intercommunications, there was now nothing that could have been remarked by a stranger. They had both schooled themselves too severely for that; yet at times a word, a look, unnoticed by those around them, would call up, like a spirit, some old memory, some buried hope; and the pale brow of Robert would flush, and the heart of Sara seemed to die within her. Sara's greatest annoyance at first was in finding the round eyes of Molly constantly fixed upon her in inquiry and astonishment, and often filling with tears; but after a time the demonstrative affection of the poor girl was rather soothing than otherwise, since a complete revulsion appeared to take place in her feelings towards Robert. Molly, in fact, was in the habit of gossipping with Miss Bloomley; and that young lady had told her of the manly avowal made in Driftwood's studio, and had even confided to her as an inviolable secret, that if poor Robert had but a trade of the slightest gentility to depend upon, she would not hesitate to reward his nobleness of spirit with her own fair hand. All this Molly made no scruple of confiding to her young mistress-for doing so was the same, as she said herself, as not telling it to nobody at all—and Sara, although but little affected on hearing of the non-existence of the expectations, was moved to tears by the nobleness. Robert's prospects of rank and fortune had never seemed to her to be anything more than a dream or a misconception; but even admitting their reality, she was absolutely certain that they would not influence in any way whatever his feelings or his conduct. The time at length came when the Simpletons-for so Fancourt audaciously styled them to his friendwere to return to their Lodge. The day was fixed; and Sara, who had some business of a private nature to transact, was deep in confidential intercommunications with Molly. These two young women were more frequently alone with each other than usual, and the bedroom of the former was generally the place of meeting. Sara grew obviously nervous, and Molly flitted about the house like a spirit with a bad conscience. Not, however, that she desired to relieve her mind to some horrified listener: on the contrary, she was rather afraid of being tempted to do so, and for that reason avoided Miss Bloomley instead of haunting her, and, when they did meet, gazed at her so like somebody drawing Priam's curtains at the dead of night, that the young lady was alarmed. The plan of operations, however, was at length settled; the minute was at hand; and the two conspirators, with an awful look at one another, retired towards their several quarters to prepare for action. But Sara was called back to the parlour by the captain, and she returned like a detected culprit in a flutter of alarm. Sara,' said he, 'this business cannot be delayed longer. Since we can hit upon no better scheme, the money shall go to him through the post in a blank letter, addressed in a printed hand. He will be sure to think it comes from Miss Falcon tower'-Sara started -'or at least from some of the relatives, who take this underhand way of assisting one whose claims they know to be just, although they have not the manliness to acknowledge them openly. It is a good idea, isn't it? Bless you, darling, he will never think of me, knowing what an old selfish fool I was when Miss Heavystoke wanted me to sell the Lodge, and being well aware that I have no other means of raising the wind. Why, he'd as soon think of you, whose money is locked up, every penny, so as to bring you in just enough to support you as a nice, little, quiet, fine-hearted, economical gentlewoman that makes her own frocks! To-morrow morning, before our chicheronians come, or what do you call 'em, I'll just bowl down in a cab to these Lincoln's Inn lawyers of yours and mine, and put the thing in train to be finished out of hand.' 'No, dear uncle,' said Sara, 'you must not do that. I have heard, through Molly, enough to shew that Robert's prospects have all melted away, although his fear of vexing you has prevented him from saying anything himself. To whom, then, in all the wide world could he trace the money but you? We must go more cunningly to work. Even some little delay on your part may be necessary-and such matters, as you said yourself, may be managed as well at Wearyfoot as here. Trust to me a little while longer!' To this the veteran demurred a good deal. He said he could not think of leaving Bob in such a position as his, and with a countenance so stern and made up. He put him in mind, for all the world, of a man in his company who went upon a forlorn-hope because-no, not exactly because he hadn't money enough to marry his sweetheart, but-no, not altogether because some Miss Falcontower had jilted him-but, in point of fact, because he was condemned to six dozen, and had no other way of getting off. However, the end of it was, that the matter was left for awhile longer in Sara's hands. This occurred one evening when the party had returned from a fatiguing excursion. The two gentlemen had taken leave at the door. Elizabeth had retired to her own room to rest for an hour; and Sara told her uncle that she too would be invisible till it was time for the supper-tray. On reaching her quarters, she found Molly already there, cloaked, bonneted, and nervous-in what she herself called a fit of flustration. It was with no steady hands that Sara prepared herself in like