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violent contrasts. The lightning flash would soon cease to rouse us if it were not for the afterclap of thunder. No doubt the cold outside the White House was most enjoyable, but what was it to the warmth inside? The fiery stove, the double windows, the heated atmosphere, the steaming coffee, the savoury cakes, and the blooming paper flowers, made up a new scene of bliss; and when the three fiddlers of Ebersdorf made their appearance, it was with a positive shudder that the revellers looked out of window at the frozen solitude where they had all been so happy a few minutes before.

The sad hour of parting came at last, and with a mournful shiver the guests emerged into the biting air. True love might have enabled the sufferers to be happy even after they were expelled from the Garden of Eden of the White House; but, alas, true

love is very rare. Long before they reached Eichelskamp little Charlotte had quarelled with Karl; and on the following Sunday when the young ladies and gentlemen met on their way to their different churches, Fanny positively made a grimace at the disgusted Wilhelm.

The last sledge to leave the White House was a large one with two horses, driven tandem-fashion by Dr. Schlagen weit. By his side sat Edward, and behind were Florence and Flora, Captain Draper, and Lieutenant Eberstein. Dr. Schlagenweit was rather a theoretical than a practical whip; he was a learned man and had opinions of his own as to the management of the chariots in the Olympic games; but as a general rule horses objected to his direction, and refused to obey his guidance. It was so now. Instead of proceeding in the way he was intended to go, the leader turned round and tried to look the shaft horse in the face, and the latter immediately backed into a snowdrift. Something cracked, but there was no time to see what it was, and the stableman having placed the horses with their noses in the right direction, gave an encouraging shout, and away they went, and Dr. Schlagen. weit explained to Edward the true principles of coachmanship. For a quarter of an hour all went well, but then the forepart of the sleigh gave way, and some of the harness and woodwork dangled about the horses' heels, and they set off iu a mad gallop. The unexpected jerk dragged the reins from the hands of the philosophic doctor, and before he had time to arrange his ideas, a sudden tilt sent him flying through the air.

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Sit still!" cried Edward; "there is no danger."

Florence grew pale, and Captain Draper tried to look as if danger was the natural element of an Englishman. Lieutenant Eberstein slipped his arm round Flora's waist, and Flora began to scream. It was in vain the gallant gentleman tried to soothe her.

"we share at least the danger

"Calm thyself," he said, between us. Behold I scream not!"

"It's not your danger I am screaming for," cried poor Flora; it's my own.' And then she screamed louder than ever.

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Another jerk half upset the sledge, and Flora disappeared into one of the heaped-up snowdrifts by the roadside.

"My beloved!" exclaimed the Lieutenant, who forgot all caution in his despair, "I can die with thee!" and away he went head-foremost after his too lovely "Mees."

It was no time for the other passengers to pay much attention, though, to the wild words of the Lieutenant, for a sudden turn of the road brought matters to a climax. Over went the sledge at last, and the Captain, Florence, and Edward were prostrate on the ground.

"Not hurt, Florence?" inquired the Captain eagerly, as he got upon his feet.

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'No," she replied; "where is Mr. Chalmers ?"

"Here he is," said the Captain. "By Jove, I'm afraid he is hurt."

Florence rushed up and knelt down by his side. His face was white, and blood was trinkling from his forehead. "Mr. Chalmers!" she cried frantically. Heaven, he is dead! and it is all my fault. that I should help to kill him!"

"Speak to us! Oh, What did he ever do

"Hush, for mercy's sake," said the Captain. "He is not dead; he is coming round. How are you, Mr. Chalmers? Better now, eh ?"

"I think I am not hurt; only a little stunned by the fall. Where is Miss Huntingdon. I shall never forgive myself if she has come to any harm.”

"She's all right,-Not hurt, are you, Florence?"

"Not in the least," replied the girl, who had recovered her usual manner. "If Doctor Schlagenweit and Flora and Lieutenant Eberstein are not injured, it is hardly worth talking about."

"Here comes my father, and behind them Eberstein and Miss Masterton," cried Edward. "Your next Shakespeare reading, father, should be,' All's Well that's Ends Well!'"

"The end is not yet," replied the Doctor solemnly.

"Much

will be said about this unfortunate affair when we reach home, and it will not be said to the abominable horses but to me! I shall not forget this night in a hurry. It is easy for you to talk; you are single. Alas, the married are not permitted to forget!"

CHAPTER XXIV.

CONFESSION.

A WEEK after the sleighing party Captain Draper rejoined his friends, the Huntingdons at Berlin. He dined with them on the day of his return, and when Mrs. Huntingdon had retired, Geoffrey said, "Where have you been, Draper, if it is not a secret?"

"I've been thinking it over, Huntingdon, and I believe I had better tell you; for there is a secret, and a very disagreeable one for all parties. What I have to say may lead to all sorts of unpleasantness; but it must be said."

"What on earth are you driving at, Draper? You have not seen any more ghosts, have you?"

"Ah, Geoffrey, you laughed at ghosts, and said the past never came back; but you were wrong-it is coming back now!"

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Nonsense, old fellow, take some more wine. I never saw you so low-spirited before-what on earth has frightened you?”

“I am afraid, Huntingdon; but it is not on my own account. I fear for you."

"Good Heavens! What do you mean?"

"You shall hear.

