While these thoughts were occupying him, he had suffered the bridlerein to fall on his horse's neck, and that sagacious animal having no desire to increase the distance from his stable any further than was abso lutely necessary, came to a halt, and looked wistfully about in search of something to browse upon, a futile expectation on a plain very nearly, if not quite, as barren as the sands of Arabia. Horse and rider presented at that moment a perfect picture of indecision; but it was not of long continuance. While Brown, in meditative mood, was turning his eyes in the direc tion of Memel, his glance fell upon the taper spars of a vessel which was lying up out from the shipping that crowded the Kurische Haff, and a sudden shift of wind blew out the bunting at the vessel's peak and displayed the glorious British ensign rippling in the breeze. The sight of the flag under which he had been sailing only a few hours before, at once dissipated all doubt. He should be unworthy, he felt, to claim kindred with the brave fellows over whom it waved if he did not conscientiously perform his promise, no matter at what risk. Like an honest Briton, therefore, as he was, he stood up in his stirrups, and, taking off his hat, saluted the national flag with three jolly cheers; this done, he caught up the reins, dug his spurs into the flanks of his astonished steed, whose shoulders he also briskly belaboured with the thickish stick he carried instead of a riding whip, and very much against his quadruped's inclination, set off at full speed towards the Russian frontier.

A single soldier at his post was the representative of all the Russias, as Harry Brown pulled up at the long party-coloured beam which stretched across the road.

"Open the gate, old fellow," shouted Harry, in plain English; and, as if he had only been placed there to obey his orders, the sentinel grounded his musket, seized the end of a chain which hung from the barrier, raised the beam till it stood upright, and the stranger was fairly admitted. "Here I am," said Harry to himself, "safe enough," as he heard the barrier drop again into its socket; "I wonder what next!"

To follow the road, of course.

It lay before him, straight as an arrow, as far as he could see, where a lofty cupola cutting the horizon indicated the presence of a tolerably large

town.

"What's the name of that place?" said Brown, turning to the sentinel and pointing to the distant buildings.

The man was not such a very stupid Russian after all, for though he did not understand what was said, he guessed the meaning of the question, and briefly answered "Telsh." That model of information, a British sentry, could hardly have manifested greater intelligence. It is true that as far as Harry Brown's knowledge of Russian went, "Telsh" might mean anything; but having taken it for granted that he was understood, a mistake to which our countrymen in foreign lands are sometimes prone, he came to the right conclusion, and straightway proposed to himself, if no accident intervened, to eat his first Russian dinner at Telsh.

The thing really seemed possible; unless, indeed, his further progress were stopped at a range of buildings about four or five hundred yards in front, where several soldiers were loitering. As he drew nearer, these

men were joined by a military-looking person, whose uniform denoted a superior rank, and who came out of the barrack or custom-house, whichever it might be.

"This chap, I suppose, is my fate," thought Brown, as the officer advanced towards him.

The functionary saluted him in military fashion, by raising his hand to the peak of his helmet, and addressed him in Russian. Obtaining no intelligible reply, he spoke French.

"Would monsieur," he said, in the politest manner possible, "be so kind as to mention where he came from, and whither he was going?"

Harry Brown had a little of what he called "the Gallic lingo" to spare, on extra occasions, and made answer that he happened to be staying at Memel, and to satisfy his curiosity had taken a ride across the frontier.

Nothing," returned the officer, smiling, "could be more natural. It was a great honour that monsieur conferred on Russia. Might he take the liberty of asking to what country monsieur belonged ?"

Brown replied that he was an Englishman, and, for the first time in his life, the avowal stuck in his throat; but he made an effort, and it

came out.

Greatly to his surprise, the officer smiled again, but there was a shade of melancholy on his features as he continued, with a sort of sigh:

“Ah, monsieur is English, then! It is a great pity our two countries are no longer friends. Nevertheless, we are charmed to see all who come. We are desirous of being better known to the English, whom we so greatly esteem. I am sorry monsieur does not intend to remain long with us, as he has arrived unattended and without baggage!"

"What the devil," muttered Brown, "is the meaning of this? Why I might as well be at Dover-only our fellows are not half so civil. I am going over," he continued, aloud, "to what's-his-name (chose)— Telsh,' I think, is what you call it. Shall I have any difficulty in getting there?"

