in his arms. I fancy, by the bye, he's uncommonly fond of that little thing; and she certainly is as pretty as a picture and as sweet as a rosebud.'

"How does he live? Has he any occupation?'

"Well, yes; I'm sorry to say he has. What I mean is, his occupation is not a particularly savory one, considering that he was born and bred a gentleman. He keeps a rumshop which is the resort of some of the worst characters in the settlement. I would n't advise you to go down there; you would find it unpleasant after having known him in different circumstances. He does n't like to be reminded in any way of his past life, and he might give you a rough reception.'

"In spite of this warning I was disposed to risk a meeting with my old friend Jack, and a few days later I made my way down to the secluded little village in the vicinity of which he lived. It was a wild and picturesque part of the sea-coast, with riotous semi-tropical vegetation growing down almost to the water's edge. Great black rocks, fantastically jagged, fronted the waves, and outside were reefs, the presence of which was revealed only by the storms and by the vessels that were shattered against them. Behind, miles inland, tall mountains rose sharply against the clear sky.

"The village lay in a clearing bordered by a curving beach of white sand, with a rocky headland on each side. A small harbor was thus formed, the only one in a stretch of many miles. The headland or promontory on the left as you faced the sea was larger than the other: it extended six or seven hundred yards outwards from the shore-line, and averaged a hundred yards in breadth. About a third of the way down this promontory stood the house in which Jack Hamilton lived and where he conducted his business, such as it was.

"It was an odd-looking specimen of architecture. It was largely constructed of masses of stone, piled together somewhat after the fashion of the stone walls in America, the crevices being filled in with a kind of clay, hardened by the sun. The roof and part of the walls were of hewn logs. But at the seaward end of the house-which stood on the highest piece of land on the promontory—was a rude tower, built entirely of stone, and daubed over with whitewash. This tower was perhaps thirty feet in height, and, owing to its conspicuous site and its whiteness, must have been visible many miles at sea. Transversely across the promontory, on a line with the tower, was a high picket fence, separating the seaward end of the promontory from the main.

"You'll find him there, or thereabouts,' said one of the villagers, in reply to my inVOL. XXXVII.-30.

quiries as to Happy Jack.' 'He seldom comes into the village, sir, except it is to see to the unloading of one of his smacks, and to cart the hogsheads up to his place. Yes, sir, he's a pretty tough customer, Jack is; but he's got his good points too. The best of 'em is that little gal of his: she's his guardian angel, if ever a man had one. She never comes this side of the fence, and never sees nothing of the goings-on in the liquor-shop. If a man so much as lets out a bit of strong language in her hearing, he's lucky if Jack only gives him a broken head. And they say as how she's the cause of the tower being built too!' "I asked how that happened.

"Well, sir,' replied my informant, 'you see there used to be a lot of ships wrecked out on the reefs yonder beyond the headland. The reefs they don't show, except the sea breaks on 'em, and there ain't no charts of this coast. But one night when there was a heavy gale blowing on shore, the little gal was waked up (so the story goes) by the sound of guns in the offing, and she asked her pa what that was. He told her it was some ship coming ashore, most likely. So what does the little thing do but catch hold of the candle, and climb up on the table in the window, and stand there holding up the candle, so as the ship can see her way home, as she says. Well, the next thing was, that Jack built that tower and painted it white; and at the top of it he rigged up a lantern, and lights it every night regular, no matter how drunk he may be; and that light has saved as many ships, maybe, as there is stones in the tower. And whether Jack done it for the sake of the ships, or for the sake of the little gal, it's a handsome thing for him to do, all the same; and we gives him credit for it.'

"I thanked my communicative friend, and, leaving the village, passed on towards the solitary house on the promontory. A path, worn by the passing of many feet, but scarcely wide enough, one would have thought, to accommodate the eccentricities of those returning from the scene of their festivity, conducted me by an easy ascent to Happy Jack's domains. It was still the forenoon, and no one seemed to be stirring. I rapped on the door with the knob of my oaken staff.