You and I have been old friends, Geoffrey, and I don't forget, and won't forget, that once you saved me from despair, and perhaps disgrace, in that wretched gambling business when I first joined the regiment. Never mind that, I don't want to quarrel with yon; but you have treated me badly!"

"Speak out, Draper, let us get it over and have done with it. What do you complain of ?"

"You remember that when I came over to Berlin I asked you if you had taken my name when you were away in New Zealand, and you acknowledged that you had done so, and you begged my pardon; Geoffrey, you denied that you had sullied it! You told me you knew nothing of any person of the name of Chalmers !"

"I did. In one sense the denial was not true, but I answered as any accused person has a right to answer-I pleaded 'Not guilty.' Don't mistake me, Draper, if you only were aggrieved, I might have been more open with you; but there were others to consider, I could not act differently, and I would do so again. I would repeat, Not guilty. Please, tell me what are your reasons for thinking I acted dishonourably?"

"Don't use that word, Huntingdon-it would break off all between us if I asserted and you resented a want of honour; I want to remain your friend, and to help you if I can. I only say you behaved badly to me when you only told me half the truth about your change of name in New Zealand. It is on my own

account I speak. If you are guilty I can forgive you; but I want to serve you, and I shall find it difficult without you confess the whole truth."

"Tell me, Draper, what has brought the subject up again. Where have you been-what have you heard?"

"I have been to Eichelskamp, and this is what took me there," replied the Captain, as he handed Geoffrey his daughter's letter. He read it, and then remained very quiet for more than a minute with his head resting on his hand.

"Did you ever meet this Mr. Fortescue?" he asked, after a pause. "Was it he that first told you about Alice Chalmers ?" His voice was hoarse and husky, and he spoke in a half whisper.

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"No," replied Captain Draper. I heard the story first from the Doctor down at Silverbeach, although he never mentioned your name."

"Please tell me, Draper, what he said?" and then the Captain repeated the Doctor's narrative.

"Yes," said Geoffrey, slowly, as he raised his head and looked Draper steadily in the face; "he has not exaggerated much. Hear what I have to say, I drifted into this evil. just as Alice did. I am not excusing myself. I know what the world would say what you will say. I was a married man, and she was but a simple, childish thing. I knew the world and she did not, and I should have spared her! It is all true-I did not spare her. How could I? You know, Draper, why I left England, how all my faith was shaken at that time in one whom I really loved; but you cannot guess how my trouble hardened me. I was a reckless, desperate man when I met Alice Chalmers. I had no home, no country, no place in society, and no faith in God or man. I had done with civilisation, and I acted like a savage; but I never plotted nor planned her ruin--that is the whole truth, Draper, so far as I know it. Are you still my friend?"

"Yes. You behaved badly, but God knows whether any of our set would have behaved differently. If you are to suffer for the past, I, for one, will stand by you." Huntingdon held out his hand, which Draper took.

"I intended to stand alone," said Geoffrey; "but I am glad you know all."

"Not quite all yet, Geoffrey. This Mr. Fortescue and Dr. Sharper both insist upon it that you married Alice--is it so ?"

"Yes, it is true: I thought she was dying, and I could not refuse her so I ruined myself."

"But, good Heavens, Geoffrev! suppose they can prove this?" "They cannot, the marriage was performed in a private house, by a clergyman who has long been dead; and if Alice kept the

certificate, it was lost when she perished on her voyage home. What does this Edward Chalmers want, Draper?"

"He wants to meet the real Horace Draper face to face, and make him confess or deny the marriage."

"How very strange that he should ask Florence to assist him!" said Geoffrey.

Yes; but how much more strange that you should have met this Mr. Fortescue, and that he should be a friend of young Chalmers; and then to think of her showing him that water.colour drawing of you."

"Has Florence got a likeness of me?"

"Yes, a sketch taken when you were a young man."

"There is a fate in this," groaned Geoffrey. "I remember that Fortescue, who was a fellow-passenger in the ship I went to New Zealand in, did take a likeness of me. I thought I had destroyed it years ago."

"I wish you had," sighed Draper; "for I have had to tell more stories about this business than I ever told before in all my life. I told Florence that other Horace Draper was my own brother, and begged of her not to get him transported! Then we persuaded young Chalmers to stop for a sleighing party until we knew this Fortescue must have left England, and the young fellow returned the likeness; and so all danger is over for the present." Geoffrey gave a sigh of relief.

"Where does this young fellow live?" he inquired, after a pause. "Is he always at Eichelskamp?"

"No, very seldom; he has been brought up in a merchant's house in London, and in a few months he starts to manage a branch house in New Zealand. It looks as if all danger was over, and yet I cannot get it out of my head that mischief is brewing somewhere."

"I cannot see where," replied Mr. Huntingdon-"I suppose you mean from Dr. Sharper; but he is not the man to take such a revenge as that. He cursed me once to my face for a villain, and I had to bear it; he had his revenge then, and he knew it. Besides, I have spoken to him since. I saw him privately for a minute at Greylings, and the man has forgiven me; he almost looked as if he pitied me. Draper, if he knew all he might. I told you once that I defied the past-it was an idle boast. I thought it had done its worst long ago, when it nearly broke my heart. I have never recovered the effects of that mad act. It was not the siu, nor the wrong, no, nor Alice's death that broke me down. Other men sin and get no punishment-other girls are weak and die young; but I was fool enough to break the law, and make myself a criminal, to please that girl. I did not think there was much risk: she seemed on the point of death, and then, when I had done a good

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