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versed a great part of the castle, till he arrived at a small apartment near to the servant’s offices.

The page opened the door softly, and observed Namine sitting at work in the room. With a noiseless step he peeped in, and before Namine was aware of his presence, he laid his hand lightly upon her arm.

Namine started, and would have screamed, but the page immediately placed his hand over her mouth and smothered the sound.

"Oh, Euphoric," cried Namine, "is it really you?"

"It is," answered the page. "Come, Namine, tell me more more?"

He stood opposite the girl, in an attentive attitude, as he spoke.

"Dear me, Euphoric," cried Namine, "why you must have taken leave of your wits."

"More! More!" cried the page, vehemently. "Tell me more, I say."

"Oh," answered Namine, "I don’t know any more, and if I did, you frighten one, and I am sure I should forget it."

"Namine," said the page, "you know you are extremely beautiful."

"Oh, dear," said Namine, "that’s the way with you, Euphoric. You have not been in the castle but two days, and you have told me that at least a hundred times already. I am sure, for my part, I don’t know what Francisco would say if he was only just to happen to hear you."

"He would not deny it, you know," said the page, "and say you were ugly."

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"Ugly!" cried Namine, "I should like to hear Francisco call me ugly."

"Then, beautiful Namine," replied the page, "tell me more. More, more."

"Why, what a very curious little body you must be," said Namine. "You must know everything about the castle."

"Everything, yes, everything, good Namine," cried the page. "Tell me, I beg of you, all you know of everything that has ever happened here."

"Why, for that matter, Euphoric," said Namine, "it’s little enough I know myself. All I know, I have at different times heard from Alithee."

"Tell it me. Tell it to me," again cried the page; "and particularly about the the "

"The what?" said Namine. "Dear me, Euphoric, don’t look so very horrid!"

"I mean the Italian gentleman," said Euphoric, in a low tone.

"Oh, you like to hear about him, I suppose, because you are an Italian yourself?" said Namine.

"That is the reason," answered the page.

"Well, then, I’ll tell it you, just as Alithee has often told it to me."

"Do, Namine.—Do, quickly," cried Euphoric.

"Well, then, don’t keep putting me out," said Namine, "by your starts and jumps, Euphoric, or else I can’t tell it at all. I declare you flurry me a great deal more than even Francisco does."

"I will be still, Namine," said the page, impatiently. "Go on, go on."

"Well then, you must know, Alithee tells me it was about a week after the first baroness’s death, that, about the close of the evening, a horn blew at the castle gate."

"It was in the depth of winter," interrupted the page.

"Winter!" said Namine. "Bless me so it was, for the ground was covered with snow."

"I knew it," said the page, mournfully.

"Well, you must know," continued Namine, "it was found to be your master, Count Durlack, and another gentleman, who wanted admittance to the castle."

"And the other gentleman?" said the page.

"He was an Italian, the porter said."

"Hah!" cried the page, "with a noble carriage?"

"I can’t say, answered Namine; "but I do declare, Euphoric, you put me all in a twitter. You make me forget what I was saying, and your eyes are like two coals."

"Go on, go on, Namine."

"Well, the baron seemed quite pleased to see them, and particularly the strange gentleman, and they all three drank a great deal of wine. Well, Alithee heard the baron say to the strange gentleman:

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" ‘So you have, I hear, been quite successful, and your just claims are settled?’

" ‘Oh yes,’ said the count, ‘my friend carries about him the large sum which he has this day received from the royal exchequer.’"

"Go on, Namine, go on," cried the page.

"Well, I’m going on, ain’t I? Then the count, he goes on to say, ‘I advised my friend to claim your hospitality, baron, instead of risking his life and fortune by a night journey through the forests, which abound with banditti.’"

The page groaned.

"Why, what’s the matter with you?" cried Namine. "What a creature you are."

"Go on, good Namine," said the page. "I pray you, go on."

"Well then," continued Namine, "Alithee says they drank a lot more wine, and got very merry, and at last, began playing with dice. Well, Alithee was sitting in this very room, when she heard a terrible noise in the baron’s room, in which they were playing and drinking as fast as they could."

