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like most birds do, they had just made the outline of the nest. Afterwards they enclosed the sides and top, near which they left the hole for the entrance. Sometimes they leave a bolt hole at the back also. They often choose queer places to build in," he added, as we came away; "I have heard of a wren that made her nest in the sleeve of an old coat, and you may sometimes find them in hollow trees, under old thatched roofs, in faggot heaps, and even in holes in the ground."

"There," said Charley, in a loud whisper, "there he is!" And just then we saw a tiny russet-brown bird, with a white breast, standing for an instant on a heap of stones, with its tail nearly erect, and jerking his whole body as if he were in a pet, and then he sang a snatch of a song, with a full rich mellow note.

"What a mite he is!" I said, as he vanished.

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Only about three inches and a half long," answered William, " and the female isn't as big."

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the fun is when the eggs are hatched to see the young ones get bigger and bigger every day-seven, and sometimes eight in one nest,-till at last it is so full that you wonder their parents can tell which is which when they feed them, and that some haven't to go out for lodgings. But here's old York coming down the hill, bringing something in his cap. Ill tell you a story about him if you like."

"Let's hear it," we exclaimed.

"Well, old York is a decent sort of fellow now, but years ago he was a very wild chap, and mixed with rather low people who came up from Northampton. He was rather fond, too, of drink, and he had a special liking for such as hadn't paid duty.

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One day a man whom he knew came to him in a sly, quiet sort of way, as if he meant a good deal more than he was quite willing to say. 'Dick,' says he, would you like to get hold of a little brandy--above proof-splendid stuff-never seen a gauger?' 'Yes,' answered Dick,

'can you put me up to any ?' 'Yes, I can; I've got a cask; you come down to my place and taste it. If you don't like it, don't you have it.' So away they went together; and the brandy was uncommonly good-the best, thought Dick, he'd ever tasted. To be sure it was a bigger cask than he would have cared to have, but it was very cheap, and at last a bargain was struck. The money was paid, the cask was put into a cart, covered over with potatoes, and arrived in safety in Dick's cellar, from whence a few select friends-who could keep a secret-were to be supplied at a most moderate price. That night half a dozen of these particular friends met together at Dick's house to have a prime glass, and two or three of them went with him into the cellar. Sure enough the cask was nearly full, and a large cask it was-enough to supply them all for months, and at a lower price than they had ever paid before. So with all the importance becoming so grave a matter, Dick put the jug to the tap, and turned it. A rush of golden liquor ran into the jug for half a minute, and then the supply rapidly grew less, and at length, to the amazement of all, it ceased altogether. How's this?' exclaimed Dick. A bad tap,' suggested one. Short and sweet,' said another. Blow up the tap,' a third proposed. But neither persuasion nor force availed to make the cask yield any more 'brandy above proof,' or brandy at all; and it was ultimately discovered that the seller had artfully inserted a gallon bottle of the best brandy just inside the part of the cask which was against the tap, and that the rest of the cask was filled withwater. Of course Dick's discomfiture was not diminished by the jokes and jibes of his friends: he dared not try to get his money back, for fear of being charged with trying to cheat the revenue; and the neighbours laughed among themselves, and laughed at poor Dick about his brandy above proof for years afterwards. And no one, I am told, enjoyed the story so much as the exciseman."

What followed I must tell in our next.

THE PRIDE OF

BY THE AUTHOR OF "CEDAR CREEK,"

XII.

A FULCRUM FOR THE LEVER.

AFTER the great Thought which signalised the year 1851 had cast itself in crystal, a crop of seedling Exhibitions sprang up in neighbouring countries, and all the world went forth to see. That mighty multitude which spreads existence in beholding and hearing some new thing was well pleased; and as Ireland contains perhaps rather more than the usual proportion of such, Ireland held her Exhibitions likewise in the metropolis and minor towns, to the undoubted advantage of her infantile manufactures.

Through the principal hall of such a place, crowded with pleasure-seekers and some few profit-seekers, Lancelot Latymer strolled one afternoon. His attention was arrested by a profuse tinkling and harmonious sweep of sound, following which to the source (and being like Saul in magnitude, above the popular shoulders), he saw a curled and oiled performer, with most alert eyes, standing on a platform, and having in his arms a harp, whence he elicited such music as his muchringed fingers could make; and very manifest it was that not the strains, but the provoker of the strains, was the real object of his showing forth. Fully he accomplished his purpose of making the bystanders wonder at his marvellous manipulation: like all second-rate artists, not his work, but himself, was to be admired.

With some derogatory thoughts of this music in favour of other simpler music which he bore in memory, Lancelot presently glanced round the ring of listeners. One face he recognised; but almost immediately it disappeared, being either merged in the crowd, or having withdrawn. He made his way round to the place, and could not find its owner, which chafed him somewhat. "I liked the fellow for his sturdiness," thought he. 64 Seems to me he had a strong dash of the Latymer pride, too, in

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THE LATYMERS.

