of an intended tragedy, of which I was myself to be the victim. Beyond doubt, these men had a design upon my life!

the woman to leave off her wild song, tell me! of whom do you speak?'

'Great Spirit, hear what he asks! Of whom?-of whom? there is more than one. Ho, ho! there is more than one, and the true one forgotten. Hulwak, hulwak! What shall Ewa say? What tale can Ewa tell? Poor bird! her heart will bleed, and her brain be crushed. Ho, ho! There will be two Haj-Ewas

Four men, too, not one of whom could charge me with ever having done him a serious injury. I knew that all four disliked me, and ever had-though Spence and Williams could have no other cause of offence than what might spring from boyish grudgelong forgotten by me; but doubtless their motive-two mad queens of the Micosaucs.' was Ringgold's. As for the mulatto, I could understand his hostility; though mistaken, it was of the deadliest kind.

But what was I to think of Arens Ringgold, the leader in this designed assassination? A man of some education-my equal in social rank—a gentleman! O Arens Ringgold-Arens Ringgold! How was I to explain it? How account for conduct so atrocious, so fiendish?

I knew that this young man liked me but little-of late, less than ever. I knew the cause too. I stood in the way of his relations with my sister at least so thought he. And he had reason; for, since my father's death, I had spoken more freely of family affairs. I had openly declared that, with my consent, he should never be my brother; and this declaration had reached him. I could easily believe, therefore, that he was angry with me; but anger that would impel a man to such demoniac purpose, I could not comprehend.

And what meant those half-heard phrases-'one that stands in our way,' 'mother easily consent,' 'master of the plantation,' coupled with the names of Viola and my sister? What meant they?

I could give them but one, and that a terrible interpretation-too fearful to dwell upon.

I could scarcely credit my senses, scarcely believe that I was not labouring under some horrid halluci nation, some confusion of the brain produced by my having been en rapport with the maniac!

But no; the moon had been over them-my eyes upon them-my ears open, and could not have deceived me. I saw what they did-I heard what they said. They designed to kill me!

'Ho, ho, young mico, you may come down. The honowaw-hulwa* are gone. Hinklas ! Come down, pretty mico-down, down, down!'

I hastened to obey, and stood once more in the presence of the mad queen.

'Now you believe Haj-Ewa? Have an enemy, young mico? Ho-four enemies. Your life in danger? Ho? ho?'

'Ewa, you have saved my life; how am I to thank you for the service you have done me?'

'Be true to her-true-true-true.'

"Hulwak, hulwak! Poor forest-bird! the beautybird of all; her heart will sicken and die, her head will go mad.'

'Ewa, explain.'

'Hulwak better he should die than desert her. Ho, ho! false pale-face, would that he had died before he broke poor Ewa's heart; then Ewa would have lost only her heart; but her head-her head, that is worse. Ho, ho, ho!

Why did I trust in a pale-faced lover?

Ho, ho, ho!

Why did I meet him '.

'For heaven's sake! keep me not in suspense. Tell me, Ewa, good Ewa, of whom are you speaking? Is it'

The name trembled upon my tongue; I hesitated to pronounce it. Notwithstanding that my heart was full of delightful hope, from the confidence I felt of receiving an affirmative answer, I dreaded to put the question.

Not a great while did I hesitate; I had gone too far to recede. I had long waited to satisfy the wish of a yearning heart; I could wait no longer. Ewa might give me the satisfaction. I pronounced the words:

'Is it-Maumee?'

The maniac gazed upon me for some moments without speaking. The expression of her eye I could not read; for the last few minutes, it had been one of reproach and scorn. As I uttered the name, it changed to a look of bewilderment; and then her glance became fixed upon me, as if searching my thoughts.

'If it be Maumee,' I continued, without awaiting her reply-for I was now carried away by the ardour of my resuscitated passion-'if it be she, know, Ewa, that her I love-Maumee I love.'

'You love Maümee? You still love Maümee?' interrogated the maniac with startling quickness. Ay, Ewa-by my life-by my'

Cooree, cooree! swear not-his very oath. Hulwak! and he was false. Speak again, young mico! say you love Maümee-say you are true, but do not swear.'

'True-true!'

'Hinklas!' cried the woman in a loud, and apparently joyful tone-Hinklas! the mico is truethe pretty pale-faced mico is true, and the haintclitz * will be happy.

