I
want to say something to you--don't be anxious, may be it is only my
foolishness--but I'm afraid the dear mistress isn't so well as you have
all thought.'

"'What makes you think that, Zillah?'

"'This morning, when I was dressing her, she had one of her old faint
attacks, but she made me promise not to tell. Oh! Miss Mabel, I was so
frightened--that was what made me look so strange when I came up. I
can't bear to think of it! My mistress, my dear mistress!'

"She was wringing her hands in a wild agitation that was not feigned,
and I did all that I could to comfort her, though this sad news unnerved
me almost as much as herself."

CHAPTER LIV.

BEHIND THE GIPSIES' TENT.

"Soon after Zillah left me, a servant came to announce that the carriage
was ready. I found the whole party assembled in the salon, Zillah
waiting outside the door. I never remember to have seen Mrs. Harrington
in such spirits as she was that morning; she looked so young and pretty,
too, that it seemed impossible that she could be the mother of that
handsome, proud-looking man. We drove through the streets, away out of
the town, to the place where the fair was held. It was an odd,
picturesque sight, with the gaily decorated booths, the crowds of
quaintly dressed men and women, the noise and laughter.

"There was a throng gathered about a puppet-show, somewhat like the
English Punch and Judy, shrieking with laughter like so many children; a
group of girls consulting an old fortune-teller; pretty peasant girls
from the hills slily listening to compliments from the town gallants,
evidently to the great indignation of their country swains; in short,
every way we turned, some picture that would have been a treasure to any
great artist, met the eye, and all so strange and picturesque, that I
became more interested than I had thought possible.

"The Gipsies were grouped in a green lane just on the outskirts of the
fair. I had seen persons in my own country who claimed to be these
people, but they were as unlike the pure Rommany gipsies as races of men
could be. These people were thin, wiry and keen; their features, in most
instances, finely cut, and the expression of their countenances full of
sharp intelligence. They had pitched a double line of tents, where the
elder women were busy selling drinks, and frying cakes, which they sold
hot from an iron cauldron full of simmering fat, out of which the
smoking cakes were lifted with a skimmer,