e hands of Scotch, French, and Jewish
merchants, the Poles themselves being sharply divided into the two
categories of nobles and peasants.

Yours sincerely,

G. A. Henty.

Chapter 1: A Spy in the Household.

On the borders of Lancashire and Westmoreland, two centuries since,
stood Lynnwood, a picturesque mansion, still retaining something of
the character of a fortified house. It was ever a matter of regret
to its owner, Sir Marmaduke Carstairs, that his grandfather had so
modified its construction, by levelling one side of the quadrangle,
and inserting large mullion windows in that portion inhabited by
the family, that it was in no condition to stand a siege, in the
time of the Civil War.

Sir Marmaduke was, at that time, only a child, but he still
remembered how the Roundhead soldiers had lorded it there, when his
father was away fighting with the army of the king; how they had
seated themselves at the board, and had ordered his mother about as
if she had been a scullion, jeering her with cruel words as to what
would have been the fate of her husband, if they had caught him
there, until, though but eight years old, he had smitten one of the
troopers, as he sat, with all his force. What had happened after
that, he did not recollect, for it was not until a week after the
Roundheads had ridden away that he found himself in his bed, with
his mother sitting beside him, and his head bandaged with cloths
dipped in water. He always maintained that, had the house been
fortified, it could have held out until help arrived, although, in
later years, his father assured him that it was well it was not in
a position to offer a defence.

"We were away down south, Marmaduke, and the Roundheads were
masters of this district, at the time. They would have battered the
place around your mother's ears, and, likely as not, have burnt it
to the ground. As it was, I came back here to find it whole and
safe, except that the crop-eared scoundrels had, from pure
wantonness, destroyed the pictures and hacked most of the furniture
to pieces. I took no part in the later risings, seeing that they
were hopeless, and therefore preserved my property, when many
others were ruined.

"No, Marmaduke, it is just as well that the house was not
fortified. I believe in fighting, when there is some chance, even a
slight one, of success, but I regard it as an act of folly, to
throw away a life when no good can come of it."

Still, Sir Marmadu