with a deftness that would have been amazing in hi-and having myself been formerly noted for speed of foot, I set off down hill at my utmost stretch. For the first hundred yards I did not look behind me, at when I did, the stout Shadow was alongside of mine, not running, but skipping, with long strides and pointed toes, as children skip on their way from school-never on their way to it—and with his left arm placed affectionately round my shadow's neck! This was intolerable; I dashed on, straining every rerve, and hoping to see some symptoms of giving ut on its part; but a shadow has no weight to carry; and as I neared the bottom of the hill, out of breath and exhausted, I saw the pointed toes, if anything a trifle in advance of me, dropping tour à tour with nexpressible lightness and regularity. Just then a new idea occurred to me. I turned sharp to the right, sad plunged into the wood. In a moment I was in lepest shade, and sank exhausted at the foot of an rageous oak. I had now got at least temporary relief, but, so vere had been the excitement both of mind and body et I could not benefit by it; in fact, I was stupified: aly felt a consciousness of something oppressing | I knew not what nor how. I remained thus for ne time, till the chill gloom began to refresh me; tisd gradually resumed its powers, and I rememred the Shadow. Where was it now? Annihilated? | That might not be. I knew that as soon as I returned light, and eliminated my own shadow from the wd of shade in which it now was lost, that it mld reappear; and why should not the other be de to extricate itself also, and reappear with it? Alas! if, as I doubted not, it had the intention of tempting mine to go with it, was I not giving it very opportunity of accomplishing its purpose? Might it not already have seduced it to slip away while I had no power of observing them; and might not issue from my fancied security awfully alone? With renewed energy, I sprang to my feet at the thought, and stepped quickly towards the road. I all never forget the fearful suspense, the agony of of these few yards. Should I come forth with one shadow, with two shadows, or with no adow at all? I entered the sunshine, and there ere two shadows! At first I felt happy that it was 15, but then what better was I than before? Nay, I as worse; for now the tempter, using no longer ald persuasion, was having recourse to force, and I saw that he was endeavouring to drag my shadow away from me. deserted roads of the forest without meeting with a human being. I had no prospect, then, of getting assistance nearer than Koenigstein or Cronberg. Assis tance? What aid could any mortal offer me? It might be, certainly, that I should meet some one who had a shadow more compliant than mine, and that thus I might be relieved of my tormentor at the expense of another. One thing, and one thing alone comforted me-my shadow wavered not. At times the stout stranger threw himself on his knees before it, embraced its legs, and tried to prevent its progress, till he was dragged along by it; or he planted himself in my path, and threatened it with violence if it proceeded farther with me. But my efforts to get rid of him were not more vain; my shadow passed on as though the other did not exist. Koenigstein was, if anything, nearer to me than Cronberg; but the difference of distance was trifling, and I could reduce it by taking a footpath from the cross roads, that I had discovered only a day or two previously; so I pushed on for home as quickly as my exhausted strength permitted me. All the while the stout Shadow ceased not in its efforts to seduce mine. It tried tears, for I saw it apply its shadow pockethandkerchief to its eyes; and it tried scolding, as I could tell by its gesticulations. I had got hardened to it by this time, and scarcely gave it any attention, but plodded on in a state of dreamy abstraction. I had nearly reached the cross roads, when I was roused by the sound of horse's hoofs clattering behind me. I turned, and saw a horseman coming down the hill at a hand-gallop. What should I do? Should I stop him, and claim his aid? Could he, would he aid me if I did? Should I not rather excite his horror than move his pity? Would it not be better for me to leave the highway, and hide myself again in the shadow of the wood? I was unable to determine, and, while I stood irresolute, he came near. He was a stout, middle-aged man-evidently one of the ancient people-mounted on a powerful brown horse, well up to his weight, which was at present in a lather with the rapidity of his pace and the heat of the day. Good