for whilst the men were prowling about, the cleverest of the women were promising excellent husbands and splendid fortunes to those who were silly enough to believe them; and the donations they received were often very liberal in amount, particularly when they had made a lucky hit in describing the person of some favoured lover. We sometimes took up our abode for awhile in towns, and then our avocations were as varied as the abilities of the persons of whom our band was composed. It consists not with my present narration to tell you of the many schemes which we put in practice to advance our interests, nor of the arts which we used, and in most instances successfully, to introduce ourselves into respectable and influential society. We had disguises without number, and, in the genteel line, I was considered a rather valuable assistant. The most talented, however, of our band, was a female, the mother of the young girl who was our attendant. She had been brought up in the lap of luxury, and, from a chain of circumstances to which I will not advert, she became a leader of gipsies. She had the art, not only of introducing herself into first-rate society, but of insinuating herself into the confidence of those with whom she associated, and the secrets which she thus became possessed of, were most invaluable to us. She was about thirty years of

age when I first made her acquaintance, and remarkably handsome and lady-like in her person. One instance only of her cunning and presence of mind I will relate to you, and yet it is not improbable that you may have heard of the circumstance before, as the case got into the newspapers at the time, though not with the real facts.

A lady of highly respectable connections, and moving in the very first circles of a fashionable city, went into a silk-mercer's shop, with the avowed purpose of purchasing a few trifling articles. Some cards of very rich lace were shewn to her, but she declined to purchase any of them, on the plea that they were too expensive for the present state of her finances, though she seemed struck with the beauty of the article, and was very lavish in her praises. When she had departed, the shopman who had attended to her, found, to his consternation, that one of the most valuable cards of lace had been abstracted. He lost no time in following the lady, and, with great politeness, requested her to return for a few moments. She did so, with apparent willingness, but, on a search being made, the missing card of lace was found in her muff. She was given into custody, though she strongly protested her innocence, and declared she knew not how the lace had found its way into her possession. She was taken before a magistrate,

who considered that the case was one which he could not do otherwise than send to the assizes, and accordingly the lady was committed for trial. Every means were tried to prevail on the shopkeeper not to prosecute, but he resolutely resisted all overtures, and declared that, as he had prosecuted poor delinquents, he would not shrink from his duty by allowing a rich one to escape, whatever were the consequences to himself. As the time drew near for the trial, great excitement prevailed, not only amongst the lady's friends, but also in the minds of the public, some espousing her cause, and declaring their belief in her innocence, whilst others were of a contrary opinion, and highly censured one who was removed from the temptations of poverty. The assizes had almost arrived when a lady, dressed in the extreme of fashion, and followed by a footman in handsome livery, called at the shop where the theft had been committed, and desired to look at various costly articles. Amongst others things, she requested to be shewn some lace, and purchased a considerable portion. When she had concluded her purchases, and was about to retire, amidst the profuse thanks of the shopman, she took up her muff, and no sooner had she introduced her hand than she discovered a card of rich lace concealed there. Her anger and indignation were unbounded, and she

called on all who were present to witness to the disgraceful fact that some one had placed in her muff the piece of lace. The lace was the shopkeeper's he admitted, and it was not the lace she had bought; but why or wherefore it had been placed in her muff no one would venture to say. It was, however, there, and the lady herself had discovered it. The poor shopkeeper knew not how to act in the matter-he was completely bewildered. When the trial of the party, who stood committed for a theft at the same shop, came on, and the evidence against her had been gone through, the lady who had found the lace concealed in her muff was brought forward to state the circumstance, and her testimony had a most powerful influence on the jury. The shopkeeper and his assistants could not controvert the fact which the lady stated, and, by a singular coincidence, the same shopman who had caused the apprehension of the prisoner at the bar was the one who had served the lady who was now produced in evidence. The jury deliberated only for a few minutes, as they were satisfied in their own minds that the lace, which the prisoner was accused of stealing, had been introduced into her muff by similar means, and for similar purposes to those which the lady-witness had, in all likelihood, so nearly fallen a victim to. The accused

lady was acquitted amidst the plaudits of the court, and triumphantly escorted away by her friends. She had created sympathy in the minds of every one, for she was a young, elegant, and lovely woman, graced by all the adornments which dress can impart. The injury done to the shopkeeper was great, and the shopman, who was supposed to have caused the mischief, was dismissed. By some mysterious process, however, a large sum found its way to the discharged shopman, who had the good sense to leave the place, and commence business in a different locality. There was another, too, who reaped a pecuniary advantage from the transaction, and this was the handsome gipsy-for she had been the lady-witness!

I had been with the tribe about three years, when one day, as I was strolling in disguise through the streets of a large town, I was struck by the appearance of an officer and his lady, who passed by me, and seemed, from the great attentions which were paid by the gentleman, to be in the honeymoon of their marriage. I turned back, and managed again to meet them, and this time I was satisfied there was no mistake-it was the rival whom I thought I had slain, and his wife was my tutor's daughter. They did not recognise me, for I was disguised too effectually. Here was a rencontre which at once caused a complete revo