defeated its own purpose, and therefore made an effort to ftifle the expreffion of the cruel emotions he felt. His brother went on

"I was travelling, as you know, from my friend Willefly's in Yorkshire. My way was on the great north road. I flopped at Skipton to change horfes. It was evening, I ordered coffee, and while it was preparing, fauntered in an idle fort of way into the inn-yard. The people were tedious. I went up to the bar, and asked fome inconfequential questions of the barmaid. The wench was pretty and faucy, and I remained talking a country-quarter kind of nonfenfe to her, till I was fuddenly, faith 1 may call it embraced, by two very fweet white arms, and called upon by the name of "Delmont, dear Delmont," to which of course I answered like a preux chevalier, and the more readily when I faw those very kind words were uttered by the pretty mouth, and affifted by two bright yet foft eyes of a very lovely girl."-He paufed.

" Go

"Go on," faid George Delmont-"Go on, I beseech you."

"But however flattering this was, it did not proceed quite fo delectably; for the dear little flutterer no fooner faw my face, and heard me speak, than she gave a fcream, and fled away like a lapwing."

George now thought he comprehended, that Medora had mistaken his brother for him, fince in their height and fize they very nearly resemble each other. He became more impatient than ever when the Major added, "However, I could not let the charmer efcape me, fo I pursued her."

"You did not dare to infult her ?"

"The most unpardonable infult to a fine girl would furely be to feem infenfible of her charms, and especially, you know, after fuch an attractive falutation as that. So I made the best of my way to apologise to her, and at the end of a long paffage, up ftairs, overtook her, and returned with intereft the accolade fhe had favoured me with."

VOL. IV.

E

"Medora!

"Medora! my Medora!" cried George, "Good God, to be fo treated."

"How should I know fhe was your Medora? She feemed to me to be every body's Medora. But fhe made, to do her juftice, a very tolerable ftory of it; but take notice, I did not know it was your little Yanky till...

"Till when ?"

Why, not till-till I had made violent love to her, and propofed her making the fame journey with me, that she had intended with the foolish fellow fhe fet out with-Not that I meant to have carried on the joke even as far as the blacksmith's -I thought there would be no great difficulty in perfuading fuch a pretty chitterface as that long before we reached the confines of Scotland, that she had made an excellent exchange. However, instead of liftening to me a l'aimable, as the little dears generally do, fhe made a prodigious to do about her mammy, moaning like a ftray lambkin, and at laft told me the belonged to you."

"And

"And had that declaration," faid "no power to

George Delmont, fternly, reftrain your licentious conduct towards her?"

"How do you know," replied his bro ther, "that my conduct was licentious, as you call it. But have patience, and I'll go on. The mention of your name of course brought on an explanation. The dear little girl made it out very prettily, though not very probably, that fhe was carried away by a ftratagem from the hotel where the lodged, and taken great part of the way into Scotland; but the adventurous cavalier, who was, as far as I could understand, a lawyer's clerk,

Some clerk foredoom'd his mafter's foul to crofs, Who fought adventures while he fhould engrofs;

this knight of the quill, unufed to any fuch refractory damfels as was this young fquaw from the wilds of America, was fo much alarmed by her threats, or awed (if you like that better) by her virtue, that instead of carrying her any farther, and marrying her whether the would or no,

he took her to his mother's, and as the mother was not likely to prevail where the fon's gallantry had failed, they kept her pretty much confined, for poor Quill began to be frightened at what he had done. However, there was no restraining a nymph who had been reared on the broad bafis of continental freedom, and off she went out of the window to get from a lover, who, for aught I knew, she had fprung out of another to get at; but the fellow was certainly a fool, and knew not how to manage what he had undertaken, and the girl was of course fick of him."

"What was the name of this accurfed rafcal? and where may I find him?"

"His name I am not clear in-Never mind his name-Let me go on with my ftory-So not liking, I tell you, her confinement, your fair Columbian, un belle foirée, the moon being at full (which in fuch cafes is always requifite) fat forth alone, and walked with fupernatural powers, as your heroines always do, till the overtook a cart with a woman and

her