se at Barcelona, and after a lecture and
a hearty cry from sister Laura, a blessing and a kiss from mamma, and
a great sob kept down by a hurricane laugh from the governor, I went
adrift.

Four years passed rapidly away. I had attained my full height, and
more than my just share of inches. I already enjoyed a fair modicum of
whisker, and had even made some progress in the cultivation of a pair
of moustaches, when suddenly the house I was connected with failed.
What to do? The governor insisted upon my return to England, where his
interest among the mercantile class was considerable; Laura hinted
mysteriously that my presence in the house would soon be a matter of
great importance to her father; and mamma let out the secret, by
writing to me that Laura was going to 'change her condition.' I was
glad to hear this, for I knew he would be a model of a fellow who was
Laura's husband; and, gulping down my pride, which would fain have
persuaded me that it was unmanly to go back again like the ill
sixpence, I set out on my return home.

The family, I knew, had moved to another house; but being well
acquainted with the town, I had no difficulty in finding the place. It
was a range of handsome buildings which had sprung up in the
fashionable outskirt during my absence; and although it was far on in
the evening, my accustomed eyes soon descried through the gloom the
governor's old-fashioned door-plate. I was just about to knock, really
agitated with delight and struggling memories, when a temptation came
in my way. One of the area-windows was open, gaping as if for my
reception. A quantity of plate lay upon a table close by. Why should I
not enter, and appear unannounced in the drawing-room, a sunburnt
phantom of five feet eleven? Why should I not present the precise and
careful Laura with a handful of her own spoons and forks, left so
conveniently at the service of any area-sneak who might chance to pass
by? Why? That is only a figure of speech. I asked no question about
the matter; the idea was hardly well across my brain when my legs were
across the rails. In another moment, I had crept in by the window; and
chuckling at my own cleverness, and the great moral lesson I was about
to teach, I was stuffing my pockets with the plate.

While thus engaged, the opening of a door in the hall above alarmed
me; and afraid of the failure of my plan, I stepped lightly up the
stair, which was partially lighted by the hall-lamp. As I was a