"After a pause I heard a noise of light pattering footsteps, the door was slowly opened, and before me stood a lovely little maiden, hardly more than three years of age. Her curling hair had a thread of reddish gold running through it; but her eyebrows were dark, and so were her large hazel eyes. Her little face was rounded in curves of perfect beauty, and her childish features were vivified and enlightened by an expression of innocent intelligence charming to behold. She was clad

in a costume which could hardly have been surpassed for simplicity—a single garment of fine wool, of a grayish green hue, gathered at the throat and at the wrists, and falling in straight folds to the knee. On her small feet were a kind of moccasins, embroidered with beads. Pure and innocent though she was, as a thing fresh from heaven, I recognized her in an instant by the signs of her sad parentage written in her every movement and gesture; and the thought flashed across my mind, Will she live to inherit their fate as well as their likeness?

"Papa ith athleep,' said the little maid; 'oo muff come some over time.'

"Before I could make a rejoinder, a deep and resonant voice that I knew, but with something fiercer and gruffer in it than of yore, became audible from within, and the floor shook beneath a heavy and hurried tread. The little golden-haired fairy vanished as if by magic, and in her place stood a shaggy and threatening ogre, massive and formidable, with long hair falling on his broad shoulders and a huge tangled beard covering his breast. By the gesture of his uplifted arm he seemed on the point of making me pay dear for my unauthorized interview with his guardian angel,' but in the act of smiting he paused. A singular flash came out of his blue eyes: he suddenly caught me by the shoulder and hand and pulled me into the cottage; and then, as he stared at me, he said, with a gulp in his throat, Keppell, Keppell! You came to see me, and I was going to strike you! My dear boy my dear old boy!'

"At the first glance Jack had seemed to me incredibly changed, and not for the better; but after we had conversed together for half an hour I began to get him back again, so to speak. He looked much older than the four years which had passed would ordinarily justify. His face was fuller, and it was marked with furrows of grief, violent passions, and intemperance. His whole appearance was neg. lected and slothful; but within all, or behind all, I could detect more and more the traces of the gallant soldier and gentleman whom I had known. No doubt, too, the memories connected with my presence recalled him unusually to his old self.

"We did n't think of this in India, did we, old man?' he said, after a while. But it was fate; it could n't have been otherwise. If it were to do again, I don't believe I would do differently. I assented to all your remonstrances and arguments with my head; but a man's head never leads him, though it pretends to cleverly enough. Come to the bottom of it, it's his nature, and circumstances. I have lost her, of course, and I've lost most things; but-I

had her! God himself can't rob me of that fact. It's worth all the rest to me; and I suppose it's all the same to her now. And I fancy, sometimes, that she is with me still, in some way. There's the little girl, you know.'

"He called Edith, and in a moment the child came and stood between his knees, gazing at the stranger with her dark hazel eyes.

"A man can't call himself good for nothing as long as he has this,' said Jack, putting his great hand tenderly on her sunny head. 'She does n't know I'm a scoundrel and a drunken loafer; and until she does know it there will be something better than that in me. It was a hard time when she came into the world, Keppell,' he continued after a pause; 'so hard, that when her mother died I was glad of it! But I could n't let the child go: I could n't have stood that.'

"You can't stay here many years longer, Jack,' I said. 'She will be growing up before you know it, and this is no place in which to educate her. Why don't you take her to America? She is a lady, and she has a right to lead the life of one. And you why, man alive, you 're not more than five-and-thirty yet! You might make a career there: you 've got it in you.'

"I shall live and die here,' replied he, bringing down his hand heavily on the arm of his chair. Whether I 'm thirty-five or ninety-five makes no difference. But I have thought about what you say; I know the child can't get her rights in such a place as this. I have thought it all over, and I have made up my mind, when she is a few years older, to send her to England and have her taught whatever is becoming to her station. And then she will come back to me.'

"I don't see the object of that. What use would her education be to her if she spent her life on a promontory in the north of New Zealand? It must be the other way; you must go to her. She will never wish to come back here.'

