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myself the victim of an atrocious conspiracy. I drank and drank, and strange as it may appear, the wine had less effect upon me than usual. The floods of most excellent claret seemed to fall cold upon my heart; and I sat quiet and unmoved, as if the exhilarating agency of the wine were entirely locked up for a season. The Marquis himself, I saw, or thought I saw, began to lose his usual steadiness; Burton seemed transformed into the red bronze statue of an ancient Bacchus, and I felt that I myself was the only perfectly unchanged and sober being in the room. Suddenly, however, there was change. The wine, which had apparently been checked in its effects by the appalling communication of mybeing doomed to a certain and ignominious death, now rushed with the fury of a pent-up torrent into my brain, and, in a moment, I heard strange sounds, as of a battery of a thousand guns stunning my ears; troops of blood-stained soldiers, beyond all number numberless, seemed to mingle in the death-struggle before my eyes, and again the feelings of intensest fear took possession of my being; I shrieked and yelled like a maniac, as if in the midst of a tremendous mêlée, and faintly crying out the only piece of Latin I had brought with me from school— "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori," I fell exhausted among the aids-de-camp and bottles which were huddled together under the table. Before, however, sinking into entire oblivion, I heard his lordship say, in a tone of admiration, to Burton, "The ruling passion strong in death. If he survives for six months, that fellow will die a field-marshal -Pass the bottle."

When I awoke to a consciousness of my situation next morning, I found my feelings of apprehension by no means removed. No way of escape from the dreaded advancement presented itself to my ingenuity; and at length, with the recklessness of despair, I resolved to abide the chances; and sincerely did I pray, as you will readily believe, for the speedy and complete recovery of the unfortunate Pilpay. I presented myself to the Marchioness. Heavens! thought I, are the ladies also in the diabolical plot upon my life?-They

congratulated me on the prospect of a prolonged acquaintance, and expressed, in the kindest terms, the interest they took in my future prospects. Gracious Powers! can such cold-hearted beings assume the appearance of so much cordiality and friendship? In three months and two days my earthly career would inevitably be finished, and they talked to me about my future prospects!!Hypocrites!-I turned towards the Lady Annabella, who had not yet spoken. She held out her hand to me as I advanced. I took it and bent over it, almost fearing to hear the sound of her voice, lest it should be in the tone of congratulation,—but she said nothing-and in silence, and with a feeling of increased devotion, I bowed again, and let go her hand. That hour finally and for ever sealed my fate; it also, strange as it may appear,-for in spite of my natural timidity, I am somewhat sanguine in my temperament,-gave me hopes of ultimate success; and resolving to set every thing-you will forgive the pun-on the hazard of a die, I announced to the Marquis that I was prepared to succeed Captain Pilpay, in case of his decease.

There seemed now to be established a secret understanding between Lady Annabella and myself. It was friendship, delicate, considerate friendship, on her part, and yet it was so uniform and so evidently springing from the heart, that it was fully equal in tenderness and strength to many an ordinary-minded woman's love. Fitz D'Angle continued his visits regularly: but I suppose, from some undefined feeling of rivalry, there was a mutual dislike between us. I envied him, indeed, his situation, as acknowledged suitor to the most beautiful and fascinating of her sex; but jealousy itself could see no cause for regret in the manner in which he was treated by his mistress. Cold, formal, and apparently unfeeling, she scarcely seemed the same being when conversing with the conceited coxcomb, whom her family, and not herself, had chosen for her lord; and often I have seen her eyes wandering with the most listless expression, during his "bald disjointed chat," and then suddenly fill, even to overflowing, with tears!-Gods! if I could have

summoned one ounce of the courage of a man, I would have challenged the cold-hearted puppy, and freed the angelic mourner from his persecution. But no! I made the attempt to rouse my indignation in vain. Though my life I knew was limited to but three months and two days, I would not risk even that minute fraction of existence against the contemptible destroyer of my happiness.

pass over the first week or two of my duty as aid-de-camp to the Marquis-for Pilpay, to my infinite dismay and astonishment, died on the very day the liqueur case was emptied. I pass over my fears at night, my enjoyments in the morning, and will tell you an incident which occurred when my span of life was reduced to only two months and sixteen days:-At that time there was a magnificent review in Hyde Park. The Marquis, with the whole of his glittering staff, proceeded to the ground. I must tell you, that at that period my horses-the quietest and gentlest animals I could procure, were, unfortunately, unfit for service, and Fitz D'Angle, who had remarked, and as I suspected, ridiculed my inefficient horsemanship, had spitefully, and I firmly believe, with the purpose of getting me murdered, pressed me to make use of that very Arabian which had so frequently terrified me even with my hated rival upon its back. Afraid to accept his offer, and not knowing how to refuse, I mounted it in an agony of apprehension, and accompanied the Marquis, who luckily went at a footpace, to the field. The ladies, it was arranged, were to be driven by Fitz D'Angle, in his splendid new barouche; for among that individual's other acquirements, his skill as a charioteer was not the least remarkable. The day was uncommonly fine, and thousands of the gayest and loveliest in the land were assembled to watch our manœuvres-and yet, as I rode slowly along that glittering line of rank and beauty, terrified as I was at the hideous danger of my situation on such a demoniacal horse, I took a sort of pride in reflecting that there were no eyes so bright, no lips so lovely, as those of that radiant creature on whom I-a poltroon and a coward-had dared to fix my af

