all in white, indeed in a night-dress, holding a candle in her hand, though not lighted, with which she made her way, stepping softly, towards the harp; when she laid the light down upon a table, and then began to remove the cover from the instrument, as if about to play. She took no notice of either Mr. Bloodmoney or myself, and seemed, in truth, quite unconscious of our presence; though she passed so near me, as I sat at the corner of the table, staring at her aghast, (for I was confounded at her appearance,) as to brush me with her clothes. It was then, however, that I perceived her eyes, which were wide open, and very large and black, had in them an air of stony fixedness and inexpressiveness, a want of life and speculation, which I had read of as characterizing the sleep-walker, and such, I began to suspect, the young lady must be; and such, as it proved, she, in fact, was.

She laid down the lamp, and uncovered the harp, as I have mentioned, and then began to fumble among the music, as if in search of a piece to play; when Mr. Bloodmoney, who was, for a moment, struck dumb, like myself, exclaimed, "There she is, shiver my timbers! An't she a lass for a commodore?" And, jumping up, he advanced towards her, staggering and lurching like a ship in a storm, swearing "he'd have a buss, if he died for it;" and before Ï knew what to say, or think of his strange proceedings, he clapped his arms around her, and snatched a salute from her lips.

The rudeness and violence of the attack instantly awoke the fair somnambulist, who, thus restored to sudden consciousness, and finding herself in a man's arms, uttered a shriek the wildest, shrillest, and most expressive of terror and desperation, I had ever heard; and this she followed up by a dozen others,

as loud and as harrowing, struggling all the time, though without avail, to free herself from Mr. Bloodmoney's grasp; who, telling her, with more energy than tenderness, she might "squeak and be hanged," swore "he would have another smack, he would, split him."

During the first part of this adventure, surprise kept me nailed to my chair, as well as speechless; but now, being roused from my stupor, and in part also, from the effects of the wine, by the lady's shrieks, and perceiving her almost mad with terror and distress, I began to be sensible the liberty Mr. Bloodmoney was taking was neither civil nor manly-nay, on the contrary, that it was indecorous and brutal; and that it became me to rescue the affrighted beauty from his clutches. Prompted by these considerations, and still more by my feelings, which were naturally chivalrous enough in the cause of women, I ran to her assistance; and, not knowing in what better way to proceed, I took advantage of the instability of my entertainer's footing to trip up his heels, and so lay him upon the floor; assuring him, as I did so, by way of apology, that "that was no way to treat a lady."

As virtue does sometimes meet with its reward, so it happened that mine was in this instance destined to a recompense; for the lady was no sooner released from Mr. Blood money's arms, than she flung herself into mine, grasping me round the neck, and embracing me with such fervour, that my heart began to pitapat with confusion. In truth, the embrace of such a lovely creature, now the more lovely for her terror, wrought a kind of enchantment on my brain; I felt myself, on a sudden, transformed into a hero of romance whom a wondrous destiny had thrown into contact with my star-ordained heroine, for whom I was to

dare all perils and achieve all exploits that had ever been recorded of a Belmour or Lord Mortimer; whom I was to adore in the intensest manner possible, and be faithful to, through good and evil, through storm and shine, through pomp and temptation, &c. &c. &c. in the usual sentimental way. All that I do

know, in addition to what I have said, is that 1, for the moment, entirely forgot my dear Nanna, and that I returned the embrace of my new charmer, swearing, by way of re-assuring her, that I would die in her defence; to all which, as well as to my tender embraces, she paid not the slightest regard, having, in fact, fallen into a swoon. It was to this, to do her justice, more than to any thing else, that I owed the favour of her embrace; for she had clutched me, to avoid falling, just as she would, from instinct, have clutched a post or a block; though the sound of a defender's voice, no doubt caused her to turn to me as to a protector, and so gave me a preference I should have enjoyed had there even been a post or a block, for her to choose between us.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Another adventure of a more terrible cast, in which the Sleeping Beauty performs the part of a heroine.

In the meanwhile, my entertainer, enraged at my interference, sprang to his feet, and made another dart at the maiden, to snatch her from my arms; in which he would have, perhaps, succeeded, had not a fourth person now rushed into the room, with a pistol, which he fired at the gentleman, though without doing him any harm; and then, with a chair which he snatched up and wielded with both hands, knocked him down. The intruder, as I saw at a glance, was the original of the portrait that hung as the pendant to the effigy of Mrs. Bloodmoney-to wit, the gentleman with powdered hair, stern countenance, and vigorous frame; and the sight of him brought I know not what strange fancies and suspicions into my head. But I had little time to entertain them; for having knocked Mr. Blood money down, he began to vociferate in terms of wrath and alarm, "Here! John, Tim, Dick, George! Robbers, thieves! Fetch the watch-murder! help! George, Dick, Tim, John, watch! thieves, robbers!" And immediately three or four negro-men, very spruce and active looking, though but half dressed, came tumbling into the room, with looks and cries of astonishment and indignation, following the gentleman, who now made

an assault upon me, bidding me "surrender for a house-breaking dog," and strengthening his exhortation by the same argument he had used in the case of my worthy host—that is, by knocking me down with the chair. At the same moment, some of the blackies whisked the young lady out of my hands, and helped her, now recovering her senses, out of the room; while the others, holding fast upon my entertainer and myself, imitated the leader in the nocturnal onslaught, in brawling to "fetch the watch," and "to bring ropes to tie the robbers."

The weight of the chair, applied without any consideration of what might be the consequences, to a head considerably softer than usual, had somewhat stunned and muddled my faculties; and their confusion was rather increased than abated by the outcries of the strange gentleman and his attendants, and their violent proceedings in regard to my friend and myself. Nevertheless, I was not so much stupefied as to be incapable of forming my own opinions of the true state of matters and things; but, had I been, all uncertainty must have been put to flight by what followed.

The negroes having secured my hands behind me with a handkerchief, pulled me upon my feet, that the powdered gentleman might see, as he said, "who the rascal was.' "" He gave me a furious stare, told me I was "a bloody-minded looking villainyoung for a housebreaker, but old enough to hang;" to not one word of which friendly and flattering address did I return an answer, being, in truth, so unutterably confounded, that my tongue, as I may say, clove to the roof of my mouth.

He then turned to my entertainer, who being helped to his feet in like manner, received him with a volley of drunken oaths and maledictions,