same moment the other pistol slipped out of my hand. Ihad scarcely picked it up, when the door suddenly flew open, and three fellows of a gigantic size entered my room with naked swords. Sleep, the report of my pistol, and the sudden appearance of those terrible men, had stunned me so much, that I, without knowing what I was doing, dis charged my pistol, at which one of the villains fell on the floor with a roaring yelp. A numerous crew, armed with guns, cutlasses, and daggers, rushed like lightning into my chamber, and, before I could unsheath my sword, I felt myself in their clutches, bereft of all power of self-defence.

A tremendous voice roared like thunder from the adjoining room, "hither with the rascal."

Before I recovered my recollection I felt myself dragged out of my chamber, and beheld in an instant a man of the most terrible, forbidding aspect, who, with a rough thundering voice, menacing looks, and sparkling eyes, asked me if I could not have patiently waited my doom.

"Tie the wretch," added he in a rage, "and throw him into the cellar, until sentence shall be pronounced against him." His commands were obeyed, and Mr. Max himself assisted: I was seized with a despairing furor, and uttered not a word; I was shut up in a damp cellar; how long I remained in my dungeon I cannot tell, having been in a situation which suspended all my powers of

reflection.

After a long interval of the most desponding agony, I was at length. dragged forth and brought before the tribunal of that terible looking man. The villain whom I had wounded was stretched on the bed, his head tied up, and his associates standing around him, bemoaning his hapless fate, and amongst them a venerable old man, whom I at first had not observed.

Now the grim judge began to speak, and the whole assembly to dart furious and blood-thirsty looks at me; the old man likewise turned his face towards me, and it cannot be expressed by words what my sensations were when I discerned the features of Volkert. I did not know whether he could save me or not; I had saved him once from ignor miny, and perhaps from death itself, he had promised to prove his gratitude, how could I therefore doubt that he would save me from destruction. "Volkert! exclaimed I, in a supplicating accent, Volkert!" The terrible man staggered back, staring by turns at him and me.

"Volkert!" exclaimed I again, lifting up my fettered hands; he knew me, and without the least delay took a knife out of his pocket, and cut asunder the cords my hands had been tied with. "Thou hast saved me, said he; thou hast given me liberty; take back thy gift, and life into the bargain.

"Friends," continued he, addressing the astonished crew, «Friends, he is the preserver of my honour and my liberty, what may he expect?"

"Pardon, pardon," was the unanimous cry, " pardon, pardon, he shall live.".

"Bravo, my boys," said now their formidable captain, who was sitting in judgment npon me," bravo my honest lads, you are noble

fellows farewel, Andrew," addressing his dying companion, "farewel, Andrew, thou art avenged, art doubly avenged by the generosity of thy companions."

At the same instant the whole crew huried out of the room, leaving me alone with Volkert. "Farewel, Lieutenant," said he, shaking me by the hand, "you have wisely acted in leaving F..., like the Austrian, I shall never return to that town: if any similar accident should happen to you, only pronounce my name and you will be safe."

I was going to embrace, and to assure him of my warmest gratitude, but he tore himself from my arms, and hastened to join his associates. Soon after I heard a confused noise before the door of the cottage, and, ere long the whole band rode away in full speed.

I was no longer able to remain in the house; the roaring of the tempest was hushed in silence, and the dawn of morn peeping through the windows. I found my horse sleeping in a corner behind the cottage, got on his back, and rode away in a slow pace.

Coming to a village about three miles distant from N..., a great noise struck my ears, proceeding, as I soon could distinguish, from a great number of recruits, carousing and singing at the inn. I alighted and entered the residence of merriment and intoxication, in order to inform myself who the commanding officer was, in hopes to meet with an old acquaintance, but I was disappointed. Two serjeants, entirely unknown to me, conducted the transports, and, inquiring after their officer's name, I found he was an utter stranger to me.

Having surveyed the recruits, I was going to leave the room, when my eyes by accident, fell on a man, standing in a musing attitude by the fire-side, his looks fixed on the floor. Thinking to recollect his features I advanced nearer to him, he started up from his reverie, and, seeing me standing before him, staggered back with evident marks of astonishment; however, his terror soon gave way to rapturous joy; he ran towards me, caught me by the hand, and exclaimed, flushed with pleasure,

"Dear, dear Lieutenant, is it you? God be praised that you are still alive! God be praised that I have once more the happiness of seeing my kind old master!"

