broken and the note carried away. Some one had passed through the
building since he had left it. Could it have been the girl? and if
so, why had she avoided him? One thing appeared certain; she would
know where to expect his letters, and he would now write another. In
twenty minutes he had prepared the following, which, having sealed,
he again suspended from the lamp in the hall:

DEAREST GIRL--I have waited all the morning to see you, and am
growing fearfully impatient. Is it business or pleasure that keeps
you away? Why not tell me frankly just what it is, as I can not
bear to think that I am avoided from indifference, or because you
are getting tired of me. Have I outstayed my welcome at Guir House?
I entreat you to give me an answer and an interview, as I am so
lonely without you; just how lonely I will tell you when we meet.

PAUL.

Having left this dangling from the same thread, he went out for a
walk; and thinking it possible that he might meet Ah Ben in the
forest, went in that direction.

The leaves were now falling rapidly, and the clear sky was visible
through the bare limbs above; and the open spaces were beginning to
give the woods quite a wintry aspect. Guir House was visible from a
greater distance than he had ever seen it, and Paul sat down upon a
fallen log to take in the picture of the quaint old mansion, buried
in the depths of a trackless, almost impenetrable forest. He sang a
verse of a familiar song in a loud voice, with the hope of attracting
attention, but the distant echo of the last words was the only
response that he got. Then he threw himself upon the ground and