own; and they therefore loved my little sister even as if she had been their infant.

I must not omit to mention an occurrence which happened about this time, and is well worthy of note. My friends were residing in a sort of fort, situated on the hills, with a high wall, surrounding the habitable portion. In the hot weather the windows are left entirely open, or are simply closed with a sort of Venetian blind. The crib in which my sister slept was placed in a large apartment outside Major and Mrs. Clayton's chamber, while beyond it were the sleeping places of the nurses and other household domestics. It was used in the day-time as a sitting-room, and against the wall was a large and handsome mirror, and from the ceiling hung a lamp, which shed a soft and subdued light upon it. I am thus particular in describing the scene from the circumstances which follow. It was an hour or more past midnight, when Major Clayton was awakened, and from, to him, some unaccountable reason he could not again compose himself to sleep. While he lay awake, he fancied that he heard a slight noise in the adjoining room, and throwing on his dressing gown he rose to discover what could have caused it. Think of his horror and amazement to see, in the centre of the apartment, as if about to spring on the cradle where the infant slept, a royal Bengal tiger of vast size. In a moment it might have seized the child, and before any human aid could have availed, it might have carried her away into the wild jungle. He stood almost paralysed not knowing how to act. Had he moved to get his pistols from the next room, he might only have hastened the catastrophe he feared. He looked again; the fierce animal was lashing its tail and grinding its teeth with rage. Before

its eyes, reflected in the mirror, was its own image, which it had beheld when just about to spring on its prey. It now stood, every moment its fury increasing, fancying that another of its species was there to contest the prize it had come to bear away. The Major watched it with breathless anxiety; he was about to rush to the crib, at the risk of his life, to carry off the child, when the tiger sprung forward. Alas! it is too late, and the savage beast will destroy it; but no- -the tiger expects to join combat with its rival; and with a loud crash the mirror is dashed into a thousand fragments. The animal, frightened by the unexpected event, and the wounds it received, without an attempt to commit further injury, turned round and leaped out of the open window by which it had entered. A few springs carried it to the outer wall which, though of great height, it surmounted, and before pursuit could be made it escaped. The noise aroused the whole household, who came rushing into the apartment from all sides, while Mrs. Clayton clasped the still sleeping child in her arms, to assure herself that it was unharmed. Surely this was one of those evident interpositions of Providence which occur to most of us, but are seldom acknowledged in a proper spirit of gratitude. It is another of the many signal proofs I have had to convince me that God is everywhere. This escape of their darling endeared little Eva still more, if possible, to her kind guardians. I ought to have said, that both they and Sir Charles had taken every measure in their power to discover our relations or friends; but that hitherto they had totally failed in the search. Most certainly they would have made the discovery with deep regret had it tended to deprive them of us; but still this sense

of right prompted them to spare no expense or trouble for that object. Sir Charles drew up a circular, addressed to the consuls, Lloyd's agents, and others, at all the ports from which the ship could have sailed to have carried us to the neighbourhood of where we were found; but though several were missing, and were supposed to have been lost about that time, there were no proofs forthcoming that we had been on board one of them. Now and then our friends fancied that they had found the clue to our identity; but either the children enquired after were subsequently discovered, or it was proved that we could not possibly be them. Thus year after year passed away, and I was entirely dependent on Sir Charles, while my sister was in every respect the adopted child of Major and Mrs. Clayton. Little Eva, from a sickly infant, had become a very beautiful child; but at the time of which I am speaking she was remarkably small for her age, so that she looked even younger than she really was. I, on the contrary, was rather taller and stouter than most boys of my age. My excellent guardian had taken great pains, not only to cultivate my mind, but also to give me a variety of manly accomplishments, and I could ride, shoot, and fence, sufficiently well to elicit a considerable amount of applause from all who saw me. At a very early age, mounted on an elephant, I used to accompany parties of officers on their expeditions against the tigers and wild boars of the jungle. One day I was thus engaged when the elephant I was on, being some way from the rest, a tiger flew out and fastened on his trunk. In vain the mighty beast tried to shake off his savage assailant. He then endeavoured to kneel upon him and so to crush

him; and I fully expected to be thrown over his head. My gun was, however, ready; I caught a sight of the tiger's eye, and, firing, sent a ball directly into it. In an instant his claws relaxed and he fell to the ground dead. I gained great applause for the deed, and for the coolness I displayed; but I do not see how, having a gun in my hand, I could have acted otherwise than I did.

CHAPTER VI.

My Guardian talks of visiting England.—Travelling in India.— An Encampment. We sail down the Ganges. -Boats used on the River. Scenery of the Ganges.-I reach Calcutta and once more embark on board the Governor Harcourt. The Temple of Juggurnaut.- Our Voyage.-We arrive in England. -I visit Mr. Plowden, and beg to be allowed to go to School.

I MUST pass rapidly over the next few years of my life, though they were not uneventful.

One day Sir Charles called me to him, and, taking my hand, he said kindly, "I have been considering, Mark, that it will be necessary to send you home in order to complete your education, which cannot be done out here to my satisfaction."

Home!" I asked, "Where is that, Papa? This is the only home I know."

In England, my boy; that is my home, where I hope to return to end my days, and it should be your home also. I wish you to be brought up to think, and feel, and act, as an Englishman, and that you can only do by mixing on equal terms with other English boys of your own age. In fact you are too much of a man already; and I wish you to be rubbed back into boyhood again."

In reply, I tried to persuade him that I would endeavour to become in every respect what he wished,