manner for a late promenade; and then the two watched at the door of the roomthey knew not for what, for in reality their going out would have attracted no attention-and at length Sara grasping her companion by the arm, they sallied forth, glided quickly along the hall, and went out into the street. They hurried out of Great Russell Street, by its eastern outlet, as if they thought they were pursued. When they had crossed Bloomsbury Square, and reached Southampton Row, by turning a little way to the left they might have obtained a cab; but not being aware of this, they struck down by King Street into Holborn. Along this main stream they had only to float eastward till they came to one of the avenues into Lincoln's Inn Fields; and after the first sensation of timidity wore off, they were hardly sorry that no cab presented itself till they were too near their destination to make it worth while to employ it. Although early in the evening, it was already dark, so far as nature was concerned; but the abundance of artificial light made the street as clear, and, together with the orderliness of the passers-by, gave the two country girls as much confidence as if it had been noonday. On reaching Great Turnstile, they easily recognised it, as they had been there several times before; and through this narrow avenue they glided into the immense wooded square of Lincoln's Inn Fields. On the left of this expanse was the place they sought-a small square of hard pavement, hard walls, hard heads, and-so they say-hard hearts. They ascended to the first floor of one of these cold hard buildings, and Sara, pushing open a door slowly and nervously, looked in. What she had heard was true. It being full term-time the lawyers were still at work, and her errand was not in vain. But the passage was so cold, so long, so breathlessly silent, so darkalthough lighted by two dim sepulchral lamps, one just within the door, and the other at the further end. She thought for a moment of breaking her resolution, and taking Molly in with her; but her courage triumphed. Molly should be innocent of all knowledge of what she was about to do; and thus when questions came to be asked hereafter, it would be impossible to wrest anything from her simplicity or her truthfulness. 'Stay here, Molly,' whispered she; 'I may be many minutes-I may be half an hour, so do not be impatient; only take care not to leave the stair.' She went into the passage, and shut the door. Molly listened intently to hear her go in by the door at the further end, but in vain. These doors closed like the claws of a cat; they had no more voice than a coffin-lid. Molly waited in the darkness and silence till she was weary as well as afraid. She then stole down the stairs step by step, and felt some relief in looking out even upon the cold hard stones. Presently she heard the noise of a vehicle driving in. The stones received the wheels with a cold, hard, yet hilarious sound of welcome, each stone announcing the arrival to the rest, till the news diffused a kind of flinty mirth, a hard, dry, rattling, caustic laugh over the whole area. It was an elegant private equipage, with two footmen behind in deep mourning. A lady with a thick black veil, and wrapped in a black cloak, with the hood hanging upon her shoulders, alighted. "Take back the carriage,' said she, in a singularly clear voice; my lord will want it immediately to go out to dinner. Let a cab be in waiting here for me;' and raising her veil, and fixing upon Molly as she passed her a glance that went through and through,' she stepped lightly up the steps, and vanished in the darkness of the stairs. As the new-comer opened the door of the passage, Sara emerged from the one at the further end. They met in the dim middle, and both paused involuntarily for an instant to exchange looks. Sara, sick and faint, yet willing to believe her thought an illusion, hardly knew how she reached the door; but when there, in spite of herself, she turned her head before going out. The other had done the same, and the light of the two lamps, falling dimly on their faces, and leaving the rest of their persons in shadow, made them shew like spectres to each other for an instant before they disappeared. WHAT IS A CONGREVE ROCKET? WHOEVER has stood upon a fortification near a cannon when fired, will have noticed the recoil, or backward movement of the piece on its wheels. More feelingly the force of the recoil will manifest itself to the rookshooter, who, firing skyward many times in succession, often gets punished for his wanton destruction of corvine-life, by a bruised shoulder, or occasionally even a broken collar-bone. Now, in all ordinary cases, it is the object of the gunmaker-understanding the term gun in its generic sense, including cannon as well as small-arms-to deaden or diminish this force of recoil. As concerns small firearms, more especially rifles and pistols, any considerable recoil is most injurious, as it throws the barrel out of the due line of aim; and this is the chief reason why so great a weight of metal is put into such barrels. In the case of pieces of ordnance, it will be found that the force of recoil, when it goes beyond a certain extent, not only disarranges the aim, but renders the piece unmanageable, more especially on board ship. Let us suppose, now that the cannon on the fortification is charged-is discharged-and recoils. The explosion, however, being