hus far, seemed to have
robbed him of half his energy already. He looked once or twice at the
letter superscribed by Joanna Grice, mechanically reading along the line
on the cover:--"Justification of my conduct towards my niece,"--but not
attempting to examine what was written inside. It was only after a long
interval of hesitation and delay that he at last roused himself. "I must
sweep these things out of the way, and read all what I've got to read
before Zack comes in," he said to himself, gathering up the letters
heaped at his feet, and thrusting them all back again together, with an
oath, into the box.

He listened carefully once or twice after he had shut down the lid,
and while he was tying the cords over it, to ascertain whether his wild
young friend was opening the street door yet, or not. How short a time
he had passed in Zack's company, yet how thoroughly well he knew him,
not as to his failings only, but as to his merits besides! How wisely
he foreboded that his boisterous fellow-lodger would infallibly turn
against him as an enemy, and expose him without an instant's hesitation,
if young Thorpe got any hint of his first experimental scheme for
discovering poor Mr. Blyth's anxiously-treasured secret by underhand and
treacherous means! Mat's cunning had proved an invaluable resource to
him on many a critical occasion already; but he had never been more
admirably served by it than now, when it taught him to be cautious of
betraying himself to Zack.

For the present there seemed to be no danger of interruption. He corded
up the box at his leisure, concealed it in its accustomed place, took
his brandy-bottle from the cupboard, opened Joanna Grice's letter--and
still there was no sound of any one entering, in the passage downstairs.
Before he began to read, he drank some of the spirit from the neck of
the bottle. Was there some inexplicable dread stealing over him at the
mere prospect of examining the contents of this one solitary letter?

It seemed as if there was. His finger trembled so, when he tried to
guide himself by it along each successive line of the cramped writing
which he was now attempting to decipher, that he had to take a second
dram to steady it. And when he at length fairly began the letter, he
did not pursue his occupation either as quietly or as quickly as he had
followed it before. Sometimes he read a line or two aloud, sometimes he
overlooked several sentences, and went on to another part of