ppear as the train
moved away from the station. The ladies who owed so much to his kindness
could not deny a certain feeling of relief at being freed from the
company of one who cherished such heterodox religious convictions.

"You say you are well acquainted with the young man?" the blond lady
resumed.

"Yes, I know him well enough," was the answer. "His name is Manasseh
Adorjan, he is of good old Szekler descent, and he has seven brothers
and a twin sister. They all live at home in their ancestral castle. Some
of the brothers have married, but all live together peacefully under one
roof and form one household. Manasseh seems to have been recognised by
the family as the gifted one,--his brothers are nothing more than honest
and intelligent Szeklers,--and for his education and advancement in the
world all worked in unison. When he was only twenty years old this young
genius became a candidate for the council. In Transylvania it is the
custom to make the higher government appointments from all four of the
recognised religious sects,--Roman Catholic, Calvinist, Lutheran, and
Unitarian. From that time dates our mutual hostility."

"Then you are enemies, after all."

"In politics, yes. However, I must not bore you ladies with political
questions. Suffice it to say, then, in regard to Manasseh Adorjan, that
a sudden change of government policy, and the defeat of his party, gave
the young man a fall from his proud eminence and led him to turn his
back, for a time at least, on his native land; for he scorned to seek
the preferment that was so easily within his reach by renouncing his
principles and joining the opposite party."

"Now I understand," interposed the blond lady, "what he meant by his
'divorce case,' and his parting with one who had denied and rejected
him, but whom he could never cease to love. Those were his words, and
they referred to his country."

"Yes, probably," assented the other; "for the young man is unmarried."

At the next station the subject of this conversation suddenly
reappeared.

"Ah, we thought you were lost," exclaimed the elder of the two ladies,
with a not unfriendly smile.

"Oh, no, not lost," returned Manasseh; "what belongs nowhere and to no
one cannot be lost. I merely took a seat on the imperial. Come, friend
Gabriel,"--turning to the ladies' escort,--"will you not join me there?
The view is really fine, and we can smoke also."

The one thus familiarly addressed, and whose name