we may gather a few particulars wherewith to commence our monthly summaries for the present year.

The experience gained since the last equinox has confirmed the expectation of beneficial results from the telegrams flashed to the principal seaports from the Meteorological Department of the Board of Trade. The hoisting of the storm-signal, or the caution to look out for gales, has saved a number of vessels from damage or wreck; and has, moreover, so far impressed the minds of seamen and fishermen, that they begin to place confidence in the warnings, as more trustworthy than their own rough and ready weather-anticipations. We may fairly expect that in proportion as meteorology takes more of a scientific character, so will the signals become more precise; and certainly with no diminution of reputation to Admiral Fitz Roy, who is already regarded by many persons as the Clerk of the Weather. Hitherto, the signals have only been available by daylight; but now they are to be shewn at night by means of red lamps, so that if, when the admiral leaves his office in Parliament Street at the close of the day, he sees reason to apprehend the coming of a northeasterly gale, or a south-westerly cyclone, he will order the flashing of a message to the ports; and ere dusk sets in, the red lamps will fling their warning radiance around our coasts. Seeing that the patent for the aneroid barometer has expired, the admiral makes a practical suggestion-namely, that mariners should provide themselves with a small aneroid, which could be carried in the waistcoat pocket, and would always indicate changes of atmospheric pressure. These small instruments are manufactured by Messrs Negretti and Zambra, and they can be used to measure within two or three feet, the height of a house, a mast, or a cliff. It is also suggested that if a huge aneroid, with an exaggerated index, could be erected within sight of a large port, then mates or masters could tell, at any moment in clear weather, if the barometer were high or low, rising or falling.

This same department of the Board of Trade has recently published another batch of Meteorological Papers, Nos. 6 to 10, all of which deserve attention from practical as well as theoretical considerations. In one, sub-entitled Miscellaneous, we find remarks on meteorological progress, records of balloon ascents, descriptions of instruments, notices of remarkable phenomena, and forecasts of weather.' Another is a Barometer Manual, which costs not more than sixpence, and contains such particulars as will enable any intelligent person to understand the action of a barometer, and the way to make trustworthy observations. Another contains a translation of Professor Dove's Periodical Variations of the Pressure of the Atmosphere; another is filled with tables shewing the results of Anemometry at Bermuda; another sets forth Diurnal Range-tables of the Barometer within the Tropics; there are, besides, valuable observations from parts of the world ranging from the Orkneys to Natal and Tahiti, a barometer and weather guide, and a course of instruction to seamen as to how they may navigate the ocean from port to port in the shortest time, and with least danger.

By information lately received from Iceland, it appears that a series of observations made with reference to the cod-fishery shews an increase in the times of bad weather and in their duration; so much so, that the proverb seems to apply literally, Six months winter, and six months bad weather.' Many readers will remember what disastrous weather Captain M'Clintock met with, when, two summers ago, he sailed in the Bulldog, to take soundings for a north-about Atlantic telegraph-cable. The occasion of this bad weather is supposed to be a great accumulation of ice in latitudes nearer the pole.

