When all was over, and when they had left him to his last rest in Holywell Cemetery, Paul Romaine went, sad and despondent, into the schools. All was changed to him now; his two friends, the only friends for whom he cared a straw, were lost to him, and his friend and advocate was gone from among the Challoners; everything seemed strange to him in the schools, and the subjects which he had known thoroughly a little before were like unknown mysteries to him now. The examination ended, however, and Paul, who had been confidently talked of as the safest First in Mods in all St. Chrys'tom's, came out with a Second, and was surprised that he had got so much.

I told you that I should have to be grave presently, I dislike a mournful funeral procession pervading every chapter of a book as much as you can; but unfortunately, if we sit down to describe life as it is we must not have the sunshine always flashing on our pictures, the clouds must gather occasionally, ay, and must out-do the sunshine too, if you want to be a faithful painter, and not a sketcher of fancies. But we will leave Paul for a while, it is best not to intrude where the shadow of the Death-Angel has been so lately; there is another in this history whose fortunes are worth the telling.

(To be continued.)

ALL ABOUT A CAKE, OR THE TULLE BABA.

A SKETCH OF RUSSIAN COUNTRY LIFE.

Ir was late in the afternoon of a lovely day in the brief summer season of Russia, when the carriage of a noble lady, Anna Federovna of the estate of Jourkofsky in the district of D-, stopped before the door of the Inspector of Police in the small district town. The mansion of this redoubtable individual was constructed of wood, painted of a light gray. It had eight windows with green shutters, looking into the street; and was surmounted by a bright crimson roof with two tall white chimneys, on the summit of each of which stood a weathercock. An old soldier of sinister countenance sat at the door of the house, stitching away at a sheepskin cap. When the great lady's carriage stopped before him, he looked up with a surly expression of countenance; which quickly broke into a servile, repulsive smile, as he hastily stepped forward, opened the door of the carriage, and presented his elbow, which the visitor scarcely touched. The veteran held open the door of the house, with much seeming respect, as the lady collected her rustling garments and marched majestically over the threshold, but meanwhile a knowing wink was exchanged between him and the coachman.

Anna Federovna hastily traversed four rooms; all opening into one another, and exactly alike. They were apartments of noble width and height; and against the glaring white walls on every side were ranged innumerable small spider-legged chairs.

In the middle of each room was a round table; and from the midst of each ceiling depended a bird-cage, besides others that hung in the windows. A strong odour of pitch and bad tobacco pervaded the whole place. Nothing daunted by the unsavoury atmosphere, the lady entered a fifth apartment, which was hung with yellow. It contained two easy chairs; and a high-backed sofa with arms akimbo, furnished with a couple of embroidered cushions. From the ceiling hung a cage with a thrush in it: and at either end of the room stood a bow-legged table. On one of these tables lay a huge pair of top-boots; on the other, "The Lives of the Saints," and a Psalm Book. Through the half-open door of a sixth chamber issued clouds of

tobacco smoke.

"Friend! old friend!" called out Anna Federovna from the yellow room. "Where are you? Come here! Come here to me!"

"Ah! it is my dear friend who has favoured me with a visit," replied a loud voice. "Welcome! Welcome!" And the Inspector of Police emerged out of the smoke, attired in a gaudy dressing-gown, and

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retaining a long pipe in the corner of his mouth. His large prominent blue eyes were keen and severe-looking, and he perpetually rolled them from side to side, as if keeping a suspicious watch upon his myrmidons. His forehead was low and half concealed by thick bushy eyebrows; while a mass of coarse grizzly hair, forcibly combed down on either side, displayed in full relief a narrow head rising high towards the crown. Bright red lips, shaded by a thick black moustache, and occasionally disclosing a double row of strong white teeth, which the Inspector had a habit of grinding hard together whenever he was vexed, completed a countenance by no means too prepossessing. Yet the man could be good-natured and obliging enough with his friends, though he was notably stern and cruel to those beneath him. He pretended to be very fond of birds, which fondness chiefly developed itself in making uncomfortable experiments with them; such as trying how many weeks a dove or love-bird could live without its mate, or how many days a finch or other small creature would remain healthy on water alone, or bread, or one particular kind of seed or worm. He affirmed that birds throve extremely well in tobacco smoke when once they were used to it. For the rest, the peculiar aversion of this distinguished man was that branch of the human family which claims to be descended from Abraham. A Jew was always offensive in his nostrils; and as a good Christian, he said, he considered it a positive duty to "look sharp" after them. Further, our conscientious friend attended church very regularly, and joined loudly in the

responses.

He now marched into the room with a heavy step, and drowned Anna Federovna's voice in his boisterous and voluble welcome: "Ah! my dear friend, how glad I am to see you! Excuse my appearing in my dressing-gown, though in fact I always am in a dressing-gown. I even walk out in it of an evening. Welcome! dear friend, you are heartily welcome! Sit down, sit down. What can I offer you? Excuse my top-boots on the table-though they are quite new, and you are no young girl that you need blush at a pair of boots!"

Anna Federovna had come to her friend in his official capacity; she had a complaint to lay before him. She waited impatiently until his eloquence had exhausted itself; then she began in a loud, irritable, trembling voice: "My dear old friend, if you are my friend, if you have a divine spark of friendship in you, avenge me. Moses the Jew

has deceived me."