heavens! As he neared me, what did I see? My brain whirled as I saw it! Yes! there was no doubt about it. Though the shadow of the horse was there, there was no shadow of the rider! My eye sought the stout Shadow. There it was, standing so as exactly to cover mine, and appear in its place as my shadow. I would have cried out, but my voice was gone. I gasped vainly, but uttered no sound. Horrid thought! Would he gallop past Very generally in Germany, and particularly in me, and never see his shadow? No. He pulled up this part of it, the country people all live in the vil-suddenly, just as he was going by; and, removing his lages, and from one village to another there is not a attage nor a hovel by the wayside. They issue forth in the morning to their labour, and spread themselves over the country; they take their humble dinner in the fields, and only return on the approach of night. At this season of the year there was no work doing in the woods; the harvest on the plain claimed every Land, and one might have wandered for days in the passage hat with an air which I recognised as the original of that with which the stout Shadow first addressed himself to mine, he said, in German, in a voice husky with emotion, Sir, have you seen' He had not time to finish the sentence ere, with a glance of the eye and a sudden step to one side, I revealed to him Ah!' he said, 'he is what he was in search of. there!' Instantly he uttered a few words, in a lan guage which I did not understand; and, as the sound of them ceased, the stout Shadow had passed from its place, and was seated on the back of the shadow of the horse-a correct copy, in attitude and movement, of the corpulent Hebrew. I must apologise,' said the latter, again addressing me in German, for any annoyance that he has caused you. Believe me, I am truly and sincerely sorry.' Again he made me the graceful salutation-which I was too dumbfoundered to return-put spurs to his horse, and went off, up the hill, at speed. I was alone with my faithful shadow. Gratitude for its fidelity was mingled with joy at our deliverance. I sat down on a fallen tree by the wayside, with my shadow on a piece of smooth, soft sward. I bent forward and laid my hand upon the ground so that our fingers met. I turned my head so that I had it as much as might be in profile, and that thus we see one another to a certain extent. I could have knelt and kissed it, but I should only have kissed the back of its head; for no man yet ever saw his shadow face to face, unless it were the stout Israelite who had just left me. I must have spent some time in this way, asking pardon of my shadow for my long neglect, and resting after my exertions and emotions, for the sun was declining when we rose to return to Cronthal. I arrived there so altered in appearance that my good landlady sent off at once for my doctor. Kind and attentive, but a thorough materialist, he would have only laughed at my story, so I did not mention it to him. He decided that I had over-exerted myself in the heat of the day-perhaps had had a slight sun-stroke, and so brought on a fever. There was no mistake about the last part of it, for for three days I was delirious, and my landlady used to laugh afterwards, as she told me how I had the most singular fancies about people trying to steal my shadow, and used to attempt to get up and run out to the sunshine to see whether I still had one or not. A month after I was well again, and went to Homburg for change of scene and the bracing air. One day, as I was passing the door of the large Salle de jeu in the Kursaal, on my way to the reading-room, I observed an unusual crowd gathered round one of the trente-et-quarante tables. I pushed my way gradually forward, so as to see the cause of the excitement, when I beheld the stout gentleman whom I had met on the Taunus. He was playing deeply, and winning everything. Rouge or noir, couleur or inverse, it mattered not--sometimes he staked on one, sometimes on two, generally 6,000 or 7,000 francs, and fortune never deserted him. The Chef de la Banque, spectacles on nose, was standing behind the dealer, watching the game with an unmoved countenance, but with intense anxiety. Before the Jew were a score or more of rouleaux, each of 1,000 francs, and a goodly heap of notes of the same individual value. A clerk from the inner den, near the entrance-door of the building, came with a fresh supply of notes, for which a croupier signed a receipt, and soon they began to augment the winnings of the stout man. He will break the bank,' was now heard whispered on all sides, and