"Stop! you have my secret-Am I safe-may I place confidence in you, my pretty one?" Listen," she replied, "and you will best judge. My father and mother were fellow-servants at the hall, which they left upon their marriage. This inn and farm belong to Mr. Harrison, and when they became vacant he placed my parents here. Soon afterward, Miss Ellen's mother died in giving her birth, and the charge and nursing of the pretty orphan were entrusted to mine. Never did sister love another better than I do her. I know how her affections are disposed of. If she weds to please her father, her misery for life is certain. If she weds to please herself, she will be deserted and disinherited; for there lives not a more unbending and unrelenting parent than hers. She has, it is true, a fortune in her own right, which none can control; but to all else (and her father's power over his estates is absolute) let her bid adieu. You, sir, have no trifling difficulties to surmount. You must be prompt, and at the same time cautious. Beyond a day or two, here you cannot remain unknown and undiscovered. If a suspicion arises, you and Ellen are separated for ever. My father is devoted to his master. Take care of him. But what errand brought you here? What reason can you assign for stopping at an obscure inn, and at a remote village? You cannot pass for a farmer, or a bagman, or a horse-dealer, or any thing connected with an honest calling. That military swagger and impudent look, and the mad Irishman who accompanies you, would at once betray your cut-throat trade. The fellow was scarcely in the house before he squabbled with the exciseman, and tumbled the dairy-maid about as if he had known her for a twelve-month, Pray, what business brought you here?" 66 Upon my conscience, my dear girl, that's a poser!" returned my father. "I have it here read this," and Phoebe handed the major a country paper, while a loud voice called to her from without, to say that dinner was ready; and when she left the room, my father perused the advertisement. It was a sale of horses, the property of a departed fox-hunter, who lived a few miles from Stainsbury; and they were, as the newspaper announced, to come in a few days "unreservedly to the hammer." This was indeed a lucky event; and the major decided, that to buy horses should be his errand, and that he would accommodate himself during his sojourn at the Cross Keys, with the name of an old friend in the Enniskillen dragoons, at present quartered at Ipswich. Mr. O'Brien was quickly summoned; and before Phoebe reentered with dinner, Denis was fully instructed in the object of their visit to the inn, and cautioned, moreover, to abstain from disorganizing dairy-maids and quarrelling with excise men. When dinner was removed, as Phoebe laid the wine upon the table, she addressed the major in an under voice, "Fortune favours you to-night. A monthly club, of which my father is a member, meets at the Red Lion on the other side of the bridge. This will remove a very troublesome neighbour for the evening, and enable me to apprise Miss Ellen of your arrival, which, without rousing his suspicions, I could scarcely have ventured to do at this late hour. But hark! I hear the keeper's voice in the kitchen, and from him I may probably ascertain how the folks at the hall are occupied." So saying, she left the room. Nor was she long absent; and on her return there was an excitement in look and manner, that told her to be the bearer of important news. "Every thing favours you, gallant sir. There is a party of gentlemen at the hall. Mr. Harrison will be of course engaged with his company, and Miss Ellen most probably in the drawing-room or her own chamber. If this be the case, you shall in person announce your arrival. Attend to me. The window is low; open the lattice, step gently out, turn round the corner of the stables, and you will find yourself in a narrow lane; it leads to a wicket in the park-wall, for which I have a key. Wait for me there, and keep close un der the hedge, lest your figure be discovered by the moonlight. I will join you speedily; and I shall send your ser vant in to close the casement, after you have passed through it." My father was a daring, devil-may-care fellow, and quickly as events hurried on, he was all ready for action. Denis was duly apprised of the intended expedition, admonished to be on the alert, and to be sure to keep his mouth close, and ears and eyes open. My father put on his hat, filled a bump er, and pointing to the decanter, intimated that Mr. O'Brien might follow the example. "Here's luck," said the master, as the wine disappeared; "Amen," responded the attendant; and next moment the major stepped gingerly out, and Denis closed the lattice. Never was there a sweeter night to spirit a lady off, or achieve other feats, to which the garish light of day is supposed to be unfavourable. Following the directions of his pretty guide, the major easily found out the path and reached the wicket. Denis remained upon the qui vive, visited the parlour with fuel, and appeared to be in close attendance on his master, while Phoebe departed for the hall with a parcel, which fortunately had arrived by the evening stage, and which she stoutly declared to be an article of paramount importance, requiring an immediate delivery. All was ably executed; and in a quarter of an hour Cæsar Blake found himself safe within the park-walls which enclosed his gentle mistress. Phoebe conducted him by a private walk to the rear of the mansion, and ensconced him in a clump of evergreen while she proceeded to execute her embassy. It was quite evident the whole establishment of the hall had ample occupation. The noise of