tavern near which the inn-keeper was arrested. The rest is known already.

XIII.

It was a proud day in Rosenfelt House. The arrival of his brother in person was at first a great shock to the banker, while at the discovery of the cheat practised on him he felt humiliated. It took some time to explain to him the real state of affairs. The mixing up of the name of Rigardin with the matter made clear much that had happened. He scarcely knew on whom most to lavish his caresses; he gently chid Leon for leaving them, and thus risking results so terrible.

But his conduct to his brother brought tears to the eyes of all. He was never weary of gazing at him; he asked him incessant questions; he scolded him for being silent for so many years; he thanked God for preserving him, and for the opportune meeting with Leon Gondy.

'But what have you done for more than a score of years-since your flight after that stupid quarrel with your father?' he asked at last.

'My dear Karl, in the pride and anger of my heart, I had vowed that none of mine should ever know of me again. I embarked for Spain as a common sailor, suffered hardship, heat, and cold, and starvation, and then sailed for America, where I resolved to take up my residence for ever. I became at first a hunter, then a soldier; and rising more from my wild determination than any other merit, became an officer. Nearly sixteen years ago, I married the widow of my colonel, a woman of vast wealth; we lived very happily together, until two years ago, when she died. I had now nothing to attach me to Mexico, and age and reason had brought repentance. I could not hope to see my father again, but I might see my brother -my good brother Karl'

God bless you, Paul, for thinking of me!'

'Yes; once the thought of you entered my head, it remained there day and night; it haunted me incessantly. I began to realise my fortune; but this took some time, as it was necessary to be done by stealth. At last I had remitted the whole to a banker in Rotterdam, one Peter Kelps'

'A good man-my correspondent: your money is safe,' put in the wealthy banker, smiling.

'I started then for Europe, and, eager to find you, came hither direct from Spain on horseback. The rest you have learned already. But now, what is to be done with the knaves to whom I owe a cord and gibbet?'

'Paul Rosenfelt,' said Leon quickly, 'our troubles are now over— let us not avenge. These wretches deserve condign punishment, and society will seek to punish them; but recollect my vow to Poleska: the boy must not be harmed.'

'Leon Gondy,' exclaimed Paul, 'I owe you too much not to acquiesce in anything you ask of me; but these knaves must not run loose on society, to trick and rob others.'

Certainly not; but Poleska may save them: she loves the boy -let her marry him. Once her husband, she will master him completely. Then let them answer for the father. Send them back to the inn, knowing that our eye is upon them. Let your brother see that the place be watched, and there will be little fear of their doing harm.'

'I consent,' said Paul approvingly, though the father deserves a halter.'

'I think Leon's project wise,' put in Karl. 'I do not want exposure, though the events of the last month must be explained. First, however, let these knaves leave the town. No time is to be lost.—Leon, do you have them sent for, that they may be examined; do you, Edith, produce Poleska.'

The two lovers hurried away; and half an hour later, the prisoners and their old servant were in presence of the chief-magistrate of Ghent. The pretended Peter Krubingen looked defiant; his son hung his head, and wept; Poleska was very pale.

You are aware, Rigardin, that your life is forfeited?' began Karl. 'Take it, then!' said the prisoner sullenly.

'Not only your own life, but that of your son.'

Louis trembled like a waving leaf; Rigardin gulped down a heavy sigh, and the expression of his countenance softened; while Poleska leaned against the wall for support, her hand pressed convulsively upon her heart.

I know it, Karl Rosenfelt,' said the man half sullenly, half imploringly; but take my life only, for that boy is innocent, save of obedience to a bad father.' The three men looked at each other; Paul, Karl, and Leon whispered together.

That word, Rigardin, has saved you,' said Karl, suddenly turning round: 'there is one green spot in your seared heart yet. But you are aware of the affection of Poleska for your son?'

'I am,' said the man almost savagely.

'Then consent to their marriage-swear to live with them, to treat them as your children, and you may have a conditional pardon. You will be bound down, under penalty of being transported to America, never to go one mile beyond your inn, until such time as we see fit, from your good conduct, to relax our severity.'

Peter Rigardin looked stupidly astonished; he could not understand such clemency on the part of the injured.

'You seem surprised. Learn that you owe this to the man most injured-to Leon Gondy. He would not have his marriage made sad by the sorrows even of the guilty. But speak! do you consent?' 'I do; and by every saint in heaven I swear'

'Swear not. I will take your word, though using all just precaution.

-Now, Louis, do you consent to marry Poleska, and be unto her a husband?'

'I thank you all, my masters,' replied Louis in a timid tone; Poleska'

'but

'Will be your wife so long as you keep from guilt. But the day you again look at crime, I leave you to your fate!' said Poleska firmly and resolutely.

'The strong woman will save the weak man,' whispered Paul to his brother.

