crowded to suffocation. One of the old women who was permitted to enter from the town, and sell, extremely dear, some miserable articles to the prisoners, came in drunk, and, in that state reeled about the different yards and wards of the prison. In order to make her state afford them the more mirth, some of the French soldiers, off duty, began playing tricks upon her, such as daubing her person and face over with mud, and other such unmanly jokes. At length, overcome with wine and fatigue, she reeled into a corner to sleep. Her persecutors then left her alone, supposing that she would soon sleep off the effects of her intemperance. The happy thought then struck me of daubing my face with mud and filth also. This done, I filched all her upper garments, piece by piece, got her broad straw hat upon my head, stole her basket, and, throwing a part of my own clothes over her, I commenced staggering towards the gates. "No one noticed me much, except to give me a curse or an insult; and, as I was pronounced to be too drunk to speak, I was troubled with neither sign nor countersign, but was fairly kicked along the covered-way, over the drawbridge, and across the glacis, with a severe injunction never again to show my face in the walls, which injunction I took care to obey."