nse of uncertainty which haunted all men at the
commencement of the outbreak had almost left him now. It could only
be supposed that the fever of the pestilence had come upon him, and
that he had dropped by the wayside, as so many did, and had been
carried into the farm house by some compassionate person, or by one
of the bearers whose duty it was to keep the highways clear of such
objects of public peril. But he knew nothing of his own condition,
and had had no real gleam of consciousness, until he opened his
eyes in his aunt's house to find Gertrude bending over him.

There was no shadow between them now. Gertrude's surrender was as
complete as Lady Scrope had foreseen. She used now to laugh with
Reuben over the sayings of that redoubtable old dame, and wonder
what she would think of them could she see them now. The box she
had entrusted to Gertrude had been given into Mary Harmer's care
for the present, till Reuben should be strong enough to enjoy the
excitement of opening it. But upon the first day that saw him down
in the little parlour, lying upon the couch that had been made
ready to receive him, Joseph eagerly clamoured to have the box
brought down and opened; and his wish being seconded by all, Mary
Harmer quickly produced it, and it was set upon a little table at
the side of the couch.

"Have you the key?" asked Reuben of Gertrude, and she produced it
from her neck, round which it had been hanging all this while by a
silken cord.

"It felt almost like a love token," she said with a little blush,
"for she told me I was not to open it save at the side of my
betrothed husband!"

Now, amid breathless silence, she fitted the key into the lock and
raised the lid. That disclosed a layer of soft packing, which, when
removed, left the contents exposed to view.

"Oh!" cried Joseph and Benjamin in tones of such wonder that Fido
must needs rear himself upon his hind legs to get a peep, too; but
he was soon satisfied, for he saw nothing very interesting in the
yellow contents of the wooden box, which neither smelt nice nor
were good for food. But the lovers looked across at each other in
speechless amazement.

For the box was filled to the brim with neatly piled heaps of
golden guineas--the first guineas ever struck in this country; so
called from the fact that they were made of Guinea gold brought
from Africa by one of the trading companies, and first coined in
the year 1662. And a quick calculation, based upon t