CHAPTER VII. WHAT BECAME OF THE DOCTOR. Unglücklicher, was willst du thun? so ruft Kein Sterblicher, sprach des Orakels Mund, Doch setzte nicht derselbe Mund hinzu: Wer diesen Schleier hebt, soll Wahrheit schauen ?' SCHILLER. A COUPLE of years have passed since the Jubilee party broke up. During the recent autumn the editors enjoyed for a short time the hospitality of the genial Stephen Fairbank. Trout were plentiful, and gave excellent sport. The morning 'header' was as grateful Frederick Fairbank, home for the vacation, was busily engaged in training a cricket eleven to do battle with some neighbouring power, and we gave him what help as ever. we could. But it was felt by both of us that a great change had taken place in Elmsly House-all the arrangements were as perfect as ever, yet an indefinite charm which used to pervade the house was wanting "Tis Greece, but living Greece no more.' No Miss Fairbank presided at her father's table. But in the vicarage there was now a Mrs. Bemerton, whose attention was all but entirely concentrated on her husband and her little son; and she was very like Miss Fairbank indeed. She received us with all her old grace and kindness, but it was clear that she had not quite passed through the transition state. The unusually long honeymoon was yet very near the meridian. Mr. Bemerton could with difficulty be induced to leave his wife, even for an hour, and when he did, he could talk of little else. 'He's a frightful spoon, and I'm sure my father misses her tremendously,' Frederick said to us in his artless manner. 'I know he now wants me to marry and settle down in the country with him. But he won't say so his principles before his comfort :-he feels that I ought to work, and he would die rather than breathe a hint of what is uppermost in his mind. But I'm going to reconcile his wishes and his convictions in a way he doesn't expect. I'm going to cut the bar, and take to the counting-house, to which I used to have an insurmountable aversion. I have already secured the promise of a future partner (I don't think she is any stranger to you), who will do the honours as well at least as Mrs. Bemerton.' Having heartily congratulated him (for we understood at once that he spoke of his charming cousin), we asked about Sir Kenneth,. and most particularly about our friend Dr. Hermann Stoffkraft and his fortunes. Frederick Fairbank.-There's a long and queer story there, and I am not sure that I know all about it. Stoffkraft has given up for good his materialistic notions. Bemerton and my father began the work, but the Gräfin and Sir Kenneth, with the help of Father Prediger, effectually finished it. The Doctor is a Geheimrath now, and the Gräfin is his wife! What do you say to that? She had enough sense and strength of mind to have thrown caste to the winds, and married the plebeian Doctor, but the Privy Councillorship has luckily prevented the necessity of such a frightful breach of etiquette. But my father will tell you about the business. about the business. He has had lots of letters from all of them. Leave that to the evening and come with me :-my eleven will be savage if we don't give them some swift round-hand this afternoon. There was nothing for it but to accompany the enthusiast, who kept us at work till the first dinner-bell rang. After dinner, which for once reminded us of old times, because Mr. Bemerton and his wife were present, Stephen Fairbank produced a mass of correspondence, from which he extracted a few characteristic letters sufficiently connected to form a nearly continuous, though of course not exhaustive, narrative. SIR KENNETH M'KELPIE to STEPHEN FAIRBANK. 'STRATHKELPIE CASTLE, June 21st, 1876. 'MY DEAR FAIRBANK,-My distinguished German guests have now been with me for ten days, and my young niece, whose fair name was the innocent cause of a passage at arms between Elijah Holdfast and myself, is here likewise so you see the spiritualistic element is very strong. I gladly comply with your request to give you a long account of our proceedings. As precision of thought is essential, will divide these into three categories-tablerapping, action at a distance, and materialisation; and I will begin with table-rapping. Here my niece has been a host in herself, albeit an unwilling one; and I can assure you' we have all (the Doctor included) tried our best to find out the physical cause of these knocks, but absolutely without success. That they are objective realities, I have not the smallest doubt; for a complete stranger once made his appearance at the open door of the room in |