the excitement was intense. Just then his eye encountered mine; and by his glance I saw that he recognised me; while I thought he changed colour. He let a deal pass without playing; then risked a single note on noir; lost it; and then, gathering up his gains, changed his gold for notes, which he wrapped up with the others, and bestowed in an ample Russia-leather pocket-book; this he put in a breastpocket of his coat, and, leaving the table, disappeared almost instantly among the ebbing crowd. Who is Embassy at Tübingen. he?' said I, to the Baron de X., Attaché to the French 'Ma foi! I think he is the Devil; but people say that he is only a Russian Jew from Moscow. He calls himself Schwarzschild, and dines with us at the Europa. He has broken the bank twice here, and thrice at Wiesbaden!' I found, in the cabin of the steamer, the Frankfurter A week afterwards, as I was going down the Rhine, Zeitung, and read in it the following paragraph: Three days ago, a Russian Jew named Schwarzschild, who had on several different occasions within the last three months put up at the Golden Eagle Hotel here, was found dead in his bed. Althongs he was known to have won large sums lately at the gaming-tables of Wiesbaden and Homburg, no money was found among his effects except a small roll of Russian bank-notes, which, when changed, barely realised enough to pay the landlord of the hotel and the funeral expenses; neither was there any banker's receipt or other clue as to where he had deposited his winnings, which we have heard estimated vari ously at from 500,000 to 1,000,000 florins. The Rus sian Consul has taken charge of the matter.' THE AULD ASH TREE. THERE grows an ash by my bour door; An' a' its boughs are buskit braw, In fairest weeds o' simmer green, TSADDL An' birds sit singin' on them a'. Oh, cease your sangs, ye blithesome birds! An' o' your liltin' let me beYe bring deid simmers frae their graves, To weary me-to weary me! There grows an ash by my bour door, An' a' its boughs are clad in snaw, The ice-drap hings frae ilka twig, An' sad the nor'-wind soughs thro' a'. Oh, cease thy mane, thou norlan' wind! An' o' thy wailin' let me be; Thou brings deid winters frae their graves, To weary me-to weary me! For I wad fain forget them a': Remember'd guid but deepens ill, Mak' the near mirk but mirker still. They bring the deid years frae their graves, The right of translation reserved by the Authors. Con tributions addressed to the Editor will receive attentionį but, as a general rule, he cannot undertake to return MSS. considered unsuitable. Edited, Printed, and Published by JAMES HEDDERWICK, 13 Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, LONDON, E.C.; and 32 st. Enoch-Square, GLASGOW. Sold by all Booksellers. Cuthbert, Earl of Glencairn, gathered together a considerable body of retainers, and attacked Eglinton Castle, set it on fire, and destroyed both the house and all the family papers and documents--a calamity only partially remedied by King James V. granting to the Earl of Eglinton a title to all his lands of new. The Master of Montgomery, who was killed in Edinburgh, as before stated, left a son, Hugh, who succeeded his grandfather, as second Earl of Eglinton, and appears to have been one of the Justiciaries of Scotland before he came to the estates; therefore, | being versed in law, he managed to keep the family feud somewhat in subjection. His son, the third Earl, entered into a bond of friendship, in 1572, with the Earl of Glencairn and others, binding them to refer any disputes to arbitration--a temporary measure, which was soon broken, by Montgomery of Skelmorly killing one of Glencairn's sons, in 1582; whereupon, the whole clan flew to arms again, and, having been joined by the Maxwells of Newark, whose mother was a Cuningham, prosecuted the quarrel to the utmost-one of the Maxwells being slain, while Montgomery of Skelmorly himself, and his eldest son, were sacrificed to the deadly feud.' To those who are in the habit of passing up and down the Clyde, in summer or winter, the beautiful mansion of Skelmorly must be quite familiar, renovated, and, indeed, almost rebuilt as it has been of late years, for the occupation of the present tenant, John Graham, Esq. of Lancefield. At the time we speak of, however, there was little of the picturesque to attract, except the rough walls of the old Castle itself. There were certainly a few trees round the house, and reach ing some distance up the banks of the rivulet which flows by; but, otherwise, there was no foliage nearer than Knock on the one side and Kelly on the other, while