His voice, his accent, and his transport, gave me no reason to doubt that he was my late servant, whom I had lost in the castle.

The honest fellow could find no words to express his joy, at my not having been famished with my companious in the cellar as it had been the intention of the robbers. I begged the serjeants to indulge me with a private conversation with my honest servant, which they granted me with great politeness: I called for the host, requesting him to let us have a room to ourselves, that we might converse without being interrupted by the curiosity of his noisy guests.

As soon as we were in private, John gave me a brief account of what had happened to him after we had left him snoring in the great hall of the Castle. I gave him a handsome sum of money as a token of my gratitude for his faithful services, and bade him an affectionate farewel. He thanked me with weeping eyes and left the room. When he was gone I mounted my horse, and arrived a few hours after at N...

Now I come to the last and most important incident I ever met with during the whole time of my recruiting business, which will clear up

all the above related events, and dispel the clouds which are hanging over my wonderful tale.

My long overclouded serenity had resumed its wonted brightness, and the remembrance of my ever regretted friend was no longer accompanied by gloominess and melancholy sensations; I could again partake of the pleasures which smile at us where ever we are, and could relish again the innocent sports of merriment.

In that state of mind I arrived towards the end of summer at A..., when the expectation of every inhabitant was engaged by the ap proaching scene of a bloody execution, which was to take place within a few days.

A church having been robbed about six months ago, several suspected persons had been imprisoned and put to the rack, but could not be brought to confession, upon which the magistrates had been obliged to set them at liberty for want of such witnesses as the law requires, and to give up the inquisition until further proofs shall be found. Many months elapsed before the enraged priests, aided by the eagleeyed assistance of the magistrates, could trace out the sacrilegious robbers of their hallowed treasures, and feast their ruthless vengeance on the throes of the victims of their foaming ire, expiring on the flaming pile, till at length an accident delivered into their holy fangs the perpetrators of that daring deed, whom they in vain had endeavoured to discover by advertisements, torture of the rack, and the promise of reward.

There lived in the suburb of A..., an old unsuspected man, named Peter, loved by the children of the place, whom he oftentimes amused with little tales, and bribed with sweatmeats, but dreaded by the aged, who firmly believed him to be on an intimate footing with his satanic majesty, because he now and then displayed, when in good humour, proofs of his juggling skill, which they beheld with gaping terror. This hoary man, who lived in a mean cottage, in apparent indigence, and could not be suspected of possessing ill-gotten goods, went oftentimes abroad, but whither he journied, or what called him so frequently from his abode, nobody could tell with certainty; some said he went a begging, others, more superstitious, pretended to have seem him, through the chinks of the half-decayed window-shutters, stretched lifeless on the floor; and some insisted upon having seen him riding through the air on a broom stick, to pay, as it was supposed, his court to his infernal master, to whom his soul and body was said to be mortgaged.

Very fortunately Peter was not at A... when the church robbery was committed, to the great satisfaction of some who thought him to be an harmless man, and to the greater mortification of others, who pretended to have suffered many a malicious trick by his sorcery; for if he had not been absent at that time, his ill-wishers would certainly have forged a pretext to deliver him up to the civil power, as a suspicious person, because he never went to church, although he was supposed to be a Roman catholic.

Some days after the above-mentioned prisoners had been set at liberty, he returned to A..., on a holiday, after sun-set, the children playing on the streets no sooner espied him, than they ran towards him, hailing their hoary benefactor with loud shouts, searching his pockets for sweetmeats, and teázing the poor old man so unmercifully,

that he at last grew angry, and threatened to chastise the troublesome crowd with his staff; however their demands grew still more clamourous, and some of them began to prick him with pins, which at length obliged him to put his threats in execution.

When the mothers of those ill-mannered boys saw the old man plying the backs of their darlings with his staff, they attacked him like furies, to revenge their children's wrongs and the profanation of the holiday, and by their vociferations alarmed the whole neighbourhood: the husbands of the enraged dames came soon to their assistance; the children began terribly to roar when they saw their old friend in danger of being torn to pieces by their parents, and poor Peter was glad when he got out of the clutches of the merciless multitude, after having sustained many a hard blow, and hastened with all possible speed to shelter himself from farther insult in his humble cottage.