M. Coste, whose name we have from time to time mentioned in connection with what the French call

pisciculture, has realised a project, formed some years since, for transporting shell-fish from the shores of North America, and naturalising them on the coasts of France. Clams abound along the seaboard of the dis-United States, as cockles do in the sands of the Wash; and of the different species, two hundred individuals were brought over last April in the Arago steamer, and were at once placed in the 'parks' prepared for them on the coast of Brittany, under M. Coste's own supervision. They lived through the summer, and are at present in so healthy a condition, as to encourage the hope that they are thoroughly acclimatised. There now remains the question of reproduction, and if this be answered favourably, the shores of France will, in the course of a few years, be colonised by millions of clams, and the country will possess a palatable and inexhaustible addition to its supplies of food. M. Coste intends, we believe, to continue his experiments with oysters and other marine animals from the western side of the Atlantic, in which praiseworthy undertaking he has been promised the valuable co-operation of Professor Agassiz. The earnest inquiry for cotton has revived the attempts made at the beginning of the present century to render flax useful as a substitute for cotton in woven goods. Napoleon the First offered a large prize for the discovery of a method by which flax could be made available; and we hear that an inventor has now come forward with flax combed from the fibre in such a way that it remains perfectly soft and tender, and in a proper condition for mixing with wool in those branches of manufacture which require and combine a considerable portion of cotton.-In connection with this subject, we recall attention to the Tree-mallow (Lavatera arborea), a British plant of fibrous quality. It was described in a paper read before the Royal Dublin Society, and Mr John Hogg, F.R.S., brought it under notice of the Linnean Society of London. He has since then had the fibre dressed and spun into rope, of which he exhibited a specimen to the Society at one of their meetings in the course of last session. It was prepared from bark of one year's growth, and was perhaps coarser than would have been the case with two years' bark; it is, however, strong and tough, and appears to become stronger and tougher the more it is soaked in water. It can also be woven into matting; and as the bark contains a considerable quantity of mucilage, an impression prevails that it might be used in the manufacture of coarse paper.

A few scientific naturalists are discussing the interesting question of a zoological census: to most persons, it will present itself as an entirely novel question. Regarded, however, in its bearings on natural history, it is important: for example, a naturalist in Durham might describe a certain species of bird or insect as common, which in Devonshire would be rare; and it is clear that without some fixed standard no comparisons could be made. This standard could only be arrived at by actual enumeration; a task which at first sight appears hopeless; but competent observers with a quick eye have already demonstrated its possibility. The advantages of such a census would not be few; among them there is one involving profound philosophy, as pointed out by Mr Alfred Newton, in a paper on the subject, with allusion to Mr Darwin's Origin of Species. It is, as he expresses it, 'the light which might in consequence be thrown upon what we have lately heard so much of, the great question of the "struggle for life." It appears to me,' continues Mr Newton, 'that before we can assign any cause for the predominance of any one species over another in any given district, the first thing to be ascertained is, the measure of that predominance. This found, if the relative abundance of other species which influence its well-beingsay, of insects or plants, as affording it food and harbour; or of predatory animals, as checking

its increase we shall surely have acquired some valuable facts bearing upon its existence, and thus be enabled to judge with less chance of error respecting its preservation as a "favoured race.'

Mr R. W. Sievier, a highly ingenious Fellow of the Royal Society, has, after a long course of experiments carried on in Belgium, discovered a new method of smelting iron, which promises great results, whether from the mechanical or economical point of view. The essential principle consists, as we are informed, in a process of exhaustion in preference to a blast; and the result is, that less time is required to liquefy the metal than in the ordinary process; that when cast it is surprisingly superior in quality to ordinary iron; that, bulk for bulk, it weighs much heavier; and that excellent razors can be forged at once from it, without the intermediate process of conversion into steel. We hear that one of the leading ironmasters of Staffordshire is building a furnace for smelting on the new principle: hence all who are interested in the subject may expect to see 'exhaust iron' in the market in the course of a few months.

An inventor at Philadelphia has repeated the experiment, made some years ago at Birmingham, for purifying iron while in the furnace by passing through it an induced current of electricity; and with more success than his English predecessor, seeing that apparatus suitable for the production of secondary currents is more available now than formerly. The process is applicable to steel as well as iron; and if carbonate of ammonia is thrown into the furnace during the passage of the current, the quality of the metal will be improved; for it is a fact known to metallurgists, that good iron or good steel must contain nitrogen.-Professor Vogel makes known to workmen that iron and steel tools may be preserved from rust by dissolving in a given quantity of benzine half its weight of white wax, and then applying the solution to the metal with a brush. The benzine evaporates, and leaves a thin, smooth, and permanent coating of wax on the surface, which protects the metal, and, as is said, resists the action of acid vapours. -Another Pennsylvanian inventor has effected an improvement in scale-beams, which seems likely to facilitate the weighing of heavy goods; it consists of a supplementary beam, so contrived that, while one weighs the tare, the other weighs the actual quantity of merchandise. Hence at one operation a hogshead of sugar may be weighed, and the proper deduction made for staves and hoops; or a wagon-load of coal, with trustworthy allowance for the weight of the vehicle.

