Gerard Montagu;

discover her future husband , who , it is believed , is seen peeping over her shoulder . Then we got talking about the other rites and ceremonies celebrated on Halloween ; and I remembered that popular belief ascribed to children born on that ni ght

the possession of certain mysterious faculties , such as that of perceiving and holding converse with supernatural beings . Sir Walter Scott , it will be recollected , makes use of this circumstance in his romance of the " Monastery . " By and

bye Mildred said : " How is it Mr . Montagu has not come 1 I thought you said , Fred , he would come to tea ?" " So I did . I met him on the Kni ghtstone Road , and gave him your invitation , and he said he certainly would come ; but he is never to be depended upon . These business fellows never are .

"Is Mr . Montagu an old friend of yours ? " Falconbridge asked . "I don ' t remember hearing you mention his name before . " " No , I daresay not ; yet he and I were at Ipswich Grammar School fifteen or twenty years agoand I had quite lost

, sight of him till the other clay , when he found us out . He ' s a Suffolk man , and one of those men who are making haste to be rich . He lives in the north of England , and is in the corn trade . I only hope he won't come to griefor ruin his health .

, He is safe to do one or the other by over application to business , " I added . " I remember him , it seems only yesterday , when we big fellows used to chaff little Gerard . He was a nice boy , though . "

" Gerard Montagu—what a pretty romantic name ! " Muriel says , pensively . " Yes ; and his is a romantic history . " " Indeed , do tell us about it—I am quite curious . "

" Well , Montagu is a good name , you know . There are the Montagus Dukes of Manchester and Earls of Sandwich , and Montagues Barons Rokeby ; and there were in the old days Montagus Barons , Earls and Dukes of Montagu ; the Montagues Earls of Halifax , besides the

Montacutes ( which is the original name ) , who were Earls of Salisbury in 1337 . But I don ' t think Gerard lays claim to be descended from any of these , but only from

an old knightly family in Suffolk , who once held large estates within ei ght or ten miles of Ipswich . I remember his showing me an old silver seal once , with some arms engraved thereon which he took the trouble to tell me were

in the language of heraldry , argent , three fusils in Jesse gides , and I afterwards found out ( though he never told me ) that they were the arms of the Montacutes Earls of Salisbury of Edward the First ' s reign . His father on his death-bed had given him this

seal , which he said had been in the famil y over 200 years , and that it v .-as almost the only thing left that seemed to prove their descent .

He told him , so Gerard said , that the lawyers had been to him more than once about some property , the heirs for which were wanted , but he had no proofs , and being poor ( he was chaplain to some hospital , I think ) , he had not the means to prosecute his claims ; but he reminded

Gerard that the day might come when he should be able to claim his own . " " Were the estates large ? " Falconbridge asked .

" £ 4 , 000 or £ 5 , 000 a year , I should think . " " Hum ! Does Montagu pin much faith on the seal 1 " "Why?—how do you mean ? " I enquired . " Well , don't you know there are crowds

of people who fancy that there are large estates somewhere of which they are the rightful heirs , if they could only prove it . " "Aye , there ' s the rub . " And then there ' s the Statute of Limitations , too ; if anybody has had undisputed possession for twenty or sixty yearswhich is it 1—the estate is secured to the

present possessor . " How cruel of you , uncle , to talk so , " Muriel puts in . " It ' s so romantic to fancy Mr . Montagu will recover the possessions his ancestors owned after a lapse perhaps of centuries ; aud I like romance . " " I daresay you domy clear ; but facts

, are stubborn things , anel I doubt if Mr . Montagu will have much chance of getting back the family estates , unless he has some better proof than an old seal to help him . " " Does he expect himself to be successful ? " Falconbridge added , turning to me .