ther place except his house, with the exception, of course, of Captain
Ratlin, whose business with him was seriously impeded by the presence of
these parties. Maud, too, was not a disinterested party, as the reader
may well imagine, after the audacious treachery which she had already
evinced; but she was comparatively passive now, and seemed quietly to
bide her time for accomplishing her second resolve touching him she once
loved but now hated, as well as satisfying her revengeful spirit by the
misery or destruction of her rival. We say affairs in Don Leonardo's
residence had assumed a singular and peculiar aspect, and the dull
routine of everyday life that had characterized the last year was
totally changed.

The singular coincidence of the meeting between Miss Huntington and her
rejected lover, Captain Bramble, under such singular circumstances, led
him once more to press this suit, and now, as she regarded him largely
in the light of a protector, the widow quite approved of his intimacy,
and indeed, as far as propriety would permit, seconded his suit with her
daughter. When in India, she had looked most favorably upon Captain
Bramble's intimacy with her child, where there were accessory
circumstances to further her claims; but now she soon told her daughter
in private, that Captain Bramble was a match fit and proper in all
respects for such as she was.

"But, mother--"

"Well, my child?"

"Suppose, for instance, that I do not like Captain Bramble, then is he a
fitting match for me?"

"Not like him, my child?"

"Yes, mother, not like him."

"Why, is he not gentlemanly?"

"Yes."

"And of good family?"

"Undoubtedly."

"And handsome, and--"

"Hold, mother, you need not extend the catalogue. Captain Bramble can
never be my husband," she said, in a mild but determined tone that her
mother understood very well.

But Captain Bramble himself could not seem to understand this,
notwithstanding she was perfectly frank and open with him. He seemed to
be running away with the idea that if he could but get rid of Captain
Ratlin, in some way, he should then have a clear field, and be able to
win her hand under the peculiar circumstances surrounding her. Thus
moved, he redoubled his watchfulness touching the captain's movements,
satisfied that he should be able ere long to detect him in some
intrigue, as to running a cargo of slaves, and doubtless under such
circumstances that he could arrest and detain him, if no