Year: 1871

naming capital into their own pOck-
cts, on pretexts, so transparently
fraudulent, that Tom, with all his
natural taste for speculation and
sanguine belief in 'good things"
saw through them at once.


He likewise tried for vacant secre-
taryships of several public compan-
les, but fourd that the directors
gave those posts to their own noDi-


nees, and only advertised for the
sake of appearance, lest the share
holders thould suspect them of job
berry.


By the end of couple of months
he was heartily sick of boouess cor
respondence, and of bothering his
friends for testimonials to no pur-
pose, and started off one day alone
to walk off a fit of the blues, eschew-
ing the high roads and following ru-
raj footpaths. One of these brought
him into a wood on the crest of some
undulating ground; and it was now
the last week in October, the foliage
was very finely tinted; for the year
is like a dolphin-its brightest colors
come out when it is dying.


Tom ChatteFis was always affected
pleasantly by~beauty in any form,
ard the scene cheered him up, and
inclined him to take a more san
guine YieWof life than we had started
with.


"After all, how jolly we might live
in an Australian or American clear
ling? l wonder if Ju. would consent
She might not like the idea; but
am certain she would enjoy herself
when she got used toit. She would
be giving up nothing but her grand
mother, and William will look after
her. What is the best 1 can expect
in England? To sit at desk all
day, and never cross a horse again
while, as squatter, my life would
be full of interest I should be per
petually in the saddle. By Jove! I
will go over tomorrow and put the
question to her"


A rash VOW which was never to be
kept. But the making of it did Tom
good, for it represented a feasible,
practical plan. All was uncertain
and surrounded with difficulty at
home; but if Ju. would consent to
colonial roughing it, their future was
clear, distinct, simple. So he cheered
up, like the lost traveller, who comes
upon landmark, and, instead Of
hurrying on at the. pace he had star
ted at, he began to pause where gaps
in the wood afforded him glimpses
of the fertile country spreading for
miles beyond.


A splendid oak some three hund-
red yards of, seen at the end of a
ride, attracted his particulaTN atten-
tion-it was so lofty, so widespread
ing and its leaves were so much
thicker than those on most trees of
the same species round about. Tom
was sadly materialistlc, even in his
romantic vein, and as the day was
warm for the time of year, it imme-
diately occurred to him that it would
be pleasant to smoke g pipe unde.
that ok, and mediate upon his new
emigration scheme. But he had
hardly gone far enough from home
to sit doKn and rest yet; would it
not be better to continue his walk?
Curiosity decided this question, for
while he was looking toward the tree
he fancied one of its low bOughs
shook, and, as there was not a breath
of wind stirring, he wondered what
was the cause, and went toward it to
ascertain.


The motion was not repeated ;.per
haps it had been only fancy. But
say-what was that dark object dim
ly showing through the leaves? A
queer growth ofwood, surely. Tom
sauntered quietly up to within TWEEN
ty PAGES of the oak, and then sud
denly sprang into a run, for the oh
iect took hnman 70 m, and pre-
ssntly he found himself Immediately
Under the body of man, who was
hanging by the neck from rope at
tached to bongh, which spread con-
veniently above.


BY raising his hand, Tom could
have touched the pendant boots,
which were in good repair, and well
blacked. The rest of the clothes
were respectable, though running a
little to seed; and a chimneypot hat,
which lay on the ground, was a gen
tlemanly hat. But Tom did not
want to touch his boots, for to pull
the leg of a hanging man is not the
best way to resuscitate him. Neither
did he spend time in examining his
apparel; the little matters have
mentioned were apparent at glance.
.Ol the contrary, he swarmed up the
tree, which was happily easy to
climb, and lay out on the bough with
the readiness of a sailor.


In the early and sanguine days of
his secretaryship-hunting, Tom had
provided himself with a pen-knife of
superlative quality, with which to
operate on the goosequills he had
expected to wear down by the bun
die; and with this he now proceeded
to cut down the rope. The blade,
though unused and very sharp, was
exceedingly small; the rope, new,
hard and thick. 1t was a terrible
long operation, and seemed a hun
dred times longer than it was. For
tunately the weight at the other end
helped the incision by stretching the
gap, and when a stand was half cut
through, it tore the rest of it.


AS Tom lay there on his stomach,
with his left arm around the bOugh,
his right arm sWayjng and hacking,
his head and shoulders leaning over,
he noticed decided kick in one of
the legs and a motion in one of the
arms of the hangee which could not
be due to the swinging motion given
him by the operation going on over
head; and the sight gave frantic en-
ergy to the cutting. When the rope
was three parts severed, the rest
tore out, and the body fell lumpiiy
to the ground, the feet striking first,
so that it remained erect while you
could count two, and then tumbled


18th n 6nad tbuO


Tom dropped down beside it in a
mement, and proceeded to loose the
slip-knot from about the neck.
There was an ugly deep red mark,