joyous revelry reached the major in his ambuscade. Lights flashed across the passages, and figures appeared and vanished. The opposite wing of the building was the scene of the evening festivity. Thence the noises came, and there the windows were illuminated; while those before which the concealed soldier was posted were lighted only by the moon, and unfrequented by any of the revellers. While my father listened and looked from his ambuscade, a solitary figure appeared at the window immediately before him, and by the stream of moonlight, it was evidently a female form. To judge from her attitude she was no sharer in the general festivity; for she rested her head against the casement, and seemed absorbed in sombre meditations. Was it Ellen? The figure was fuller and taller than his pretty mistress; but this alteration a year might have effected. Should he venture to attract the attention of the solitary fair one?— It was hazardous; it might be one of the domestics; a discovery would undo him, and he determined to leave all to fate and Phoebe. Nor was he wrong: in a few minutes a second form was visible, and the dress and figure announced it to be his guide. Brief as the dialogue was that ensued, the major watched for its termination with impatience. The action of the parties apprised him, that his proximity was being communicated by the maid of the inn. He observed the taller figure fling her arms round her companion's neck; he saw the casement open; he heard his own name softly whispered. Bounding VOL. 1.-4. from his concealment, he approached-passed through the window, and pressed to his bosom his beloved and beautiful mistress. Joy and terror prevented Ellen Harrison from speaking; and while my father supported her to a sofa, Phoebe, like a prudent sentinel, took care to secure the door, and bolt out all intruders. Poor Ellen was completely overpowered by conflicting passions, as the soldier covered her lips with kisses, and plighted his ardent love." Oh! can you, will you pardon me, dear, dear Blake! Was it not wrong in me to write so boldly?" The major pressed her still closer to his heart." Oh, no; my best beloved! that candour has bound me to you forever! But time flies, and every moment is precious! Wilt thou fly with me, Ellen ?-me! a discarded soldier ?— Wilt thou share my humble lot, while rank and wealth are at your refusal ?" 66 Yes; my own love! wouldst not deceive me! yours for ever!" all will I give up for thee—thou I, who trust all-yours I am, and How long this lover-like rhapsodizing might have been continued, those who have experienced the tender passion can best determine. To Phœbe it appeared necessary to interrupt it, and accordingly she approached the sofa— 66 Come, gallant major-Is this a time for heroics? There is one not far distant who, did he but suspect the present tête-à-tête, I fear would be rude enough to make one of the party. Surely, between this and Gretna there is many a long mile, and you will have ample time to bill and coo upon the journey. Čome, Miss Ellen, the major must march. Give her one parting kiss. Lord! did I tell you to give her twenty?" The arguments of the soubrette were too just to admit of disputation. In a few minutes the necessary arrangements for an elopement on the next night were completed, and my mother agreed to leave her home for ever, and share the fortunes of one almost a stranger. Favoured by the occupation of the household, the major and his handsome guide retreated from the enemy's cantonments without observation, and reached the Cross Keys safely.Phoebe stole in by the back-door unnoticed, while her companion halted in front of the caravanserai? to reconnoitre the premises, before he would attempt a re-entry by the case ment. There was no cause of suspicion, however, that either his absence, or that of "the maid of the inn," had been remarked. The major peeped through the lattice of the kitchen, and the appearance of the company was satisfactory. A glorious fire blazed within, where, on chairs and settles, divers guests were seen comfortably refreshing themselves. One, and the most prominent of the group, stood before the fire, and in him the major had no difficulty in recognizing his own worthy attendant, Mr. Denis O'Brien. He appeared to be at the moment undergoing a very searching examination, relative to his own and his master's motives for visiting the good town of Stainsbury; and to judge by that portion of the colloquy which the latter overheard, the interlocutor, as the Scotch call it, had small reason to plume himself upon the result of his inquisition. And it is to buy horses your master is come here?" said a short red-nosed personage, directing a fiery grey eye upon the valet. 66 It's yourself may say that, with your own purty mouth," replied Denis O'Brien. 66 What does he want them for ?" said the gentleman with the red nose. "Just to keep his feet from the pavement," returned Denis. Is he a dealer, or a coach-master ?" asked ferret-eye. Denis whistled a few bars of a song,-" He's only a dragoon, jewel, and they take an oath at Highgate, niver to walk when they have a horse, and prefer riding into the bargain?" and he lilted up the butt-end of a ballad— Says the judge, you must bundle to Botany Bay "You are an Irishman," continued the querist" Pray what part of Ireland are you from?" "Pon my soul!" replied Mr. O'Brien, "you will oblige me particularly by telling me what part of it I'm not from?" and he sung- "I courted in Cavan, play'd cards in Ardee, Kissed the maid in Dromore, and broke glass in Tralee; I married in Sligo, got drunk at Arboe, And what's that to any one, whether or no?" "Is your master married?" said the stout stranger. |