"Not the slightest in the world," answered the officer; "it is but nine versts distant, merely a morning's ride. I wish I could have the honour of accompanying you, but unfortunately my duty detains me here. However, I shall hope to see you again this evening or to-morrow -perhaps we may smoke a cigar together-as you return;" and here he smiled, even more agreeably than before. "Probably," he resumed, "you have not fixed upon any hotel at Telsh! I thought not! Allow me to recommend to you the Couronne Impériale,' it is the best in the place, and if you mention my name, le Capitaine Dimskoff, they will show you every attention. I wish you, sir, a pleasant journey."

The officer bowed, and returned to his barrack; the soldiers who had been drawn up rank and file when he first appeared dispersed, and Harry Brown, in a state of considerable bewilderment, was left to his own devices.

"If they won't take me prisoner," thus ran his thoughts, "I can't help it. I wish now I had hired a carriage at Memel instead of this brute, I could then have gone on comfortably; but I hadn't the slightest idea they would have let me pass. What lies people do tell about

places! Why, they haven't even asked to look at my passport-that precious passport. Ah, all my fun is thrown away there! I fancy I see Short grinning at me when he finds I haven't been able to get to St. Petersburg: he'll say I never came here at all, or was stopped, or something. As to what they call Russian boorishness, I'm sure I've seen none of it! They're a good deal more civilised than we are. Here's a proof that they're not behindhand; who'd have thought of seeing the electric telegraph in such a wild place as this? I shouldn't wonder if it went all the way to St. Petersburg!"

In this maundering mood, half sulky, wholly surprised, Harry Brown rode on till he reached the gates of Telsh. His entrance was unopposed; and on his naming Captain Dimskoff and the "Couronne Impériale" to a species of police commissary, as he supposed, who was standing by, this person offered to show him the way. Brown rewarded his guide with a silver rouble, and he, to show his gratitude, not only held the traveller's horse as he alighted, but particularly drew the attention of Monsieur Protasoff, the master of the hotel, to the fact that the gentleman was well known to Captain Dimskoff, an intimation which was acknowjedged by a bow that almost rivalled an Oriental prostration.

III.

As far as matters had hitherto proceeded, Mr. Harry Brown's expedition had turned out to use a homely phrase "all tarts and cheesecakes." Nor did his reception at the "Couronne Impériale" exhibit any change for the worse. He was a great admirer of female beautyas who, by the way, is not?-and certainly one of the loveliest girls he had ever seen stood just within the doorway as he entered. She was tall and slight, but admirably formed; her eyes were large, lustrous, and dark; and though they seemed to speak of sadness, too early known by one so young, the expression harmonised better with her features than if the rose had left a deeper stain on her cheek. The landlord called her his daughter, but there was so little personal resemblance between them -he being a short, thick, vulgar, cunning-looking fellow-that a stranger would never have imagined the relationship.

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Katinka," he said, "desire the cook to prepare the best she has for his excellency's dinner. A friend of Captain Dimskoff, monsieur, has a right here to command what he pleases."

He then went on, according to the custom of landlords in general, to expatiate volubly on the advantages which must accrue to any traveller, even without a recommendation, who came to the "Couronne Impériale," and was labouring through the difficult question of clean sheets, when Brown, who had taken an immediate and strong dislike to the man, cut the subject short by saying that all he wanted was a good dinner, as he intended to return that evening to Memel. An obsequious grin on the part of Mons. Protasoff seemed intended to express that he was his excellency's slave in all things, and obedient to Brown's desire, he ushered him into the public salon, which was as dirty as might have been expected after so many protestations. Celerity was, however, amongst the few recommendations of the "Couronne Impériale,” and withîn half an hour a first

rate Russian dinner was set before the hungry traveller, who was much too distinguished a guest in the eyes of the landlord to be served in an ordinary way. Instead of heavy quass and fiery brandy, the best French wines were placed upon the table; and Brown only regretted that his polite friend, Captain Dimskoff, was not present, that he might pledge him in a glass of Monsieur Protasoff's excellent champagne.

"I think I shall astonish old Short when I tell him how I made it out here," soliloquised Brown. "Upon my life, I don't see why we shouldn't get up a party of Tarantulas, and run over here for a day's lark. By-the-by, what an amazingly fine girl this landlord's daughter is. I should like to have another peep at her!"

The wish was gratified as soon as uttered, for, hearing a rustling sound behind his chair, Brown turned his head, and saw the beautiful Katinka close beside him. He was about to address her in some complimentary phrase, but her serious look and raised finger kept him silent. Casting an alarmed glance round the room, as if she feared that some one might overhear her, she hastily whispered in very good French: "Be on your guard-trust nobody here--you are in bad hands. The sooner you leave Telsh the better, if indeed you can leave it."

