wledge enables me to regain the
possession, it will be useless."

"Useless then it will be, for the present possessor will never return it
to you."

"Indeed," replied he, in a tone of dejection, "your conjecture is most
probable. Such a prize is of too much value to be given up."

"What I have said flows not from conjecture, but from knowledge. I know
that it will never be restored to you."

At these words, Welbeck looked at me with anxiety and doubt:--"You
_know_ that it will not! Have you any knowledge of the book? Can you
tell me what has become of it?"

"Yes. After our separation on the river, I returned to this house. I
found this volume and secured it. You rightly suspected its contents.
The money was there."

Welbeck started as if he had trodden on a mine of gold. His first
emotion was rapturous, but was immediately chastened by some degree of
doubt:--"What has become of it? Have you got it? Is it entire? Have you
it with you?"

"It is unimpaired. I have got it, and shall hold it as a sacred trust
for the rightful proprietor."

The tone with which this declaration was accompanied shook the new-born
confidence of Welbeck. "The rightful proprietor! true, but I am he. To
me only it belongs, and to me you are, doubtless, willing to restore
it."

"Mr. Welbeck! It is not my desire to give you perplexity or anguish; to
sport with your passions. On the supposition of your death, I deemed it
no infraction of justice to take this manuscript. Accident unfolded its
contents. I could not hesitate to choose my path. The natural and legal
successor of Vincentio Lodi is his sister. To her, therefore, this
property belongs, and to her only will I give it."

"Presumptuous boy! And this is your sage decision. I tell you that I am
the owner, and to me you shall render it. Who is this girl? Childish and
ignorant! Unable to consult and to act for herself on the most trivial
occasion. Am I not, by the appointment of her dying brother, her
protector and guardian? Her age produces a legal incapacity of property.
Do you imagine that so obvious an expedient as that of procuring my
legal appointment as her guardian was overlooked by me? If it were
neglected, still my title to provide her subsistence and enjoyment is
unquestionable.

"Did I not rescue her from poverty, and prostitution, and infamy? Have I
not supplied all her wants with incessant solicitude? Whatever her
condition required has been plenteously supplied. The dw