Ho, ho!

Now for the love, the sweet young love
Under the tala † tree.

Who would not be like yonder dove

The wild little dove

The soft little dove

Sitting close by his mate in the shade of the grove-
Co-cooing to his mate in the shade of the grove,
With none to hear or see?

'Down, chitta mico!' she exclaimed, once more addressing the rattlesnake; and you, ocola chitta! ‡ Be quiet both. It is not an enemy. Quiet, or I crush your heads!'

'Good Ewa'

'Ho! you call me good Ewa. Some day, you may call me bad Ewa. Hear me !' she continued, raising her voice, and speaking with increased earnestnesshear me, George Randolph! If ever you are badfalse like him, like him, then Haj-Ewa will be your enemy; the chitta mico will destroy you. You will, my king of serpents? you will? Ho, ho, ho!'

As she spoke, the reptile appeared to comprehend her, for its head was suddenly raised aloft, its bright basilisk eyes gleamed as though emitting sparks of fire-its forked, glittering tongue was protruded from its mouth, and the 'skir-rr' of its rattles could be

'Ewa,' I exclaimed with an earnestness that caused heard for some moments sounding continuously.

Bad men.

The pretty one.

Green snake.

† Palm (Chamaerops palmetto).

'Quiet! now quiet!' said she, with a motion of her fingers, causing the serpent to resume its attitude of repose. 'Not he, chitta! not he, thou king of the crawlers! Quiet, I say!'

'Why do you threaten me, Ewa? You have no cause.'

'Hinklas! I believe it, fair mico, gallant mico; true, I believe it.'

'But, good Ewa, explain to me-tell me of’'Cooree, cooree! not now-not to-night. There is no time, chepawnee! See! look yonder to the west! Netle-hasse is going to bed. You must be gone. You dare not walk in the darkness. You must get back to the topekee before the moon is hid- Go, go, go!'

'But I told you, Ewa, I had business here. I dare not leave till it is done.'

'Hulwak! there is danger then. What business, mico? Ah! I guess. See! they come for whom you wait?'

'True-it is they, I believe.'

I said this, as I perceived the tall shadows of the two chiefs flitting along the further edge of the pond.

'Be quick, then: do what you must, but waste not time. In the darkness, you will meet danger. Haj-Ewa must be gone. Good-night, young mico; good-night!'

I returned the salutation; and facing round to await the arrival of the chiefs, lost sight of my strange companion.

The Indians soon came upon the ground, and briefly delivered their report.

Holata Mico had struck his tents, and was moving away from the encampment.

I was too much disgusted with these traitorous men to spend a moment in their company; and, as soon as I had gained the required information, I hurried away from their presence.

Warned by Haj-Ewa, as well as by the words of Arens Ringgold, I lost no time in returning to the fort. The moon was still above the horizon; and I had the advantage of her light to protect me from being surprised by any sudden onset.

I walked hastily, taking the precaution to keep in the open ground, and giving a wide berth to any covert that might shelter an assassin.

I saw no one on the way, nor around the back of the stockade. On arriving opposite the gate of the fort, however, I perceived the figure of a man-not far from the sutler's store-apparently skulking behind some logs. I fancied I knew the man; I fancied he was the mulatto.

I would have gone after him, and satisfied myself; but I had already hailed the sentinel, and given the countersign; and I did not desire to cause a flurry among the guard-particularly as I had received injunctions to pass in as privately as possible.

Another time, I should likely encounter this Jacob redivivus; when I should be less embarrassed, and perhaps have a better opportunity of calling him and his diabolical associates to an account. With this reflection, I passed through the gate, and carried my report to the quarters of the commander-in-chief.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

IN NEED OF A FRIEND.

To pass the night under the same roof with the man who intends to murder you is anything but pleasant, and repose under the circumstances is next to impossible. I slept but little, and the little sleep I did obtain was not tranquil.

The night-sun-the moon.

Before retiring for the night, I had seen nothing of the Ringgolds, neither father nor son; but I knew they were still in the fort, where they were to remain as guests a day or two longer. They had either gone to bed before my return, or were entertained in the quarters of some friendly officer. At all events, they did not appear to me during the remainder of that night.

Neither saw I aught of Spence and Williams. These worthies, if in the fort, would find a lodgment among the soldiers, but I did not seek them.