instantaneous, the recoil soon comes to an end. If the explosion were susceptible of prolongation, and if the mouth of the cannon could be maintained by some device in its original position, then the best way of attacking an enemy, supposing the expense of a cannon to be no object, would be to turn the breech of the gun towards him, and allowing it to take flight through the air like any other projectile. This notion may cause a smile; but we do not know in what manner the general theory of Rockets could be rendered so intelligible, as by commencing where we have commenced-with the recoil of a gun. A rocket, in point of fact, may be described as a gun charged with a slow-burning combustible, so that when discharged, or rather ignited, it recoils, first a little, then a little more, and so more and more, until the force of Were we to retain recoil imparts to the mass a power proportionate to its weight multiplied by its velocity. Most people have seen a sky-rocket; many have examined it, perhaps; still more have traced the fiery course of the beautiful pyrotechnic ornament as it mounted aloft with arrowlike velocity, then watched its graceful bend and final distribution of variegated stars. Lastly, most persons are cognizant, we presume, of the fact, that each rocket is furnished with a stick, serving the purpose of a rudder, or a tail. Now, the sky-rocket is propelled in consequence of its own recoil. the idea with which we commenced our description, we should say repelled, in consequence of this recoil; but inasmuch as recoil becomes in the rocket the primary or chief force, we had better, from this period to the end of the paper, turn our ideas of recoil upside down. As for the stick-tail, or rudder-the reader may denominate it as he pleases-its use is to keep the mouth or aperture of the rocket, from which the flame escapes, continually downwards. It is tied laterally to the rocket. If it admitted of being affixed centrally, then the flight of the rocket would be more direct, instead of having a general tendency to lateral flight. Considering the rocket as an ornamental firework, this directness of flight would be rather prejudicial than otherwise, its curvilinear path being exceedingly beautiful. Were it desired, however, to metamorphose the sky-rocket into a warlike projectile, then, in proportion to its directness of flight, would be its advantages. The Step by step, we are now approaching the construction of a Congreve or war rocket, which, as at present made, chiefly differs from a sky-rocket in the two particulars, of having a sheet-iron instead of a paper cone, and of being supplied with a central instead of a lateral stick. The first Congreve rockets did not possess the latter advantage. They had sticks laterally attached, like those of ordinary sky-rockets, as may be seen in the Rotunda or Military Museum at Woolwich. Of this kind were the rockets employed by our troops at the battle of Leipsic; and so desolating were their effects, that some French troops against which they were fired immediately laid down their arms. war-rocket is so intimately associated with the name of Sir William Congreve, that by over-zealous advocates he is assumed to be their inventor, although he himself disclaims the honour. In his book on the rocketpractice, he states that rockets, considered as projectile weapons, were of great antiquity in India and China, and claims to be only the improver of the weapon. Indeed, we have met with undoubted testimony, that the projectile force of the rocket used as a military weapon was known in Europe before the latter part of the sixteenth century: in the year 1598 appeared the collection of Traites Militaires, by Hanzelet, in which book there exists not only a full description of the manner of using rockets as military weapons, but a rude wood-cut, shewing the method of firing them. Some years ago, we remember to have seen in the not being comparable with that of a cannon-ball or shell. Rockets can be advantageously fired neither against a wind nor across the direction of a wind, and for reasons which a little consideration will render obvious. The long wooden stick affords a powerful lever for the wind to act upon, the iron rocket itself being at the same time unequally affected; hence ultimate deflection takes place. The striking of a casual object in the course of a rocket's flight is another ordinary cause of deflection; and to such an extent is deflection occasionally produced from this cause, that rockets have sometimes come back, like boomerangs, to the spot whence they were fired. Something of this kind once occurred at Woolwich during a military exhibition got up for the gratification of Marshal Soult. The veteran, amongst other displays, was shewn what our war-rockets could accomplish; when one of these erratic missiles striking against a stone or something of that sort, immediately departed from its normal course, bounded high aloft, and finally rushing down, plunged deep into a bank near where the marshal was posted. It was on account of this erratic propensity to which rockets are somewhat given, that they were never great favourites with the Duke of Wellington. Some of the newly invented projectiles having been forwarded to the Peninsula, the Duke took an early opportunity of trying their range and effects. The British outposts were on one side of a marsh; the enemy's outposts on the other. The distance