.

"No, sir, not yet; nor can he arrive before to-morrow evening. You
received my letter, I suppose, about the result of the yachting-party
and Lady Kilgoff?"

"No! I know not one word about it," said Linton, with a firmness that
showed how well he could repress any trace of anxiety or excitement.
"Come this way, out of the hearing of these people, and tell me
everything from the beginning."

Phillis obeyed, and walked along beside him, eagerly narrating the whole
story of Cashel's departure, to the moment when the yacht foundered, and
the party were shipwrecked off the coast of Wexford.

"Well, go on," said Linton, as the other came to a full stop. "What
then?"

"A few lines came from Mr. Cashel, sir, with orders for certain things
to be sent down to a little village on the coast, and directions for me
to proceed at once to Tubbermore and await his arrival."

Linton did not speak for some minutes, and seemed totally occupied with
his own reflections, when by hazard he caught the words "her Ladyship
doing exactly as she pleases--"

"With whom?" asked he, sternly.

"With Mr. Cashel, sir; for it seems that notwithstanding all the terror
and danger of the late mishap, Mr. Sickleton has been despatched to
Cowes to purchase the 'Queen of the Harem,' Lord Wellingham's new yacht,
and this at Lady Kilgoff's special instigation. Mr. Sickleton slept one
night at our house in town, and I took a look at his papers; there was
nothing of any consequence, however, except a memorandum about 'Charts
for the Mediterranean,' which looks suspicious."

"I thought, Phillis, I had warned you about the Kilgoff intimacy. I
thought I had impressed you with the necessity of keeping them from
him."

"So you had, sir; and, to the very utmost of my power, I did so; but
here was a mere accident that foiled all my care and watchfulness."

"As accidents ever do," muttered Linton, with suppressed passion. "The
game of life, like every other game, is less to skill than chance! Well,
when can they be here?"

"To-morrow afternoon, sir, if not delayed by something unforeseen;
though this is not at all unlikely, seeing the difficulty of getting
posters. There are from thirty to forty horses engaged at every stage."

"Whom have we here?" cried Linton, as a large travelling-carriage
suddenly swept round the drive, and entered the court.

"Sir Andrew MacFarline's baggage, sir; I passed them at the last change.
One would say, from the preparati