Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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*fcot ai my timo of life ?nd ceder the ot fences which Las formed my diepositn iavo said to Pebbleson Nephew many? when they bare said to me, 'Pat ? U fwe upon it. Joey,'-I have said to I 'Gentlemen, it ie all very woll for yon, lue beon accustomed to take y oar wino into System? by the conwivial channel of your 1 UM, to pot a lively face upon it; bot,' I sa; have bees accustomed to take my wine in t pores of the akin, and, .took that way, il different. It acts depressing. It's one t gentlemen,' I says to Pebbleson Nephew charge your glasses in ? dining-room w Hip Hurrah and a Jolly Companions Every and it's another thing to be charged yon through the pores, in a low dark cellar a mouldy atmosphere. It makes all the diffei betwixt bobbles ind wapors,' I tells Pabb Nephew. And BO it do. I've boen a ceUej my life through, with my mind fully gi vi the business. VThat'e the consequence ? P. muddled a man as lives-you won't find a x ?lieder a man than me-nor yet you won't my equal in moilonoolly. Sing of Filling bumper fair, Every drop you sprinkle O'er brow of care Smooths away a wrinkle ? P'r'sjjs BO. But try filling yourself thro tho pores, underground, wheo jos ?don't i toitl" . "I tm sorry to hear this, Joey. I had ? thought thai you might join s> singing-clu the ho nse.** "'Te, air? No, no, Young Suter Wild: you won't catch Joey Ladle muddling the cony. A pecMng-machme, sir, isjali thai I capable of proving myself, oat of my cell bat ?bit you're welcome to, if you think worth you're while to keep auch a thing on y promises.'' .?Ido, Joey." "Say no more, cir. The Business's wori Bylaw. And you're a going to take Yoi Haster George Vendale partner into the Business?" " I am, Joey." "Kore changes, you tee I Bot dont chai the utmet of the Firm agata. Dont davit, Yoi Hitter Wilding, lt WM bad leek enough make it Yourself & Co. Better by fir b ave 1 it Pebbieson Nephew that good luck ahn ?tuck to. Too should never ohange luck wt its good, sir." " At ill events, I have no Intention of chat lng the name of the House again, Joey." "Glad to hear it, and wish you gooda Young Mister Wilding. But you hid better hilf," muttered Joey Ladle, inaudibly, it .loted the door iud shook hit head, "have! ?he name alone from the first. You had beti by half har? followed tile look instead of crotti H." Birru les sotrsxsxEPXB. Tb? Win? merchant tat tn hit dining-roo nert morning to rendre the personal appbean for the vacant post in his establishment, Itw ?tn old-fashioned wainscoted room; the pan? ornamented with festoons of flowers carved wood; with an oaken floor, a well-worn Turki ?arpet, and dark 'mahogany furniture, all which had seen service and poliah under Pe tritton Nephew. The great sideboard had a listed at many business-dinners given by Pe' blason Nephew to their eonneetsgs\ on the prii ripie of throwing sprats overboard to cate whales; and Pebbleson Nephew'? oom prehensil three-tided plate-warmer, made to fit the who front of a large fireplace, kept watch benoit tt over a taroopbsgusHshaped cellaret thi had m itt time held many a dozen of Pel bloson Nephew's wine. But the little rub ?rand old bachelor with a fig tail, when portrait was over tho sideboard (and who cou! easily be identified at decidedly Pebble so and decidedly not Nephew), had retired int another sarcophagus, and tho plate-warmer ha grown aa cold aa ho. So the golden and bise griffins that supported th? candelabra, wit black ballt in their mouths at tho end of gilde chains, looked a* if in their eld age they ha lott aU heart for playing at ball, ?nd ware dolt frilly exhibiting their eh/.!ns in the Missionar line of inquiry-whether they had not ?arne emancipation by this time, and war? not griffin and brothers ? Bach a Columbus of a morning wat tho tun: mer morning, that it discovered Cripple Corna The light and warmth pierced in at the ope windows, and exradiated the picture of a lad h?ngtet; over the ehlmney-pieoe, the only o the decoration of the walla. "Hy mothar at five-and-twenty," said Hi Wilding to himself, at bit ?yet entbusiAstioall followed th? light to the portrait's face. " bang up here, in order that visitors may-ad mir? my mother in Uta bloom of her youth am beauty. My mother at fifty I haag in the aeclu sion nf my own ch&mber, aa a remembrare Mored to me. Obi It's you, Jarvis t" These latter word? be addressed to a elerl who had tapped ai th? door, and now looked in "Yes, .sir. I morely wished to mention tha Ift fono ten, air, and that there are several fa mala? ia tha oounttng-houso." " Bear mel" ?aid the wine merchant, deepen mg in thi pink of his complexi?n