was convenient: the rockets were pointed, lighted, and discharged. The result was anything but satisfactory. Either because the wind was unfavourable, or because the rockets had not been long enough in the field to know friend from foe, or for some other reason, they with common consent turned tail to the enemy, and came back to their friends! The Duke entertained a prejudice against them from that day forthwith. Nevertheless, they are acknowledged to have saved a brigade of Guards during the passage of the Adour; and subsequently, at Waterloo, they made sad havoc amongst the enemy. London Adelaide Gallery certain Chinese war-rockets. They were captured by our troops at the siege of Amoy, and brought to the British metropolis. To all intents and purposes, they were sky-rockets, with the sole addition to each of a barbed arrowhead affixed laterally in the line of the stick, and projecting beyond the head of the rocket. Compared with even the smallest Congreve rockets employed in our service, they were insignificant affairs. Their flight would be altogether irregular, their power of penetrating comparatively weak. Nevertheless, one of them would undoubtedly have killed a man at the distance of 200 yards: consequently, these Chinese weapons admit of being regarded as a variety of small firearm; while even the smallest Congreve rocket may be compared with artillery. So much, then, concerning the history of the war-rocket up to the time of Congreve. He was the first who employed an iron instead of a paper case. He was also the first who applied the central stick; and succeeded in making rockets of one denomination so equal in weight, that the elements of the flight of one being known, data were afforded for the discharge of others. The war-rocket is a very terrible instrument of destruction, possessing certain advantages which other projectiles do not. Thus, for example, the discharge of rockets, as a consequence of their very nature, is attended with no recoil against a solid body. That which corresponds with recoil in an ordinary gun, is, as we have seen, the propulsive force of the rocket, and the counterpart of this propulsive force is exerted against the air. Owing to this absence of practical recoil, rockets may be fired from boats just large enough to carry them; whereas shells of equal weight, if employed in naval warfare, can be fired only from very strong ships. Rockets carrying within themselves their own propulsive power, require neither guns nor mortars to project them; consequently, they may be fired from places altogether inaccessible to artillery, and they may be constructed of much larger dimensions than any available shot or shell. Gun-founders are now pretty well agreed, that no piece of ordnance can be cast The original ideas of Sir William Congreve relative without flaws if much larger than a 13-inch mortar; to the best manner of arming troops with the warand the weight of the latter is 5 tons, although the rocket have never been carried out. He advocated the charged 13-inch shell scarcely weighs 200 pounds. distribution of the missile to every branch of the service The French tried the experiment of increasing the size-infantry, cavalry, and artillery. He objected to the of a mortar preparatory to the siege of Antwerp. The formation of a special rocket service: however, in this experiment was unsuccessful, their monster-mortar matter, his opinions have been overruled. Congreve bursting after having been only a few times dis- suggested three methods of firing his rockets: 1. From charged. The rocket,' to use the words of Congreve, a tube, and singly; 2. In a volley from many tubes, 'brings into operation the power of artillery every-mounted on one carriage; 3. In a volley from the where, and is nowhere embarrassed by the circum- ground. Two only of these methods are now retained stances limiting the application of artillery.' It-namely, the first and the third. The rocket tube is imparts to infantry and cavalry the force of artillery, in addition to the power of their own respective arms. Thus, a foot-soldier might, on particular occasions, carry several 12-pound rockets, each having the propulsive and penetrating effect of a 12-pound cannonshot, without the embarrassment of the 12-pounder gun. The rocket, as we shall hereafter discover, may be discharged on many occasions without the aid of any apparatus-but even the corresponding rocket tube, by means of which its accuracy of flight is promoted, weighs only 20 pounds, whereas the weight of a 12-pounder gun is no less than 18 hundredweights. In addition to this advantage, the flight of a rocket is visible; whereas the flight of ordinary warlike projectiles is invisible, and superadded to the power of penetration, the rocket has that of scattering the devastation of fire. These properties of the war-rocket being considered, the reader will be at no loss to understand some of the advantages possessed by the missile. Nevertheless, the employment of the war-rocket is not attended with those universal advantages over shot and shell claimed for it by Congreve. Amidst its good qualities there lurks the very bad one of irregularity of flight, its accuracy of trajectory curve a pipe or cylinder of metal corresponding in size with the diameter of the rocket intended to pass through it, and its business, to give a correct line of flight. In the earlier days of Congreve-rocket practice, there