tained to be the same with the owner of this fair domain. He had been
raised to the peerage by the decease of his father a few months before,
and, as the general learned from the landlord, the term of mourning being
ended, was now taking possession of his paternal estate, in the jovial
season of merry autumn, accompanied by a select party of friends, to enjoy
the sports of a country famous for game.

This was delightful news to our traveler. Frank Woodville had been Richard
Browne's fag at Eton and his chosen intimate at Christ Church; their
pleasures and their tasks had been the same; and the honest soldier's
heart warmed to find his early friend in possession of so delightful a
residence, and of an estate, as the landlord assured him with a nod and a
wink, fully adequate to maintain and add to his dignity.

Nothing was more natural than that the traveler should suspend a journey,
which there was nothing to render hurried, to pay a visit to an old friend
under such agreeable circumstances.

The fresh horses, therefore, had only the brief task of conveying the
general's traveling carriage to Woodville Castle. A porter admitted them
at a modern Gothic lodge, built in that style to correspond with the
castle itself, and at the same time rang a bell to give warning of the
approach of visitors.

Apparently the sound of the bell had suspended the separation of the
company, bent on the various amusements of the morning; for, on entering
the court of the chateau, several young men were lounging about in their
sporting dresses, looking at, and criticizing, the dogs which the keepers
held in readiness to attend their pastime.

As General Browne alighted, the young lord came to the gate of the hall,
and for an instant gazed, as at a stranger, upon the countenance of his
friend, on which war, with its fatigues and its wounds, had made a great
alteration. But the uncertainty lasted no longer than till the visitor had
spoken, and the hearty greeting which followed was such as can only be
exchanged between those who have passed together the merry days of
careless boyhood or early youth.

"If I could have formed a wish, my dear Browne," said Lord Woodville, "it
would have been to have you here, of all men, upon this occasion, which my
friends are good enough to hold as a sort of holiday. Do not think you
have been unwatched during the years you have been absent from us. I have
traced you through your dangers, your triumphs, your