"But I say she shall come back!' exclaimed Jack, with a passion for which I was hardly prepared. She belongs to me, and I'll have her. I know what she wants; I can make her comfortable. And when I'm gone she will have money to live on, and to do as she pleases. I sha'n't live forever; I shall know when it 's time for me to step out. And that's one thing that is left to me-I can always step out when I'm ready! But, until then, let them thwart me at their peril! I know my rights, and I'll have them and I'll have Édith.'

"He lifted the child up in his great arms and embraced her with a sort of savage tenderness, glaring out at me as if he half suspected me of an intention to defraud him of his treasure. I did not prolong the argument. Jack Hamilton was the headstrong, imperious,

intractable Jack Hamilton still. There was probably more trouble ahead for him, but warnings would be useless. I talked of other things, and my host, recovering from his perturbation, showed me about his place and made me inspect the garden on the farther side of the fence, which he had cultivated for Edith, and in which she could amuse herself at ease, as much out of the reach of the world as if she were in another planet. Then he took me up the narrow steps of the tower, on the apex of which was a large lantern with a powerful reflector, capable of throwing a ray ten miles at least. That's Edith's candle,' said he, with a smile. She's been the cause of saving more lives and money than all the other little girls in the world.'

"Now that you've seen heaven, I'll show you hell,' he continued, as he led the way into the front part of the house, which was entirely isolated from the other side. Here were the materials of his trade- barrels and demijohns of liquor, bottles and glasses, pipes and tobacco; and a big iron-bound chest behind the bar, the lid of which he lifted, was more than half full of gold sovereigns.

"No one comes here till after she 's asleep,' he remarked. From then till two in the morning there are lively times, I can tell you! Not much like what we used to have at our messtable, either. But it suits me, it suits the devil in me; and as long as the devil's there, he has to be attended to. There 's money in it, too don't forget that; and though it may be bad morals to say that I get in hell the means to enjoy heaven, that's the cold truth, at any

rate.'

"As the day wore on, the harder and grimmer aspects of the man began to crop out more and more frequently; and after I had complied once or twice with his invitation to drink with him, I saw that he would presently change for the worse. Accordingly I bade him farewell betimes and rode away; but when I glanced back from the bend in the road above the village, I saw him standing on the tower with Edith in his arms, waiting to light the lamp when the sun should sink below the horizon.

"Destiny plays such pranks with me," continued the Captain, "that I never venture to predict where I shall be next year or even next week; but I certainly expected and intended to see Jack again much sooner than was actually the case. For, as near as I can calculate, it was ten years before I again set foot on the shore of New Zealand, and wondered, but a little dreaded to inquire, how my old friend had fared during the interval.

"Oh, I fancy he 's all right,' said Duane, in answer to my question. (Duane himself had prospered greatly, and was in the way of rising

to the highest positions ultimately.) He gets drunk rather more thoroughly than when you were here before; but he has n't killed anybody lately, that I 've heard of. Oh, by the bye, that daughter of his, a pretty little thing, however she got her beauty, he sent her to England to be educated: his brother, Lord, promised to look out for her. She's been gone two or three years now. Jack intends her to come back here when she has finished her course; but, between you and me, that 's all nonsense. The folks over there will keep hold of her until Jack has passed in his chips, as he would phrase it; and at the rate he 's going now that probably won't be long. When he's once out of the way, the girl may possibly come to something after all. There are plenty of fellows in decent circumstances who would be glad to marry Lord's niece, even if there were something a little off color about the circumstances of the mother's wedding.'

"I should n't be surprised,' said I ; and that evening I set out for the domain of Happy Jack. It was the night between the second and the third of March. There was to be a full moon, and I anticipated a quiet and comfortable ride along a very fair road. But a storm arose soon after I started, and increased until it blew a hurricane. I have seldom passed a more arduous night: I was blown down, horse and man, three times; I was drenched with rain, and had most of my clothes torn off me; and it was noon before I reached the village, in a sorry plight. By that time the catastrophe which concludes my story had occurred, and I give you the particulars as I picked them up and pieced them together afterwards.