were no tubes, deeply grooved surfaces being used instead. The rocket tube is so contrived that it can be placed at any angle of elevation, and be thus pointed in the manner of a gun. The proper line of aim having been secured, the rocket is thrust into the tube, and ignited, when, after deliberating for an instant, it rushes through and pursues its destructive course. Having thus made evident the construction and use of a rocket tube, the reader will readily understand the intention of a compound-tube arrangement. Let him imagine twenty or thirty of such tubes mounted on one carriage, each tube discharging its own rocket-and a correct notion of what is understood by the tube-volley will be acquired. This apparatus is no longer retained in our service, the ground-volley of rockets being employed instead. In the ground-volley, the rockets are merely placed on the ground (which must be moderately smooth), with their heads toward the enemy, when they are ignited, and speed away. For the first hundred yards, they ordinarily pursue a course of considerable regularity, seldom rising above the height of a man's head; ultimately, however, their flight becomes exceedingly irregular, darting about in all directions. This, in certain cases, is not disadvantageous, but the reverse. So impossible is it to predict where one of these rockets run wild will go, that it is in vain for any body to think of getting out of its way. A great many endeavours have been made to avoid the necessity of employing a rocket-stick. Congreve never could succeed in this attempt, but Mr Hale has been more fortunate. We do not exactly know the principle on which his rockets are made, but we believe he causes them to assume a rotatory or rifled motion, and thus provides for their regularity of flight. Mr Hale has, moreover, introduced other improvements in the manufacture of rockets. He does not fill them by ramming in the composition, but by the more equable force of hydrostatic pressure, by which means a larger amount of composition is introduced than can be effected by the ordinary method. Nor must we forget to mention the very ingenious device of this gentleman for restraining the rocket during the first moments of its propulsive endeavours. Although the power of a rocket, when in full flight, is tremendous, yet its initial effort is very trifling; so much so, that one of considerable dimensions may be held back by a very small restraining force. Now, it happens that, in the ordinary course of firing, a Congreve rocket is apt to droop as it first leaves the tube, thus losing much of the accuracy of flight it would otherwise have possessed. This drooping is in consequence of the paucity of the force it has as yet acquired for rockets, in point of fact, like young people, go astray sometimes from the circumstance of beginning their career too soon: so it occurred to Mr Hale, that he would hold back his projectiles-not by the tail, for they are devoid of that ornament but hold them back by a sort of spring, from which they cannot free themselves until they have acquired a certain definite initial pressure. We will now conclude these remarks on Congreve rockets, by stating the chief occasions on which they have been employed. The first was in October 1806, when rockets of very large calibre were brought into requisition for the bombardment of Boulogne. In less than half an hour after the first commencement of rockets did not come into general use; nevertheless, they must have been made in very large numbers. We remember, on one occasion, to have seen a stock of many thousands lying idle in the store-rooms of a large whaling establishment. And now, in conclusion, let us state, that the largest Congreve rockets ever made weigh about 300 pounds, are eight or ten feet high, and have sticks in proportion. Very pretty visitors these to come hissing into the midst of a town! THE WHITE LADY OF BRANDENBURG. DURING the eighteenth century, the house of Brandenburg, like nearly all the other royal houses of Germany, experienced numerous vicissitudes; but, worst of all, was constantly divided against itself, and agitated by domestic tragedies, which may be said to have shed a gloom on its fortunes for ever. From time immemorial, the superstitious belief had prevailed in the family, that, as a prelude to each successive catastrophe, a female spectre, habited in dazzling white, appeared in some dreary place, and at some gloomy hour, to the principal sufferer. With this tradition, every one of the princes and princesses was familiar. They regarded it as part of their destiny, and looked forward to the advent of the apparition almost as a matter of course. The young Prince Frederic, and his eldest sister Wilhelmina, entertained a strong mutual affection, which induced them to communicate their thoughts freely to each other. This, under other circumstances, would have been a source of happiness to them. But in the palace of Berlin, happiness was a thing not to be thought of, for their father, Frederic-William, appeared to exert all his power and ingenuity to render its presence impossible. Every day, he loaded his wife and children with imprecations, threatened them with imprisonment and death, spat in the delicate dishes after he himself had been served, that they might not eat of them; attempted occasionally to commit suicide, and then took refuge in brutal drunkenness, which only rendered