Karl nodded, and then the prisoners were removed. Next day, Louis and Poleska were married, and they went back to the inn. It was reopened, and, with the aid of money given by Leon, repaired and replenished. The father accompanied them. His first act was one that shewed his desire to keep his word: he boldly told all his evil associates what had happened, and then added, that if they did anything to his knowledge, they would be denounced; while, in case of any harm happening to him, a list of their names was in the hands of the chief-magistrate of Ghent. Then he set to work, to aid his children. They had now a man-servant and a chamber-maid, both watches over Peter; and as the house became clean, the accommodation good, and the neighbourhood got cleared of the alarmed ex-confederates, the house was frequented, and prospered. The man was not cured in heart for a long time, but he had good watch kept over him; and in course of time, finding a life free from crime much easier and happier than one of guilt, he became at all events a respectable man. Poleska became a portly hostess. She ruled Louis kindly but firmly, and was thorough mistress of her house. Supported and protected by a woman of energy, loved by her, Louis got cured of the evil teaching of his youth; and at forty was a jolly, talkative, gossiping, but honest host, with half-a-dozen children, the delight of a strange and somewhat grave old man they called grandfather.

Leon and Edith continued to protect them. When it was seen that they all kept firmly on the right road, the vigilance of the magistrate relaxed, and they were not only pardoned, but treated kindly. As for the young lovers, they were very happy: they married, and lived still in Rosenfelt House for some years. At the death of Karl, which took place ten years later, and one year after that of Paul, the young man found himself so rich, that he sold his bank to two of his wealthiest correspondents, and retired to Paris, where the son of the jeweller became count and lord, taking the name of Leon de Gondy. Had the wealth of the banker fallen into the hands of the young impostor, it would have melted like water, for money is a good or an evil as we know its use and value. Gold -like the Indian plant which, eat in its raw state, is death, while prepared, it is the bread of life-is a balm, a talisman, or a deadly poison, as it is used ill or well.

ROB ROY AND THE CLAN MACGREGOR.

THE Highlands of Scotland, as is generally known, form a large mountainous territory in the north-western division of the kingdom, and have from time immemorial been inhabited by a Celtic people, differing in manners, dress, and language from their Lowland or Anglo-Saxon neighbours. A very remarkable peculiarity among the Highlanders was their system of clanship. The country was parcelled out into a number of little territories, each inhabited by a clan; that is, by a few hundreds, or a few thousands of persons, all bearing the same name, and all believed to be sprung from the same stock; and each territory was governed by the chief of the clan, under the guidance of certain established customs and traditional maxims. The government was one of pure affection. The meanest clansman, while he venerated his chief, believed at the same time that the blood which flowed in his chief's veins was the same as that which flowed in his own; and the chief, on the other hand, while his power was all but absolute, was expected to clasp the hand of the poorest man in the clan when he met him, and at all times to treat him with dignity and respect, as a scion of the same race as himself.

At the middle of the eighteenth century, there were about forty distinct clans in the Highlands, some of them numerous and powerful, others small and weak. In general, each clan occupied a defined tract of country: thus, the west of Sutherlandshire was the 'country' of the Mackays; the west of Ross and the island of Lewis, the country' of the Mackenzies; Argyleshire, the 'country' of the Campbells; and so on. In the districts adjoining the Lowlands, the territories of the respective clans appear to have latterly been less precisely marked, as if the various tribes, by their mutual collisions,

No. 150.

I

had been partially broken up and intermingled with each other. Thus, beginning at the Firth of Clyde, and proceeding along the line dividing the Highlands from the Lowlands, we find Colquhouns, Buchanans, Macfarlanes, Macgregors, Maclarens, Maclachlans, Grahams, Stewarts, Drummonds, Murrays, Menzieses, Robertsons, Ogilvies, Farquharsons, either occupying small patches of territory, or so mixed together that they cannot be separated. Besides being split up by collisions, the clans in this quarter suffered unquestionably from the pressure of the Lowland settlers, and the grants made of their lands to favourite retainers of the Scottish monarchs. The Macgregors, whose settlement was the district north of Loch Lomond, were one of these maltreated frontier clans.

ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OF THE MACGREGORS-THEIR SUFFERINGS AS A CLAN.

Chroniclers tell us that in the year 831, at the time when the Picts and Scots were contending for the mastery of the northern part of the island, there was a king of the latter people called Alpin. His son was Kenneth II., or Kenneth Macalpine, who, after conquering the Picts, reigned over the joint races of the Scots and Picts. He had a son Gregor or Gregory, who, in the Gaelic fashion, would be called Gregor Mackenneth Macalpine; and it is from this person that the Macgregors claim their descent. This claim of the Macgregors to an ancient and royal descent, forms the burden of two Gaelic rhymes referring to the clan; one of which runs thus: "Hills, waters, and Macalpines are the three oldest things in Albion;' and the other asserts the hereditary claim of the Macgregors to the Scottish throne. Being of so illustrious a lineage, the Macgregors, although excluded by circumstances from the throne on which their progenitors had sat, were naturally in early times one of the most considerable families in the kingdom. They had originally very extensive estates in Argyleshire and Perthshire, measuring in one direction from Loch Rannoch to Loch Lomond, and in another from Loch Etive to Taymouth. The seat of the principal branch of the family was Glenurchy, in the district of Lorn.

One of the first authentic notices of the Macgregors of Glenurchy is during the period of the struggle for independence against Edward I. of England. In 1296, John Macgregor of Glenurchy was made prisoner by Edward at the battle of Dunbar, where the fortunes of Baliol and the Scottish nation were shattered; and in the list of the prisoners, this Macgregor is styled one of the Magnates of Scotland. His lands and his liberty were afterwards restored to him by the conqueror, on condition of his going over to France to assist in the war which the English were then carrying on with that kingdom. It is probable that he returned to Scotland towards the close of the stormy period 1297-1306, and lived on his property of