ouble of discharging him. Wilder, who had been with us so
many years, took it into his head to enlist in the army, and I was not
willing to persuade him to shirk his duty. Walsh has not been here quite
two weeks. He said he was born in the West Indies; but he was always
prying into matters that did not concern him, and I have several times
found him standing at the door when we were talking about family
matters. I reproved him for it; but it did no good. Your father intended
to discharge him as soon as he returned from Washington."

Christy went to the library, and busied himself in considering whether
or not the sudden departure of Walsh had any connection with the
mysterious midnight intruder. The two events had been near together in
point of time; but he could establish no other relation between them.
Then it flashed upon his mind that the man-servant had been the person
who had opened or closed his door, and visited his room; but he was sure
he had seen a man near the grand entrance of the estate. He had been all
around the house, and Walsh could not have escaped his observation. He
had answered the bell, and admitted him after his search. He concluded
that the servant was not the person who had disturbed his slumbers.

The morning mail brought a letter from Captain Passford, informing the
family that he was detained in Washington, and that he could not be at
home to say good-by to his son, who was to leave that day in the store
ship Vernon. He wrote a special letter to Christy, containing not only
his adieux, but the good advice he would otherwise have given him in
person.

The breakfast was rather a sad gathering on account of this parting, for
Christy was to leave in another hour. Bertha Pembroke and her father
were quite as sad as the mother and sister, and the young officer did
his best to cheer up the family and the guests. He tried to make them
laugh, but he found it was up-hill work.

"You will be in command of a steamer, Christy, when you reach the Gulf.
I hope you will not be rash, and try to do too much," said Mrs.
Passford, as they rose from the table.

"I don't think I am ever rash, mother; and if I have been exceedingly
fortunate, it was more because the circumstances favored me than because
I ran great risks," replied Christy very seriously, for he was sensitive
on the point his mother had brought up. "Father has said a great deal to
me on this subject, and I have always done my best to carry out