he circumstances which
we cannot control, than by hasty opposition to lose the little influence
we may possess with those in power. But see the moonlight reflected from
the steeple of yonder church. We are within sight of Jamestown, and you
will be soon at liberty. And oh! Virginia," he said sorrowfully, "if it
should be decreed in the book of fate, that when we part to-night we
part forever, and if the name of Hansford be defamed and vilified, you
at least, I know, will rescue his honour from reproach--and one tear
from my faithful Virginia, shed upon a patriot's grave, will atone for
all the infamy which indignant vengeance may heap upon my name."

So saying, he spurred his horse rapidly onward, until he overtook Bacon,
who, with the precious burden under his care, as usual, led the way. And
a precious burden it might well be called, for by the light of the moon
the reader could have no difficulty in recognizing in the companion of
the young general of the insurgents, our old acquaintance, Mrs. Temple.
In the earlier part of their journey she had by no means contributed to
the special comfort of her escort--now, complaining bitterly of the
roughness of the road, she would grasp him around the waist with both
arms, until he was in imminent peril of falling from his horse, and then
when pacified by a smoother path and an easier gait, she would burst
forth in a torrent of invective against the cowardly rebels who would
misuse a poor old woman so. Bacon, however, while alike regardless of
her complaints of the road, the horse, or himself, did all in his power
to mollify the old lady, by humouring her prejudices as well as he
could; and when he at last informed her of the plan by which she and her
daughter would so soon regain their liberty, her temper relaxed, and she
became highly communicative. She was, indeed, deep in a description of
some early scenes of her life, and was telling how she had once seen the
bonnie young Charley with her own eyes, when he was hiding from the
pursuit of the Roundheads, and how he commended her loyalty, and above
all her looks; and promised when he came to his own to bestow a peerage
on her husband for his faithful adherence to the cause of his king. The
narrative had already lasted an hour or more when Hansford and Virginia
rode up and arrested the conversation, much to the relief of Bacon, who
was gravely debating in his own mind whether it was more agreeable to
hear the good dame's long-