illusion? thought I -has all my past agony been a dream? At last, the truth flashed upon me. I had mistaken another for the cottage of Constance. Let no man say that all our miseries are our own making: we are the sport of circumstance, and the play-things of destiny. "The inhabitants of that cottage," said Constance, " left it for fear of the floods; it is nearer the river, and lower than ours;" and I soon discovered that the height of the river had been the cause of the deception, by preventing me from discovering the want of features, whose absence would otherwise have led me to detect my error. I told Constance the adventure in the Grecian bay, when I thought I had seen her. "Ah!" said she, "it might be my sister: her husband died, and she sailed from Constantinople, with my brother, for Smyrna, to take possession of some property." Constance's mother still lived; but her feebleness had much increased; and it seemed as if Constance would soon be released from her filial duties and her sacred resolutions. She was more beautiful than ever. Her lips were not less rosy, nor her eyes less lustrous; and while she had lost nothing of the charm of youth, something of reflection had mingled with its vivacity, and spead over those graces an interest, which added to their charm and seduction; and when I again beheld that form, I wondered that another should ever have had power to create an instant's delusion. I live within half a league of Constance, and I see her every day, and every day she becomes more dear to me; and if destiny do not step in to destroy my happiness, Constance will be mine. Story Teller. Some persons' spirits are like the tide-the higher the flood, the lower the ebb. THE INCENDIARIES; OR THE TALL STRANGER. A NOUVELETTE FROM LIFE. "If ever evil angel bore Not long since, four men, wrapped in great frieze coats, with large shabby hats slouched over their faces, carrying bludgeons, and, in brief, bearing the characteristic exterior of rogues, entered a room in the Crown and Anchor tavern of Lambswell (a pretty village in shire), where, calling for drink, they remained some hours engaged in deep cogitation. Their heads nodded mysteriously over, and nearly met in the centre of the deal table round which they sat. Their words were low, and little récked they for fire and candle. The one wore silently and sullenly into a sleep, which was but the precursor of its total extinction; and the other, blazing high, emitted that dreary light which solely pertains to a taper, long untrimmed. It was within one half hour of morning when the four men, calling for the reckoning, paid it, and turned from the tavern, smarting under the vituperative fire of Joe Dobson's tongue, who begged to remind them, in terms far from conciliatory, that they had out-sat the hour allowed by law for evening tavern libations." May the d-1 fetch us all," cried Tom Hunt, " if we don't do for him, since we are about it, as well as for the other;" and on walked the four with a lantern, which, considering that it was just then bright moonlight, seemed little needed. Of course these men meditated mischief, because fellows who prowl about thus, when honest people are gone to rest, can only be imagining wickedness in their hearts; especially, too, should they reside in a village or small country-town, where early hours are kept by the inhabitants of all ranks. The evil, how ever, if any, intended by Tom Hunt, Will Sawyer, John Jones, and James King, was apparently not perpetrated by them, since no robbery, no murder, appeared next day, to have been committed in or near Lambswell; no conflict dire between gamekeepers and poachers had taken place, and Joe Dobson shewed his portly form and rubicond phiz in " ryghte merrie, and conceited gvise" to every frequenter of his admired hostel; the good sign swung in the wind, and its creaking was music to its owner's ears. Entre nous, reader, I do think there is a touch of romance in the song of a country sign board on a blustering day. I know not, wherefore; it hath in itself neither melody nor rhythm, yet that it induces deep poetical feeling I fearlessly assert, from an experience, perhaps solitary; but I have, many times, been strangely affected by this among the varieties of rural sound. Mistake me not, it is of country signboards alone that I speak; there is no mystery of poetry and romance in those of a town. But to proceed, some weeks floated on quietly enough at Lambswell, and the four suspicious characters were beheld labouring in the fields, and enjoying those domestic and social pleasures, a portion of which is the heritage of all who are not absolutety houseless paupers, cast adrift upon the wide unfeeling world. The festivities of Christmas were over, with those also of the glad New Year, when one evening Tom Hunt, Will Sawyer, John Jones, and James King, again made their appearance at the Crown and Anchor, again sat in deep divan, and again marched off with a lantern, as if going on some secret mission instead of to their homes. About an hour afterwards, the alarm of fire was given, the bells of Lambswell church tolled out most mournfully in the deep midnight, and the inhabitants of the pleasant village, roused from their slumbers, beheld, with dismay, a vast body of fire illuminating the atmosphere, and shooting, in spiral streams, with horrible vividness, up to heaven. The flames proceeded from the grounds of Colonel Halbert, a noble resident near Lambswell, and a gentleman much beloved by the virtuous peasantry of the village and its vicinity; but he was too much of a disciplinarian to be admired by the vicious. The poor inhabitants of Lambswell hurried to the spot where a most tremendous fire required their assistance, and providentially succeeded in allaying the flames before they had reached Colonel Halbert's mansion; though not before they had destroyed five large