The countenance of Euphoric betrayed the deep interest he took in the narration, and he motioned with his hands for Namine to proceed.

"So," continued Namine, "Alithee went into the passage and listened, and she heard the strange gentleman say:

" ‘What! beggared in the moment of my success and triumph?’ Then the count, he said:

" ‘Do you doubt my honour?’

"Alithee says she could not hear distinctly what was then said for some little time, but she heard a sort of scuffling noise."

Deep sighs burst from the page.

"What is the matter?" cried Namine, much alarmed. "Oh, dear! oh, dear! Euphoric, you look so very ill. Shall I call anybody?"

"No, no, Namine," said the page. "Find me some water, I I am not quite well, a sudden spasm, water, water."

Namine, in a great fright, brought him some water, and Euphoric, after some few minutes, seemed considerably better.

"How are you now?" said Namine; "I declare you’ve quite frightened me."

"I am better, good Namine, much better," said the page. "Pray go on, go on."

"Oh, you are too tender-hearted to have anything told you. I can’t think of saying any more. Oh dear, no."

"Nay, good Namine," said the page, "it was not your story that overpowered me, it was a sudden spasm to which I am subject. Pray go on."

"Well then, Alithee heard a scuffling noise, as, as if people were struggling together, and as you may imagine, she was dreadfully alarmed."

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"Doubtless," answered the page.

"When the door suddenly opened, and the count looked out and said:

" ‘Lights! lights!’"

"Had they been in darkness?" said the page.

"No; Alithee says they had had plenty of lights, but she thinks they were overturned in the fray they were all having together."

"Well, when she brought the lights, the Count Durlack took them himself of her at the door of the room and said:

" ‘Begone. You will not be again wanted to-night.’"

"And did she hear nothing further?" asked the page.

"No, nothing at all," said Namine. "Alithee says she sat up a long time after that, but she heard nothing."

"No voices?"

"Nothing at all. The baron never went to bed, nor the count, nor the strange gentleman, to her knowledge."

"And," said the page, "did she not see him again?"

"No, never."

"Did no one see him?"

"No one ever saw him leave the castle. In the morning, the baron said, in the hearing of the servants:

" ‘Your friend, count, was in a great hurry. I was forced to let him out of the castle at early day break this morning.’

" ‘Indeed!’ replied the count; ‘but I knew he was in haste.’"

"And was this believed?" asked the page.

"No, Euphoric, it was not, and the servants had their own ideas about it, I can tell you. Some thought one thing, and some another, but they all considered that there was something uncommonly odd about the whole business."

"No one saw the stranger leave, Namine?"

"No one whatever. Some say he never left Zindorf Castle at all."

"He never did, Namine," cried Euphoric.

"Well, so says Alithee. She says she could take her oath he never left the castle, for she saw his horse the very next day in the stable, and knew it again directly, for she had seen it over night."

"He was murdered!" cried the page.

"Ah!" said Namine, "folks do say your master don’t stop at anything."

"Murdered by Count Durlack!" cried the page. "I thought it."

"Well, to tell the truth," continued Namine, "I thought there was something very strange about the whole affair, and I should not at all wonder but the poor gentleman lost his life in trying to defend his money."

"It was so. It must have been so," cried Euphoric. "He was decoyed to this abode of crime, this murderer’s den, and sacrificed for the sake of the gold which he carried with him, from the tardy justice of the court."

"But what could they have done with him?" said Namine.

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"That remains to be discovered," cried Euphoric. "There are hundreds of hiding places for a black deed in this edifice."

"There are the vaults," said Namine.

"Yes," answered the page, "there are the vaults. I will explore the vaults."

"You, Euphoric?"

"Yes, Namine, I. Let me beg of you to say as little as possible about this matter to any one. I long to discover the fate of this this unfortunate gentleman."

"Well, to be sure!" cried Namine. "I would not venture into the vaults, no, not for all the money that ever was. I would not go for a new satin dress all covered with pearls and diamonds."

"Namine," said the page, "I thank you for your recital. I feel an interest in the fate of this countryman of my own."

"Well, now do tell me, Euphoric, what was the meaning of all that trumpet blowing and quarelling before the castle, this morning?"