Most of the night I lay awake, pondering on the strange incidents of the day, or rather upon that one episode that had made me acquainted with such deadly enemies.

I was in a state of sad perplexity as to what course I should pursue uncertain all night long; and when daylight shone through the shutters, still uncertain. My first impulse had been to disclose the whole affair at head-quarters, and demand an investigation -a punishment.

On reflection, this course would not do. What proofs could I offer of so grave an accusation? Only my own assertions, unbacked by any other evidenceunsustained even by probability-for who would have given credence to crime so unparalleled in atrocity?

Though certain the assassins referred to me, I could not assert that they had even mentioned my name. My story would be treated with ridicule, myself perhaps with something worse. The Ringgolds were mighty men-personal friends both of the general and commissioner-and though known to be a little scoundrelly and unscrupulous in worldly affairs, still holding the rank of gentlemen. It would need better evidence than I could offer to prove Arens Ringgold a would-be murderer.

I saw the difficulty, and kept my secret.

Another plan appeared more feasible-to accuse Arens Ringgold openly before all, and challenge him to mortal combat. This, at least, would prove that I was sincere in my allegations.

But duelling was against the laws of the service. It would require some management to keep clear of an arrest-which of course would frustrate the scheme before satisfaction could be obtained. I had my own thoughts about Master Arens Ringgold. I knew his courage was but slippery. He would be likely enough to play the poltroon; but whether so or not, the charge and challenge would go some way towards exposing him.

I had almost decided on adopting this course, though it was morning before I had come to any determination.

I stood sadly in need of a friend; not merely a second-for this I could easily procure-but a bosomcompanion in whom I could confide, and who might aid me by his counsel. As ill-luck would have it, every officer in the fort was a perfect stranger to me. With the Ringgolds alone had I any previous acquaintance.

In my dilemma, I thought of one whose advice might stand me in good stead, and I determined to seek it. Black Jake was the man-he should be my counsellor.

Shortly after daylight the brave fellow was by my side. I told him all. He appeared very little surprised. Some suspicion of such a plot had already taken possession of his mind, and it was his intention to have revealed it to me that very morning. Least of all did he express surprise about Yellow Jake. That was but the confirmation of a belief, which he entertained already, without the shadow of a doubt. He knew positively that the mulatto was livingstill more, he had ascertained the mode by which the latter had made his almost miraculous escape.

He has to see that the act of parliament is properly carried out, that the registers are properly kept, that all discoverable errors are corrected, and that the whole of the vast returns made to him are properly indexed and arranged in volumes. His establishment consists of nearly seventy persons, who are divided into the various classes of superintendents, travelling inspectors, senior, assistant, and junior clerks, transcribers, indexers, sorters, and messengers. These are distributed into four departments, to which are respectively intrusted the care of the records, the compilation of statistics, the issuing of the books and forms, together with part of the correspondence, and the management of the accounts. Each of these departments is under the control of one or two superintendents, while the chief clerk acts as general secretary. At the close of each quarter, the registrars throughout the country make out copies of all the births, deaths, and marriages which they have registered; and collect from the clergymen copies of the various entries in the register-books of the different churches. These are then transmitted to the superintendent registrars of the respective districts, who examine them so far as the births, deaths, and dissenting marriages are concerned, and finally transmit them to the registrar-general. On their arrival, they are carefully arranged in volumes, indexed and paged. Now comes one of the most arduous duties surely that was ever committed to mortal clerk: all these volumes are carefully examined by seven clerks, who do nothing else all the livelong day but microscopically inspect these sheets to see whether all the forms of the act of parliament are complied with, and whether or not there are internal discrepancies which shew that any entry of a birth, death, or marriage is imperfect or invalid. In each entry there may be twenty or thirty blunders arising from nonconformity with regulations, besides all those which have their origin in ignorance or bad writing. Consequently, every record of a birth or death-and there are more than a million persons in England who are either born, married, or die in the course of a year-has to be regarded from all these points. All day long do these seven gentlemen sit at their posts investigating whether Alfred Jones is truly and properly described as the son of Thomas Jones, and not as the son of Thomas Junes, or some other equally mythical personage; whether Timothy Smith is dignified with the title of boy, and not, as is too frequently the case, unsexed by the careless registrar, who describes him as girl; whether the poor thing, by an unpardonable substitution of March for February, is not described as having been born after he was registered-besides a thousand other questions which turn upon the construction of the act of parliament and the various regulations founded upon it. The great enemies of these seven examiners and the registrar-general are imperfect 'e's' which look like ''s,' 'n's' which look like 'u's,' and decapitated 'o's' metamorphosed likewise into 'u's.' These little trifles appear at first sight of no consequence; but when it is recollected that by a slight touch of the pen, instead of asserting that the Lady Blanche did, on the 12th instant, give birth to a pretty Rose, you affirm to her great horror that she did give birth to a Nose, which Nose henceforward appears in the index amongst the Noses, and not amongst the Roses, you will see that these gentlemen cannot well attach too much importance to clear caligraphy. We should scarcely be surprised if, occupied as they are in judging men according to their capacity of forming 'u's' like 'u's,' and not like 'o's,' they were to make it the test as to whether a man ought to have a vote: 'Does he join the two sides of his "o's?""