wood-stacks, and a couple of hay-ricks. That this destructive event originated in the malice prepense of incendiaries, and not in the common course of mortal mischances, was a matter of little doubt with the villagers, and suspicions immediately fell on the four " most unprincipled men of the parish," who were known not long before to have had a squabble with Colonel Halbert's gamekeepers, and who, though Joe Dobson deposed to their late appearance at his house, were now nowhere to be found. A strict and an immediate search after them commenced in the neighbourhood of Lambswell, and they were at length captured, being found sleeping in a dry fosse about three miles from their own village. Proper measures taken, these villains were fully committed for trial (at the ensuing assizes) to the county goal of shire, there to contemplate the certainty of an ignominious end,-for arson, a crime fearfully on the increase in Great Britain, and far, far worse than any other, involving the loss of life and property. Fire may destroy many lives, it must ab sorb much of valuable possesstons, and murder, followed by rapine (from the assassin's weapon and cupidity), all horrible as they are, seem, in comparison with the conflagration dictated by the very frenzy of malignancy, even light. In the case of Tom Hunt, however, some circumstances appeared of an exculpatory nature, and he was al-lowed not merely to hope for mercy, but to turn king's evidence. His wretched companions, certain of condemnation, resisted the solicitations of those who kindly wished them to plead" Not guilty," and made a merit in their desperation, of confirming the following deposition made by Tom Hunt: "My lords and gentlemen," said he, in a firm and clear tone, not an accent of which was lost on the court, most of whom understood that Tom had something singular to narrate, " my lords and gentlemen, ye'll just perhaps, ha' the kindness to hear what I've got to say about the burnin' of Colonel Halbert's wood-stacks, for a poor man is necessitated to clear himself from the suspicion of sin as well as a rich .one. We, that's myself and the others, owed the gentleman a grudge, d'ye see, for a drubbin' we ketch'd last November in a skrimmage with his gamekeepers. We wasn't so ignorant but we know'd well that the lads did the duty they was hired to do, in bating us off the grounds, and so we thought to revenge ourselves on their master; but put off doing him a mischief then, becase we know'd every body would think it was ourselves that did it. On the third of last December, we went to Joe Dobson's house, the Crown and Anchor tavern, and, if we was fash'd* afore, I needn't tell that drinking and plotting made us more so. There * Fash'd-vexed: probably from the French-facher. we kept till after midnight, though Joe was monstrous angry at our setting so long a'ter statute-hours; and when he tould us, in a passion, that if he was fined, or lost his license, we moight look to it. I said, as I swung out o' the public in a proper huff, I wished Satan moight fetch us, an we didn't do for him as well as for the Colonel. Sure enough, 'bout the matter o' half an hour more, we all saw the ould gentleman, or some'at favoring him! Maybe ye'll not believe me if I swear to't: as I'm now here standing a living sinner, my Lord Judge afore ye, but so it was. We was then going to light up Colonel Halbert's wood-stacks, like a bone-fire, but just as we got to the top of the hill, on the road to his house, Jemmy King turned, as I suppose to look at the prospect, and gave a deadly screech; this made the rest of us turn too, to find out what was the matter, and, you may believe, we saw every bit as lively as we now see ye, the monstrous figure of a man twice as high and big as any mortal creter, a'most naked, and as black as pitch! There was no room for mistake, becase it 'twas a clear, frosty, moonlight night, and bushels o' snow kivered the ground, and the branches o' the trees. The tall stranger strid a pace after us, and we set off runnin' for the life, because none of us had doubts as to the nature o' his errand. Well, how he got round us I cannot say, but, behold ye, he suddenly stood facing us, with, Lord preserve me! such a gashful grin, as I'll not forget to my dying day! We turned to the right, and there he stood; then to the left, and there he stood again, making signs with his big black arm for us to go back; and back anon we went, for nothing could be done that night, and then we saw him no more. - I stole softly into my own cottage, but my wife had sat up waiting for me, and seeing me all of a quake like, ax'd me what was the matter; so I tould her, and, immediately falling on her knees, she thanked God for the warning He had been pleased to give us sinful creters; "for," says she, "it stands to reason Tom, that the messenger com'd from heaven, and no where else, since Satan would sooner tempt us to sin, than help us out of it." "Why, then," said 1, "was the apparition so ugly?" "Becase," cried she, as pat as a parson, we are so wicked, that barrin' being frighted from sin, we'd never get out of it." I minded Susan's words, but I fend to make t'others mind 'em was impossible; and, sorry am I to say, they draw'd me in to go and see 'em set fire to the Colonel's wood-stacks, though I'd declare wi' my dying breath, if needs be I must, that I never touched a faggot of the piles myself, either for good or harm. All this I'm ready to make oath on, and, moreover, that those fellers, my friends, ha' seen the tall stranger twice since his first apparition to us on the hill: I never again. They've neglected the warning of this merracle, but I did try to profit by it, and to you, gentlemen, I leave the rest." The Judge, as much astonished as amused by this singular recital, commended Tom Hunt to mercy, who in his subsequent career became a totally reformed character. His