ty, too, and there was a singing in his ears as his fingers
played nervously with the keys of the instrument.

"Now, sir, if you please," said the old officer, and Richard gave a
start, raised the flute to his lips, and blew a few feeble notes as he
vainly tried to collect himself--conscious, too, now that the bandsmen
were craning forward to listen.

Then he dimly saw that bent heads were being turned at the table, and
that he was being eyed curiously, till, in a fit of desperation, he
pressed the flute to his lips and blew again, if anything, more feebly;
but the sound of the notes seemed to send a thrill through his nerves,
and the next came deep, rich-toned, and pure, as he ran through a
prelude, from which he imperceptibly glided into a sweet old Irish
melody. He played it with such earnestness and feeling that his hearers
were electrified, and the applause came again loudly, amidst which he
dashed off into a series of variations, bright, sad, martial, and
wailing, till, as he played, the room swam round him, the terrible scene
in the river rose, followed by that with his cousin, and then he seemed
to be hearing the thundering of the water once more in his ears--

He was on the floor, gazing up in the face of a stranger, who was upon
his knee, while other faces kept on appearing, as it were, out of a
mist.

"Faintness, I should say," said the officer who knelt by him. "Give me
that glass of wine. Here, my lad, try and drink some of this."

As if in a dream, the lad involuntarily swallowed the wine, and then, in
a sharp, snatchy way, cried--

"What is it? What is the matter? What are you doing?"

"Have you been ill?" said the gentleman by him.

"Ill? No!" said Richard, huskily. "I don't understand."

"What have you eaten to-day?"

"Nothing--yes: a bit of bread."

"And yesterday?"

Richard was silent for a few moments, trying to collect himself. Then
he recalled the past. "I don't know," he said.

"Well, Doctor?"

"Faint from excitement and want of food, sir," said the doctor. "Shall
I prescribe here?"

"Do I ever fight against your wishes?" said the old officer.

"Then come and sit down over here, my lad," said the doctor, quietly;
and he helped his wondering patient to a table close to where the
bandsmen were seated.

"Here, one of you," he said, sharply, "fetch a plate of that soup, and
some bread;" and, as the dinner went on, the doctor stayed and saw that
the patient took the medi