A rustle of excitement from the audience, a momentary glimpse of Dan's face in the flickering light, testified to the interest of this extraordinary history. Darsie bent forward to encourage her fir-cone with a pat from the poker, and continued dramatically-- "Bewildered, broken-hearted, almost demented, the unfortunate youth betook him to an uncle in America (all uncles seem to live in America), who received him with consideration, listened to his sad tale, and bade him be of good cheer. `By a strange coincidence' (coincidence again!) said the worthy man, `there sups with me to-night a learned professor of languages, resident at our local college. He, without doubt, will make plain the mysterious contents of the fatal note!' Punctual to his hour the professor arrived, and the harassed youth hailed with joy the end of his long suspense. Whatever might be the purport of the words written in that fatal paper, the knowledge thereof could not be worse than the fate which had dogged his footsteps ever since that tragic night when he had first cast eyes on the baleful beauty of the Spanish maid. Yet might it not be that once again the sight of these words would send him wandering homeless o'er the world--that the stream of his uncle's benevolence might be suddenly damned by a force mysterious as inexorable? "Trembling with emotion, the young man thrust his hand into his pocket to bring forth this mystic note--" Darsie paused dramatically. "And--and--and then--?" "He discovered that it was not there! In the course of his long wanderings it had unfortunately been mislaid." The clamour of indignation which followed this _denouement_ can be better imagined than described but the example having been set, wonderful how many stories of the same baffling character were revived by the different members of the company during the remainder of the firelight _stance_. So wild and exaggerated did the narratives become, indeed, that the meeting broke up in confusion, and took refuge in those admittedly uproarious Christmas games which survived from the happy nursery days, when "to make as much noise as we like" seemed the climax of enjoyment. And so ended Christmas Day for the joint ranks of the Vernons and Garnetts. CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. THE MELODRAMA. On Boxing Day, Lavender excused herself from joining a rinking party, and lay curled up on a sofa reading a Christmas number. The following morning she stayed in bed to breakfast, and complained of a swollen face. On the third day, the sight of the huge cheeks and doubled chin sent the family flying for the doctor, and the tragic verdict of "mumps" was whispered from mouth to mouth.