costly sables. His face was sharp, his complexion of a
livid yellow, his eyes shone out from their hollow orbits, unnaturally
enlarged and fatally bright. Thus, in ghastly contrast to his former
splendour of youth and opulence of life, Margrave stood before me.

"I come to you," said Margrave, in accents hoarse and broken, "from the
shores of the East. Give me shelter and rest. I have that to say which
will more than repay you."

Whatever, till that moment, my hate and my fear of this unexpected
visitant, hate would have been inhumanity, fear a meanness, conceived
for a creature so awfully stricken down.

Silently, involuntarily, I led him into the house. There he rested a few
minutes, with closed eyes and painful gasps for breath. Meanwhile, the
driver brought from the carriage a travelling-bag and a small wooden
chest or coffer, strongly banded with iron clamps. Margrave, looking up
as the man drew near, exclaimed fiercely, "Who told you to touch
that chest? How dare you? Take it from that man, Fenwick! Place it
here,--here by my side!"

I took the chest from the driver, whose rising anger at being so
imperiously rated in the land of democratic equality was appeased by the
gold which Margrave lavishly flung to him.

"Take care of the poor gentleman, squire," he whispered to me, in the
spontaneous impulse of gratitude, "I fear he will not trouble you long.
He must be monstrous rich. Arrived in a vessel hired all to himself, and
a train of outlandish attendants, whom he has left behind in the town
yonder. May I bait my horses in your stables? They have come a long
way."

I pointed to the neighbouring stables, and the man nodded his thanks,
remounted his box, and drove off.

I returned to Margrave. A faint smile came to his lips as I placed the
chest beside him.

"Ay, ay," he muttered. "Safe! safe! I shall soon be well again,--very
soon! And now I can sleep in peace!"

I led him into an inner room, in which there was a bed. He threw himself
on it with a loud sigh of relief. Soon, half raising himself on his
elbow, he exclaimed, "The chest--bring it hither! I need it always
beside me! There, there! Now for a few hours of sleep; and then, if I
can take food, or some such restoring cordial as your skill may suggest,
I shall be strong enough to talk. We will talk! we will talk!"

His eyes closed heavily as his voice fell into a drowsy mutter: a moment
more and he was asleep.

I watched beside him, in mingled w