this time. I'll swear, boy, I
thought you had been helping Berkeley to put down that d--d renegade,
Bacon."

"I am surprised," said Hansford, with a forced, but uneasy smile, "that
you should suppose the Governor had entrusted an affair of such moment
to me."

"Zounds, lad," said the Colonel, "I never dreamed that you were at the
head of the expedition. Oh, the vanity of youth! No, I suppose my good
friends, Colonel Ludwell and Major Beverley, are entrusted with the
lead. But I thought a subordinate office--"

"You are mistaken altogether, Colonel," said Hansford. "The business
which detained me from Windsor Hall had nothing to do with the
suppression of this rebellion, and indeed I have not been in Jamestown
for some weeks."

"Well, keep your own counsel then, Tom; but I trust it was at least
business connected with your profession. I like to see a young lawyer
give his undivided attention to business. But I doubt me, Tom, that you
cheat the law out of some of the six hours that Lord Coke has allotted
to her."

"I have, indeed, been attending to the preparation of a cause of some
importance," said Hansford.

"Well, I'm glad of it, my boy. Who is your client? I hope he gives you a
good retainer."

"My fee is chiefly contingent," replied the young lawyer, sorely pressed
by the questions of the curious old Colonel.

"Why, you are very laconic," returned Temple, trying to enlist him in
conversation. "Come, tell me all about it. I used to be something of a
lawyer myself in my youth, didn't I, Bessy?"

"Yes, indeed," said his wife, who was nearly dozing over her eternal
knitting; "and if you had stuck to your profession, and not mingled in
politics, my dear, we would have been much better off. You know I always
told you so."

"I believe you did, Bessy," said the Colonel. "But what's done can't be
undone. Take example by me, Tom, d'ye hear, and never meddle in
politics, my boy. But I believe I retain some cobwebs of law in my brain
yet, and I might help you in your case. Who is your client?"

"The Colony is one of the parties to the cause," replied Hansford; "but
the details cannot interest the ladies, you know; I will confer with you
some other time on the subject, and will be very happy to have your
advice."

All this time, Alfred Bernard had been silently watching the countenance
of Hansford, and the latter had been unpleasantly conscious of the fact.
As he made the last remark, he saw the keen eyes of Be