chant, "when we know that it is convertible into some certain hundreds of ducats. I need not, then, as it seems, introduce you and my daughter to one another; nor could I if I would, for though we have been chatting together so long, I never thought to inquire your name. It is time I should examine your credentials, and break the seal of my good friend's letter. I am told he is worth a hundred thousand double ducats. Aha! think of that, young man!"

With these words he took the paper from his waistcoat-pocket, and while he was engaged in perusing its contents, our hero had an opportunity of contemplating his daughter, who had derived from her sire nothing but her height and her commanding figure. From her mother, a French woman of a distinguished Norman family, whom he had married in his first embassy to Paris, she inherited that cast of countenance, which, in this country, we should pronounce to be emphatically foreign, although some might rather say, that it gave her the appearance of a most beautiful Jewess. Her black eyes, which, as we have already noticed, were large, round and lustrous, were surmounted by dark, though delicately arched-brows; her nose inclined to the aquiline, and her mouth might have been pronounced too large, but that it disclosed, when opened, a set of teeth that were absolutely faultless. Her clear brown complexion harmonized admirably with the profuse raven locks, which,

parting upon her high forehead, fell in glossy curls down to her neck; while the general beauty of her features received an inexpressible charm from an interesting air of pensiveness, which, however, seemed to emanate from modesty and depth of feeling, rather than from melancholy.

From this survey, which, although it has occupied some time in the description, was comprehended by our hero in a single delighted glance; he was recalled by the Burgomaster's exclamation of "Donder ende blixem!" and on Jocelyn's casting his eyes upon the apostrophiser, he clearly saw that the contents of the letter had not only surprised him, but disturbed the equanimity of his temper. "Wat de deivel!" he continued, turning to Jocelyn, as he folded up the paper; "does not the Alderman know my connexion with the English Government, that he asks me thus a second time to harbour runaways from the royal frown? Am I not in jeopardy enough already about that unfor

tunate

? Does he think Charles the Second will be played with, as if he were de Koning of Heer, a king of cards? An angry monarch has keen eyes, and quick ears, and long hands, and sharp nails. Aha! young man! think of that. In den naame Godes! how came you to take a man by the beard that wears a crown upon his head ?”

Our hero concisely related the cause of his intemperate expressions, and the unfortunate issue of the contest they had occasioned with Bagot, con

cluding by stating, that he still possessed the favour and good offices of the Queen, whose portrait he produced, in corroboration of his assertion. "Aha!" cried the Burgomaster, who, from the ambiguous terms of the letter, feared that his offence was of a more treasonable nature-" is that all? then we may snap our fingers, provided we make no noise in doing it. We will take care of you, young man but you must be quiet and discreet; neither so ready of hand, nor so free of tongue; for though Adrian Beverning be a Burgomaster of Rotterdam, and I believe none of the poorest-aha! yet is he surrounded by spies of the Orange party, who, in these times of trouble and faction, might, upon the slightest pretext, or even upon none at all, expose him to the perilous suspicion of the Hooghen Mooghens. Een woord voor de wyzen. A word to the wise, young man, is enough; so taste the mocha ere it be cold; and if Constantia will spare you some of the chocolate-cream, in return for your taking care of her scarf, I can recommend it as being specially balsamic as well as grateful.'

A second blush deeply suffused his daughter's face as she obeyed this intimation; and the founder of the repast now setting the example of more active measures by a vigorous assault upon the dried fish and smoked meats, Jocelyn, who had an accumulated appetite of three or four days to allay, since he had found little that was edible on board the galliot, did justice to the hospitality of his host.

What Miss Vanspaacken wanted in activity, she supplied by perseverance; for though the formal way in which she executed every manœuvre of the knife and fork, and the mathematical precision with which each piece of meat was cut, occasioned her progress to be slow, the process went on with the steadiness of machinery, and the work accomplished was proportionately considerable. Constantia was the only one that seemed indifferent to the good cheer. Sitting silent and abstracted, she was apparently too much occupied in feeding her thoughts, to attend to the refection of the body, until her father exclaimed, "Aha, Constantia ! has the sight of this doughty champion robbed you of your appetite? feed, child, feed!" when, with renewed blushes, she endeavoured to obey the injunction.

Just as the repast was concluded, the Burgomaster started up at the sound of a bell, exclaiming, Hey, Slapperloot! there is the wharf-bell. I must see the remainder of the nutmegs landed; but at twelve o'clock, Signor Cavaliero, we shall have emptied the barge, and I shall be ready to give you your promised treat, by showing you De Vrouw Roosje. Meantime, Joffer Vanspaacken, will you order an apartment to be prepared for the Queen's champion? and you, Constantia, must manage to entertain him till I return. She is still too deep in the water to enter the canal; and all spices!Aha! young man, think of that!" The conclusion

་

of his speech was an unconscious soliloquy, uttered as he was leaving the room, and while his thoughts were on board De Vrouw Roosje.

In a short while, Constantia, discarding her embarrassment, commenced a more unrestrained conversation with our hero, who was astonished at her proficiency in English, until he learned that she had not only accompanied her father in his embassies to London, but that it formed the more prevalent language at their table, where some of his own countrymen were almost daily visitants. "In my poor-mother's time," she continued, "we always conversed in French; so that I am perhaps as well acquainted with these two languages as with my native Dutch."

"Better!" ejaculated Miss Vanspaacken, opening for the first time her thin compressed lips, "for you never give our gutturals their full beauty, nor do you impart the classical breadth to our double a's. Even my own name is rendered less harmonious by your manner of pronouncing it :"-and she then uttered it herself, giving such a specimen of the true Dutch harmony, as wonderfully resembled the quacking of a duck; which, after all, may have been the original and genuine dialect of her amphibious countrymen.

Requesting another sight of the Queen of England's picture, Constantia drew from Jocelyn a more detailed account of the occurrence at Hampton Court, and of the rencounter with Bagot, than he