Judging from discussions that have recently taken place, it appears probable that some change will be made in the patent laws in the coming session of parliament. Enlightened mechanicians and inventors have long been of opinion that patents are detrimental to the progress of invention and to increase of trade and industry, and they suggest that if ingenuity is to be rewarded, it should be in some other way than by the grant of a monopoly, which experience has proved to be hurtful alike from the practical and the moral point of view.-The Institute of British Architects are preparing a new examination-paper for young architects, after correspondence on the subject with similar societies in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, and elsewhere, and henceforth competitors who pass will rank either in a Class of Proficiency, or a Class of Distinction. Young architects have long been asking for an opportunity of demonstrating their knowledge of their favourite art, and now the opportunity will be offered to them. It is to be hoped that the examinations will not be make-believe, because it is quite time that bungling builders should cease to palm themselves off upon the public as architects.

Lectures on ornamental art are in course of delivery at Wolverhampton and other provincial towns, from which many an artificer will learn, for the first time,

that Art has a history; that even fancy and imagination must work in obedience to certain recognised principles, and that excrescences, however full of design,' of wandering curves and huddled foliage, are not necessarily ornament. Good lecturers are in request at present; for under the authority of the Commanderin-chief, lectures are to be delivered to the troops at the several military stations throughout the kingdom, illustrated by appropriate diagrams, which are to be circulated from station to station. A commendable regulation in connection with the scheme deserves notice: the lectures are not to exceed one hour in length.

Penzance, the birthplace of Sir Humphry Davy, is talking about the erection of a statue to the memory of that celebrated chemist.-Sir John Franklin, son of a linen-draper at Spilsby, whose tomb is the Arctic Sea, is now commemorated by a statue set up in his native town.-The Society of Antiquaries have had a very interesting exhibition of the earliest of printed books, lent for the purpose by various well-known collectors, among whom was the late Prince Consort.

For now bright summer at a distance treads,
And through the arches dark,
Where grow the dank cool mosses on the bark,
And from the thickets where the ring-doves meet,
We hear the echoes of her hast'ning feet.

Poor falterers! ye can but vainly wait
So simple-hearted, in such virgin guise,

With modest, downcast eyes,
Patient and trembling, at her golden gate.
We love you none the less-
Rather the more-for ye come out alone;
Ye are our friends when all the rest are gone;
And timidly our lonely feet caress,

Even as they

That do not in the winter fall away.
Love such as yours,

That through the sharp times of the frost endures,
And changes not for all the changing skies,
We are too slow to prize.
Yet we will not forget
The pale sweet face, with early tear-drops wet,
Lifted to ours,

Because of finer flowers.
Ev'n now ye droop and die,
And take your simple farewell of the sky;
Ev'n now your weary heads
Lie here and there upon the mossy beds;
No summer-air

Shall bring your blossoms back where once they were;
No autumn-rain

Shall ever waken you to life again;

Your very trace shall pass, And vanish like a shadow from the grass: Yet shall your memory liveThe rather for the solace that ye give, Making our hearts glad with the thought of spring, When earth can spare no other living thing; And when, next year, amid the fallen snow, We see you, where before ye used to grow, Ye shall come back as they That have been absent only for a day.

F. C. W.

Printed and Published by W. & R. CHAMBERS, 47 Paternoster Row, LONDON, and 339 High Street, EDINBURGH, Also sold by all Booksellers.

EARNING PROMOTION. THE Galveston Standard had become insolvent, leaving me with hardly a cent in my pocket, since my salary as sub-editor was a twelvemonth in arrear. I cannot, in fairness, assert that the catastrophe was an unexpected one, since I had struggled with tongue and pen, for the better part of a year, against the press of ill-fortune. But our leading articles fell flat on the Texan public, our news was forestalled, our best correspondents went over to the enemy, and our politics were unpopular. The Standard was a 'Republican' journal; the Texans are mostly democrats. We fell, as Macaulay says of Lord Chancellor Clarendon, with a great ruin. Bailiffs took possession of our type, our presses, and our virgin reams of paper. Poor old Methley, the proprietor, after drinking nineteen consecutive brandy cock-tails at his favourite tavern, took a fatal plunge from the quay, and was drawn from the sea, three hours afterwards, cold and dead. Seneca Jollith, the editor, was lucky enough to get appointed private secretary to his cousin, Absalom Brackley Jollith, the United States minister at Berlin. As for myself, never, since I first came out to Canada with five thousand pounds, the wreck of a much larger fortune, dilapidated by British speculations, had the social sky looked so cheerless.

