XXI NATURE'S MELODRAMA
XXII FOND, YET NOT FOOLISH
XXIII THE BROAD STONE OF HONOUR
XXIV THE THIRTIETH OF SEPTEMBER
XXV THE BANKER AND HIS DAUGHTER
XXVI TOO LATE
XXVII A RECENT EXPLOSION IN AN ANCIENT CRATER
XXVIII LAST CHRISTMAS EVE




TWO YEARS AGO.




CHAPTER XV.

THE CRUISE OF THE WATERWITCH.


The middle of August is come at last; and with it the solemn day on
which Frederick Viscount Scoutbush may be expected to revisit the home
of his ancestors. Elsley has gradually made up his mind to the
inevitable, with a stately sulkiness: and comforts himself, as the time
draws near, with the thought that, after all, his brother-in-law is not
a very formidable personage.

But to the population of Aberalva in general, the coming event is one of