idle dream, and she tried hard to keep her unnatural vow.

This being her desire, it was an unwise move on her part to come and stay so frequently as she did with his sister, thus keeping up a constant communication, if not with him, with his son; for the air of the heavy mansion in the fashionable square was considered unsuitable for little Charlie, so his aunt had carried him away for the better superintendence of his diet and modes of exercise.

Whether her heart got softened again in time through thinking what a terrible thing it would be if he should ever give little Charlie a stern, horrible stepmother-a picture Flora delighted in portraying vividly-or whether she was actuated by desires of revenge upon Mrs. Forrester, or whether, which is the more probable, she deemed it wiser to sacrifice a small bit of dignity to her yearning heart, I do not know. Certain it is, however, that one morning the pair, Charles and Kate, presented themselves before Flora, and made a communication to the same effect as Kate had made long ago weepingly in her bed-room at Kempstowe: they looked remarkably sheepish, but far from unhappy.

After all, Flora, I believe it's your doing, though I can hardly tell how,' said Kate; 'but I have a general idea that such is the case.'

'So have I,' said Charles; and, as I am very well satisfied to owe my present and future happiness, in a measure, to my sister, we will decide that it is so. Flora, you must let me repay you in my own way.'

'Any way you please,' she answered cheerily. What do you propose to do? give my boy a golden rattle? for you know baby must be associated in all my rewards.'

'Not exactly that,' he replied gravely; but I shall now insist on making you happier than you areay, even against your will, perhaps, by clearing up that little cloud that

hangs-visible to you alone, but painfully visible to you, I knowbetween your husband and yourself on account of one who lives no longer.'

'Oh, Charlie! Charlie!' she cried, lifting up her hands in horrorstricken amazement, 'how-where did he die?'

'How, I do not know. I have heard of it from Paris-of fever, it is said. I am going now to Philip to tell him about it; and, Flo, don't be frightened, dear, but I must tell him of the other affair.'

He left them on his mission; and she sat there with happy beaming Kate for an hour in silence nearly; for she was frightened, horribly frightened, and anxious, and unhappy-of course she had deserved it all; but what she suffered during that hour would have been atonement for a graver fault than the poor girl had ever committed. At the end of that time she could bear it no longer, so she rose, and, taking her boy in her arms, she went into her husband's room-into the little room that had been poor Horace Greville's. Her brother passed her on the threshold, but she did not look at his reassuring face. Her husband sat at the table, his hand closed, and supporting his chin: he looked grave and cold, she thought; and with a gasping sigh she held his child down to him as a mute intercessor, and faltered out, Philip, will you ever forgive me?'

'My darling, my poor darling,' was his quick response as he held both mother and child in no unforgiving embrace.

'If he had been alive, what would you have said, Philip?'

'Horsewhipped him for frightening you so.'

But as he is dead, Philip?" she said, interrogatively.

'As he is dead, I would rather not talk about him, if you please, dear. See how you're holding the child, Flo: in your agitation you are utterly disregarding the comfort of Master Philip Morton.'

AND THE

DEAR MR. EDITOR,

ONE

NE of the many popular delusions wespecting the Bwitish swell is the supposition that he leads an independent life-goes to bed when he likes-gets up when he likes-d-dwesses how he likes, and dines when he pleases.

The public are gwossly deceived on this point. A weal swell is as m-much under authowity as a p-poor devil of a pwivate in the marines, a clerk in a Government office, or a f-fourth form boy at Eton. Now I come under the demon-demonima-(no-thtopwhat is the word?) dom-denomd-denomination-that'th it-I come under the d-denomination of a swell -(in-in fact-a howwid swellsome of my friends call me, but that'th only their flattewy) and I assure you, Mr. Editor, a f-fellah in that capacity is so much westwained by rules of f-fashion-that he can scarcely call his eye-glath his own. A swell, I take it, is a fellah who t-takes care that he swells, as well as swells who swell as well as he (there's thuch lot of thwelling in that thentence-ha ha-it's what you might c-call a busting definition). What I mean is, that a f-fellah is obliged to do certain things at certain times of the year whether he likes 'em or no. For instance, in the season I've got to go to a lot of balls, and dwums, and tea-fights in town that I don't care a bit aboutand to show myself in the Park wegularly evewy afternoon, and latht month I had to victimize mythelf down in the countwy-shooting-(a bwutal sort of amusementby the way)-well, about the end of October evewy one goes to Bwighton -n-no one knowth why-that'th the betht of it--and so I had to go toothat's the wortht of it-ha ha!

Not that it's such a b-bad place after all-I d-daresay if I hadn't had to go I should have gone all the same, for what is a f-fellah to do who ithn't much of a sportsman just about this time? There'th n-nothing particular going on in London except

that widiculous cawickachaw of me at the Haymarket, (which I told Sothern the other day, at bweakfast, was weally too bad)-there'th no one at the clubs, and evewything is b-beathly dull, so I thought I would just run down on the S. Eastern Wailway to be-ha ha! Bwighton'd up a bit (come, th-that's not bad for an impwomptu!)

B-Bwighton was invented in the year 1784 by his Woyal Highness George P-Pwince of Wales-the author of the shoe-buckle, the standup collar (a b-beathly inconvenient and cut-throat thort of a machine), and a lot of other ecthploded things.

I

He built the Pavilion down there, which looks like a lot of petrified onions fwom Bwobdibnag clapped down upon a guard-house. It was sold to the Town for some fifty thousand pounds in 1849-and if I may v-venture to wemark on the twansaction, I think the T-Town waththold' about the thame time. However, there'th a jolly sort of garden attached to the building, in which the b-band plays twice a week, and evewy one turns in there about four o'clock, so I went too(n-not two o'clock you know but f-four o'clock). I-I'm vewy fond of m-martial music mythelf. like the dwums and the t-twombones, and the ophicleides, and all those sort of inthtwuments-yethethpethelley the bwass ones-they're so vewy exthpiring, they are. Thtop though, ith it exthpiring-or p-perthpiring?-n-neither of 'em sound quite right. Oh! I have it now -it-it's INthpiring-that'th what it is: b-because the f-fellahs bweathe into them. That weminds me of a widdle I made down there (I-I've taken to widdles lately-and weally it'th a vewy harmleth thort of a way of getting thwough the morning-and it amuthes two f-fellahs at onth, because if-if you asthk a fellah a widdle, and he can't guess it-you can have a jolly good laugh at him, and

if he if he doth guess it, he-I mean you-no-that is the widdlestop-I-I'm getting confuthed