ird with a quantity of cold venison steak. In the course of
another half hour, the cake was baked and on the table--Isaac and his
mother had entered with the milk--the announcement was made by Ella that
all was ready; and the whole party, taking seats around the humble
board, proceeded to do justice to the fare before them.

A light, placed in the center of the table, threw its gleams upon
the faces of each, and exhibited a singular variety of expressions.
That of the stranger was downcast, sinister, and suspicious, combined
with an evident desire of appearing exactly the reverse. Occasionally,
when he thought no eye was on him, he would steal a glance at Ella;
and some times gaze steadily--like one who is resolved upon a
certain event, without being decided as to the exact manner of its
accomplishment--until he found himself observed, when his glance would
fall to his plate, or be directed to some other object, with the
seeming embarrassment of one caught in some guilty act. This was noticed
more than once by Algernon; who, perhaps, more than either of the
others, felt from the first that strong dislike, that suspicious
repugnance to the stranger, which can only be explained as one of the
mysteries of nature, whereby we are sometimes warned of whom we should
shun, as the instinct of an animal makes known to it its inveterate foe;
and though he strove to think there was nothing of evil meant by a
circumstance apparently so trifling--that the glance of the stranger was
simply one of admiration or curiosity--yet the thought that it might be
otherwise--that he might be planning something wicked to the fair being
before him--haunted his mind like some hideous vision, made him for
the time more distrustful, more watchful than ever, and was afterward
reverted to with a painful sensation. The features of Algernon also
exhibited an expression of remorse and hopeless melancholy; the reason
whereof the reader, who has now been made acquainted with the secret,
will readily understand. The face of Ella, too, was paler than
usual--more sad and thoughtful--so much so, that it was remarked by Mrs.
Younker, who immediately instituted the necessary inquiries concerning
her health, and explained to her at some length the most approved method
of curing a cold, in case that were the cause. In striking contrast to
the sober looks of the others--for Younker himself was a man who seldom
exhibited other than a sedate expression--was the general