The Worshipful Master.

They sauntered on to the Parade . " Did I ? " she said , laughing . " Mother says , sometimes , I ought to have been au actress . " " You ought to have been a Peeress . Asellya—Edith , I cannot let this opportunity pass without telling- you I have come down expressly to ask you a very important question . I love you very clearly . Circumstances have prevented me declaring myself before , and , indeed , I have not been , my own master . I have , indeed , striven to forget you , but I cannot do so . Will you try to like me a little ? "

Assellya was silent . "Do not refuse me , dearest . I shall nover marry unless I may proudly claim you as my wife . " Asellya raised her beautiful eyes to his . He read his answer there , ancl then they sealed their compact with the first kiss he had ever snatched from those sweet red lips . No one saw them but the moon and the stars , for thej '

had wandered on and on , up the steep pathway to the Wishing Gate , leading to the summit of St . Catherine ' s Hill , and where Love Lane ended . " Dear me , " our heroine said , half-an-hour later , after they ascended to the summit of the hill above the Castle , built in the reign of Henry VIII ., and admired the view up the harbour by moonlight , and gazed out across the English Channel , where they vainly peered for a sight of the Eddystone . "Dear me , I quite forgot I had to go and see Mary Pentreath . What will she think of me ?"

CHAPTER IX . A SIGHT TO BE REMEMBERED . MASOHRY was all agog ; the Roman Catholics thought it was in extremis . The Marquis of Ripon had suddenly gone over to Rome ; had abandoned Masonry ; and thrown up his high office as Grand Master . The enemies of Masonry , and they are many ancl powerfulwere delighted beyond measureand thought

, , that now the most powerful secret society in the world would surel y fall . The Prince of Wales , who had previously been installed as Grand Master of the Knights Templar , when Lord Esme acted as ' one of the Aides-de-Camp , now graciously intimated that he himself would become Grand Master of the Craft , if the brethren thought fit to elect him . Needless to say , this noble conduct of His Royal Highness was duly

appreciated . He was unanimously elected by acclamation at the ensuing Grand Lodge , and , in the Albert Hall , on the 28 th April , 1875 , he was dul y installed Most Worshipful Grand Master of England . Dr . Penhaligon was there as Worshi pful Master of the Lodge of Harmony , sitting next the venerable Dr . Oldham . Bro . Wroath came in the procession as a Grand Officer , as Grand Sword Bearer , and also Representative of the Argentine Republic .

Nearly ten thousand Masons were present : the Grand Officers in purple ancl gold , the Past Masters wearing their sky-blue collars , the Grand Stewards in crimson . The brethren were told they were to stand in silence when the Prince entered , and that , of course , he would he saluted afterwards in the usual way known amongst Masons . The names of brethren forming a deputation of the greatest noblemen in England , including the Marquis ofEarsden ,

were read out by Garter King-at-Arms , when those distinguished brethren proceeded through Hie serried ranks of Craftsmen , and conducted His Royal Highness , amidst a fanfare of silver trumpets and the glorious strains of Sir Michael Costa ' s march , composed for the occasion ancl played on the great organ , to his throne in the East . Then the whole vast assemblage arose , and , as if pent rip loyalty could no longer be restrained , a murmur of welcome , at first low , and then bursting- out into a thunder of applause , rolled round the building and died away , onl y to be repeated , again and again .