"In pursuance of his determination, Jack had sent his daughter, when she was ten years of age, to a private school in England; the child being accompanied on the voyage thither by the family of a member of the Government, returning on account of ill health. The school was near London, and Edith remained there under the supervision of Lord — wife. For two years all went well, and Edith wrote letters to her father by every mail.

and his

"Jack himself meanwhile went on much as usual, except that he drank more than ever; but he still kept his lighthouse in order, and every evening, no matter how much liquor he had aboard, he never failed to light the lamp as the sun went down. This had, indeed, become a sort of religious observance with him; and it was the general impression that, however bad he might be, he would become much worse if ever he were to relinquish the performance of this duty. It was the symbolic link which held him to the gentler and nobler side of humanity. It was connected with the

silently, but terrible with the agony of a breaking human heart. The father stood at first quite without breath or motion; then a shudder passed through his body, and he fell like a ruined tower. His heart still beat when they found him; but before the sun had gone down

upon that third of March his spirit had passed into the abyss."

The Captain leaned forwards, with his elbows on his knees and his fingers interlaced, gazing into the fire. No one felt like speaking; but the wind still moaned under the eaves. Julian Hawthorne.

SO

You hitch up right away: I'll try To tell the girls jes what to do Fer dinner. We 'll be back by two." I did n't wait to hear what he Would more 'n like say back to me, But banged the stable door and flew Back to the house, jes plumb chilled through.

Cold! Wooh! how cold it was! My-oh!
Frost flyin', and the air, you know-
"Jes sharp enough," heerd David swear,
"To shave a man and cut his hair!"
And blow and blow! and snow and SNOW,
Where it had drifted 'long the fence
And 'crost the road,-some places, though,
Jes swep' clean to the gravel, so
The goin' was as bad fer sleighs
As 't was fer wagons,—and both ways,
"Twixt snowdrifts and the bare ground, I've
Jes wondered we got through alive;
I hain't saw nothin' 'fore er sence
'At beat it anywheres I know—
Last Christmas was a year ago.

And David said, as we set out,
'At Christmas services was 'bout
As cold and wuthless kind o' love
To offer up as he knowed of;
And, as fer him, he railly thought
'At the Good Bein' up above

Would think more of us- as He ought-
A-stayin' home on sich a day
And thankin' of Him thataway.
And jawed on in an undertone,
'Bout leavin' Lide and Jane alone
There on the place, and me not there
To oversee 'em, and p'pare
The stuffin' fer the turkey, and
The sass and all, you understand.

I've always managed David by

Jes sayin' nothin'. That was why

She 'd allus take up Perry's side
When David tackled him; and so,
Last Christmas was a year ago,—
Er ruther, 'bout a week afore,-
David and Perry 'd quarr'l'd about
Some tom-fool argyment, you know,
And Pap told him to "Jes git out
O' there, and not to come no more,
And, when he went, to shet the door!"
And as he passed the winder, we
Saw Perry, white as white could be,
March past, onhitch his hoss, and light
A see-gyar, and lope out o' sight.
Then Lide she come to me and cried.
And I said nothin'- was no need.
And yit, you know, that man jes got
Right out o' there 's ef he 'd be'n shot-
P'tendin' he must go and feed
The stock er somepin'. Then I tried
To git the pore girl pacified.

But gittin' back to where was we?
Oh, yes
where David lectered me
All way to meetin', high and low,
Last Christmas was a year ago.
Fer all the awful cold, they was
A fair attendunce; mostly, though,
The crowd was 'round the stoves, you see,
Thawin' their heels and scrougin' us.
Ef 't 'ad n't be'n fer the old Squire
Givin' his seat to us, as in
We stompted, a-fairly perishin',
And David could 'a' got no fire,
He'd jes 'a' drapped there in his tracks.
And Squire, as I was tryin' to yit
Make room fer him, says, "No; the facks
Is I got to git up and git

'Ithout no preachin'. Jes got word Trial fer life can't be deferred!" And out he put. And all way through The sermont and a long one, too — I could n't he'p but think o' Squire And us changed round so, and admire His gintle ways to give his warm Bench up, and have to face the storm. And when I noticed David he