his commission
as officer in the Dutch army, he was entered as a Monsieur Laporte or
De la Porte; there were no other papers. The clerk had indeed already
finished the protocol, when the surgeon called our attention to a
seal-ring on the dead man's clenched left hand. It was a thick gold
ring of curious make, with a blood-red cornelian, and it was impossible
to get it off. But as I chanced--being fond of antiques--to bend down
closer with a candle in order to examine the style of it, I saw to my
surprise and horror, that it was exactly--but you must not be alarmed,
it may as I said be merely accidental--_exactly_ I repeat, like the
family arms of the Amthors, two beams supporting a cornice with an open
door in the middle and a star above. The candle shook in my hand, all
the more that at the same moment I saw in the pale bearded face, which
had at first seemed to me that of a perfect stranger, an expression--I
pray you, my good cousin, to forgive me if I pain you--an expression
such as I had seen on the dead face of my excellent and honoured
friend, your late husband, when on the day of his burial I stood for
the last time beside his open coffin."

The worthy man, having got so far in his narrative, made a pause,
during which he did not venture to look at the matron opposite him,
though indeed he could but poorly estimate the amount of the woe that
hung over her. He had no idea that the fate of both children might
depend on whether the stranger proved to be her own son or not.

"Be comforted, my beloved friend," he at length resumed, wiping away
the cold drops from his brow. "I have taken upon myself not to say a
word of this discovery to any one but the mayor, whom you know to be an
honourable man heartily devoted to your family. I asked him whether
this melancholy supposition had not better be buried in our hearts. It
is not probable, but yet it is possible, that a branch of the Amthors
may have migrated to foreign lands, there changed their name to Laporte
or De la Porte for the sake of convenience, retaining, however, the
family arms. As to that look in the dead face, which is a good deal
disfigured by a deep scar, I said nothing about it to him, as he had
declared he saw no likeness whatever to Andreas, whom he remembered to
have often met nine or ten years ago. Nevertheless he was of opinion
that so singular a coincidence ought not to remain a secret to you. If
indeed, contrary to all probability, it should prove