FROM DARK TO DAWN IN ITALY," ETC.

his own way. An independent

fellow while here am I." Lancelot was very discontented with himself these times: he felt that he was that most helpless person, a gentleman without patrimony or power to make its equivalent; and he despised himself for what he could scarcely avoid, the looking to Lord Bar-sinister for help towards the often-promised, long-sought-for appointment.

Instituting a search through the building, Lancelot came upon the person he had seen, after he had given up expectation of finding him. A black-haired young man of low size was sitting on a bench, with his keen eyes bent upon a small machine in front of him; and so abstracted was he in contemplation, as to see and hear nothing beside. The American in charge was feeding his machine with folded strips of calico and cloth, as he worked it with his foot; occasionally making such remarks as, "Most wonderful invention of modern times, mister. E-normous saving in labour, in cost, in material, in everything. Im-mense opening for benevolence towards the enslaved artisan and seamstress. The discerning public must recognise it as the greatest invention since printing; for I calc'late the 'lectric telegraph is all very well, but the sewing machine whips creation, it does!"

With a great whirr and clash, the machine ceased devouring its pabulum of strips of calico, and all the iron arms and steel fingers stood suddenly still its showman looking the conclusive words, Quod erat demonstrandum. The absorbed gazer drew a thick sigh, as if his spell was broken; Lancelot put his hand on his shoulder.

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I don't understand it, that's all. Never mind, it's quite a common thing with me not to understand."

He alluded to Beresford's attempts to make him read and love poetry as she herself did, which were a failure, except in the direction of ballads. Now he sat on the bench, while Hugh Lake held conversation with the American about the perfections of his machine, and also about what he would scarcely admit existed, its defects, though it was a really clumsy contrivance compared with our present deft drawing-room ornaments of glittering steel and gilding, which dwell in walnut-wood nests lined with velvet, and can do everything that ever was done by adroit fingers of seamstress. This lineal ancestor of theirs possessed the solitary ability of taking several stitches (with considerable clatter) in the time of one, and those not very secure stitches either.

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The young men walked away together, presently, "Oh for a little money!" exclaimed Hugh sotto voce, almost forgetting that his cousin was beside him.

"It is remarkable how like our reflections are," rejoined Lancelot, with a grave side-glance.

"Why, what in the world would you want with a sewing-machine?" said the other, quickly.

"Nothing, indeed.

Wouldn't

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you. I suppose you flatter yourself you have given all that up, too! Come, you shan't escape me; I like you, cross-grained as you are, since the first time I saw you in old Etough's office. You did well to get out of that den: any way of making money, in my mind, is preferable to cooking bills of costs. I only wish my father could give him up as easily. And so you keep a shop now?"

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Just at present I am traveller for Mr. Brown," answered Lake, curtly. The little counter of the little shop at Narraghmore rose before his mind's eye, as it had been now three or four months established, with the gentle mother in her widow's cap sitting behind it, and Bessie keeping the books; and a strong yearning came into his heart to take solely the man's place of breadwinner, and lift those dear ones aside into a haven of restful drawing-room life. And he thought again of the sewing-machine as a fulcrum for the lever to accomplish all his desires.

"Listen," said Lancelot. "It isn't fair you should tell me things about yourself, while I tell you nothing. I'm just as poor as you, and poorer, for I'm not able to do any thing for which anybody would pay me sixpence, except perhaps break a horse. I am stopping now with my cousin Argentine, while his father is trying to wring that appointment out of the Government. You don't know how often I'm sorely tempted to throw it all up, and turn shepherd in Australia, or try the diggings."

Hugh Lake's rather sternly-set face visibly softened.

"I thought you were the sort of man that's ashamed to work," said he, "and thinks no one can be a gentleman that does not live in idleness on the industry of others."

"I have learned differently of late," replied Lancelot. And the young men felt a warming of mutual friendship in virtue of these confessions.

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the thing. I see the germ of a great fortune for somebody in one use of it, at all events. Suppose you had scores of them in a room, worked by a strap from a steam-engine?" His eyes sparkled as his secret thought saw light.

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groaned.

Oh for capital, capital!" he "Even a few hundreds!" "Borrow them," suggested Lancelot.

"Look here," added the other, in a deep, suppressed tone, after a few minutes' silence. "I'll accomplish my dream yet! I'll have a great manufactory. There never was a man more determined to rise-rise at all hazards. I have not been able to sleep at night since I saw this machine, thinking what a chance it is for somebody-for me, if I had only the capital. And all the boobies within these very walls that have more money than they know what to do with! But I'm a fool to rant on thus;" and he wiped the drops from his pale, wide brow.

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The

They were now in a hall lined with pictures; and where a crowd stopped, there stopped they—following a law of nature. pause was before a painting (catalogued as by Murillo) of dusky hues and black background, containing but a single figure-that of a man stooping for a few poor clothes flung upon the ground. And what

an infinite sadness overflowed the half-seen face! Much more than sorrow for personal pain or wrong; no resentment darkened it, no stoical endurance hardened the expression. Underneath was embossed in golden letters

"With His stripes we are healed."

