from the first--standing between her husband and her
governess--Mrs. Linley spoke.

"Miss Westerfield, you have saved my child's life." She
paused--her eyes still resting on the girl's face. Deadly pale,
she pointed to her husband, and said to Sydney: "Take him!"

She passed out of the room--and left them together.



THIRD BOOK.


Chapter XXII.


Retrospect.


The autumn holiday-time had come to an end; and the tourists had
left Scotland to the Scots.

In the dull season, a solitary traveler from the North arrived at
the nearest post-town to Mount Morven. A sketchbook and a
color-box formed part of his luggage, and declared him to be an
artist. Falling into talk over his dinner with the waiter at the
hotel, he made inquiries about a picturesque house in the
neighborhood, which showed that Mount Morven was well known to
him by reputation. When he proposed paying a visit to the old