I had done and suffered much during seven years spent in America; and, after congratulating myself on several brilliant openings, I found myself all but penniless, and at a loss for employment. In this emergency, I thought myself fortunate in procuring a post as schoolmaster in the city of Austin. Taking one thing with another, my emoluments in this office may have reached the sum of nine hundred dollars per annum, and the turkeys and venison received as gifts from the parents of youthful prodigies and prizemen may have averaged a hundred dollars more. I brushed up what remained of my Rugby Latin and Greek, as well as of the modern tongues and mathematics picked up at Heidelberg University; and, on the whole, I got through with my work very fairly, and really taught what I professed to teach-a thing not by any means a matter of course in the Southern States. With home-staying folks in England, the division of labour is so accurate, and castes are so clearly defined, that a schoolmaster seems unfit for any other task than that of tuition. We all form our own notions of the model-pedagogue-an obtrusively

PRICE 14d.

learned person in black-silk stockings, stiff white neckcloth, and glossy black, whose whole soul, for half a century together, is devoted to algebra, iambics, Greek particles, birch-rods, and other amenities of education; but in America, matters are differently managed. Once a schoolmaster, always a schoolmaster, is not the rule there. The principal of an academy receives no special training. It is no drawback to a man's ambition that he has taught boys. There is no reason why a schoolmaster should not have been a steam-boat captain, hotel waiter, plantation overseer, and gambling-house proprietor; there is even less to bar a schoolmaster from becoming a field-officer, merchant-skipper, farmer, preacher, senator, envoy, or engine-driver. Many Yankees, like

Hajji Baba, go through all these grades.

I was not a Yankee, but I had been long enough in America to adapt myself to circumstances; and I never regarded my school at Austin as anything else than a temporary perch and breathing-place on the ladder of life, while I should have time to look out for something better. I did my duty, but my heart was not in the work. Dr Arnold himself, with all his genial aptitude for impressing youthful minds, would have been puzzled by my pupils. Those pert young citizens had no reverence in their dispositions, and were destitute of the slightest tendency to heroworship-not that I was a hero, of course, but that he must be a poor tutor who cannot win the esteem and respect of a set of English boys. My young Texans, on the other hand, viewed me strictly in the light of a trader who sold them knowledge at a fixed price, screwed out of me, in information, the full value of the parental dollars, and were perfectly independent and cool in their bearing towards me. It can hardly be wondered at, under such circumstances, that I was anxious to win promotion in some other line, and that I absolutely longed for the day when I should close the grammars and lexicons for ever. At last, an admirable chance presented itself. Old Major M'Manus, superintendent of the Border Police, gave me a private hint of his intention to resign office.

'Why don't you try for my berth, cap. ?' said the good-natured old man. I was not a captain, by the way, but I had once been a subaltern in her Majesty's service, and the Americans gave me brevet rank. Why don't you, eh? It would suit you a sparkling sight better than tryin' to cram Latin accidents and algebray into the darned thick-heads of my brother

Mark's hopeful sons. You throw yourself clean away, cap. Any chap could do the bookish work, but it needs a tight hand to curb our border rowdies, and to keep those Indian scamps in order. And even Mark, who's riled because his eldest didn't get the declamation prize, even he says you're too smart for a schoolmaster.'

'You flatter me, major,' said I, wavering in my mind. 'But even supposing me to possess the necessary qualifications for the superintendent's post, I see no hopes of obtaining it.'

'No' said the old officer, a rough warrior, who had fought under the Lone Star flag against the Mexicans; and why not? The situation must be given away, and why shouldn't you hit plum-centre, as well as another chap?'

