regarding, as they were easily accounted for, by supposing my neighbour was going out on some occasion, and was considerately regulating his steps so as not to disturb the family; but, as I turned over on my pillow, I heard the same sound at the door of my room, and then a convulsive breathing, as of some person listening at the key-hole with an anxiety that increased the very agitation he sought to suppress. I lay perfectly still. Presently the breathing ceased, and I thought I could distinguish the footsteps taking the same direction as before. A horrid suspicion rushed across my brain-of what I know not, nor knew I then; but, though undefined, it was of something horrible, for I well remember the icy shivering that passed through my cheeks at the moment. I rose, and, throwing my morning-gown around me, opened the door. The passage was utterly dark. I listened attentively; no sound could be heard save the ticking of the clock in the hall below. I felt my way along the walls to the staircase, when, leaning over the balustrade, I saw a light shining which appeared to come from a remote part of the hall. It was stationary for a moment; then it seemed as though the candle or lamp' were taken up and carried into a room, or around the angle of another passage; for the bright light, which had partly illuminated the hall, moved rapidly, yet regularly, along the floor and walls, then disappeared, leaving merely a feeble glimmer like that of dawn, so that I could just distinguish the foot of the staircase. For one moment I hesitated. Then, recollecting the suspicious breathing at the door, I gathered my gown around me, and softly descended the stairs, gently placing, every now and then, the palm of my hand against the wall, to prevent my stumbling. Luckily I reached the bottom without making the least noise. I now perceived, with alarm, that the light issued from the room occupied by my host and his wife.-With a beating heart I glided rapidly through the entry. I entered the room. There, by the side of the bed where lay the good old man and his partner, stood the figure of Le Gendre completely dressed as for a journey. His back was towards me; but the light, from a little dark-lantern on the hearth, showed his left hand on the old man's watch (which hung at the head of the bed), and his right armed with a long poniard, which however he held beside him. I saw this at once, the moment I set my foot within the room; the very next moment, before I could advance another step, the robber withdrew his hand from the watch, and rapidly elevated the poniard as if to strike. It is probable that this action was merely used to discover if the old people were really asleep; for the man could not have been fool enough to design an unnecessary murder, which must immediately alarm the house and place his own life in jeopardy. But I had then no time for this cool reflection :-I saw the weapon elevated, and I forward with a loud cry. The villain attempted to turn; but it was now too late for him-his arms were already encircled in mine.At the same moment Le Bonhomme and his wife awoke, and the former sprang from the bed. sprang I found in Le Gendre I had to contend with a much stronger man than I had supposed him. His was one of those deceptive figures, which, to judge from their skeleton appearance, are scarcely able to support their own weight, but, in reality, are all nerve and muscle-and, in the absence of fat, possessed of prodigious activity. His arms, as I held them down, felt like iron. Besides this advantage in strength, the weapon he still held prevented my changing for a better the awkward hold I had upon him; for, the moment I should relax my grasp, my fate was certain. The struggle was fearful. Le Gendre spoke not a word; but he writhed his iron frame in every direction, endeavouring to throw me backward. However, if his strength was far superior to mine, his activity, great as it was, yielded to that which I possessed, and his efforts were for a few moments idle. At length he entangled one of his feet in my long morning-gown, and I fell backward, drawing him upon top of me. Just then, the old man cried out, "Hold him one moment longer, monsieur, and we are safe!" This cry precipitated my fate. The villain threw all his powers into one violent effort. My strength was already nearly exhausted;-the attempt suc. ceeded. He relieved himself from my arms-turned rapidly round-planted his knee upon my stomach-and, driving the poniard deeply into my left breast, near the shoulder, sprang upward to his feet. But at that instant a pistol was fired, and his brains were mingled with the blood that flowed profusely from my own wound. I was suffocating. The old man drew the dead body off me, covered decently my limbs, and supporting my head on his knees, staunched the wound with a handkerchief, while his wife, kneeling opposite him, tenderly wiped the mingled gore and matter from my face. By the side of her mother stood Nannette-her features white as the night-robe which enveloped her beautiful limbs, with her hands crossed before her, and her tearful eyes fixed upon my countenance with an expression that almost made me slight the pain I suffered. Around, on either side, were the domestics—with horrour, anxiety, or curiosity depicted in their various faces, according as they stood affected.-No one spoke. There was a dead silence for some seconds, when the gardener asked if he should not go to Paris for a surgeon. 0, his master. "O monsieur -this instant! in the name of God!" exclaimed !" the old man then added; but his looks expressed even more than these simple words, and his tears fell fast upon my cheeks. The wife too wept over me, raising my hand to her lips and kissing it. But the daughter stood still, as before. Luckily, to interrupt a scene like this, I recollected sufficient of my surgical studies to prescribe what ought to be done in my case, under its immediate circumstances. Nannette went for the requisite articles. I was lifted, and laid upon the old man's bed. Nannette returned, and bound the bandages, herself, with a steady hand. The next minute she fainted in her mother's arms. The surgeon arrived at daylight. He had skill, and was a man of some humour. "You have narrowly escaped, monsieur," he said; "but in a month I trust you will be well, with God's blessing-and so good a nurse," glancing his eye with a smile upon Nannette. For that time Nature completely triumphed with Nannette :-she looked at her mother inquiringly. "Yes," said Madame, "we all will nurse him—and God shall aid us." The old man could only utter "O monsieur!" as before, and burst into tears. The surgeon turned aside, he was a man of feeling too! "Tell me, monsieur," said I quickly, to my venerable friend, while I took his hand," how did you discover the real character of that unfortunate impostor soon enough to render me such prompt assistance?" "By his dress, the pistol thrust in his coat (which you did not perhaps notice, monsieur-), the poniard, and the little dark-lantern And then, monsieur,-we knew you." "True; I had forgotten the circumstances you men. tioned." "We hope you will forget all, monsieur, but the gray hairs you have twice saved, and the little family you have twice made happy. We never shall forget." “Peste!” swore the surgeon, taking a monstrous pinch of snuff, "I will be off without my breakfast, unless you quickly drop the curtain." CHAPTER III. Et plus quam vellem jam meus extat amor. Ille quidem malim lateat Sed male dissimulq; quis enim celaverit ignem, Ov.-Epist. THE catastrophe of the preceding chapter is easily explained. The trunk which the false Le Gendre had brought with him was found open, and partly filled-the rest of its contents being, probably, the valuable articles of clothing which were discovered packed up, together with a casket containing a necklace of noble pearls (doubtless, originally intended as a present to Nannette), in a small portmanteau, which the gardener and coachman, on going to the stable with the purpose of preparing the carriage to fetch the surgeon from Paris, found fastened on the finest of Mr. Le Bonhomme's horses,-the thief having saddled the animal and tied him to the stable-door ready for flight. The horrible suspicions excited by these circumstances were all confirmed the next day, in the following manner. Two young boys, in wandering through a wood, some miles distant from Mr. Le Bonhomme's residence, were surprised to find a deep. cylindrical hole, which had long been their favourite place of amusement, and which they had themselves partly dug, filled up, apparently with earth. Their curiosity induced them to throw off the earth for some inches, when they discovered a dead body buried, with its head downwards. This was identified, by many particulars, with the person of the real Charles Le Gendre. Moreover, the body of the robber was sworn to by an innkeeper, and several of his family, |