him still more furious and dangerous. attack, the town was observed to be on fire in many places, and the damage effected was doubtless very Frederic, afterwards, by the adulation of mankind, great, although its exact extent was never known, the called the Great, was naturally driven by such paternal French taking such effectual means to guard the secret, indulgences to seek for consolation in friendship. It that our ambassador, Lord Lauderdale, whilst passing may easily be supposed that he was not led by his through Boulogne shortly after the attack, was vigi- experience to put his trust in princes. He looked for lantly watched, lest he might observe the extent of an intimate among the middle ranks of society, and the ravage. In 1807, Copenhagen was bombarded with very heavy rockets; and again with great effect, officer rejoicing in the euphonious name of Kat. But the person he selected to be his Pylades was a young they were subsequently used against Acre. These are the chief occasions in which Congreve rockets have we must not suffer ourselves to be deceived by sounds. been used at sea. In the land-service, their employ- However unpoetical may have been his family designament dates from the battle of Leipsic, where they tion, he was in himself a person of noble soul, equal to were employed with terrible effect. Their history the duties of any situation, brave, romantic, generous, during the Peninsular war has already been given-ready at all times to sacrifice himself for the good of also at Waterloo. The Congreve rocket is no longer others. The choice of such a friend was honourable a secret in our keeping. Various continental nations to Frederic's judgment, and had fate permitted their attachment to become as lasting as it was strong and enthusiastic, the reputation of the philosopher of Sans Souci might have escaped many of those stains which now lower and deform it. now make and employ them very effectually. The Austrian rockets are said to be particularly good. One of the most curious applications of the Congreve rocket was in the slaughter of spermaceti whales. We have now lying before us a 6-pounder whaling-rocket, precisely similar to the military prototype in every respect, save As the Prussian monarch, through unaccountable that of being furnished with a harpoon-head. The idea caprice, or the desire to wound as much as possible the of using the Congreve rocket for this purpose was inge-feelings of his children, occasionally forbade the prince nious enough. The inventor intended that the missile, and princess to see each other, Kat was often, at such when discharged, should penetrate into the very centre of the whale; then bursting, fill the huge animal with times, intrusted with messages from the brother to the such an amount of gas, that swim he must, whether he sister. Misfortune almost invariably disposes people chose to do so or not-all very pretty in theory, no to think kindly of those who sympathise with them, no doubt, but entirely false in practice. Congreve whaling-matter what may be their rank or station. Wilhelmina beheld in Kat only her brother's friend, and as, besides being handsome, he was gentle and winning in his manners, it is not very surprising that, seeing few other men, and none that shewed any deference for her, she should have experienced a secret preference for this young officer. Sometimes, when circumstances permitted, they all three met together in friendly enjoyment. Fearing to be free with others, they on such occasions made up for their general reserve by indulging in the most unbounded confidence, passing in review the whole court, from the king and queen to the meanest gentleman in waiting. It soon became evident to Frederic that Kat loved his sister, who, without the slightest regard to royal conventionalities, returned the feeling. An ordinary prince would have resented this; but he was not an ordinary prince, and therefore regarded not merely with approbation, but with delight, the mutual attachment of the individuals he loved best in the world. The intelligence came to him with disgust that plans, meanwhile, were in agitation at court for disposing, in the common way, both of his sister's hand and his own. Contemplating marriage from an extremely unfortunate point of view-that is, in connection with his own father and mother-it can scarcely be a matter of surprise that it should have inspired him with disgust. His French studies, also, and the practice of Germany, where nearly all princes contract what they call lefthanded alliances, tended to produce the same effect. When his father, therefore, set on foot any scheme for bartering away himself or his sister, in exchange for political influence, he exerted his utmost ingenuity in thwarting him. Kat likewise, it may well be believed, made the best use of his power over the mind of Wilhelmina to deter her from entering into an engagement which would have been fatal to his happiness. These facts the Prussian king could not exactly know, though his suspicions were awakened. He had recourse, therefore, to his system of espionage. Courtiers of both sexes were instructed to keep watch over the movements and communications of the trio, who, being young and ardent, were not much upon their guard; and at length the conviction became rooted in his mind, that their singular friendship obstructed the development of his policy. Wilhelmina had very few thoughts