s descendant in
breeches. The case seems clear enough; I wonder you have a doubt about it.
Old Morgan won't give his consent, so there is absolute necessity for a
bolt. Leave it all to me. I'll provide a chaise and four, and if the lady
has no objection, we can start to-morrow evening. I'll sit behind on the
rumble, and shoot the leader if there should be any pursuit. Only mind
this, I don't go unless there is a lady's maid. Every thing must be done
with strict regard to decorum."

"Is the lady's maid also to occupy the rumble?"

"Of course. You wouldn't have her inside, would you? Come now, set about
it, like a good fellow. It will be a first-rate lark, and you may command
me at an hour's notice."

I confess that I felt very much inclined to adopt the suggestion of the
Saxon. Most men, I believe, are averse to elopements as a general
principle; but there are always exceptions, as every one discovers when
his own wishes are thwarted. I was not destined, however, to offer my
hymeneal sacrifice at the shrine of the Gretna Pluto. A letter of mine to
Mary, rather amorously worded, found its way into the hands of Doctor
Morgan. The usual consequences followed--an explosion of paternal wrath,
filial incarceration, and the polite message to myself, that if I ventured
to approach the house, it would be at the risk of appropriating the
contents of a blunderbuss. My feelings may be easily imagined.

"If you amuse yourself that way with your hair," said my friend and
consoler Cutts, "you'll have to buy a wig, and that costs money. Hang it,
man, cheer up! We'll do the old boy yet. Mackinnon will be here to-night,
and the deuce is in it if three clever fellows like us can't outwit a
Welsh apothecary."

I assisted at that evening's conference, which was conducted with due
solemnity. We smoked a great deal, after the manner of an Indian
war-council, and circulated "the fire-water of the pale-face" rather
rapidly. Both my friends were clearly of opinion that our honour was at
stake. They vowed that, having gone so far, it was imperative to carry off
the lady, and pledged their professional reputation upon a successful
issue. Cutts had learned that on the following Friday there was to be a
great ball in Shrewsbury; and, through the medium of Letty Jones, he
understood that Mary Morgan and her father were to be there. This seemed a
golden opportunity. It was finally arranged that I should withdraw myself
from the neighbourhood in th