The open window, the silvery light warring with the few streaks of crimson left by the setting sun, which glowed like a distant fire on the horizon; my mother, pale, motionless, lifeless, held up by the scared and breathless servants; the flaring, guttering taper, the frightened faces, the trembling hands, and the whispered exclamations of wonder, and old Michael's pitying cry of

"Take away the children-take away the children! for God's sake, take away the children!" all are indelibly daguerreotyped upon my memory.

We were hurried up to the nursery again; dragged off by the strange servants—fine young ladies in lace caps and pink ribbons, who spoke very slowly and softly, as we fancied, accustomed as we were to the short, sharp chatter of Morgan and Michael and our other Welsh retainers. Still they were very kind to us, and petted and soothed us to the best of their powers; but we were "loud in our wail," and not to be comforted, until our own dear old nurse made her she pacified us by saying, "Our dear mother was right well again—yes, sure: and had gone

appearance:

nicely to bed. She had only been sitting by the window and something had frit her-yes, sure; and we were to be good children and go to sleep and forget it all." An awful fib, which we accepted most religiously, and wise advice which we acted upon immediately; although the. "sandman" was rather longer in coming than usual, and we thought London a very noisy place, wondering whether the people always passed their nights there in ringing bells, rushing up and down stairs, screaming wildly, and laughing at intervals like hyenas.

CHAPTER III.

BENONI.

"He lived and died for glory.
She only lived for him!"

WHEN we awoke in the morning, the sun was pouring its noontide rays through the Venetian blinds of our strange but most luxurious nursery; and Morgan, her eyes suspiciously red and swollen, was standing by the window with a flannel bundle in her arms, which she instantly introduced to our notice as our 66 new brother." This introduction produced various effects upon the minds of her four astonished listeners. Otho, as the eldest, the biggest, and the most determined character, pronounced his opinion in few and by no means complimentary or even grammatical terms, de

claring that "it was as ugly as ugly;" and "we didn't want no more boys." Angelica wonderingly inquired where it could have come from; for Mrs. Perks wasn't here, and she always brought the new babies, didn't she?" Florence, with constitutional laziness, gave herself no further trouble about the matter, than to open her very large eyes wider than ever; whilst I, creeping up the side of my little crib, and peeping at the contents of the bundle with intense curiosity and eagerness, wound up the family welcome by a shout of, "Oh, Mordan! what a lickle udly sing! don't tate him away; dib him to me to moose me;" a request which she, wisely and after many careful injunctions, complied with.

My little brother was laid by my side; and from that day forth I seemed to have taken upon myself the office of being his defender, comforter, and confidante: an office in which I have never failed or faltered, and which I hope to continue in to the end of my life.

In about half an hour, a tall, portly gentleman in black, with a very hooked nose and a

very pale face, altogether strongly resembling an elderly condor in a respectable suit of mourning, came into our nursery and began to talk in an under tone to Morgan, whilst he inspected the baby.

I can scarcely remember whether he told her, or she told him, or if they told us, or if they told one another for our information-probably the latter; but somehow or other they contrived gradually to convey to our minds the idea that our father-our kind, gallant father-had fallen.

It seemed that on the previous evening my mother had entered the large drawing-room for the purpose of seeing that all was made safe for the night, and securely closing the windows which she had opened on her arrival. In the confusion occasioned by the exit of her relation's family the day before, and our own expected entrance the following evening, several newspapers had been left opened on the table. My mother naturally had taken up one of these. It proved to be a second edition of a paper dated the evening after the publication of the Gazette she had received in Wales. Unprepared for the blow which