July, 1881.
THE WEST SHORE.
99
road, and almost hidden front night by
immensely high fences. Ye gods!
thought I; and am I mippoftcd to hnve
jumped over these ? I wonder w ho the
fellow wait! what n ruler he must be, to
be sure ! I then approached the fences,
and separating the interlacing branches
canned the inclosure. I didn't look
long, for I perceived a young lady walk
ing near, in any thing but that mood
which Shakspeare describes as
" Maiden meditation, fancy free."
I no sooner caught sight of her than I
cautiously withdrew, fearing that if she
were to perceive me she might raise an
alarm, and really place ine in the pre
dicament which every body supposed
me to have been in on the previous
evening. As I turned round, to my
intense disconcertion and confusion I
saw two ladies issue from the park gnte,
whom I immediately recognized as
Annie and Aunt Julia. Now I had a
wholesome dread of Aunt Julia: con.
scions of an uninterrupted rectitude of
conduct during her whole life, 'she had
not the slightest leniency for the errors
of others, and though my presence
there was innocent enough in fact, to
their minds it must have been suspicious.
I determined nw to tell the truth, the
whole truth, etc., etc.
"Why," said Annie, stopping short,
"what are you doing here ngninT
" Studying the locality."
M Upon my word you take this re
markably coolly ; you first of all commit
a gross outrage upon propriety, leaving
me out of the question the want of
respect shown to me, anil then follow
it up by deliberately insulting me.
Studying the locality,' indeed I and
pray, if I may ask, with what object?"
" Yes, Sir,' said my aunt, in her turn
taking up the cudgels;14 has not your
extremely eccentric and extraordinary
breach of all laws, human and divine
ftrood Lord! how some people will ex
aeecratc!)," satisfied you have you not
dragged the name which you bear,
stainless until now, suihciently in the
mud? Has not
" Really, my dear aunt, I do ml think
vour violent reproaches are justified by
the facts. As to breaking all laws,
human and divine, even were I guilty
of the slight misdeanors attributed to
me"
"Which are 4 attributed ' to vou
broke in Annie. 44 Did you .ride out
here or not? Did you confess to have
jumped Trclawney's hedge, Heaven
knows for what purpose, except, per
haps" (here she began to sob), "per
il)'"
" To make love to his daughter,'
added mv sunt, stem! v. 44 1 can not
doubt it, let us leave him, my dear; he
it beneath your contempt.
"Stay. Annie: my dear aunt- one
word. This story of the ride this
trespass on Trclawney's ground I give
I never rode out here. I never was on
horseback in my life, I do assure you."
44 Do you mean to say, Mr. Charlton,"
said Annie, 44 that you were not speak
ing the truth, when you spoke ot this
excursion only this morning?"
44 1 confess to my shame that, for the
first time in my lite, I descended to
lalsehootl.
"With what motive ?"
"Merely to nrove to vou that tcllintr
fibs was easy, and that the merit you at
tched to the faculty was lictitious; but
yield the point now; in fact, I nm in
clined to agree with you."
44 Hut if this be true the stable-boy's
lescription vour coat too and then
here again, 4studying the locality
what for? what is the locality to yon?
No. no: I must lc on my lmihnI. II
you spoke falsely then, you may be do
ing so now; and if you spoke the truth
then, you must now be deceiving me, 1
have a richt to demand clear and ample
proof that what you now stale is true;
and until then it is, perhaps, as wen
that.we should not meet. Good-even,
in 2. Come, aunt."
Aunt Julia examined me through her
eye-gins, as though I were some pecu
liar nnimnl unknown to her tooiogy
and pasu-d on, leaving me, as may le
mautned, in a nice, comfortable, 1 may
say, rlysian state l mind. As soon as
. ...... H 1 1
they were out ol sight I sirniied back
into the town, reflecting tion what had
taken pliire.
Now the (lung was becoming serious.
I mutt take some action in the mallei.