"The baron and the count," said Euphoric, "are both summoned to court, to answer for something they have done."

"Goodness, gracious;" cried Namine, "is it possible?"

"It is," said Euphoric. "Their career is nearly at a close. Namine, do not repeat what I now say to you, but the baron and the count are accused of many crimes."

"Oh, dear! oh, dear! What will they be done to?"

"The count," said the page. "The Count Durlack will be stabbed to the heart."

"Oh, how dreadful;" cried Namine.

"I know not the baron’s fate. Farewell, Namine, I thank you."

"Well, you are the strangest young man I ever came near," said Namine, as Euphoric left the room. "Now, Francisco, he always wants to kiss me when he goes away; not that I like it, or wish it and yet ah, well, it’s no matter."

Euphoric when he left Namine, sought the turret in which was his own bedchamber, and throwing himself wildly upon his couch, he burst into a passion of tears, then rising and dashing from his eyes the drops, he unsheathed his poniard, and grinding his teeth together, while his whole slight frame seemed convulsed with passion, he muttered; "Revenge! revenge! blood for blood. Revenge! Count Durlack, beware! your days are numbered. You are in the meshes of a web woven by deadly vengeance and hatred. The hour of vengeance is at hand. Blood for blood! blood for blood. Be firm, Euphoric, be firm."

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CHAPTER XXVI.

HARDLY had the sound occasioned by the locking of the door of the anti-room ceased, when Caroline flew with eagerness to the panel and stood upon the turret stairs.

Claudio and Maurice had heard voices in the chamber of Caroline, and it was with the utmost difficulty that Claudio could be restrained from rushing down the stairs to her assistance, in case she should require aid.

"Claudio, Claudio," said Maurice, "be calm. You may involve yourself and her, whom you love, in destruction, by any premature step."

It will be recollected by the reader that Caroline abstained from creating any alarm, fearing that such a course of conduct might induce Claudio to descend to the apartment to the hazard of his life, and certainly to the loss of his liberty, for what could even his bravery accomplish against the fearful odds he would have had to encounter?

The dead silence which ensued after Caroline’s departure from the chamber was, if possible, more agonizing to Claudio than any disturbance could have been.

"Oh," cried he, "Maurice, if she has been dragged to some other part of the castle, where I can find no means of access to her?"

Maurice knew not what to reply, for the stillness that reigned in the chamber below thus was as inexplicable to him as to Claudio.

"I know not what to think, Claudio," said Maurice. "If it be true, that Caroline Mecklenburgh is, by the arbitrary commands of the baron, removed from this part of the castle, still we should not despair of discovering the place of her confinement."

"We will discover it," cried Claudio, "be it where it may."

"Hark!" cried Maurice, "there appears to be some singular commotion at the castle gates."

"Heaven be thanked," cried Claudio. "The castle seems to be quite beleaguered. Hear you, Maurice, those trumpet blasts?"

"I do," cried Maurice. "There is hope, I know not why, in the sounds. I could almost swear that trumpet was blown by friends to the oppressed."

The turret in which Claudio and Maurice were secreted, did not command a view of the front of the castle, and they could only hear the sounds of the trumpet, and now and then a word of the dialogue which ensued.

They heard the splash of Sir Gaston de Beauvais steed in the moat, and Claudio was lost in conjecture as to what could be the meaning of the singular proceedings which were evidently taking place before the ancient castle.

Thus racked by a thousand pains and anxieties passed the tedious period of Caroline Mecklenburgh’s absence to the enamoured Claudio. A hundred times he resolved, at all hazards, to descend to the panel entrance and

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convince himself of the fact of Caroline’s absence from the chamber in which she had been a prisoner, and as often was he restrained by Maurice, who represented to him, in the most moving terms, the risk he would run of compromising himself by proclaiming his presence, and thus entirely prevent himself from being of the slightest service to Caroline, hereafter, when she might require the greatest and most effective aid and assistance. If she be removed, urged Maurice, there is no present remedy but patience and the utmost caution in discovering the place of her retreat.

Suddenly Claudio started from his desponding attitude.

