ich a man, however hig

may be led by that n

those which, in follo

nd, therefore, that na

good sense, and in co

horizontally aloof,

s more skilled in dipl

y the surrender of the

uld surrender before

eth

, stage-play!"-only ars est celare artem, conceal the art. Gleesome in soul to behold his visitors, calculating already on the three pounds to be extracted from them, seeing in that hope the cri

ke surely was. But, ah, had Pope seen Gentleman Waife! Taking advantage of the impression he had created, the actor added, with the finest

vering his self-possess

much in the same way as Admiral Napier might have eyed the fort

boldness which plays the deuce wit

plained. My friend, a distinguished artist, wished to make

r your own roof, or Under Mr. Merle's, which, I take it, is the same thing for the present."-Sophy had sidled up to Lionel. He might not have been flattered if he knew why she preferred him to Vance. She

hy, with the tones of an ange

usly, feeling his way, as it were, towards the interior of the recess thus protected. "My grandchild declined your flattering proposal with my full approbation. She did not consider-neither did I-that the ma

my fortune, s

aughed; Sophy nestled

an old man: one way of life is the same to me as another. But

ot introduce her to the London Manag

the boards. Besides, what strikes you as so good in a village show may be poor enough in a metropolitan theatre. Gentle

erle said you were a scholar!-read Sophoc

r at the unfortunat

But your language and manner are not what-what one might expec

to treat life and deal with their fellow-men; such fault may have been mine too. I suffer for it: no matter; I ask none to save me. You are a painter: you would place her features on your canvas; you would have her rank amongst your own creations. She may become a part of your

and, and swept them into his own pocket! At that sinister action Waife felt his heart sink into his sh

is I who will pay for it," said Vance. "I und

e tears which her grandfather's pathos had drawn for

have a finished portrait. I cannot take this by candlelight. You must let

, we shall not leave the village till you have completed yo

ourself and your grandchild, by the help of a sum which is certainly much for me to pay

ure you that that precise sum is wanted for an investment which promises her and mysel

by this time he had drawn upon his lap

e, declining downward his betrayed and resentful

miling, "that I may not be off to-ni

is on the cards. Still, as John Kemble

ften that I d

o, I do them

said the Comedian, "only you should put

sure I felt it strongly; n

, had I no scruple more delicate, I would rather receive nothing till Mr. Rugge is gone. True, he has no right to any share in it. But you see before you a man who, when it comes to arguing, could never take a wrangler's degree,-never get over the Asses' B

ing).-"I-am no

John Kemble, you, sir, said that you have never heard him. Allow me, s

he table, and feeling more at his ease. "But since I se

ood-humour of a fatherly host. And, all the while, Lionel

ate, of the Bar. Waife had heard great orators, whom every one still admires for the speeches which nobody nowadays ever reads; he gave a lively idea of each. And then

ied the Comedian,

appe

ay so. You shall lodge us a few days longer, and then-and then-my little Sophy

dded, as he glanced at sundry weird and astrological symbols with which he had been di