was given to her, and Graeme's conscience was relieved,
as well by this retribution as by a conviction to which we both came,
that the game between him and Gourlay was rendered at least equal by the
fact which we had both reason to believe, as stated by Ruggieri, that
Gourlay himself intended to cheat, and that his death could be more
easily accounted for on that theory than on any other.

So far as peace could be brought to one truly penitent, that peace was
brought; and many a time since I have admired, in the happiness of the
family at the Grange, that exemplification of the promise of our blessed
faith, that there is no degree of guilt which may not be atoned for by
the heart that is contrite, and trusts to the mercy of Heaven through
the eternally-ordained source.

I may gratify a whim by informing the readers of the Border Tales that
the secret of the mark on the child's back was never communicated to
Mrs. Graeme. The nurse had told her of the fact of the strange
phenomenon, and she always clung to the belief that it was an omen of
good fortune to the boy. But under what mysterious conditions is the
chain of cause and effect kept up! The frequent allusion made by the
mother to the fact of the mark, drew her son's attention to the cards.
He early became fond of playing with them, as boys do. The early feeling
germinated, and became a kind of passion, and I have reason to believe
he became a gambler like his father, squandering away a great part of
his patrimony.

END OF VOL. XXII.

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