But who can describe the terror he was seized with, when he perceived that he had lost his wallet in the scuffle! Raving like a madman did he rush out of his hut, to recover his property, which had been taken away in triumph by the victorious party: he exhausted all the rhetoric he was master of, entreated them, whined, and swore, but alas! his adversaries had hearts of flint, and stoutly refused to give up their booty, and when he had at last, half frantic with despair, endeavoured to regain it by force, a violent shower of stones drove him back to his humble abode, leaving his dear wallet in the ruthless hands of the furious and inexorable mob.

The principal motive that had induced the assailants to retain the wallet, was an impulse of curiosity, to see what the old sorcerer, so they called him, had got by his journey; and the attack of the children was, very likely, a pre-concerted matter, in order to provoke his anger, and to give them an opportunity of satisfying their curiosity.

The wallet having been opened, the first object meeting their prying Hooks, was an old pair of breeches, a tattered shirt, and some pairs of stockings, then followed a large book and some unknown instruments, and at last they found at the bottom a heavy leathern bag, the knot by which it was fastened, baffling all their endeavours to untie it, was at length cut asunder, and the amazement of the gaping multitude rose to the highest ditch, when their eyes beheld a great number of gold pieces.

At first the whole crew was dumb with astonishment, but their silence was soon interrupted by a voice exclaiming," we have entrapped the sacrilegious robber of our church!" which was the signal for the enraged multitude to break out in curses and terrible execrations against the old man; the air resounded with the universal cry, "church robber! church robber!" and some of them hastening to the justice of peace, roared with a bellowing voice," we have found him out! we have found him out! we have detected the sacrilegious robber of our church!"

The jusice was astonished at the unexpected tidings, but his amazement increased still more, when he saw the large heaps of gold coin, which had been found in the wallet of the old beggar, and instantly sent the beadle to seize poor Peter; mean while the rest of the furious mob had stormed the defenceless hut of the old man, dragged him forth, and conducted him towards the judge's house amid numberless

blows and curses. He was now delivered up to the grini catchpole, who instantly carried him to the town prison.

His trial began the following day, and he was ordered to give an account of himself and how he had got such a large sum of money. Refusing to answer that question, and pretending to have earned the money by honest means, he was put to the rack; yet he stoutly main tained his first declaration, and the justice being unable to convict him of the charge he stood accused of, was obliged to set him at liberty, retaining, however, his money, until he should have proved that he had got it by lawful means.

Peter promised to prove his deposition within a short time, and returned to his hut, which, during his confinement, had been closely searched by his busy neighbours, who, however, had found nothing in it but some tattered coats, and broken pieces of furniture.

The justice, being a prudent man, dissembled to have dropped all farther enquiry, but secretly appointed some trusty people to watch all his motions. Their vigilance was fruitless a great while, until at length one of Peter's neighbours observed him, one morning, leaving his house with a wallet on his back, and a staff in his hand, setting off in full speed.

The people of the justice, whom he informed of what he had seen, followed Father Peter in different directions, in disguise, and saw him at noon-tide enter a lonely public-house: having waited in vain for his re-appearance, they began to have suspicion, and concealed themselves behind some bushes within a small distance from the house, until it grew dark.

As soon as night had spread her dull mantle over the face of the earth, they heard a distant trampling of horses, bending their course towards the spot where they were hidden, and, cre long, a numerous troop of horsemen alighted at the public-house and entered it, upon which the spies crept forth from their lurking place, and stole softly to the windows of the house; there they had not listened long, when they heard a jingling of money; and peeping through the chinks of one of the shutters, beheld a table covered with dollars, and surrounded by a number of armed men, among whom father Peter was, feasting his eyes on the money which was spread before him.

Having now got every information necessary, they mounted each of them one of the horses which the robbers had fastened to some trees, and hurried back to the town with all possible expedition; and having informed the justice of every thing they had heard and seen, were instantly sent back with a great part of the town guard, well armed, and mounted on the fleetest horses that could be got.

The whole troop arrived a little before midnight at the public-house, where the robbers were seated round a table eating and drinking in the greatest security. They all started up as if roused by a sudden clap of thunder, when the guard rushed into the room, seizing their arms, and threatening to blow their brains out if they attempted the least resistance.

Their hands having been tied, father Peter, the landlord, and all his servants were seized, and carried off in triumph. The robbers, amounting to ten, were clad in hunting coats, and their purses well stored with gold and silver coin; the whole train marching slowly on, with lighted