bud into Linda’s hand.  I had suggested a place of meeting at twelve o’clock on the following day; and I leave to your conjecture what took place up to that time.  Let me tell you, then, that she escaped from the house through the aid of a faithful servant, and we met, exchanged our joys as never did brother and sister; yes, we unburdened our hearts and gave each other accounts of all that had passed since the night Leon attempted to rescue her from her chamber.

“Linda had not been to Madrid, but Cuba; and the letter to Leon was nothing more than a cruel fabrication of her parents, who had persuaded her that he was dead, and produced papers recording his death in proof of their declarations.  When I discovered to her that Leon was still alive, she fell upon her knees and beseeched me to speed with her to him.  I knew and felt my duty to the nation; but the request of this lovely girl was something the gallantry of my soul could not refuse.”

The general, who had listened attentively while sipping his punch, interrupted, saying, “I reverence your magnanimity, young man, and am glad to see that you had no thought of appropriating the prize to yourself.  I am glad, too, that you had an eye to how much the nation might suffer by this love affair.”

“Says I to myself,” resumed the secretary, “’Orlando Tickler! now it’s between the nation and this fair girl-choose which you will let go to ruin.  Faith, the nation is well enough,’ says I, ’and here goes to do my duty by this distressed damsel.  And with nothing but what she had on her back, and a purse of gold, we turned our backs upon Baltimore, and like doves chased by sportsmen, proceeded with all speed to Leon, who had taken up his abode at an airy villa on the banks of the Hudson.  And here again I will leave to your conjecture what took place when they met; and conclude by saying that I went mad with joy on seeing them locked in each other’s arms.  And while New York was being searched in vain by the friends of her unyielding parents, I saw them made one twain by the village parson; then I left them as happy a couple as ever mingled love, and sought you, intending to ask forgiveness.  You have it all, sir; and may Heaven reward you for the forgiveness you have vouchsafed me.”

And now, the time for the general’s departure having arrived, old Battle was got safely on board, when this wonderful politician, soldier, and diplomatist, and his clever secretary, set sail for the Kaloramas; and when they had proceeded on their voyage for some weeks met with so serious an accident that the writer of this faithful history deems it proper that he should record it in the next chapter.

It ought also to be mentioned here that the general, out of sheer respect to his honesty as a critic, appointed Easley guardian to his gifted pig, whose earnings he promised to transmit to Polly Potter instead of the unfathomable depths of the “Bleeding Kansas Fund.”