pertaining to the order and etiquette of a feast has no
superior, and I do cordially recommend him, in case he shall
ever leave my employment, as an honest, upright, and
faithful man, and worthy of my regard.

BERNON BURCHARD.

This he handed to Maguire with the remark that if it was not
sufficiently comprehensive he might dictate such an one as he desired
and he would sign it. Maguire, perceiving that his employer was not in
a talkative mood, quietly left the room. As he left, Mrs. Burchard
came into the library and sat down to talk over the dinner-party. Both
agreed that it was a great success, and that Maguire was a jewel. Mrs.
Burchard began to laugh, and then asked, "Did you observe that pickle,
my dear?"

"What about the pickle?"

"Why, the pickle which Mr. Malcolm took happened to have a cut nail
extending the full length of it. Now, my dear, do you suppose that
nail could have grown in the cucumber? Ha, ha! What an entertaining
man he is, and what a fund of anecdote, and how well he tells a story;
and yet I don't fancy him. Those bills of fare in Hebrew, Greek, and
Latin, how did--"

The door-bell rang and Mr. Sidney was announced. "Thank God!"
exclaimed Mr. Burchard. So rejoiced was he that his whole frame
trembled with emotion and tears trickled down his face. Grasping his
hand with both his own, he asked, "You received my telegram, then?"

"No."

"Then what brought you here so soon?"

Mrs. Burchard perceiving the conversation was not free in her
presence, quietly left the room, when Mr. Sidney assumed a grave
demeanor and said: "Mr. Burchard, I have always believed you eminently
an honorable and honest man, and do so still. Do you grant this of
me?"

"Yes, but if you did not receive my telegram, what brought you here
to-night, for I am aware of the necessity you are under to be
elsewhere?"

"I told you I should soon return," said Mr. Sidney, "for I feared that
you might compromise yourself to an unpardonable degree with the
scamps by whom you have been surrounded, and the thought of it so
weighed upon my mind that when I met the train at New Haven bound
eastward I determined to come again to you and inform you of your
peril."

"I am not aware that I am in any peril."

"If you were aware of it you would be safe, and your lack of knowledge
is the reason of my return."

"Have you any information of what has transpired since last evening?"
inquired Mr.