ppearance
from among the millions of Europe? It is the character of love to loathe
the near relatives of the loved one; chapters in the history of the
human race have justified this feeling, and the conduct of uncles, in
particular, has frequently met with censure from the independent
novelist. Miss M'Glashan was now seen in the rosy colours of regret;
whoever succeeded her, Dick felt the change would be for the worse. He
hurried forward in this spirit; his anxiety grew upon him with every
step; as he entered the garden a voice fell upon his ear, and he was
once more arrested, not this time by doubt, but by an indubitable
certainty of ill.

The thunderbolt had fallen; the Admiral was here.

Dick would have retreated, in the panic terror of the moment; but Esther
kept a bright look-out when her lover was expected. In a twinkling she
was by his side, brimful of news and pleasure, too glad to notice his
embarrassment, and in one of those golden transports of exultation which
transcend not only words but caresses. She took him by the end of the
fingers (reaching forward to take them, for her great preoccupation was
to save time), she drew him towards her, pushed him past her in the
door, and planted him face to face with Mr. Van Tromp, in a suit of
French country velveteens and with a remarkable carbuncle on his nose.
Then, as though this was the end of what she could endure in the way of
joy, Esther turned and ran out of the room.

The two men remained looking at each other with some confusion on both
sides. Van Tromp was naturally the first to recover; he put out his hand
with a fine gesture.

"And you know my little lass, my Esther?" he said. "This is pleasant,
this is what I have conceived of home. A strange word for the old rover;
but we all have a taste for home and the homelike, disguise it how we
may. It has brought me here, Mr. Naseby," he concluded, with an
intonation that would have made his fortune on the stage, so just, so
sad, so dignified, so like a man of the world and a philosopher, "and
you see a man who is content."

"I see," said Dick.

"Sit down," continued the parasite, setting the example. "Fortune has
gone against me. (I am just sirrupping a little brandy--after my
journey.) I was going down, Mr. Naseby; between you and me, I was
_decave_; I borrowed fifty francs, smuggled my valise past the
concierge--a work of considerable tact--and here I am!"

"Yes," said Dick, "and here you are." He was