The Inspector had listened in calm astonishment until he heard the name of Moses; then he started as if a serpent had bitten him, and without waiting to hear more, called vociferously for Mikilo his servant. That worthy appeared-the same who had sat sewing the sheepskin at the door.

"Order a policeman to bring hither Moses the Jew, alive or dead. Quick!"

Mikilo hesitated, doubting whether he had heard his master aright.

"Moses the Jew, instantly, alive or dead!" reiterated the Police Inspector, stamping with his foot. "Moses! Moses! Tie him hand and foot, and bring him hither, I say, instantly."

Mikilo disappeared. Anna Federovna, seeing the interest she had excited in her friend, began to cry and to tell him how she had been injured. “I will tell you all about it, my friend, I will tell you how Moses-"

"I don't want you to tell me," interrupted he. I know that they are all rogues, and that's enough."

At that instant Moses was dragged in between two policemen. He was a young, handsome man, with black, crisply-curled hair, dark eyes, and a clear, pale face. When he saw Anna Federovna, he grew paler still with fear, and cast an imploring glance at her and the Police Inspector. The latter fixed a malignant, triumphant look on the countenance of the poor Jew, evidently enjoying the agony which he was suffering.

"Well met betrayer of Christ. I want to have a word with you." “Of what am I guilty?" murmured Moses.

"Hear him!" exclaimed Anna Federovna. "The wretch-"

The remainder of the sentence was drowned in the powerful voice of the Inspector: "To the police-station with him, instantly."

Moses attempted to speak-to defend himself, but the police were ordered to put their hands on his mouth, and he was hurried away. Outside the house they were met by a sickly-looking woman, the wife of Moses. She uttered a low cry, and threw her arms around him; the police roughly pushed her off, and she nearly fell. With tottering steps she followed her husband along the street, wringing her hands, and weeping bitterly, until one of the policemen was ordered to conduct her home and so the faithful couple parted.

The Inspector, left alone with Anna Federovna, rubbed his hands exultingly; he felt that he had discharged his conscience, and done a good day's work. "We'll have some tea, my dear friend," he said, ringing a small hand-bell. "We'll have some tea, and send for the priest, and my friend Captain X. and his wife, to join us at a rubber of whist. Excuse the scantiness of the entertainment. With what we are happy with that we are rich,' says the proverb. But man does not live by bread alone."

Anna Federovna, however, was not to be persuaded to remain, notwithstanding her friend's pressing invitation. She had her carriage called, and returned home. A week afterwards she set out on a journey, without saying a word to any one. Leaving the explanation of her conduct to a future stage of our narrative, we will briefly follow the fortunes of Moses the Jew.

The day following Moses' imprisonment, his sickly wife became seriously ill. Two days later she was prematurely confined, and in four days more mother and child were laid in the grave. The police

seized upon Moses' deserted house, boarded over the windows, and affixed their seals to the doors. Meanwhile small groups of Jews assembled from time to time in the streets, and now and then agglomerated into something like a crowd; but it was a very timid mob, which the mere sight of a policeman sufficed to disperse. This mob, however, gradually gained more courage, and one day appeared in a large body before the Inspector's house. Many of the faces wore a timid depressed expression, painful to behold, but still they stood their ground. The Inspector threw open the window, and demanded in a loud voice what they wanted, and why they assembled before his residence.

"We want the release of Moses," answered several voices.

The Inspector stamped with rage, broke several panes of glass, and ordered the mob to disperse at once. They disregarded the order, and still faintly clamoured for Moses; some of them even going so far as to declare that they would lay the case before the governor, and seek redress from him. The Inspector made himself invisible; and towards evening the crowd slowly dispersed. But he determined to be revenged for their interference. There was not sufficient evidence to convict Moses of any positive crime or dishonesty; so this excellent chief of police ordered that a strict search should be made on the poor Jew's deserted premises, and contrived that a quantity of smuggled goods should be found there. Moses and several other poor Jews fell into the snare. A long tedious trial ensued, which ended twelve months afterwards in their release. Those who were not totally ruined by this affair, again commenced business. Moses, beggared and broken-hearted, left the town and was never more heard of.

This fatal trouble of the poor Jew originated in a family skirmish, "all about a cake," the particulars of which domestic feud we are about to relate in the following narrative.

Anna Federovna, of the estate of Jourkofsky in the district of D-, had been a widow many years. A young grand-daughter lived with her, the child of her only daughter, who had died within the first year of her marriage. Anna Federovna was short in stature, and had an agreeable countenance, lighted up by kind looking hazel eyes and a pleasant smile. Her manners were affable, and her voice small and rather shrill. Like most ladies of her standing in the country, she was very strict in the observance of the ceremonies of her church; to which regulated piety, her priest averred, she owed the smiling fertility of her fruitful fields and orchards. Whatever might be the reason, it is certain that everything seemed to prosper in her hands. Her house was a picture of comfort and plenty; the walls were lined with cupboards and closets for her numerous stores; chests of drawers, boxes, and large presses, filled every available corner, until it was a perfect puzzle to know what they could contain. The housekeeper's bunches of keys might have unlocked the doors of a respectable country town.