and whitening tn thst?rbite; " aro thora several T Sb many ?i several ? Z bad better begin before there ar? more, TU see them oae by one, Jarvis, in th? order of their arrivaL" Hastily intrenching himself la bis easy-ch air, at the table, behind a great inkstand, having first placed a chair on the other side of the table op? posite his own seat. Mr. Wilding entered on his task with considerable trepidation. He : ran the gauntlet that must be run on any such occasion. There were the usual species of profoundly unsympathetic women,and the usual species of much tod (sympathetic women. There were buccaneering widows who came to seize him,and who griped umbrellas under their arms, Oe if each umbrella were he, and each griper fcad got LinLlThere were towering maiden ladies ?rho had seen better drys, and who came armed with clerical testimonials to their theology, as Hi]?m^a^E^m^hU)kA^, There wara gentle maiden ladies who came to marry 1 There were professional housekeepers, like : commissioned officers, who pnt him througl domestic exercise, instead of submitting tl selves to catechism. There were languid i lids to whom salary was not so much an ot as the comforts of a private hospital. Tl were sensitive creatures who burst into tear bei.ig addressed, and had to be restored T glasees of cold water. There were some pondents who came two together,-a hil premising one and a wholly unpromising < -of whom the promising one answered questions charmingly, until it would last appear that she waa not a candidate at bnt only the friend of the unpromising one, ' had glowered in absolute ?dence and appu injury. At lut, when the good winemerchant's ala heart wai failing .him, there entered an ai cant quite different from all the rest, woman, perhaps fifty, bat looking y o am With a tace remarkable for placid chi fulness, a manner no lees. remaria for ita quiet expression of equability ; temper. Nothing in her dress could have b j changed to her advantage. Nothing in noiseless self-possession of her manner co have been changed to her advantage. Netb ! could have been in better unison with both, tl her voioe when eba answered the quest! " What name shall I have the pleasure of i lng down?" with the words, "My name ia 8a Goldatraw. Mrs. Goldstraw. My husband 1 been dead many years, and we had no family. f Ealf a dozen qc estions had scarcely extrae aa mach to the p?rpese from anyone else. 1 Voice dwelt so agreeably on Mr. Wilding's t * as be made his note, that he was rather U aboutit. When be looked op again, Mrs. Gc straw's glance bad naturally gone round I room, and now returned to him from tb? ch] ney piece. Its expression was one of tri readiness to be questioned, and to SUSI straight. - "Iou will exeas* my ?skins you a few qa tiona ?" said tba modest wine merchant. " 0, sorely, air. Or I should have no bosini here.? . "Karo you filled the station of booeekeei before r I "Only onee. I have lived with the sal widow lady for twelve years. Ever sinos I li my husband. She waa an invalid, and is lab dead, which ls the occasion of my sow weari black.? I "I do not doubt that abe has lett you the tx credentials P said Mr. Wilding. " I hope I may say, the very best. I thong it would save trouble, sir, if I wrote down t name and address of ber repr?sentatives, a brought it with me." Laying a card on t ! table. I " Ton angularly remind me, Mrs. Golda tran said Wilding, taking tbs card beside bim, "ol I manner and tone of voice that I was ones i quain t ed with. Not of as individual-I feel sn of that, though I cannot recall what it is I ba In my mind-bat of a general bearing. long to add, it was a kind and pleasant one?" / She smiled,aa she rejoined: "At least, Ia vary glad of thai, o?." "Tes," said the wine merchant, thoughtful .repeating his last phrase, with a momenta i glance at his future housekeeper, " lt was a ku and pleasant one. But that is the moat I ei 'make of it. Memory is sometimes like a half-fo gotten dream. I don't know how it may sppei to yon, Mn. Goldstraw, but so it appears me." Probably lt appeared to Mrs. Goldstraw in similar light, for she quietly aea*?tc>d to tl proposition. Mr. Wilding then offered to pi himself at once in communication with the gei tiernas named apon the card-a firm of proeto: n Doctors' Commons. To this Mrs. Goldstra thankfully assented. Doctors' Commons ni being far off, Mr. Wilding suggested the fen bili ty of Mrs. Goldstraw's looking in again, ai In three hours' time. Mrs. Goldstraw read* undertook to do so. In. fine, the result of M Wilding's inquines being eminently satisffactor Mrs. Goldstraw was that afternoon esgiiged (c her own perfectly fair terms) to come tc-morro and set np her rest as bonskoeper in