Amabel Vaughan.*

The spiteful malignity of this composition was but too apparent , and but for the last sentence Mabel would have treated it with that contempt \ vhieh it deseiTed . But to bo the laughing stock of Woh'erston , to be pitied by the people there , was too bad . What did Eeginald mean by putting this insult upon her ! The end is soon told . Mabel accused Fitz of being AA'ith Miss Longmore that evening . He did not deny it , and the engagement was broken off . It was , so far as the world ivas concerned ( the little Avorld of Woh'erston ) , a thing of mutual consent ;—incompatability of temper—anything .

Three years - have passed away , and Mabel is sadly changed ; but she is still as beautiful as eA'er , so many think . Fitzgerald ' s conduct ( though it AA'as not so A'ery dreadful , as the reader knows ) had deejoly wounded her pride , aud Mark's' death' had affected her much . How she pitied him ! Yes , he must be dead , poor felloAA ' , though since that horrid night some things had occurred AA'hich tended to throve doubt upon the eAddence given at the inquest as' to his

falling off the pier . A boat bottom upwards had been cast ashore close' to the pier the day after the finding of the corpse , Avith one side battered in against the' rocks , - and a shred of blue cloth similar to that found on the body Avas found fastened by a nail to its timbers . But then , if Mark had been alh'e , they must certainly have heard tidings from him ere this . " Poor Mark , if he were only alive noAv ! " Mabel said , and sighed ; but she did not flush the sentence .

Mabel \ i r as no longer the flirt of former clays ; she had refused all offers to marry , and AA'as living Avith her widowed uncle , Mr Brig . Mr Seymour had died , leaving Mabel the mistress of a few thousands , as well off as his own daughters . The vicar of Trinity Church AA'as no longer viear , but he had risen to the dignity of Canon of Canchester . It had come curiously about . He Avas so grateful to Mr Tyssen for getting his young relative iuto Christ's Hospital , that he called a day or t \ Vo after he receiA'ed the letter from Seaton informing him of . his success in procuring the nomination

through the kind exertions of the chief of his department—to thank that gentleman personally for bis kindness , and to acknoAvledge the deep obligations under Avhich he rested . For a presentation Avas as good as a gift of , £ 300 or . £ 400 \ A'hen one considers that a boy receiA'es a first-rate education , is clothed and boarded for ei ght 3 'ears , and if he shows marked ability , and is persevering enough to become a Grecian , is sent to Oxford or Cambridge to finish .

Mr . Tyssen received him very courteously , - spoke very highly of his young friend Marcus Seaton , and astonished him somewhat by stating that for some totally unexplained cause Seaton had suddenly thrown up his appointment , ' the reason for AA'hich no one knew .

Strange to say , no one had seen him since , and one of his great friends at the office had called at his lodgings , found that he had suddenly left them , and could glean no intelligence Avhatever as to his ivhereabonts . Mr . Bri g did not then know of the distressing news which Avould reach him when he went home—where lie found a letter from his niece a \ A'aiting him , conveying the melancholy account of Mark ' s supposed death .

Mr . Tyssen AA'as very much shocked when Mr . Brig called upon him some days afterwards to tell him what he bad heard , for Marls ; was a great favourite AA'ith every one m the office , and Mr . Tyssen , though he Avas careful to shoAV no partiality , had really a special regard for the young man . Somehow the event and mystery which surrounded it made these two lii ' en friends , —there was a sort of bond of sympathbetween them—for MrBrithough he knew

y . g , A'ery little about Mark , had taken a A'ery great fancy to him when he made his acquaintance ( as for the matter of that most people did ) ; and I don't know exactly how it happened , but I think Mr . Tyssen expressed a wish to hear Mi-. Brig preach , and the latter had asked him out one Sunday to dine with them at Trinity Parsonage . Anyhow , Mr . 5