Brown was somewhat taken aback by this announcement, which so suddenly put to flight the lively speculations in which he had just been indulging; but he put the best face he could on the matter.

"You are mistaken," said he; "I have nothing to fear. I am going to smoke a pipe this evening on the frontier with my friend Captain Dimskoff."

"Dimskoff! the villain! Then there is no hope!"

Brown would have questioned her further, but she glided from the room, and at the same moment Monsieur Protasoff entered by another door.

"I wish to have my bill," said Brown as soon as he saw him.

"It is quite ready, monsieur," replied the landlord, opening a paper which he held in his hand; "I have anticipated your excellency's commands."

Brown took it from him, and without looking at the numerous items which Monsieur Protasoff must have been employed in setting down all the time the dinner was being served, cast his eyes upon the sum total. To use a form of language familiar on board the Tarantula, it was "a swindger."

"A hundred and thirty roubles!" said Brown, who was not familiar with the currency of the country, "that seems a good deal. How much is it in francs ?"

The amount was the same, Monsieur Protasoff said; but French money, he regretted to add, was no longer current in Russia. He presumed his excellency was provided with more convenient coin. Brown had a lot of paper, he replied, which he had obtained from a Jew moneychanger in Memel, and pulling out a handful of notes, for so many roubles each, he threw them on the table and desired Monsieur Protasoff, with what may be termed a highly-spiced expression, to pay himself.

"Bad hands, indeed!" growled Brown; "that girl was right. A week of this work would let daylight into my pocket. Let my horse be brought to the door."

"Certainly, your excellency," returned the landlord, sweeping up the notes, and bowing to the very ground before he took his departure.

That "quart d'heure de Rabelais," settling the bill, generally upsets. the equanimity of the best-tempered among us, and I think it redounds very much to the credit of Mr. Harry Brown that he was capable, in the very act of being fleeced, of forming a wish to see the fair Katinka again, that he might thank her for her advice, though it came too late for him to profit by it. Hearing the clatter of horses' hoofs beneath the window, he rose, but still lingered in the room in the hope of her return, when once more the door opened and Monsieur Protasoff informed him that everything was ready.

So indeed it was, though not in the manner Brown expected, for instead of the horse on which he had ridden from Memel, there sat two mounted dragoons with drawn sabres, one of whom held a third horse belonging to their leader, a fierce-looking fellow with a beard half a yard long, who was standing on the flight of steps at the hotel door, and who unceremoniously seized Brown by the collar and whiskers-the moment he put his head out. I have mentioned "a thickish stick" which served Brown in lieu of a riding-whip, and he made use of it to some purpose on this occasion. Thrusting back the dragoon with one hand, he laid his staff so heavily on his adversary's helmet that his weapon was broken to shivers. Anybody but a Russian would have been stunned by the blow, but it seemed to make no difference to the dragoon-he being used to that sort of thing on parade;-physically, I mean, for morally the shock was great, to think of resistance to the authority of the Czar ! However, he did not stop to argue the question, but rushing in upon Brown, whose retreat Monsieur Protasoff cut off by banging the door in his face, bore him down by mere weight, and aided by about a dozen lumbering fellows in uniform, succeeded in effecting a capture in spite of much kicking and struggling. It is one thing to offer yourself up as a victim, and another thing to be made a victim of against your will. Had Harry Brown been told he was a prisoner with the same degree of courtesy which had hitherto been shown him, he would have behaved as quietly as the mildest detective could have wished, but to be set upon by a brutal Calmuck, and have his favourite whisker damaged in the assault, was too much for human patience to endure: hence his resistance, of which he had full leisure to repent when, with his hands knotted behind his back, he was dragged rather than led through the streets of Telsh to the central bureau of the police. Short work they made with him in that establishment. He had openly committed an outrage on the officers of the Czar -a parricidal crime, even in a stranger;-but there was a previous charge against him the punishment of which was death, or anything short of it which the clemency of the Emperor might decree. Captain Dimskoff appeared to denounce him as a spy, having telegraphed his arrival to the authorities at Telsh the moment after he had wished Brown a pleasant journey; the courteous police-agent who had conducted him to the hotel was also there to identify him; and Monsieur Protasoff came to add his testimony to the effect that he had avoided subscribing his name in the strangers' book at the "Couronne Impériale," forgetting probably that he had never invited the prisoner to do so. Interrogated