"Listen, Maurice," he said. "Listen; do you hear nothing?"

"There is a footstep in the chamber," answered Maurice, "but, beware, Claudio, it may be that of a foe, as likely as a friend."

"No," cried Claudio, in a tone of voice, higher than prudence would have dictated. "No, Maurice, I know that step ‘tis she ‘tis she."

"Be tranquil," said Maurice, "I will stand upon the staircase and listen."

"Do, good Maurice, do," said Claudio. "I am too much agitated myself to do so with sufficient caution. Hasten, Maurice, hasten."

Maurice had his hand on the handle of the door, when a knock sounded as if from without, and he started back in some alarm.

Claudio knew that knock well. He flew to the door and flung it impatiently open.

In the entrance stood Caroline, an additional beauty imparted to her cheeks by the flush which still remained from her excitement in the scene which she had gone through so recently at the warden’s tower.

"Caroline, dear Caroline," cried Claudio.

Caroline smiled and entered the room, then looking at Claudio, she said, with a saddened air and manner, "Claudio! what has happened? You look pale and anxious."

"Nothing," replied Claudio, "dearest, now that you are restored to me."

"You knew that I was taken from my chamber?"

"My heart guessed it," said Claudio, "and the suspicion that you were removed from me almost stopped its beating."

"Oh, Claudio;" cried Caroline, "I have passed through a scene of terror within this last hour."

"Of terror, Caroline?" said Claudio. "Has the villain Durlack again dared to press his hateful and insulting suit?"

"No; not that," answered Caroline; "but I cannot tell you all now. I must leave you and seek my chamber."

"Wherefore, dearest?"

"It is near the hour of noon, and I shall be missed. Oh, Claudio, how I dread a search in this turret."

"Nay, dread it not, Caroline," said Claudio. "For the future, and let us hope that that future will be short, Maurice and I will keep the trap-

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door open. Then in case of any alarm we can elude detection. No one would pursue us through the dreary vaults of Zindorf."

"Do so," said Caroline, "and I will give you some signal of the approach of any one to your turret chamber."

"We can hear any voice upon the staircase, if its tones be loud," said Maurice.

"Then," said Caroline, "should you hear me say the innocent will triumph, you will at once betake yourselves to the vaults."

"We will, dearest," said Claudio. "For your sake we will."

"The ruffian, Roland," said Caroline, "about this hour brings me my mid-day meal. I must leave you for a brief space, Claudio."

"Oh, Caroline," cried Claudio, "how different is the aspect of this place when you are present, to what it is in your absence."

Caroline now left the turret and gained her own chamber.

Hardly had she done so, when the door of the anti-room was unlocked, and Roland appeared, accompanied by Euphoric, bearing a tray with an ample repast.

Roland scowled at her as he entered, and, in fact, since Caroline had struck his arm in the warden’s tower, and spoilt his aim at the life of the gallant Sir Gaston de Beauvais, he had cast at her looks of the most malignant hatred.

Caroline spoke not, and the repast was laid upon the table in silence.

If there was any one thing about which Caroline was not disposed to utter any complaint, it was about the manner in which she was served with provisions.

It was not the policy of either the Baron Zindorf or Count Durlack to irritate the mind of Caroline by the petty annoyances of personal privation. The safety of her person was evidently the only object they had in view in making her even a prisoner in her own room. Everything else was as usual. If the baron did not, the count at least knew well, that firm and exalted minds were never subdued by petty privations, and he thought himself much more likely to succeed in the suit for Caroline’s hand, which he considered to be so important to his interests by perseverance of another character than personal inconvenience. Nay, he rather regretted than otherwise the necessity of imprisoning Caroline, as he justly thought that circumstance tended to keep alive a feeling of aggravation inimical to his views; but for that there was, he felt conscious, no resource.

Caroline, the moment she was left alone, flew to the tray, and loading herself with as much of its contents as she could carry, she rapidly passed through the panel, and ascended the turret stairs to Claudio’s chamber.

"The Baron Zindorf," she said, smiling, "is hospitable beyond his intentions."

"Nay, Caroline," said Claudio, "I much fear you deprive yourself of that sustenance which you require yourself."