Gripp] Comer, THZ H0U8IK2EPEB BRAU. On the next day Mrs. Goldstraw arrived, I enter on her domestic duties. Having settled herself in henownroom, witboi troubling the servants, and without wasting tim the new housekeeper announced herself aa wail mg to be favored with any instructions which ht master might wish to give her. The wine ma chant received Mrs. Goldatraw in the dining room, in which he had seen her on the previera day, and, the msuai'preliminary civilities h ?vin passed on either side, the two sat down to tak - counsel together on the affaira of the house. "About the meals,sir ?" said Mrs. Goldstraw "Havel a largo or a small number to proridi tor?" "Iii can carry out a certain . old-fash lone plan of mine,'* replied Mr. Wilding, "you wi have a large number to provide for. I am lonely single man, Mrs. Goldstraw ; and I hop to Uve with all the persons in my employment as if they were members of my family. Unt: that time comes, you will only have me, and th new partner whom I expect immediately, to pro vide for. What my partner's habits may be, cannot yet say. Bat I may describe myself as i man of regular hoars, with an invariable appe rite that yon may depend upon to an ounce." " About breakfast, sir ?" asked Mrs. Goldatraw " Is there anything particular- ?" _J3he hesitated, and left the sentence unfinished Her eyes turned slowly away from her master and lookod toward the chimney-piece, If she bad been a less excellent and experienced house? keeper, Mr. Wilding might have fancied that nei attention waa beginning to wander at the ver j outset of the interview. "Eight o'clook is my breakfast-hoar," he re? sumed. "It is one of my virtues to be sever i. tired of broiled baaoi), ?nd it ia ans af my Tices to be habitu ally su spicous of the fresianest eggs." Mrs. Golda traw looked back st bim, e s little divided between her mater's cairn n piece ar d her muter. " I tske tea," Mr. Wi log went on; " and I nm perhaps rather nervi and fidgety about drinking it within it cert time after it is made. If my tea stands i long-" , He hesitated on hin side, and left the uentei unfinished. If he had not been engaged in c cussing a subject of such paramount interest himself as his breakfast, Mrs. Golds rn w mn; have fancied that bis attention was beginning wander at the very outset of the interview. I " If j our tea stands too long, sir-?" said < I housekeeper, politely taking np her matter's li thread. "If :my tea stands too long," repeated 1 I wine merchant, mechanically, lils mind getti farther and further away from bis breakfa I and bin eyes Airing themselven more iud nu inquiringly on his housekeeper's face. "If i tea-' Dear, dear me, Mrs. Goldstraw ! what I the manner and tone of voice that yon remi I me of ? It strikes me even'mon strongly to-d I than it did when I saw yon yesterday. WI can it be?" "What can it bo?" repeated Mn. Goldstn I Bhe ?aid the worda, evidently thinking, wh I the spoke them, of something else. The wi I marchant, still looking at her inquiringly, < ! served that hex eyes wander sd toward the chi: j ney.pleoe once more. They fixed on the portr I of his mother, which bung thurs, and looked I it with that tight contraction af the b row whl I accompanies a scarcely conscious offert of mei I ory. Mr. Wilding remarked: I " My late dear mother, when ahe was five-ac twenty." Mm, Goldstraw thanked birr, with a mo verne I of the head for being at the paint to nxplein t: I picture, and said with a clear brow, that it w I the portrait of a very beautiful lady. Mr. Wilding, falling back into bis fermer pt I plsxity, tried once mon te recover that lost x I collection, associated so closely, and yet so n I discoverably, with hil new housekee per's roi J and manner. "Excusemy asking yon a question which h J nothing to do with me or my breakfast," he tai I " May I inquire if yon have ever occupied ai ! other situation than tbs situation of bona j keeper V j "C yes, sir. I began Ufe M one of the nur? J at Ute Foundling." . I "Why, that's it!" cried the wine maronan j pushing back his chair. "By heaven I Th? ! manner is the manner yon remind mn of I" In an astonished look at h m, Mrs. Goldstn j changed color, obeoked henelf, tuned ber eyi I npon the ground, and aat still and sil mt. I " What is the matter V asked Mr. Wilding. I "Do I understand that you wen bi the Fount I ling, ab? ?" I " Certainly. I am not ashamed tc own it," " Jnder the name you now bear ?r " 'Jnder the name of Walter WSdiag." j "And the lady- T Mn. Goldstraw stoppe I sb ott with a look at the portrait which waa no I unn ist ak ably a look of alarm. " Iou mean my mother," inteirrupted M Wilding. I " Tour-mother," repeated the housekeeper, I little