hout
knowing why, he began to feel uneasy at Allan's absence. Without knowing
why, he became impatient to get his pupil away from England before
anything else happened between night and morning.

In an hour more the rector was relieved of all immediate anxiety by
Allan's return to the hotel. The young man was vexed and out of spirits.
He had discovered Midwinter's lodgings, but he had failed to find
Midwinter himself. The only account his landlady could give of him was
that he had gone out at his customary time to get his dinner at the
nearest eating-house, and that he had not returned, in accordance with
his usual regular habits, at his usual regular hour. Allan had therefore
gone to inquire at the eating-house, and had found, on describing him,
that Midwinter was well known there. It was his custom, on other days,
to take a frugal dinner, and to sit half an hour afterward reading the
newspaper. On this occasion, after dining, he had taken up the paper
as usual, had suddenly thrown it aside again, and had gone, nobody knew
where, in a violent hurry. No further information being attainable,
Allan had left a note at the lodgings, giving his address at the hotel,
and begging Midwinter to come and say good-by before his departure for
Paris.

The evening passed, and Allan's invisible friend never appeared. The
morning came, bringing no obstacles with it, and Mr. Brock and his pupil
left London. So far Fortune had declared herself at last on the rector's
side. Ozias Midwinter, after intrusively rising to the surface, had
conveniently dropped out of sight again. What was to happen next?

-------------

Advancing once more, by three weeks only, from past to present, Mr.
Brock's memory took up the next event on the seventh of April. To all
appearance, the chain was now broken at last. The new event had no
recognizable connection (either to his mind or to Allan's) with any
of the persons who had appeared, or any of the circumstances that had
happened, in the by-gone time.

The travelers had as yet got no further than Paris. Allan's spirits had
risen with the change; and he had been made all the readier to enjoy the
novelty of the scene around him by receiving a letter from Midwinter,
containing news which Mr. Brock himself acknowledged promised fairly for
the future. The ex-usher had been away on business when Allan had called
at his lodgings, having been led by an accidental circumstance to open
communications with his re