the hills behind looked bleak and barren in the extreme. After the untimely deaths of his father and brother, Robert Montgomery succeeded at once to the estates and to the animosities of the family. He was a young man of good parts, though headstrong and impetuous, and subject at times to eccentricities. But we must leave him for a time, in order to picture how it fared within the walls of Skelmorly, one day not long after the events we have thus attempted to narrate. A bright fire burned in the capacious grate within the old panelled apartment of the Castle, by the light of which, almost as much as by the few rays which penetrated the contracted windows, had one been privileged to peep into the room, one might have observed a family group, consisting of Dame Montgomery, the widow, dressed in sombre hues, plying her nimble fingers at a piece of tapestry work; while at her feet, upon a footstool, sat a slight pale girl, of a lively but noble appearance her only daughter. Their conversation was anent stitches of green wool here, of blue there, of silken cord to suit one place and silver or gold tinsel for the other; they had no printed diagram to guide them in their subject, but at once aspired to be the artificers and designers of the work. The brothers were all abroad after their different occupations; and the only other inmate besides the servant-maids, who were plying their distaffs and spindles, was a friend and relative, one Captain Montgomery, who had come west from Edinburgh on a visit, to assist with advice and enliven the circle with his cheerful conversation. The Captain was a gay man-well calculated to cheer them up; he was used to an active life, having been a. trooper in his youth, but of late had been much about Court, and could con a madrigal or com pose a sonnet with any one living. He had, indeed, already become celebrated, by writing a poem representing Virtue as a cherry tree, and Vice as a sloe, and had indited several verses, amatory and other wise, to the beauties of his acquaintance; and; among others, had poured forth his muse in praise of his lady-love-Margaret Montgomery, his cousin, not the young girl whom we have referred to, but the daughter of the third Earl of Eglinton. Captain Montgomery was occupied in reading; he was seated in one of the window recesses, when his reflections were interrupted by Dame Montgomery calling to him cheerfully, 'Now, cousin Alexander, sure poesy is a dull trade; else why do you sit there rhyming at that sorry book, while Meg and I are so much at a loss to devise a pattern for this needlework? See here, if you please; I have projected having a huntsman, with his horn, pursuing the deer through a forest of trees, and we are planning to bring out the shapes on this canvas. Come now, good sir, advise us thereanent, and leave your love sonnets for a time,' 'True, true,' said the Captain, gallantly starting to his feet; 'great fool am I; but you may see my thoughts are errant; poets, you know, have a thonsand themes to think on, and e'en when they are merry, methinks mischief is mixed with their glee.' 'How so?' said the lady. Is your book so mischief-making?' 'Indeed it is,' said the poet; but "sic cumpany I quyt," tho' Davie Lindsay is a sturdy cairle, and "dings" doun the "duchtiest" duke as if he were a psalter-book.' 'Ha, ha! your figures are most notable, good cousin,' said the lady, laughing; but pray look here.' 'Let me see, then,' said he, how this cunning work goes on.' And, scanning the tapestry, he continued,- In my humble mind, a good conceit would be to introduce Cupid, with his bow and quiver, in mid air, pointing his wicked shaft at the huntsman.' 'Oh! how beautiful, indeed!' interposed the daugh ter, clapping her hands. And have a shepherd with his crook, playing on his pipe, while tending his flocks beneath the spreading tree.' 'Nay, truly,' said the dowager; 'you are both over romantic; I was contriving a scene much less poetical, Suppose we have here the huntsman with his hounds, and a stately tree in front, with a river meandering down the centre, winding its course from the distant mountains-to be wrought with azure silk; and the deer, leaping over the stream-raised with double stitch. A most notable design, and well expressed,' said 6 True; very quaintly contrived,' said the lady. Bat sure you speak in riddles. Have those verses Sagit of application to Robin, poor fellow?' 