or feelings which she did not frankly communicate to her brother, but she had some, and among these was the strong love she felt for his young friend. He could not, indeed, fail to know that some attachment existed between them, but she shrank from confessing the extent of it, and often arranged, clandestinely, interviews with her lover. One morning, when she had just promised to meet Kat at dusk in the long elm-walk at the extremity of the royal gardens, her father sent for her into his apartments. He was suffering from gout, and sat in a great arm-chair, against which two heavy crutches, by the assistance of which he walked at times, leaned ominously. The queen stood trembling at his side, afraid to speak, but casting deprecating and imploring looks at her daughter. Wilhelmina shuddered and turned pale. 'I see,' exclaimed the king, 'that you are sinking under the weight of a guilty conscience. You know you are deceiving me, in conjunction with your mother and brother.' Wilhelmina thought of her assignation with Kat. 'I say, you are deceiving me, or at least attempting to do so. But there are more eyes upon you than you imagine. You should remember the old saying: "that walls have ears;" and that when children enter into plots, to bring trouble and disgrace upon their parents, it behoves them to display more prudence than you and your rebellious brother exhibit. But I have discovered all your schemes, and know how to punish you.' The poor princess almost dropped to the floor. Her father, she saw, was in a paroxysm of anger, almost approaching to madness. He turned now and then fierce and threatening glances towards the queen, who looked aside to conceal her tears, and was only restrained by terror from throwing herself into her daughter's arms. He bade Wilhelmina draw near, but she was overwhelmed with fear, and could not prevail on herself to approach him. He then attempted to rise, in order to seize her, as he had often done, by the hair of her head, but a sharp twinge of the gout supervening, he fell back in the chair writhing with agony; in the midst of which he seized one of the crutches, and hurling it with all his might at his daughter, would certainly have brought her days to a sudden conclusion, but that, bending down her head, she suffered the missile to fly unimpeded towards the window, through which it made its way with a crash into the court below. This was the signal for flight; and both queen and princess ran shrieking into their own rooms, followed as far as they could hear by the most frightful imprecations and anathemas. As ill-luck would have it, Frederic soon after came to pay his respects to his father, whom he found entirely alone, all his ministers, courtiers, and even servants contriving not to hear his vociferations. If we had not the most unimpeachable testimony for the scene that followed, we should regard it as an extravagant fiction. When the prince entered, his father, fixing upon him a demoniacal look, accused him of entertaining some monstrous designs, which had never entered the poor young man's imagination, even in his dreams. He, therefore, repelled respectfully the charges made against him. This was too much. Anger, amounting to absolute rage, overcame the sense of pain. The king sprang from his chair, and seizing his son by the throat, dragged him with all his force towards the window, where, with the strong cords of the blinds, he attempted to strangle him. He was a large, powerful man; the son, weak and delicate; and the parricide was nearly accomplished before any of the courtiers would venture in to preserve their master from the commission of a crime which would have cast a blight over his whole life. Frederic, however, was nearly black in the face when disentangled from the cords and borne fainting out of the apartment. An unintermitted system of persecution was now pursued by Frederic-William against his queen and his two eldest children, whose lives were thus rendered nothing but one tissue of gloom and wretchedness. His majesty's matrimonial schemes, however, suffered no interruption. As if he had been the best of fathers, he exerted himself vigorously to obtain a wife for his son, and a husband for his daughter, which he persuaded himself was all that could be desired to render them perfectly happy. His own experience of wedlock had doubtless led him as well as his queen to this conclusion! But their children remained steadfast in their unbelief, and looked upon the marriage-ring with little less horror than a compact with the Evil One. This was more especially the case with Frederic, who, in an unlucky hour, came at length to the determination to put an end to his own misery by flying into France. This resolution he communicated to Wilhelmina, with the strictest injunctions to keep the secret from her mother, who, through a mistaken sense of duty, would probably have betrayed his design. All the necessary preparations were undertaken by Kat, who, in the devotion of his friendship, braved, with his eyes open, the danger that impended over him. The slightest accident might shipwreck their project, and he knew the old king too well not to foresee that he would take 'a terrible revenge. It boots not now to inquire into the means by which they raised the necessary funds for defraying the expenses of their journey, how they procured passports, and succeeded in lulling to sleep the suspicions of the |