constrainedly, "removed yo a from th I Foundling ? At what age, sir ?" j "At between eleven and twelve y san old It I quite a romsutio adventure, Mn. G oldstraw." He told the story of the lady baring tpoke I to Lim while be sat at dinner whh fte othc I boya ht the foundling, and of all 'bat had fo I iowed, in his innocently commuiicative wa] I "My poor mother could never have discevere I me. " he added, "if she had not mdt with one c I the matrons who pitied her. Tho matron COE I sented to touoh the boy whose name was 'Wal j ter Wilding,' as she went round the dinne I tables,-and so my mothar discove red me again I after having parted from me at an infant at th I Foundling doon." I At those words Mn. Goldetraw's hand, resttni I on the table, dropped helplessly hilo her Up I She sat, looking at her new masteir, with a fae I that had turned deadly pale, and with eyes tha j expessed an unutterable dismay. I " What does this mean ?" asked the wino mer I chant. "Stop I" he cried "Ia there some th ng site in tbo past time which I ought to as sociate with you ? I remember my mother tell I lng me of another person at the Foundling, ti I whoas kindneau she owed a debt of gratitude I When she first parted with me, as an infant, om I of the nurses informed har of the :iame that hac been given to mo Lu the institutio n. Ton wen that nurse ?" J "Golforgive me, eir,-I wat that nune ?" I "God forgive you?" " We had better get back, sir (if I may mak< I so bold as to say so, ) to my dutieu in the houso,' I said Mrs. Goldstraw. " Tour brsakfast-hour ii eight. Do you lunch, or dine, hi the middle o: I the day ?" I The excessive pinkness which Mr. Bin trey hac i I noticed in bis client's face began to appear then , I once more. Mr. Wilding put his hand to hil ? J head, and mastered some momentary confuaioi i I in that quarter, before be spoke i.gain. I "Mrs. Goldstraw," ho said, 'ou are conceal i I lng something from me I" J The housekeeper obstinatelyrre]?eatod, '. Pleasf I to favor me, air, by saying whether you lunch oi [ I dine in the middle of the day.?" , I "I don't know what I do in.tbo middle of the ' I day. I can't outer unto my household affairs, Mrs. Goldstra v, till I know why you regret an I act of kindness to my mother wliioh she always I spoke of gratefully to the end of her bf e. You I are not doing me a service by your silence. I Ton are agitating me, you aie alarming me, you are bringing on the singing in my bead." I His hand went up to his head again, and ' j the pink in bis face deepened by a shade or j two. I " It's hard, sir. on just enterb gryour service,1' j said the housekeeper, "to say whet may cost me the loss of your good-will. Plea ?e?to remember, 11 rind how it may. that I only speak., because yon hare insisted on my speaking and because I that I am alarming you by my silence. Wh< told the poor lady whose portrait you have there the name by which her infant was ol tened in the Foundling, I allowed myself to get my duty, and dreadful consequences, I afraid, have followed from it. I'll tell yon truth, as plainly as I can. A few months f the time when I had informed the lady of baby's name, there came to our institutioi the country another lady (a stranger), wi object was to adopt one of our child: She brought the needful permission V her, and after looking at a great many of children, without being able to make her mind, she took a sudden fancy to of the babies-a boy-under my care. ' pray try, to compose yourself, sir ! It's no disguising it any longer. The child the st) ger took away was the child of that lady wt portrait hangs there 1" Mr. Wilding started to his feet. "Impo ble 1 " he cried ont vehemently. ** What are ; talking about i What absurd story are yon i ing me now ? There's her portrait ! Hare'r. told yon so already? The portrait of mother!" " When that unhappy lady removed yon fi the Foundling, in after years," said Mrs. G< straw, gently, "she waa the victim, and ; were the victim, sir, of a dreadful mistake." He dropped back into his chair. " The rc goes round with me," he said. " My head ! head!" The) housekeeper rose in alarm, l opened the windows. Before she could get the doer to call for help, a sudden borst of te relieved the impression which had at first aim appeared to threaten his life. He signed treatingly ?to Mrs. Goldatrawjinot to leave hi She waited until the paroxysm of weeping t worn itself ont. He raised his head aa he rec sred himself, ?nd looked at her with the an j unreasoning suspicion of a weak man. "Mistake ?" he said, wildly repeating her I word. " How do I know yon are not mist ai yourself ?" " There is no hope that I am mistaken, slr. will tell you why, when yon ire better fit hear