'Well, it may be so,' said the Captain. He is very sour at this time, and talks of little else than concerning a young lady you know of, and against the Marwells. I walked along the shore with him this orning. He was then in a very doleful mood. I understood him to say that he was to meet the Master Montgomery at Largs or Fairlie. I was sorry, adeed, to see him so bitter, vowing deep curses against Newark,- Vyle, venemous viper" that he is! Robin swore at him as against a false "howlat."' 'I've noticed something of late,' said the worthy dame, a shade of anxiety passing over her calm face. 'I wish no ill may come to Robin; but he has the spirit of a true Montgomery, and will make the Cunnghams feel that the tree of Skelmorly is yet green, although the root and first branch have been cut off!' 'I'se warrant so, if he be not too rash. Mayhap his love for Meg Douglas may settle him. He was greatly concerned this morning to indite a rhyme to her; and sought me to write a sonnet to his lady-love, saying that the sword fitted his hand better than the pen; that if he had a "lilt" to send to Meg he would give 4 ploughgate of the best lea land of Skelmorly.' 'Foolish lad!' said the mother, with anxiety. 'I fear,' she continued, changing the subject from the courtship, which she evidently considered premature, that no good will come of this meeting with Hugh Montgomery. He will be sure to set Robin after some mischief. These Eglintons are certain to be at the head of anything like a tut mute or collie shangie.‡ They are a stirring set.' A peculiar resemblance generally used as to those related by Blood-Jamieson. A grumbling between parties that has not assumed the form of a broil.-Ibid. An uproar or squabble.—Ibid. Thus conversing, the day wore on, till at length John and George, the two younger sons, returned from the field, where they had been spending the afternoon in some youthful occupation. Their studies had been so far perfected in the mysteries of English composition and Latin grammar, under the able superintendence of the parson of Largs, that it was even proposed to send one or both to the University of Glasgow, so as to finish an education which had already been conducted on quite as liberal a scale as was customary for younger sons of the better classes, when even signing one's name was considered a proof of superior attainments. Upon their advent, then, the family group was rendered complete, with the exception of the young laird himself, who was nowhere to be found. The last person who had seen him was the Captain, who accompanied him so far on his way to Largs, upon a preconcerted engagement with some of the neighbouring young hair-brained gentry; and it was not without anxiety that the widowed matron saw daylight wear away, and evening advance, without any appearance of Robin. 'He is a strange lad, no doubt,' said she; but I wish no ill may have come over him in these troublous times. He is sometimes as lively as a cricket, while at others he looks as morose as a hermit in a one. cell. Something tells me that all is not right with him. It was not for nothing that he kept tryst with wild Hugh Montgomery.' Evening passed into night; but still there was nothing to be heard of the missing It was arranged that, at daybreak, a party should set out for Largs, to inquire as to the whereabouts of the young laird, and if he had been seen in the company of any one; or gain intelligence of him anyhow. Meanwhile, Lady Montgomery spent a sleepless night; yet it passed over, and day dawned, but still Robin had not made his appearance. Accordingly, as had been agreed upon, Captain Montgomery and one of the brothers, accompanied by an attendant, took horse for Largs. If there be a fine road now from Skelmorly along the coast, it was little better than a cattle-tract then; but, as the horses were sure-footed and accustomed to the way, the party soon found themselves in the little township of Largs-once the patrimony of the Baliols, but then a straggling place, on the banks of the Gogo-a small rivulet, flowing into the sea, near which once stood the shrine of St. Columba, whose high festival is still kept in the town, being the annual fair of the place, and styled 'Colmsday.' They had no sooner arrived at Largs, than they began making inquiries, and learned that young Skelmorly and the Master of Montgomery had been seen together in serious conversation; that, towards nightfall, they had separated, the one taking the way towards Eglinton, while the other (Skelmorly), it appeared, had last been seen on the path through the glen, now called, of Brisbane-then the muir road of Kelsoland. Farther news the Captain could not obtain; so the party put spurs to their horses, and proceeded towards Eglinton, thinking that some |