rful is my interest in these outrages, that in
all probability, if their authors are detected, there is one who will
drag me into their ruin; that I am given over, bound and blinded,
into the hands of another; and that other, a man steeled to mercy,
and withheld from my destruction by a thread--a thread that a blow
on himself would snap. Great God! wherever I turn, I see despair! And
she--she clings to me; and beholding me, thinks the whole earth is
filled with hope!"

While these thoughts darkened his mind, Madeline drew him onward into
the more sequestered walks of the garden, to show him some flowers she
had transplanted. And when an hour afterwards he returned to the hall,
so soothing had been the influence of her looks and words upon Aram,
that if he had not forgotten the situation in which he stood, he had at
least calmed himself to regard with a steady eye the chances of escape.

The meal of the day passed as cheerfully as usual, and when Aram and his
host were left over their abstemious potations, the former proposed a
walk before the evening deepened. Lester readily consented, and they
sauntered into the fields. The Squire soon perceived that something
was on Aram's mind, of which he felt evident embarrassment in ridding
himself: at length the Student said rather abruptly: "My dear friend,
I am but a bad beggar, and therefore let me get over my request as
expeditiously as possible. You said to me once that you intended
bestowing some dowry upon Madeline; a dowry I would and could willingly
dispense with; but should you of that sum be now able to spare me some
portion as a loan,--should you have some three hundred pounds with
which you could accommodate me.--" "Say no more, Eugene, say no
more," interrupted the Squire,--"you can have double that amount. Your
preparations for your approaching marriage, I ought to have foreseen,
must have occasioned you some inconvenience; you can have six hundred
pounds from me to-morrow."

Aram's eyes brightened. "It is too much, too much, my generous friend,"
said he; "the half suffices--but, but, a debt of old standing presses me
urgently, and to-morrow, or rather Monday morning, is the time fixed for
payment."

"Consider it arranged," said Lester, putting his hand on Aram's arm,
and then leaning on it gently, he added, "And now that we are on this
subject, let me tell you what I intended as a gift to you, and my
dear Madeline; it is but small, but my estates are rigidly e