fection. The Marquis, in the meantime, slowly continued his course, laughing and talking with his staff in the gayest humour imaginable. All his jokes-" and many a joke had he," fell unmarked upon my ear;at last, after looking at me for some time, during which I was afraid he was guessing a great deal too near the truth, he said, "How silent you are, Pumpkin-ha! but I see how it is-you fire-eaters hate such a bloodless shew as this-you must rein in, man, you must rein in." At this time the animal I was on began to shew sundry signs of impatience, and bounced about in a manner which added in no slight degree to my uneasiness, and as only the last words of the Marquis reached me distinctly, I said," Rein in? How can I, my lord, on such a prancing devil as this?" For the first time in my life I was taken for a wit. The laughter at this sally, as it was called, was long and loud, and I had the reputation of being as gay as my companions, when there was not a single individual in the crowd safely on his own legs, with whom at that moment I would not gladly have changed places. At last the evolutions began, and as the troops filed and counter-marched, advanced in double quick to the charge, and went through all the movements of a desperate and well-contested battle, my horse and myself seemed to lose our senses almost at the same moment-but from very different causes. It danced, it capered, it reared, it curveted, and till this hour it is a mystery to me how I retained my seat. I can only attribute it to a total inaction on my part. Passive as a lump of inanimate matter, I was probably balanced by my length of limb, but certain it is, that for a considerable time I attracted no particular observation. At last, as the artillery began to peal, there was a considerable movement among many of the horses on the ground which were unacquainted with the noise, amongst the rest my horse fairly got the command. He rushed with the speed of lightning from the group, where he had hitherto remained, and carried me, almost by this time unconscious of my situation, straight towards the artillery; by some means or other I still maintained my seat, and by a

lucky twitch of the bridle, I turned him from coming into contact with the cannon, At that moment I saw coming towards me a barouche at a fearful rate; the driver of whom, even in the agony of that moment, I recognised as Fitz D'Angle, had lost all mastery over his horses, which were evidently hurrying on to destruction; I heard a scream louder and louder as I approached, and at length, with hands clenched in despair, and eyes shut in the overwhelming misery of approaching death, I felt a shock-I heard one wild shout of exultation from the multitudes on every side, and sunk insensible, I knew not where. When I came to myself, the old Marquis was bending over me with tears in his eyes-" Bless you, bless you," said the old man, as he saw I had in some degree recovered my conscious. ness, you are the preserver of every thing I hold dear." With my usual prudence I remained perfectly silent, till I could gather something of what had occurred. On looking round, I saw at a little distance the cause of all my misery, the Arabian charger, lying dead; but the barouche, the ladies, and Fitz D'Angle, had totally disappeared. On getting up, I found myself only slightly bruised, with the exception of a considerable wound on my head. My cap had fallen off, and on putting my hand up to the spot of greatest pain, I found the blood issuing in rather a copious stream. I was shortly afterwards put into a carriage, and taken immediately to the residence of the Marquis. On arriving there, no words can paint the kindness with which I was received; the thanks of the Marchioness and the lady Julia were perfectly embarrassing, especially as I was ignorant of the precise manner in which I had deserved them. His lordship who had hurriedas fast as possible from the review, now rushed in, and again, with his eyes overflowing with tears, seized me by both hands, and thanked me for my heroic devotion in the service of his family. ""Twas beautiful. My God! how you spanked off when you saw their danger! and that puppy Fitz D'Angle, too, d- -e, my boy, you served him quite right -you've floored him, nose, teeth, mustaches, and all-he'll never be

able to smile and simper again as long as he lives."

"I hope, my lord," said I, "Mr Fitz D'Angle is not much hurt ?" "How the devil can you hope any such thing? The fellow would have murdered my wife and children with his confounded folly, if you had not arrested him just in time. 'Gad, you flew from your saddle with the force of a Congreve rocket, and dashed your head right into his face, bent him back as limber as an empty havresack across the coach-box, and knocked three of his teeth down his throat, besides one that was picked up afterwards from his waistcoat pocket. You've killed his horse, though, and that was perhaps the most valuable animal of the two."

I now began to see how matters had occurred, and as I was very slightly hurt, I waited with some impatience for the approach of the Lady Annabella. All that day she never made her appearance. She sent frequently down to enquire if I was hurt, and my hopes, both by her non-appearance and by the manner in which the Marquis spoke of Fitz D'Angle, were raised to the highest pitch. That evening the Marquis himself excused me from all participation in their revels; and next morning-how I shall describe the scene! -the Lady Annabella met me in the breakfast parlour alone; she blushed in the most embarrassed manner, as, in a faltering voice, she offered me her thanks.

"Nothing," she said, "could be sufficient to shew her gratitude to her preserver-thanks were a very inadequate expression of what she felt."

"Believe me, Lady Annabella," I said, "I do not deserve such thanks. I was run away with at the moment, -I lost all command of-of

"Of your generous feelings," she interrupted," when you saw us-I shudder at the recollection-hurried on to inevitable destruction."

I said no more; my attempts at fair dealing and ingenuousness were turned off by the grateful heart of that beautiful girl,-and on that day, in that hour, I ventured-to declare my passion, and as I saw a silent and blushing consent yielded to my suit, I caught her in my arms, trembling