en up--up--with papa."

"Up with papa." Mr. Carlyle was puzzled. He saw that she was shaking
from head to foot, as she stood before him.

"I cannot understand it, and it terrifies me," she continued, attempting
an explanation. "They are sitting in the room, close to him: they have
taken him, they say."

A blank, thunderstruck pause. Mr. Carlyle looked at her--he did not
speak; and then he turned and looked at the butler, who was standing
near. But the man only responded by giving his head a half shake, and
Mr. Carlyle saw that it was an ominous one.

"I will clear the house of these," he said to Lady Isabel, pointing back
to the dining-room, "and then join you upstairs."

"Two ruffians, sir, and they have got possession of the body," whispered
the butler in Mr. Carlyle's ear, as Lady Isabel departed. "They obtained
entrance to the chamber by a sly, deceitful trick, saying they were the
undertaker's men, and that he can't be buried unless their claims are
paid, if it's for a month to come. It has upset all our stomachs, sir;
Mrs. Mason while telling me--for she was the first one to know it--was
as sick as she could be."

At present Mr. Carlyle returned to the dining-room, and bore the brunt
of the anger of those savages, and it may be said, ill-used men. Not
that it was vented upon him--quite the contrary--but on the memory of
the unhappy peer, who lay overhead. A few had taken the precaution to
insure the earl's life, and they were the best off. They left the
house after a short space of time; for Mr. Carlyle's statement was
indisputable, and they knew the law better than to remain, trespassers
on his property.

But the custodians of the dead could not be got rid of. Mr. Carlyle
proceeded to the death-chamber, and examined their authority. A similar
case had never occurred under his own observation, though it had under
his father's, and Mr. Carlyle remembered hearing of it. The body of a
church dignitary, who had died deeply in debt, was arrested as it was
being carried through the cloisters to its grave in the cathedral. These
men, sitting over Lord Mount Severn, enforced heavy claims; and there
they must sit until the arrival of Mr. Vane from Castle Marling--now the
Earl of Mount Severn.

On the following morning, Sunday, Mr. Carlyle proceeded again to East
Lynne, and found, to his surprise, that there was no arrival. Isabel sat
in the breakfast-room alone, the meal on the table untouched, and she
shivering-