wretched companions were executed. * * * Note. Upon the authority of a gentleman, near whose residence, and upon the estate of Colonel H, his friend, this incident is said to have occurred, the author is induced to give it. Not very long since, upon the trial of incendiaries for firing the Colonel's wood-stacks, the facts respecting the satanic apparition were elicited from the accomplice who had turned king's evidence. The trial took place, if we do not egregiously mistake, at Nottingham: and it is a singular document as to the strong influence of superstition over the inferior classes of society, even in this enlightened era. Tales of the Sea. THE PRIVATEER. (Concluded from page 283.) It would have been well for us had we left her, battered as she was, to find her way home with the news of her defeat. But the honour of capturing an enemy's man-of-war of so superior a force was more than Captain M-or his crew could relinquish. There was a jabble of a sea at the time, otherwise we should have run up alongside of her. She backed her main-top-sail in token of submission; and her first lieutenant, hailing us with a trumpet as we neared, said he would come on board of us with his officers, and give up his sword: but he had not a boat that was not smashed by our shot. Our own boat was perforated in many places; but the holes were plugged up, and filled with tallow and ashes; and having launched her over the gunwale, the captain, O'Flinn, myself, and five men (including the two Englishmen,) all armed, stepped on board of her, to take possession of the prize. We were met on the gangway by the lieutenant, and invited to the quarter-deck. A We were surprised to find only four or five men on the blood-stained decks; and the sound of voices from the gratings over the main hatchway, roused our suspicions of foul play. Nor were our apprehensions without foundation. shrill whistle rang through the hold; and ere we could well grasp our cutlasses, or cock a pistol, a crew of at least thirty men sprang from the forecastle, and assailed us on every side. Our situation was as desperate as the stag's when at bay; and, though it may seem strange, hopeless as we were of escape with life, we were so much stung by this act of treachery, that every nerve in our limbs seemed to have acquired the strength of iron, and thrilled with an eagerness of revenge. A bloody contest ensued. Several pistols were simultaneously fired, and two of our men fell lifeless into the boat alongside. Cutlasses then gleamed on high, and the captain and O'Flinn, who were yet unhurt, seemed to be armed with a supernatural strength. The latter laid about him in every direction, and cut down three men in as many blows. The captain, with more of skill and less of fury, wielded his sword with the science of a master; and though four, at one time, strove to destroy 'him, he forced his way through them, and encountering the lieutenant, who was animating his men in the assassin-like attack, by exclaiming, "Murte á los piratos!?" -after a few parries, he sheathed his sword in the heart of the faithless Spaniard. I know not exactly what, on this emergency, were my own exertions; but they were certainly desperate, and I believe more than one received his death-wound in endeavouring to deal me mine. It surprises me, to this day, that we were not all cut to pieces in five minutes, and double that time elapsed before our party, of whom four were killed, and four only remained, was reinforced. The mate of the Dolphin, the moment he discovered that treachery was on foot, steered the schooner close alongside the brig-to which she was instantly grappled. Her crew were armed with cutlasses, and boarding-pikes; and three of them, in boarding, fell overboard, with mortal wounds. The rest, headed by the sturdy Frenchman, gained the side of their commander, on the quarter-deck of the brig, and a conflict, unequalled in the annals of nautical warfare, continued for upwards of half an hour. We were but sixteen in number; the enemy, several of whom had been below at the commencement of the attack, were more than double our namber on deck, and others of them fired upon us from between decks, in a cowardly manner, through the grated hatches. In a short time, the decks became slippery with blood and were strewed with the dead and the dying. There was scarcely a countenance without a frightful gash, and few could boast of uninjured limbs. During a breathless moment, I looked overboard upon the deck of the schooner. The young surgeon was binding a tourniquet round the thigh of the black boy, who had received a severe wound: and as I turned rapidly to resume the struggle, my eye caught a marine taking a deadly aim at the youth with his carbine. His purpose 1 could not but consider murderous, -seeing his victim was engaged in an act of humanity, - and urged by an incontrollable impulse 1 clove him with my cutlass to the deck-where he lay, the blood welling from a fearful wound on the shoulder. The retribution was, however, too late. The trigger was drawn as my weapon descended, and poor J-, falling upon his patient-both of them vitally wounded, were soon motionless in death. Our party, overpowered by numbers, and many of them stabbed from behind, at length thought of effecting a retreat to the schooner. They made a desperate effort to gain the gang-way, which was hemmed round by the Spaniards, who strove to cut off all retreat. Wemade a bold rush against our unequal foes, but though many of them were wounded, we were foiled in our first attempt; and in the closeness and heat of our struggle, the stilettos of the Spaniards gleamed on high. The cutlasses of several of our men had snapped, from the badness of the metal, but they armed themselves with the swords and pikes dragged from the stiffened clench of their dying foemen. One of the Englishmen was severely wounded on the |