with a little melancholy, but so slightly expressed, as to leave the beholder in doubt, whether it proceeded from mental or bodily ailment. The air had given it, just now, a slight and somewhat feverish flush. The character of his whole appearance, especially contrasted to the air of humour in his next companion, was that of a habitual, but subdued dejection. No sooner had the two sleighs approached within speaking distance, than the driver of this fantastic equipage shouted aloud

"Draw up in the quarry-draw up, thou king of the Greeks; draw into the quarry, Agamemnon, or I shall never be able to pass you. Welcome home, cousin 'duke-welcome, welcome, my blackeyed Bess. Thou seest, Marmaduke, that I have taken the field with an assorted cargo, to do thee honour. Monsieur Le Quoi has come out with only one cap; Old Fritz would not stay to finish the bottle; and Mr. Grant has got to put the "lastly" to his sermon, yet. Even all the horses would come-by the by, Judge, I must sell these blacks for you immediately; they both interfere, and then the nigh one is a bad goer in double harness. I can get rid of them to

"Sell what thou wilt, Dickon," interrupted the cheerful voice of the Judge," so that thou leavest me my daughter and my lands. Ah! Fritz, my old friend, this is a kind compliment, indeed, for seventy to pay to five and forty. Monsieur Le Quoi, I am your servant. Mr. Grant," lifting his cap, "I feel indebted to your attention. Gentlemen, I make you acquainted with my child.— Yours are names with which she is very familiar."

"Velcome, velcome, Tchooge," said the elder of the party, with a strong German accent. "Miss Petsy vilt owe me a kiss."

"And cheerfully will I pay it, my good sir,"

cried the soft voice of Elizabeth ;, which sounded, in the clear air of the hills, like tones of silver, amid the loud cries of Richard, and the manly greetings of the gentleman. "I have always a kiss for my old friend, Major Hartmann.”

By this time the gentleman on the front seat, who had been addressed as Monsieur Le Quoi, rose with some difficulty, owing to the impediment of his over coats, and steadying himself by placing one hand on the stool of the charioteer, with the other he removed his cap, and bowing politely to the Judge, and profoundly to Elizabeth, he said with a smile that opened a mouth of no common dimensions

"Ver velcome home, Monsieur Templ'. Ah! Mam'selle Liz'bet, you ver humble sairvant."

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"Cover thy poll, Gaul, cover thy poll," cried the driver, who was Mr. Richard Jones; cover thy poll, or the frost will pluck out the remnant of thy locks. Had the hairs on the head of Absolom been as scarce as on this crown of thine, he might have been living to this day." The jokes of Richard never failed of exciting risibility, for if others were unbending, he uniformly did honour to his own wit; and he enjoyed a hearty laugh on the present occasion, while Mr. Le Quoi resumed his seat with a polite reciprocation in his mirth. The clergyman, for such was the office of Mr. Grant, modestly, though quite affectionately, exchanged his greetings with the travellers also, when Richard prepared to turn the heads of his horses homeward.

It was in the quarry alone that he could affect this object, without ascending to the summit of the mountain. A very considerable excavation had been made into the side of the hill, at the point where Richard had succeeded in stopping the

sleighs, from which the stones used for building in the village were ordinarily quarried, and in which he now attempted to turn his team. Passing itselt was a task of difficulty, and frequently of danger, in that narrow road; but Richard had to meet the additional risk of turning his four-in-hand. The black very civilly volunteered his services to take off the leaders, and the Judge very earnestly seconded the measure with his advice. Richard

treated the proposals with great disdain.

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Why, and wherefore, cousin 'duke,” he exclaimed a little angrily; the horses are as gentle as lambs. You know that I broke the leaders myself, and the pole-horses are too near my whip to be restive. Here is Mr. Le Quoi, now, who must know something about driving, because he has rode out so often with me; I will leave it to Mr. Le Quoi whether there is any danger."

Thus appealed to, it was not in the nature of the Frenchman to disappoint expectations that were so confidently formed; although he sat looking down the precipice which fronted him, as Richard turned his leaders into the quarry, with a pair of eyes that stood at least half an inch from his visage. The German's muscles were unmoved, but his quick sight scanned each movement with an understanding expression, that blended amusement at Richard's dilemma with anxiety at their situation. Mr. Grant placed his hands on the side of the sleigh, in preparation for a spring, but moral timidity deterred him from taking the leap that bodily apprehension strongly urged him to attempt.

Richard, by a sudden application of his whip, succeeded in forcing his leaders into the snowbank that covered the quarry; but the instant that the impatient animals suffered by the crust, through which they broke at each step, they positively re

fused to move an inch further in that direction. On the contrary, finding that the cries and blows of their driver were redoubled at this juncture, the leaders backed upon the pole-horses, who, in their turn, backed the sleigh. Only a single log lay above the pile which upheld the road, on the side toward the valley, which was now buried in the snow. The sleigh was easily forced across this slight impediment; and before Richard became conscious of his danger, one half of the vehicle was projected over a precipice, which fell, nearly perpendicularly, more than a hundred feet. The Frenchman, who, by his position, had a full view of their threatened flight, instinctively threw his body as far forward as possible in the sleigh, and cried, "Ah! Mon cher monsieur Deeck! mon dieu' prenez gardez vous !"

"Donner and blitzen, Richart," exclaimed the veteran German, looking over the side of the sleigh with unusual emotion, "put you will preak ter sleigh and kilt ter horses."

"Good Mr. Jones," said the clergyman, losing the slight flush that cold had given to his cheeks, "be prudent, good sir-be careful."

"Get up, you obstinate devils!" cried Richard, catching a bird's eye view of his situation, applying his whip with new vigour, and unconsciously kicking the stool on which he sat, as if inclined to urge the inanimate wood forward; "Get up, I sayCousin 'duke, I shall have to sell the grays too; they are the worst broken horses-Mr. Le Quaw!" Richard was too much agitated to regard his pronunciation, of which he was commonly a little vain; "Monsieur Le Quaw, pray get off my leg; you hold my leg so tight, that it's no wonder I can't guide the horses."

"Merciful Providence!" exclaimed the Judge, "they will be all killed !"

Elizabeth gave a piercing shriek, and the black of Agamemnon's face changed to a muddy white.

At this critical moment, the young hunter, who, during the salutations of the parties, had sat in rather sullen silence, sprang from the sleigh of Marmaduke to the heads of the refractory leaders. The horses, who were yet suffering under the injudicious and somewhat random blows from Richard, were dancing up and down with that ominous movement, that threatens a sudden and uncontrollable start, and pressing backward instead of going into the quarry. The youth gave the leaders a powerful jerk, and they plunged aside, by the path they had themselves trodden, and re-entered the road in the position in which they were first halted. The sleigh was whirled from its dangerous position, and upset with its runners outwards. The German and the divine were thrown rather unceremoniously into the highway, but without danger to their bones. Richard appeared in the air, for a moment, describing the segment of a circle, of which the reins were the radii, and was landed at the distance of some fifteen feet, in that snowbank which the horses had dreaded, right end uppermost. Here, as he instinctively grasped the reins, as drowning men seize at straws, he admirably served the purpose of an anchor, to check the further career of his steeds. The Frenchman, who was on his legs in the act of springing from the sleigh, took an aërial flight also, much in that attitude which boys assume when they play leap-frog, and flying off in a tangent to the curvature of his course, came into the snow-bank head-foremost, where he remained, exhibiting two lathy legs on