tain's curiosity. He pushed his way in;
and found a decently-dressed man--assisted by a porter and a
policeman--attempting to pick up some printed bills scattered from a
paper parcel, which his frenzied fellow-passengers had knocked out of
his hand.

Offering his assistance in this emergency, with the polite alacrity
which marked his character, Captain Wragge observed the three startling
words, "Fifty Pounds Reward," printed in capital letters on the bills
which he assisted in recovering; and instantly secreted one of them,
to be more closely examined at the first convenient opportunity. As he
crumpled up the bill in the palm of his hand, his party-colored eyes
fixed with hungry interest on the proprietor of the unlucky parcel. When
a man happens not to be possessed of fifty pence in his own pocket, if
his heart is in the right place, it bounds; if his mouth is properly
constituted, it waters, at the sight of another man who carries about
with him a printed offer of fifty pounds sterling, addressed to his
fellow-creatures.

The unfortunate traveler wrapped up his parcel as he best might, and
made his way off the platform, after addressing an inquiry to the first
official victim of the day's passenger-traffic, who was sufficiently in
possession of his senses to listen to it. Leaving the station for the
river-side, which was close at hand, the stranger entered the ferryboat
at the North Street Postern. The captain, who had carefully dogged his
steps thus far, entered the boat also; and employed the short interval
of transit to the opposite bank in a perusal of the handbill which he
had kept for his own private enlightenment. With his back carefully
turned on the traveler, Captain Wragge now possessed his mind of the
following lines:

"FIFTY POUNDS REWARD.

"Left her home, in London, early on the morning of September 23d,
1846, A YOUNG LADY. Age--eighteen. Dress--deep mourning. Personal
appearance--hair of a very light brown; eyebrows and eyelashes darker;
eyes light gray; complexion strikingly pale; lower part of her face
large and full; tall upright figure; walks with remarkable grace and
ease; speaks with openness and resolution; has the manners and habits
of a refined, cultivated lady. Personal marks--two little moles,
close together, on the left side of the neck. Mark on the
under-clothing--'Magdalen Vanstone.' Is supposed to have joined, or
attempted to join, under an assumed name, a theatrical company now
perf