lightly guarded. They had passed London Bridge, and had made good progress, pulling against a strong current towards Westminster, when the rowers perceived a heavy Dutch-built boat coming rapidly towards them with the tide, and having sailors on board, who by the bottles in their hands, and their ridiculous gestures, seemed to be intoxicated. Jocelyn's watermen having already called out to them to look a-head, were repeating the order in no very decent language, when the strange boat ran right on board of them, and at the same moment the sailors jumped into the Tower-wherry, tossed its crew neck and heels, with the exception of Jocelyn, into the Dutch boat, of which they brought away the oars, and instantly began pulling with the stream towards London Bridge. All this was so rapidly effected, and the crew of the wherry were so unprepared for attack, that they had no opportunity of making resistance; and they now found themselves in a heavy Dutch boat which they were unable to manage

from the want of oars, while their outcries were either unnoticed, or treated as the idle clamour of some wrangling Dutchmen.

Jocelyn would have been utterly at a loss to know the meaning of this rescue, had he not recognized Winky Boss among the foremost of his deliverers, who having whispered to him to şit still, took the stump of a pipe from his waistcoat-pocket, which he inserted into one corner of his mouth, and then seizing an oar, began to pull with the regularity, and almost with the power, of a steam-engine. Our hero's manacles were quickly removed and thrown into the river, and thus in gallant plight, with the King's arms painted upon her stern, and the royal flag streaming upon the wind behind her, did the wherry pass beneath the very guns of the fortress to which she belonged, bearing the rescued prisoner rapidly along without challenge or interruption from any of the ships of war that they passed. Before the tide failed them, a stiff and favourable breeze sprung up; they spread

their canvas, the boat was built expressly for expedition, and in a space of time that would have rendered all pursuit unavailing, even had it been attempted, they found themselves at the mouth of the river. Here they observed a small Dutch brig, tacking backward and forward; and running alongside, Jocelyn was utterly amazed at observing Constantia, Julia, and Mrs. Walton, standing upon the deck. It is unnecessary to state with what transports they welcomed him on board, with what delight of heart he found himself so unexpectedly restored to liberty and to his friends, or what rapture of gratitude he expressed towards Constantia, when he learnt that he was indebted to her once more for his deliverance.

"To me, individually," said Constantia, "there is less merit due for this enterprize than you seem to imagine. The King himself suggested the mode of your escape, and by the promise of a liberal reward, your trusty servant, Winky Boss, induced some of his shrewd and

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stout-hearted countrymen to undertake its execution; a task which they have well and happily performed. For our ulterior views this vessel was engaged, and Julia and Mrs. Walton needed no inducements to accompany me on board it, when they knew the purposes to which it was to be applied. We are now bound for France, whither we shall soon be wafted by this auspicious breeze. My friends will not regret their temporary absence from a country, where their mutual happiness might have been still longer delayed, or ultimately defeated, by perjury and malice; and for myself, I have important plans in agitation, which could only be executed on the spot to which we are now directing our course.

On their arrival at Calais, which place they reached without any adverse incident, the sailors were remunerated even beyond their expectations and dismissed; Winky Boss being retained to accompany the party to Paris, in which capital Constantia declared that she had weighty

purposes to accomplish. Contrary to her usual habits of reserve, she put herself forward as the regulator of every thing during their progress, superintending all arrangements with an alacrity that indicated the pleasure she derived from the journey; while her constitutional sedateness, which, since the death of her father, had almost amounted to melancholy, was now succeeded by a calm, smiling happiness, which her friends noticed with not less satisfaction than surprise. She appeared to be elated, and sustained by some great, though secret, design, upon which her heart brooded with a serene delight. What it was, they had no means of guessing, for though she occasionally alluded to her ulterior plans, with a mysterious smile, she never dropped a word that might enable them even to guess at her intentions. It was sufficient for Julia to find in the happiness of her friend, the presence of her lover, and her own altered prospects, a sufficient warrant for that ebullient cheerfulness which was natural to her, and in which she now