u by the terrible event of H.'s death you had never
entered the world since; and, in fact, so averse to anything that might
recall the past that you had never administered to the will, nor assumed
any of your rights to property, and it would be well for him, if he
could, to arouse you out of this deadly lethargy, and call you back to
something like existence. This explained why I had taken the journey out
to America to meet him.' You will perceive, papa, that Mr. Trover knows
how to lie 'with the circumstance,' and is not unitarian in his notions
of falsehood.

"I am far from liking this visit of Mr. Winthrop. I wish from my heart
that his scruples had been less nice, and that he had been satisfied to
eat his cake without inquiring whether every one else had got his share;
but, as he is com-ing, we must make the best of it. And now, what
advice have you to give me? Of course, we cannot suffer him to come
here."

"Certainly not, Loo. We must have out the map, and think it over. Does
Trover tell you what amount the property may be worth?"

"He says that there are three lots. Two have been valued at something
over a million of dollars; the third, if the railroad be carried through
it, will be more valuable still. It is, he says, an immense estate and
in high productiveness. Let us, however, think of our cards, papa, and
not the stake; there is much to provide. I have no certificate of my
marriage with Hawke."

"That must be thought of," said he, musingly.

"Clara, too, must be thought of,--married, if possible, to some one
going abroad,--to Australia or New Zealand. Perhaps O'Shea." And she
burst out a-laughing at the thought.

"Or Paten. I 'd say Ludlow--"

A look of sickly aversion crossed his daughter's face at the suggestion,
and she said,--

"Nothing on earth would induce, me to consent to it."

The Captain might have regarded this as a woman's weakness, but he said
nothing.

"It will be very difficult for me to get away at this moment too," said
she, after a pause. "I don't fancy being absent while young Heathcote is
here. He will be making all manner of inquiries about Clara,--where she
is, with whom, and for what? If I were on the spot, I could suppress
such perquisitions."

"After all, dear Loo, the other is the great event I conclude, if all
goes smoothly about this work, you 'll never dream of the marriage with
Sir William?"

"Perhaps not," said she, roguishly. "I am not so desperately in love as