it." "Now! now!? The tone in which he spoke warned Mn. Gc straw that it would be cruel kindness to let h comfort himself a moment longer with'the ti hope that she might be wrong. Afewwor more would end it,-and those few words a determined to speak. " J have-told yon," she said, "that the ch of the lady whose portrait hangs there * adopted in its infancy, and taken away b] stranger.. I am as certain Cf what I say as tl I am now sitting here, obliged to distiess yt sir, r-.orely against my will. Please to cai year mind on, now, to about three months afi that time. I was then at the Foundling, in L: don, awaiting to take some children to our 1 stitution in the country. There was a questi that day about naming an infant-a boy-w hid just been received. We generally nam them on b of the Directory. Coi this ocasi?n, o of the gentlemen who managed the Hospii happened to be looking over the Register. ] noticed that the name of the baby who had be adopted (' Walter Wilding') was scratched ou for the reason, of course, that the child bad be removed for good from our care. 'Here's a name to let,1 he said. ' Give it to the ni foundling who has been received to-day.' Tl name waa given and the child was cbristene Ton, slr, were that child." The wine merchant's head dropped on i breaet. " I was that child !" he said to himee trying helplessly to fix the idea in his mind. 1 was that child!" " Not very long after you had been receiv< into the Institution, sir," pursued Mrs. Gol straw, "I left my situation there, to 1 married. If yon will remember that, at if you can give your mind to it, yon will see fi yourself how.the mistake happened. Betwei eleven and twelve years passed before tl lady whom yon have believed to be your mot hi returned to the Foundling, to find her son, ar to remove hun to ber own home. The lady on: knew that her infant had been called ' Walt? Wilding.' The matron, who took pity on he could but point out the only ' Walter Wildin, known in the institution. I, who might have ai the matter right, was far away from the Fount Ung and all that belonged to it There wt nothing-there waa really nothing-that con! prevent this terrible mistake from taking pl ac? I feel for yen-I do indeed, sir ! You must thin -and with reason-that it was in an evil hot that I came here (innocently enough, I'm sure to apply for your housekeeper's place. I felt i if I was to blame-I feel aa if I ought to hav had more self-command. If I had had only bee able to keep my face from showing yon whi that portrait and what your own words put int my mind, yon need never, to your dajing da] have known what you know now." Mr. Wilding looked np suddenly. The inbre honesty of the man rose in protest against tb housekeeper's last words. His mind seemed t steady itself, for the moment, under the shoe that had fallen on it. "Do you mean to say that you would hav concealed this from me if you could?" he es claimed. "I hope I should always tell the truth, sir, if was asked," said Mrs. Golds tra w. "And 1 knoi it is better for me that I should not have a aeore of this sort weighing on my mind. But is i better lor you ? What use can it serve now-? " What use ? Why, good Lord ! if your ator; ia true-" "Should I have told it, sir, as I am nov situated, if it bad not been true ?" "I beg your pardon," said the wine merchant "You must make allowance for mo. Thia dreadfu discovery is something I can't realize even yet We loved each other ao dearly-I felt so fondly that I waa her son. She died, Mrs. Goldstraw in my arms-ehe died blessing me as only t mother could have blessed me. And now sftei eU these yean, to be told that she was not mo mother I O me, O me, I dont know whee I ts layingT? he cried, aa the imptdie of Mlf-oontrol under, which he had spoken a moment aines flink? ered and died out. "It was not this dreadful grief-it was something else that I had it in my mind to ?peak of. Yes, yes. You surprised ma -you wended me just now. You talked aa if you would have hidden this from me if you could. Dont talk m thai way again. It would have been a crime to have hidden it. You meas well, I know. I dont want to distress you-yea are a kind-hearted woman. But you d9n't re? member what my position is. She left ma all that I possess, in the firm persuasion that I was her son. I am not her son. I have takru the place-I have innocently got the inheritance of another man. Ha musk be four di How do I [know he ia not?t toil moment in. misery, without bread to eat ? He must be found i Hy only hope of bearing up against the shock that has fallen on me in the hope of doing something which she would hate approved. You most know more Mrs. Gol*" . straw, than you have told me yet. Who wu the stranger who . adopted the child ? Yon. must have heard the lady's namer* - ' ' I never heard it, slr. I have never sean har, or heard of her since." "Did abe say nothing when aha took the child away? Search your memory. She mast bart said something." " ?my one thing, sir, that I can remember. & was a miserably cad season, that year; and many of the children were suffering from it. When she took the baby away, the lady said to me, Laughing, ' Dont be alarmed about his health? He will be brought up in a better clim < than 1 thia-I am going to take hun to Switzerland.' * " To Switzerland ? What part of Switzerland f" "Shu didn't aay, afr." " "Only that faint due!" said Ur. Wading. "And a quarter of a century ha? passed erne* th? child was taken away I What ami todo?" " I hope yon wont take offense at my freedom, slr," said Mrs. Goldstraw;41 but why should you dis tr e f s yourself about what is to be done ? He may not be alive now, for anything you know. And ii he is alive, it's not likely be can be in any distress. The lady who adopted him waa a bred and bora lady-it was easy to m that. And she must have satisfied them at tba foundling thal abe oould provide for the child, or they would never have let her take him away. If I- waa ia your place, air-please to excuse my saying BO I should comfort myself with remembering thal I had loved that poor lady whose portrait you , have got there-truly loved bar aa my mother, and that abe bad truly loved me aa har sou... AU ' she gave to you, abe gave for tba saker of thal love. It never altered while she lived; and il wont alter, Fm sure, aa long a? yon , Uva. Bo? can you have a better right, sir, to keep ?what you have got than that ?" Mr. Wilding's immovably honesty aaw the fal? lacy in bia housekeeper's point of view .rit a glance. "'.'ou don't understand me," he eaid. "It's because I loved her that I feel it a doty-a sacred duty-to do justice to her son. If ha is a h vin g man, I must find him; for my own sake, sewell aa for his. I shall break down under, this dreadful trial, unless I employ myself-actively, instantly employ myself-in doing Jwht.t my conscience tells me ought to be done. I must speak; lo my lawyer; I must set my lawyer at work befara I sleep to-night." He approached a tuba in tba wall of the room, and called down throqgh it to the office below. "Leave me for a little, Mrs. ' 'Golilatraw," he resumed; " I shall be mora com? posed. I shall be better able to speak to you later in the day. Wa shall get on wall-I hopa, we shall get on well together-in. spite of what 'has happened. It isn't your fault; I know il isn't your fault There 1 there I shako hands;, and-do the beat y ou can in the ho use- 1 cant talk about it now." The door opened and Mrs. Goldstraw ad van ced toward it, and Mr. Jarvis appeared. "Send for Mr. Bin trey," said the wine mer? chant. " Say I want to see bim directly. The clerk unconsciously suspended tba ex? ecution of the order, by announcing " Mr. Yes dale," and showing in tba new partner in tho firm of Wilding A Co. "Pray excuse me for rona moment, George Vendale," said Wilding. " I have ; word to eay , to Jarvis. Send for Mr. tlntrey," he repeated, "send at once." , Mr. Jania laid a letter on the table balbra ha left the room. "From our correspondents at Neuchatel, I think, sir. The letter baa got tba Swiss peat* mark." . VZW CHARACTERS 09 TEZ 6CX5X. The words, " The Swiss Postmark," following so soon upon the housekeeper's reference to. Switzerland, wrought Mr. Wildingi agitation to such a remarkable bight, that his new partier could not decently mako .a pretense of letting il pass unnoticed. " Wilding," he asked, hurriedly, andyet stop? ing short and glancing around as if for some visible cause ot his state of mind, " what ia the matter?" "My.good George Vendale," returned tho wine merchant, giving bia band with an appeal? ing look, rather as if he wanted help to gat over some obstacle, than aa if be gave it in welcome or salutation-" my good George Vendale, so much is the matter, that I shall never be myself again. It is impossible that I can ever be my? self again. For, in fact, I am not myself." The new partner, a brown-oheeaed, handsome 1 fellow, of about bia own age, with a quick de? termined eye and an impulsive manner, retorted with natural astonishment, '* Not yourself?" '' Not what I supposed myself to be," said Wilding. " What, in the name of wonder, did you sup* 1 pose yourself to be that you are not?" was the rejoinder, delivered with a cheerful frankness, inviting confidence from a more reticent man. " I may ask without impertinence, now that wa , are partners." " There again 1" cried Wilding, leaning back in his chair, with a lost look al Iba other.