eing freely yielded up, they may not be used in any
manner to harass the last hours of a dying man."

"I promise, on the part of my noble young friend, that they shall not
be so used," said Herbert, as he took possession of the parcel.

Le Noir then took up the second packet, which was much smaller, but
much more firmly secured, than the first, being in an envelope of
parchment, sealed with three great seals.

Le Noir held it in his hand for a moment, gazing from the surgeon to
the chaplain, and thence down upon the mysterious packet, while spasms
of pain convulsed his countenance. At length he spoke:

"This second packet, Greyson, contains a--well, I may as well call it a
narrative. I confide it to your care upon these conditions--that it
shall not be opened until after my death and funeral, and that, when it
has served its purpose of restitution, it may be, as far as possible,
forgotten. Will you promise me this?"

"On my honor, yes," responded the young man, as he received the second
parcel.

"This is all I have to say, except this--that you seemed to me, upon
every account, the most proper person to whom I could confide this
trust. I thank you for accepting it, and I believe that I may safely
promise that you will find the contents of the smaller packet of great
importance and advantage to yourself and those dear to you."

Herbert bowed in silence.

"That is all, good-by. I wish now to be alone with our chaplain," said
Colonel Le Noir, extending his hand.

Herbert pressed that wasted hand; silently sent up a prayer for the
dying wrong-doer, bowed gravely and withdrew.

It was almost eight o'clock, and Herbert thought that he would scarcely
have time to find Traverse before the drum should beat to quarters.

He was more fortunate than he had anticipated, for he had scarcely
turned the Grand Cathedral when he came full upon the young ensign.

"Ah! Traverse, I am very glad to meet you! I was just going to look for
you. Come immediately to my rooms, for I have a very important
communication to make to you. Colonel Le Noir is supposed to be dying.
He has given me a parcel to be handed to you, which I shrewdly suspect
to contain your intercepted correspondence for the last two years,"
said Herbert.

Traverse started and gazed upon his friend in amazement, and was about
to express his astonishment, when Herbert, seeing others approach, drew
the arm of his friend within his own, and they hurried silently on