name alike, down a page of deaths, shews a whole family swept off by some epidemic. Signature after signature of the coroner, shews a ravaging colliery explosion or a shipwreck. Here is a poor child named Alpha Omega-on looking closely, you see that it is illegitimate-First and Last the mother calls it, recording her repentance on the brow of her offspring. No names are too absurd for parents to give their children. Here are innocents stamped for life as Kidnum Toats, Lavender Marjoram, Patient Pipe, Tabitha Cumi, Fussy Gotobed, and, strangest of all, here is one called Eli Lama Sabachthani Pressnail! Other parents are more ambitious, and prematurely ennoble their children by designating them Lord, Earl, Princess Charlotte, &c.; whilst, during the Russian war, numbers of poor things were labelled Malakoff, Sebastopol, Redan, Inkermann, and Balaklava. Florence Nightingale, however, seems to have been the greatest favourite, especially amongst the poor, who have shewn their admiration for her by perpetuating her name in their families all over the country. The returns for the last two years would shew that Florence has become a much commoner name lately. Some of the marriage registers are curious. The greatest extremes of ageseventy and seventeen-are often found to unite in matrimony. Occasionally we see an entry only half completed, and a note to this effect: Ceremony begun, but not finished, the marriage being broken off;' or, 'Bridegroom so drunk that the marriage could not proceed.' If people's names are any index to their characters, the most extraordinary union of qualities often appears to take place. Friend' marries a woman named 'Amor;' a 'Lamb' before marriage, becomes a 'Lion' after; a 'Nightingale' marries a 'Partridge;' Mutton' takes Ham;' Salmon,' 'Codd,' &c. Some of the mistakes which the registrars make with the causes of death are rather remarkable. People are discovered to die of the following strange complaints, most of which are probably new to our medical readers: 'Imperfect closure of the foreman," Turner on the right anne,' 'Disease of the lever,' 'Hanged himself in a fit of temperate insanity from excessive drinking,' &c.

All the errors discovered by the examiners, are noted on proper forms, which are sent to the clerk, who writes to the registrars respecting the different mistakes. The average number of errors discovered each quarter may be between three and four thousand, so that the correspondence necessary to point them out and give instructions for their correction, is no easy matter: of course, great assistance is obtained by means of printed forms, each of which applies to a certain class of error. To write a special letter on each case would be absolutely impossible. About one hundred and thirty different printed circulars are used, and it is found that even these do not include every description of blunder. The registrars are not allowed to make any alteration in an entry when it is once completed, so that a correction can be effected only by means of a note in the margin. Neither are they allowed, except in certain cases, to alter the copies which are once delivered to the office. A fresh copy of every entry which is corrected must be transmitted to Somerset House, and there it is placed in a supplement, which is almost a kind of hospital for entries; for although most of those which are there imprisoned are good, sound, and able to do service, yet the majority at some time or other have had their limbs set, or have been otherwise tinkered. Some are so hopelessly bad, that nothing but a feeling of compassion prevents their existence being terminated by speedy cancellation. Four clerks are constantly occupied in instructing the registrars how to place these poor fractured All sorts of revelations are unfolded by these entries on their legs again, while another sees that, registers-some pathetic, some ridiculous. Name after | when in a state of convalescence, they are comfortably