So thinking as I went, I resolved upon
seeking out Charley, making to him a
full confession, and enlisting his services
to discover the real culprit.
I found Master Charley In my house
keeper's room, indulging in a ttttalttt
with the worthy old dame's grand
daughter, learning crochet, seated on 1
tool.
44 Halloa, my friend!" said he, on per
ceiving me, 44 here I am installed, you
see, the charming Rose teaching me to
read love in her eyesr
"Lor, Mr. Charles! How can you
such things? I was teaching him
crochet, sir," she said. 44 1 must either
stay with him or bo kissed before I
went, ami so"
44 You staid r said Charley, laughing;
44 and now that you art going, h
the kiss."
Hut the young lady was too sharp for
him, and all he got for his motion was
the door In his face..
"Charley." said I, "can you I
serious a moment ?"
"Well I'll try, if it is to oblige you,
-I I . II St'l.... ..-
"What up? Nothing is up! Every
thing Is down; my hopes are down;
my spirits are down."
"1 hen semi for some wine, and when
that is down 1 shall be grave aa a
judge."
"Yes but not as s.lrr. . So just 4lcrtd
me your ears' a minute." It is neediest
to recapitulate all that the reader aL
ready knows. I told him every thing
how I had determined to try the ex
pcrimcnt of lying: that 1 had left the
subject until the last moment; that torn)
extraordinary coincidence had by the
aid or my falsehood, identilleu me
with the trespasser in TrclawneyVi
grounds, etc., etc. ;-
Charley s astonishment knew no
hounds, and found vent in such exclama
tions as, "Lord blcsa me!" "You don't
say so!" "Extraordinary, indeed!"
"Wonderful!" "I never Iward the likeP,
and at last bursting into fit of uncoil
tradable laughter, he threw himself Into
an easy chair and rolled with emotion,
I bore t patiently for some time. At
last, however, I exclaimed, "Really.
Charley, I see nothing to laugh at:
your sister is very angry, and, as to in?
aunt, I fear 1 have lost her goou-will
forever, thouuh that la of less conse
quence; and 1 think, Instead of rolling-
about there In that idiotic way you
might suggest tome plan of tracing out
the aUiminable vidian who hat taken
so much pains to cast a slur upon my
name.
At this he only laughed the more.
Seeing, however, that I was becoming
very angry, he gasped out t
"One moment one moment I shall
recover. Ilalha?" (Another burst of
laughter.)
1 turned to leave the room, disgusted,
but he caught hold of me, saying :
"Stay, my dear Frank. This rascal,
this villain, this 4alMimlnabl' villain,
who has so terribly misused you,
was" .
"Who?"
II.myself! Ha! ha P aiMhm,
"You?" said I, in amaaement.
"Never soul else, lust listen, on
the memorable evening I came here to
ask the loan of your coat, aa the weather
was chilly, and I wanted particularly to
see Fanny Trclawney. I could find
you nowhere. I suppose you nwi riMi
den yourself to meditate on your lie
a SI .4 A I. 4
that was to I. I tnereiore too your
coat, hired Gardiner's mare, anu was.
the real tresspasser on J reiawney
premise. When, on the ensuing day,
you said you had been for ride, 1'
knew you were fibbing, for I was per. '
fectly aware you had wholesomt
horror of mounting Imrse. 1 led you ,
on, till I managed to Implicate you In
the affair of the evening lfore, awl
then stole out and replaced your coat."
Really, you behaved most handsomely
about those damage, uaina.
"Oh, laugh waf, confound yout
Hut then, that Idiot of stable-boy "
"Idiot? On the contrary, deuced
clever fellow. 1 knew there would I
trouble about my escapade; so on my
return I lipped him handsomely to put
any questioners on a Mise seem, ami
L. I..I ..l-i,
inum 1 1 im.i.ccmoj nj
"This may be Joke to you, Charley,
me there is not one worn 01 iniin in 11
you my word that as far as it implicates