The Volume Of The Sacred Law.

These men , years ago , purchased a slip of land on the banks of the creek , just where it runs into the river . The land side is fenceel round with oaken pales several feet in height , but the shores are left open to the creek , so that brethren coming down by water may get easy access to the place . The main track to the city , as the farmers term the high read , runs a few yards to the rear of the settlement ,

but beyond the caretaker's or Tyler ' s cottage , which is included in the enclosure , there is no habitation nearer than Farmer Nundy ' s , which is a mile and a half to the eastward . On the tongue of ground that runs out as a promontory into the waters of the creek , several graves have been dug for the reception of those

members of the Craft who expressed their wish that they should be buried within the shadow of the Lodge . It is a sweet spot wherein to sleep the long , long sleep of death , for nothing but the gentle ripple of the waters and the " twirr , twirr " of the glen fowl as it half flies along the grassy slopes will ever disturb the repose of

Conway Creek . Peter Nundy was a blue-blooded Irishman , but he left his native country , thirty years or more ago , to come out West ; and he has prospered . A large family has been born to him , but they have all migrated to other parts , some married , some ambitious for a city

life ; and so Peter—now a widower , but a hale old man , with a good day ' s work left in him yet—is surrounded by several servants and the families of his

stockmen , and leads the life of a just and upright Christian . But Peter in his elder age intends to obtain a little of the comforts a man of bis

wealth should possess . He has worked as hard as any creature this side of the Arkansas , so he has just had sent in from

Boston a " mighty fine lot" of furniture and gimcracks , and has engaged a widow lady and her daughter to come

and keep house for him and lord it over Nundy ' s settlement as long as its present master may live . He

" TO WATCH THEIR . A . VITCS ON THE ROCKS . "

somewhat removed down the banks of the Witmitty . In all it counted about eighty souls , who were members of a very large family , Peter himself being their head . To the children of the Settlement he was more than a father , anel would sometimes go off by himself on a fine afternoon to watch their antics on the rocks down the river .

As soon as the boxes and baggage were removed from the boat , Mrs . Neville and her daughter were escorted to the house , one side of which was to be given up entirely to their use . The sitting-room Mr . Nundy had furnished for their particular comfort , was crowded with a number of useless articles of furniture which he in his

complete ignorance of such things had purchased , with a good heart . These , under the direction of Mrs . Neville , were immediately removed , and the room soon became a cosy and comfortable one . Their bedroom adjoined the sitting-room , with a little spare room intervening , and the windows of all three looked out upon the

grazing grounds of Conway Creek , and far up the mountains which rose from the valley of the Witmitty . In the evening , when the stockmen hael made their reports the " Boss" and Peter Nundy his usual nightly inspection of the stables and buildings round the house , the farm-people divided into their several parties and made for the various huts and cottages they inhabited . Early to bed was the motto of Conway

Creek , so that at nine of the clock , when only the faintest speck of the departed elay hung like a flickering flame far out over the western

prairie , and the pale moon was rising to her place , one by one the bolts of Nundy's

Settlement were sent info their holes , and everything was as peaceful and quiet as the night outside . Mr . Nundy and the two ladies sat in the

sitting-room on the other side of the house for an hour later than was usual with him . There was a lot to learn from each other , and the first

evening of a stranger ' s sojourn in a new abode is the best time to become acquainted with the rules and regulations of it . Mrs . Neville did not volunteer much of her personal career to Mr . Nundy , in fact nothing more than he had beard from Parson Harvey . He was not a very inquisitive man , and Mrs . Neville ,

moreover , had taken up her position of housekeeper to him for reasons which she very plainly stated . " It was necessary that my daughter anel myself should leave England very hurriedly , Mr . Nundy , without so much as saying good-bye to our friends . We came to New York , and from thence

to Boston , where we met Mr . Harvey , through whom we came to take up our residence with you . It is very good of you to take us , as it were , on trust , because it has been impossible to give you any further account of ourselves ; but we are anxious for a quiet anel secluded home—so secluded , Mr . Nundy , that any attempt to trace

us shoulel be useless ; and so quiet that we may have opportunities for thinking over the strange eventful history of our existence in England . But , though our past has been eventful , we have done no wrong , Mr . Nundy , as you have been good enough to believe . "

" That ' s all right , inarm , " was old Peter ' s reply . " I guess I know a honest face when I sees one . I'm not much of a " woner " with the gentler folk , but as long as you like—and I hope you will

met the lady and her daughter at Parson Harvey ' s place up city , about a month before , with the result that a bargain was struck , and on the morrow he was to welcome them to Conway Creek . The sun was beaming down on the settlement , and the heat was

very great . Everyone had been astir since very early morning getting the place in readiness for the new comers—for a new comer was a rarity in those parts , and something to make a fuss about . The stable-lads caught the infection , and polished up the harness as it had never been polished before , and swept their paddock out from

end to end more than once . The day wore away and the fever increased hourly , when a shout from a look-out chap stationed at the landing-stage—which consisted , by-the-way , of a very modest floating platform of timber—announced the approach of the party by water . In the course of a few minutes the great lumbering boat

pulled up to the stage , and the new comers v / ere welcomed to Nundy ' s by that worthy himself , surrounded by the wives and families of the farm people and stockmen . It was quite understood by the women at the Settlement that Mrs . Neville and her daughter were ladies of independent means ,

but , for reasons of which they gave no explanation , they hael accepted Peter Nundy ' s offer and come to Conway Creek to undertake the charge of the establishment . The Settlement consisted of the farmer's house and stables and the head stockmen ' s cottages