Ah! what a fact for the onlookers, had they only laid it to heart! An eternal reality for thee, poor butterfly of fashion, with thy costly casket of material adornings enclosing a starved soul; and for thee, tired votary of the world's pleasure or ambition, drinking continually of

the poisoned waters that make thee thirst again even to pain; and for thee, Hugh Lake, with thy highest hopes centred on the attainment of the world's pelf and place; and for thee, Lancelot Latymer, with the secret idol of human affection claim

ing every homage in thy soul's chambers of imagery. What a fact for us all, the greatest in the universe-if God give us grace to grasp it, and hold it fast in our heart's love until we die!

Hugh Lake went home to Narraghmore, with two or three commissions for the sale of articles unknown before in the locality; for instance, a wonderful coffee, one spoonful of which was warranted to go as far as three of any other mixture; a wonderful Diaphanous Crystal Starch, always used by the Queen of the Sandwich Islands; and a wonderful Manna Desertica, which had accomplished a million cures by the simple and agreeable process of feeding. These would all swell the little income steadily accruing from the little shop. He told his mother of the meeting with his cousin, knowing that she had a woman's yearning towards her own family; but not a word of his dream concerning the sewing-machine, which nevertheless filled all his waking hours, and caused him to spend most of his spare time making improvements at a lathe.

Has the reader ever had to descend two or three steps in life's social grade? If so, he will be aware that it is the most difficult of all performances to accomplish gracefully-like growing old to a maiden lady. Walking backwards from a throne, with all its aptness to trip, is child's play compared with this. Now, poor Mrs. Lake, who had taken one irrevocable step downwards so joyfully for love's sake, failed altogether to be graceful in any farther declension. She was not a strong-minded woman, but had blue eyes, easily moved to tears. She could not conceal her chagrin when the desperate and irrational English prejudice against the retail of goods broke out among her genteel acquaintance like an epidemic.

She felt keenly when Mrs. Tourniquet, the fashionable doctor's wife, who had always hitherto asked Bessie to her parties (in reality that she might save the cost of a professional player), ceased to do so; and it came round through kind friends that the lady regretted she could not possibly invite a girl from a shop. At such times, Mrs. Lake was angry with Hugh, and angry with herself for having yielded to him. They were certainly a little better off as to means, and Bessie had not to go out in all weathers; but in the poor lady's secret soul, poverty and gentility seemed a happier junction than comfort and contempt-the latter being indeed chiefly the offspring of her fertile fancy. Not but there were overt acts which looked like it, especially from those in a shaky position themselves. For instance, Mrs. Pennywether in the almshouse (always named by her the Buildings) paid Mrs. Lake only evening visits now, because, having been the wife of a barrister, she had a dignity that could be compromised, and her life was spent in bolstering it up. But Mrs. Lectern Lychgate, widow of a deceased archdeacon, and consequently sailing on the cream of society in Narraghmore, declared distinctly and magnanimously in all companies, that her friendship for poor dear Mrs. Lake should suffer no diminution, notwithstanding a late unfortunate step. She was determined to stand by her, knowing how unexceptionable her family was; and, after all, nobody could say it was morally wrong for her to keep a shop. And so Mrs. Lectern Lychgate visited publicly over the counter, hoped loudly that Mrs. Lake would make a fortune, assured her of her own custom and that of every friend she could influence; winding up by purchasing a twopenny spool or a quire of note

paper.

Then there was a full end, of course, to certain hopes which had budded in the widow's bosom respecting a somewhat marked partiality displayed by the parish curate for her pretty daughter. He had walked home with her a few times of

evenings; he had turned music pages for her, to the envy of contemporaneous young ladies; and in other such ways showed a preference, as unmarried clergy are wont. And sanguine Mrs. Lake, after the manner of her species, had the trousseau quite arranged in her favourite aircastle. But after the counter was set up in her little front parlour, and the utter vulgarity of receiving coin in exchange for honest wares took place there, all was altered. Young Brown, eldest son of the draper, had the presumption to become marked in his attentions. He had sighed at a distance previously, but now ventured to draw near, and sometimes offer small services to Mrs. and Miss Lake. He would have six times the curate's income, and was a very handsome fellow to boot; whereas the former was gaunt, wore spectacles over his strongly convex eyes, and had no end of penniless brothers and sisters. But oh, the gentility of the one alliance, and the hopeless abasement of becoming a tradesman's wife! Mrs. Lake was very icily civil to young Brown, even when he brought the earliest asparagus from their garden, aided by a staring nosegay of tulips and daffodils, without an atom of green to relieve the colours.

XIII.

MISS LATYMER.

It was at this period that Lancelot Latymer showed his utter ignorance of the world, his inexperience in society, his want of tact, and a whole set of other deplorable deficiencies, by one notable action.

He carried out the idea that had occurred to him while Hugh Lake was lamenting his need of money, and envying those who had it: he went to visit his aunt in Cheltenham, Pescara's patroness. To say that he was astonished by the appearance of this lady would be a feeble representation of the feelings he could scarcely conceal. There was a bloom on her cheek brighter than that of Beresford after a brisk ride; her smile displayed unrivalled

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