tience to know whether the dwarf still lived, but was
afraid to ask the question, or, rather, to betray my anxiety about it.
Astraea, as usual, was more courageous.

"You have seen him, then? It was to him, I presume, the steward directed
your inquiries?"

"Exactly so; but I must beg an indemnity for the man's zeal, if you
think he did wrong in confiding his fears to me."

"These old servants," I replied, "will do things their own way. Pray go
on. You saw him?"

"Yes, I saw him."

"How long since?"

"I left him only last night."

At these words, I took the liberty of indulging myself with a very long
breath, which I certainly had not ventured upon since the beginning of
this nervous conversation; and even Astraea, _malgre_ her grand air of
indifference, looked a little more at her ease.

"I will tell you every thing exactly as it happened. I came here to tell
it to you, hoping I might be the means of rendering some service--at
both sides. If I should say any thing painful to either, you must
forgive me. My intention is not to inflict fresh wounds, but to heal old
ones."

We assured him that we accepted his kindness as it was meant; and he
then went on.

"Harley (that was the name of the steward) suspected that you had had a
quarrel in that quarter; and in the course of some inquiries he had
made, he discovered that your antagonist, as he supposed, had been shot,
and his fears, following up this discovery, led him to apprehend
nothing less than a criminal prosecution. Finding that I was personally
acquainted with the gentleman, he entreated me to ascertain exactly how
the case stood. I knew nothing more. Harley threw out some vague
conjectures as to the cause of this supposed quarrel; but they were so
very vague, that I thought it best to dismiss them from my mind
altogether, and to obtain the information I sought from the principal
himself. You must remember that I have not yet heard your version of the
affair; and that I am now about to give you his.

"It is about a month since I first saw him. He was in a small room
leading from his bedchamber, and was apparently suffering great pain. An
extraordinary change had taken place in him since I had formerly known
him. His person was emaciated almost to a skeleton, showing his angular
and ungainly form at a distressing disadvantage. His face had withered
away to a narrow point under the large bones of his head, which looked
larger than ever, with his great sho