In reply, I said that I was a stranger and foreigner; that I had little or no interest with the authorities; and that I had absolutely no experience in matters of police. The major was a true friend; he not only pooh-poohed my objections, declaring that a man must wade before he could swim, but he volunteered to 'speak a good word for me' to the governor of the state.

About ten days after this, I was summoned to the governor's presence. With General H- I had but the slightest acquaintance; but I was well aware of the high character which he deservedly bore for energy and honesty of purpose. He was not exactly a popular man; his haughty manners and brusque speech made many dislike him; but in moments of danger and difficulty, the eyes of the Texan settlers turned instinctively towards their old commander. Placemen in America are generally very soft spoken and bland in demeanour towards their constituents. General H- was of another type. Tall, meagre, and tightly buttoned in a closely fitting blue coat, wearing jack-boots and brass spurs, he looked as thorough a martinet as any Austrian Feldmeister; and it was in a martinet's tone that he said, fixing his piercing eyes on me: 'M'Manus tells me, sir, that you want to be his successor; he tells me, too, that you are an honest man-a scarce quality anywhere. Hum! I believe you know nothing of police duties?' The last question was propounded with startling suddenness. The governor's thin jaws seemed to open and shut as sharply as the teeth of a rat-trap.

Without a moment's hesitation, I told him the truth. Except from hearsay and report, I was wholly ignorant as to the routine of a police superintendent's duties; but Major M'Manus had expressed his conviction that I should learn the business, with all its fixings, in a month at most;' and I was very willing to try.

The governor's hard-lined face relaxed considerably; his keen eyes twinkled approval, and he smiled in his grim way as he answered: 'I like that. There's some satisfaction, after all, in dealing with a born Britisher. A wheedling Yankee, now, would have tried to make me give credit to his assertions that he had been in state-employ before, and in the very line required. Truth's best policy, when old Nat H- holds the scales. But hark ye, sir'-here he grew stern again 'the post doesn't go a-begging. You must earn it. By your own admission, you are not exactly qualified. You must earn it.'

'Nothing I should like better!' exclaimed I, and then bit my lips, fancying I had said a very foolish thing, or, rather, a sensible thing in a foolish and disrespectful manner, since candidates for promotion are usually deferential and polite in both hemispheres. I was wrong, however, for General H- - brightened up amazingly at my words, and, for the first time, civilly desired me to be seated. He then turned to a cabinet, from a secret drawer in which he extracted a mass of papers, carefully docketed, and placed them on the heavy table of unpolished mahogany. Then he took a seat opposite me. "The task which I require

you to undertake, Captain Kendal, is one of very considerable difficulty. It needs discretion and tact, and the risk is worth your thinking of. If you succeed, sir, you shall have the major's place as soon as than the salary. And here the governor passed his he retires. If you fail, I warn you, you'll lose more lean hand, edgewise, two or three times across his bony neck, so as to indicate in sufficiently lucid pantomime the action of cutting a throat.

"There's not a soul, sir, except M'Manus and myself, who has an inkling of the truth,' pursued the general after a pause; and we'd not have guessed it, but for the depositions of a trapper, whose evidence is here in writing. Through him, we have got a clue to such black villany as Texas never saw before, to the existence of a nest of criminals, whose cunning is a screen to their wickedness. But before I go further, have you yourself, sir, never heard rumours of travellers who have set off on a journey to the Mexican borders, and never been heard of more? Leonard Smith and his wife; Señor José Guzman, with his son, daughters, and servants; the Thorgoods, Zimri Sickles, and many more?'

I replied that I had some indistinct recollection of the disappearance of persons bearing these names; adding, that I had understood it was feared that they had been cut off by the Indians.

'Indians!' exclaimed General H-testily: the Comanches need to have broad shoulders, sir, to bear all the weight of their own sins and those others lay on them. No, no, captain; I don't believe Indians meddled in the matter. Read those papers, and you'll understand what I mean.'

