Captain Paul

a tale

hy soul; freeze

like stars, start

nd combined l

icular hair t

pon the fretf

espe

mmoning up his recollection

f watching over his son, for I loved him with all the love of a father. We remained two years under a tropical sun; during that two years, your father, lost amid the solitude of that magnificent island, a traveller without an object and without an aim, an ardent and indefatigable sportsman, endeavouring to cure the griefs of the mind, by the fatigues of the body; but so far from succeeding, one would have thought that his heart became still more inflamed under that ardent sun. At length, after two years of trial and incessant struggles, his love conquered. He must either s

d Paul, "I know

nd left me this small house, with a small quantity of land surrounding it. I took possession of it. Your father had left me a

ner, although he had the right to command me, said, 'Louis, you can do more than save my life and honor-you can save the life and honor of her I love-get on horseback, gallop to the next town, and return here in an hour with a doctor.' He spoke to me in that short and hasty tone, which indicated that there was not a moment to be lost. I immediately obeyed. The day was beginning to break when we returned. The docto

that this woman was t

pected; "I had offered the Count de Morlaix to keep you here, and he accep

ded Paul, with

ple kiss a strange child, because he is handsome. Four years passed on in this way, and then one night some one again knocked at this door, and it was again your father. He was more calm, but had, perhaps, a more gloomy look than on the first occasion. 'Louis,' said he, 'to-morrow, at the break of day,

"He sat up all night. At day-break he came into my room and found me up-I had not gone to bed. As

en,-pra

kirk, in Scotland, there to leave him in sure hands. When he is twenty-five years old, he will bring you the other half of this gold coin, and will ask you to reveal to him the secret of his birth. You will communicate it; for then, perhaps, his mother will be alone and isolated. As to these papers which prove his

aul, in a voice c

nd then, according to the terms which had been agreed upon, as your father had told me, they placed themselves, mute and gloomily, at the distance of thirty paces, and then began to walk towards each other. Oh! it was a moment ef agony for me, I can assure you," rejoined the old man, almost as much moved as if the scene were then actually passing before h

trust," cried Paul sei

you to live, that you may pardon me, as I do you. And uttering these words, he

lives, does he not? He is still young, and has strength enough to wield a sword or raise a pistol? We

father," replied Ach

ad forgotten that

before his eyes, and he repeats ten times a da

why the marchioness will not

text that he will not see his children, tha

finable tenderness; "and now she wishes to sacrific

er, so that the marchioness will no longer have cause to dread the presence of her children. Her secret, therefore,

, I-

m Selkirk? Could not some accident have prevented you from coming to the appointment, which fo

believe tha

do not believe it!" cried Achard, "I

of you, my friend; let

assed since then, and since then not a single day has passed without my putting up a prayer that I might see you at the appointed time. My prayers have been granted," c

tantly, without a stru

larly constituted, and hope which God has planted in it can with difficulty be eradicated. I had seen him fall-I had felt his hands grow cold-I had kissed his ice-like face-I had left him, to hollow out his grave, and that grave being made, that duty being accomplished, I returned with a beating heart, for it appeared to me, although a miracle would be required for

ardian of the sepulchre; you have remained near him that your tears might water the grass which grew about the unknown grave. Oh! how little are those who think themselves great because their name resounds amid the tempest, and the cry of war, louder than the storm

from him. Your father was young, full of courage, with a brilliant career opening before him. Your father was the last descendant of an ancient line; he bore a noble name. His path seemed marked with honors and distinction; he had a family and powerful friends. Well, he suddenly disappeared, as if the earth had opened beneath his feet. I know not

r, has she not vi

an did no

t, where he reposes. Come, and show it to me; for I will return to it,

or they heard a slight noise in the park. It was a servant from the castle

cessary that I should speak to her. I have something to communicate which will ma

at the secret I have reveal

to her but of that wh

Marguerite en