12 EFFECTS OF THE STORM. 



simple indication of the head to the respectful bow of 

 the servant, he hurried past him. 



Fred, slowly ascended the stairs, and when again 

 seated and alone, an oppression weighed on his heart, 

 that he felt it impossible to shake off. He looked round 

 the luxuriously-furnished apartment: all was the same. 

 Still a fancied air of desolation reigned there. A glance 

 convinced him of the truth, that came upon him with 

 stunning effect. The desolation was that of the heart. 

 A foreboding of coming evil oppressed him that all the 

 usual buoyancy of his spirits and recklessness of 

 thought was unequal to dispel. 



" What ! " cried Fred., starting from his reverie, " is 

 it possible it has come already; are the prophetic 

 warnings of Hartland so soon to end in their real- 

 isation. Impossible, it cannot, by heavens ! it shall 

 not be. A large draught of his favourite brandy 

 roused his flagging spirits, and reassured his de- 

 sponding thoughts. As ringing for his valet, he 

 exclaimed, " all will still be right, old Leviticus will 

 come down again with a thousand or two, and a turn 

 of luck in some way will set all square." 



" I shall dress," said Fred., on his man making his 

 appearance, " and order the cab in an hour." 



Fred, stepped into the critically well-appointed 

 carriage, and his magnificently high stepper soon took 

 him to the door of a large and handsome house, near 

 square. The well-disciplined minute repre- 

 sentative of humanity descended from behind, and 

 the rain coming down at the moment, he called in 

 the aid of a passer-by, to apply the knocker, that no 

 stretch of his person could enable the former to reach. 

 The equipage was too well known for the master of 

 this temple of Mammon to be denied to its welcome 



