ngravings that adorned
it, and then fell into a reverie, from which he suddenly aroused himself
as if about taking a solemn resolution. With his eyes intently fixed on
the box, he began to obliterate the arms with his knife, as he murmured,
in a voice of tremulous emotion,--

"Remembrancer of my dear and excellent mother, protecting talisman that
has so long concealed my misery and which I invoked as a sacred shield
whenever poverty was on the eve of betraying me, last fragment of my
ancestry, I must bid thee farewell; and--alas! alas!--my own hand must
profane and destroy thee! God grant that the last service thou wilt ever
render me may save us from overwhelming humiliation!"

A tear trickled down his wan cheek as his voice became still; but he
went on with his task of obliteration till every trace of the crest and
shield disappeared from the emblazoned lid. After this he returned to
the heart of the town and passed through a number of small and lonely
streets, glancing eagerly, but askance, at the signs as he passed onward
in his agitation.

An hour had certainly elapsed in this bootless wandering, when he
entered a narrow lane in the quarter of Saint Andre and uttered a sudden
cry of joy as he caught a glimpse of the object for which he was in
search. His eye lighted on a sign which bore the simple but ominous
inscription--"SWORN PAWNBROKER." He passed by the door and walked
rapidly to the end of the lane; then, turning hastily, he retraced his
steps, hastening or lingering as he noticed any one passing in his
neighborhood, till at length he crept along the wall to the door, and,
seeing the thoroughfare almost empty, rushed into the house and
disappeared.

After a considerable time De Vlierbeck came forth from the
money-lender's and quickly gained another street. There was a slight
expression of satisfaction in his eyes; but the bright blush that
suffused his haggard cheeks gave token of the new humiliation through
which the sufferer had passed. Walking rapidly from street to street, he
soon reached a pastry-cook's, where he filled a basket with a stuffed
turkey, a pie, preserves, and various other smaller equipments for the
table, and, paying for his purchases, told the cook that he would send
his servant for the packages. Farther on he bought a couple of silver
spoons and a pair of ear-rings from a jeweller, and then proceeded on
his way, probably to make additional acquisitions for the proposed
entertainment