I did read, and I felt my cheeks grow pale, my lip quiver, and my eyes dilate, as I perused the documents before me. "Great Heavens!' I cried involuntarily, can such a traffic in blood and treachery exist in the nineteenth century, in a Christian land?"

'I do not wonder at your surprise,' answered General H-; 'but in so new and wild a country as Texas, there are greater facilities for crime than in the longsettled portions of America. We have, as you know, a motley population, made up in a large measure of desperate characters, seeking refuge from the lawHowever, this is not to the point. Will you undertake the duty of unravelling this business?'

I, of course, agreed, and the governor having expressed his gratification at my answer, proceeded to enter into details, from which there appeared but too much reason to apprehend that the missing persons had been murdered by other than Indian agency. Some trinkets, of no great value, which were recognised as having belonged to the daughters of Señor Guzman, a wealthy landowner of Spanish blood, had been sold in the town of St Antonio by a Mexican pedler. Mr Thorgood's gold watch, with his name engraved upon the inner part of the case, had been seen by a traveller from Texas, exposed for sale in a jeweller's shop, in one of the petty towns of New Mexico, though the tradesman refused to give any explanation of the manner in which he became possessed of it. But the best evidence that foul-play had been practised was afforded by an uncouth trapper from the Rocky Mountains. This man had privately sought an interview with General H, and had told him a horrible story in connection with a lonely inn near the borders, where travellers with property disappeared for ever, and from whose fatal doors no living guest who was worth plundering had ever been known to emerge. I read the trapper's deposition: it was roughly and hastily written down from the man's verbal statements, since he could neither read nor write, but it had a terrible savour of truth about it. And yet it was hard to believe that such things could be, in a country where, if wild and sudden acts of violence were common, deliberate crime was rare. I hardly knew whether to regard the trapper's assertions as glaring falsehoods, as the

hallucinations of a madman, or as strange truths told by an untutored tongue.

'But why,' asked I in great perplexity, 'was this important witness not detained? and why was not a search-warrant issued at once, to examine the houses of the suspected tavern-keeper; and'. General H- laughed his dry laugh. Captain,' said he, your British raising makes you look at American affairs through English spectacles. We are not here in one of your old European lands, where all classes have a superstitious reverence for law. How could I keep the trapper? The fellow was a free man, and he loped off with his rifle and packs, and I saw no more of him. He was a rough diamond; could hardly talk with a Christian tongue, and mixed his story up with phrases of Indian and Spanish, that M'Manus and I had to puzzle out and translate, as best we might. According to his own tale, he had had a marvellous escape; his poverty and uncouth aspect had brought him safely through the robbers' den, and he said something of going back there to clear up the matter fully.'

'Do you think he has done so?' I asked. The general shrugged his shoulders.

'Perhaps so; perhaps not. Most likely, the man is setting his traps and shooting game in some untrodden wilderness of Arizona or New Mexico. Those hunters are not like civilised men; they are impatient of restraint, and not very fond of the forms and ceremonies which beset our law-courts. As for a searchwarrant, I could not venture, on such grounds, to put the affront of a search upon a naturalised citizen of the state, such as Van Clein is. He is a man of some property, this Van Clein, and a captain of militia. The "boys" would not countenance any arbitrary trespass on his premises; and a governor must keep well with the majority.'

I made no verbal answer, but no doubt my features expressed anything but approbation, for the governor laid his hand lightly on my arm, and said: Do not misjudge me! I abhor, as much as you can do, the wickedness which I have but too much reason to fear has been done in the state I have the honour to preside over, and I am desirous of eliciting the truth. We want good and clear proof. Give us that, and you shall have no cause to murmur at our slackness.'

Thus it fell out that, three days later, I found myself, in company with old Major M'Manus, riding out of Austin, on an errand which I could not but acknowledge to myself to be of a dangerous and unpleasant nature. The major was in very high spirits, and wore his faded uniform with a more jaunty air than usual. I, on the contrary, felt nervous and depressed; to be sure, the hope of a good post shone brilliantly before my mental vision, but an ugly business lay between that hope and me. I had, though with considerable difficulty, procured the services of a scholastic deputy, who was to impart learning to my pupils during an absence which might extend over weeks; I had bought a horse, a rifle, and a bowieknife, had loaded my revolver, and was ready for the

road.

