The Heir Of Bendersleigh; Or, The Freemason's Promise.

passed so much of his time he had a russet hue , which would probably have extended to lus hmr if that had not long been worn away , when he wa , indeed busy eveiy day and when he had substantially enough to do , Lear me , thought Gabriel , as he sat in his low arm chair " with hisspectacles thrown on to the top of his bald head tlte old

, "Dear mc- man ' s dead . Ml , he s been a chent of our ' s a good many years , and wc have managed his estate ever since he came to it . A long time ago it must be jiow-le me scc-twenty-thii-t y , " counting on Ms finget-s , " twenty , mity , v . hy it must be five-and-tlurt y years ago since we first received the parchmentsand there they have been ling sinceand he mused

, yever ; " as , he looked up at some large tin boxes that were piled upon a thick shelf a the end of the room , Poor old Gabriel , he gazed upon'those boxes with as much interest as a royal academician would gaze upon that world ' s wonder which is in thetransep , of Antwerp cathedral . Yes , he gazed at it now with deeper interest than usualalbeit it had been

, " an old familiar face" to Mm for fiveand-tlurty years before . And then he'd rub Ms hands and smile , and fall to his slow work again-some old deed of which he was drawing up

an-Again , the old boxes caught Ids eye , and he mused once more . "Yes they 11 come down to da } v-and now I come to think of it , the old deeds - have never been abstracted . " J ° ^ sti old Gabriel meant the legal mode of reducing unintelligible rolls of comusmg words to an understandable form . " J [ SnW t ] mt tllc youils" man comes int 0 possession shall

4 . 1 , ' ? > , I suggestthat they be all abstracted , " and then the old man fell into an abstraction himself , from which he was however aroused b y the entrance of some one to the office , from the hall , and on turning round , and drawing down his spectacles to Ms eyes , he ' recognised Mr . Augustus Raker . " Good day , Mr . Augustus—melanchol newssirfrom—"

y , , « T " 2 ' ' I kn 0 W a 11 about ^ interrupted Mr . Raker , rather pettishly ; " Is the old chap inside , Hunter ? " 1 J * ¦ ,. "Mr . Grainger is in Ms office , " replied old Gabriel , not altogether relishing Mr . Raker ' s mode of referring to his employer . " Mr Grainier is m his office ; shall I sav that von are here . " °

¦ ri jM 0 t a bit ° , : ' repli ° ' 8 ' ustus Eater , " I'll walk in , " and he < M so without farther parley ; the old man looking after him with an expression of blended astonishment and indignation . As the young man entered the inner office , Mr . Grainger was . seated at his desk , looking over various documents which appeared to have been recently compressed into a small As MrAugustus Baker

compass . . entered the room , the old conveyancer looked up , and immediately recognising Ms visitor , rose from his seat , and , as he exchanged the usualcourtesies , handed Mr . Eaker a chair . " You know , Grainger , " began Mr . Baker , « I can ' t be expected to go beyond this , " pointing to his black attire , " in the mournful hue , because

as you are aware , it is seventeen years since I saw the old man , and I ' m only twenty-one . I dare say I ought to look very dejected and all that-