Tales for Young and Old | Page 9

he was informed that they had gone off with the
property of a lady, whom they had left behind, and who was then in the
inn; and in a moment more the young husband pressed his bride to his
heart. But, eager to chase the thieves, they wasted no time in embraces,
but started instantly in pursuit of them. On reaching the same gate
where the berlin had been seen, the officers described in what direction
the party had driven; and the police being immediately on the alert, the
criminals were discovered and arrested just as they were on the point of
starting for Vienna.
The ample confession of Karl disclosed the villainy of the Italians, and
made known how narrowly the commissary had escaped the loss of his
fair young bride; whilst, as he told his rude and simple tale, without
claiming any merit, or appearing to be conscious of any, Adelaide
learned that to this repulsive stupid clown she had three times owed her
life.
The Italians were condemned to the galleys; whilst Monsieur Louison
and his wife discharged their debt of gratitude to Karl, by first
educating him, and then furnishing him with the means of earning his
living with respectability and comfort.
De Monge was degraded from his situation, and the universal
execration that pursued him drove him ultimately to America, where,
under a feigned name, he ended his days in obscurity.

THE HOME-WRECK.
A few years since I visited Devonshire, to make the acquaintance of
some distant relations, whom circumstances had prevented me from
before seeing. Amongst others, there was one who lived in a decayed
family mansion about six miles east of the pretty town of Dartmouth.
Before calling on her, I was prepared, by report, to behold a very aged
and a very eccentric lady. Her age no one knew, but she seemed much

older than her only servant--a hardy old dame, who, during the very
month of my visit, had completed her ninety-ninth year.
The mistress never allowed any one to see her, save a young and
interesting cousin of mine. She seldom went out except on Sundays,
and then was carried to church in an old sedan-chair by a couple of
labourers, who did odd jobs of gardening about the house. She had such
an insuperable objection to be seen by anybody, whether at home or
abroad, that she concealed her face by a thick veil.
These, with other particulars, were narrated to me by my cousin as we
rode towards Coote-down Hall, in which the old lady resided, and
which, with the surrounding estate, was her own property. On
approaching it, signs of past grandeur and present decay presented
themselves. The avenue leading to the house had evidently been thickly
planted; but now only a few stumps remained to mark where noble and
spreading elms once had been. Having arrived at the house, my cousin
reined up at the steps of the hall, upon which she, in a low cautious
voice, desired me to alight. Having assisted her out of her saddle, I was
about to utter some exclamation of surprise at the extreme dilapidation
of the place, when she whispered me to be silent; adding, that I must
not stir until she had returned from within, to announce whether my
visit would be accepted or not.
During her absence, I had full leisure to look around and note the
desolate condition of Coote-down. The lawn--thickly overspread with
rank grass--could scarcely be distinguished from the fishpond, which
was completely covered with water-weeds. The shrubbery was choked
and tangled, whilst a very wide rent in the wall laid open to view an
enclosure which had once been a garden, but was now a wilderness.
For a time the sorrowful effect which all this decay produced on my
mind was increased by the extreme solitude which reigned around. This,
however, was presently relieved by a cackling sign of life which issued
from a brood-hen as it flew from the sill of a side-parlour window. On
casting my eyes further into the landscape, I also perceived a very fat
cow lazily browsing on the rich pasture of a paddock.
On turning round to view the house, new tokens of desolation were
visible. Its shattered casements and worm-eaten doors, with tufts of
weed growing at each corner, showed that for many years the front of
the mansion had not been inhabited or its doors opened. One evidence

of fallen grandeur was highly characteristic--over the porch the
family-arms had been carved in stone, but was now scarcely
distinguishable from dilapidation: a sparrow had established a
comfortable nest in the mouth of the helmet, and a griffin 'rampant' had
fallen from his place beside the shield, and tamely lay overgrown with
weeds.
These observations were interrupted by