That's a nice mustang critter of yours,' said the major critically, as we paced out of the city; a nice bit of horse-flesh. I see the left ear's notched; that's a Mexican trick: his feet have grown so that the smith had to pare away a considerable deal of hoof, yes, sir, afore he could shoe him; that shews the critter has been in Indian hands: they never have iron on their nags' feet. He's been just stole, somewhere on the Rio Grande, by redskins.' Having thus satisfactorily accounted for my steed, the major next turned his attention to myself.

"You ride 'nation pretty, cap.,' he was kind enough to say, 'neat and nice, and not a bit like them highshouldered, leggy, clumsy Yankees up north. I was raised in Tennessee myself, among the Corncrackers,

and we calculate that we can ride there, a few. But you don't look happy, that's a fact.'

I frankly owned that I did not feel in very cheerful spirits. The major reined up his piebald horse, and confronted me with wondering eyes.

'Don't say it,' he cried, giving a sounding slap to his booted knee-'don't say the words. You afraid! you not clear grit? I'll eat my hat, lace and all, if you're the man to shew the white feather.'

The major was greatly reassured when he discovered that I was not harassed by apprehensions for my own safety, but that I felt an Englishman's instinctive dislike to the business in hand. What I had to do was to play a part very closely resembling that of a spy, and such an avocation was not at all to my liking. The major smote his breast.

Jerusalem! Cap., if you Britishers don't whip creation for squeamishness. Just see here. Here's a nest of spotted snakes in human shape, a 'nation sight worse than all the copperheads and rattlers in the Union, and you must be dainty about ridding the world of 'em! I wish I was a younger man, and not so well known, and I'd soon settle the thing myself, I would. How are we to punish the skunks, if you don't ferret out the truth? And to leave 'em unpunished! Young man, you'll have on your head all the blood those miscreants are likely to go on spilling, if you don't unmask 'em.'

I gradually yielded to the major's arguments, and the old man, proud of his success, was liberal of good advice.

'You'll just ride to St Antonio city,' said he, ' and give this letter to Moreno, the sheriff. Moreno's a good fellow, and true as steel to the state, for all his Spanish name. He's up to every trick and twist that a Texan rowdy can devise, and if he can't shew you a way to get scot-free out of this business, nobody can. Good-bye, cap.; I shall hope yet to see you fill my shoes as superintendent of police.' So we shook hands and parted. I did ride to the city of St Antonio, and there presented my credentials to Sheriff Moreno, a man of high character and intelligence. With this gentleman, I had a lengthened conference; and to his prudent counsels whatever merit attaches to the stratagem which I proceeded to put in practice, is justly due. The inn on whose proprietor rested the dark suspicion I have mentioned, was situated in a very lonely spot among the forks of the St Miguel river; no other house stood within thirty miles or more, and to the south lay a district of evil renown, frequently infested by hostile Indians. It was from the south, however, that I approached it, having made a long circuit for that very purpose, and arriving on a black mustang which the sheriff had lent me, an animal of extraordinary power and speed. Moreno, who was pretty well acquainted, by report, with the daring and desperate character of the elder Van Clein, had warned me that on the fleetness of my horse my life might probably depend, should my errand be discovered. The tavern was a long low structure, solidly built of logs and slabs, and with a shingled roof in indifferent repair.

Four or five colossal trees, forest giants, that had been spared for the sake of the shade they afforded, stood near the weather-beaten house, immediately behind which was a dense thicket of jungly vegetation; while the numerous runlets of water that gushed through the luxuriant turf, proved that the ground was of a swampy nature. There was a courtyard, of great size, surrounded by dilapidated barns and half-ruined ranges of stables; there was a stockade for defence against the Indians, and a strongly palisadoed corral rose beside the broken palings of a neglected garden.

Beyond, was the wide prairie, a sea of grass and flowers, rolling away into distance, the green of the nearer meadows merging into the blue haze of distance. Towards this uninviting hostelry I advanced at