pictured to himself? Was this the quiet haven of repose, the lodge in the vast wilderness of Mesopotamia, with one fair spirit for his minister, on which he had so rashly reckoned? Was the lodge to be a divided territory? and was the fair spirit to be equally fair to some other man, and to be a minister of the blatant, reviling, Boanerges class? Instead of the quiet and rest on which he had calculated, and which were so necessary to him after his exciting hard work, was his mind to be racked by petty jealousies, his peace invaded by wretched squabbles, the sunshine of his existence overclouded with gloom and doubt? Was his wife to be an adversary instead of a helpmate? were her-- And then abruptly he stopped in his self-torturing, as he thought of her,--how friendless and unprotected she was, how he alone was her prop and stay in the world; and then he turned the whole matter in his mind, and it occurred to him that that horribly irritable temper of his might have led him again into mischief, causing him to see things that really might not have happened, and to use language far stronger than there was any necessity for, and to render him violent and undignified and absurd, and so completely to do away with the force accruing from his right position. For undoubtedly he was in the right position; for had he not seen with his own eyes--what? They were walking together, certainly; but there was no reason why that should not be: fifty other couples were promenading the same grounds at the same time, and--no! on reflection, he did not see Lyster kiss her hand; it was that young idiot who was gabbling to him the whole time, and who said something about it. Perhaps nothing of the kind had occurred. Barbara had denied it instantly; and when had she ever breathed a falsehood to him? She was not the style of woman to equivocate; her pride would save her from that; and--it must have been all fancy! some horrible mistake, out of which had arisen this wretched scene and his worse than wretched rage. And now there was something between them, some horrible misunderstanding which must be at once set right. If--if any thing were to happen to either of them, and one were to die while there was enmity, or something like it, existing between them! and this thought caused the meerschaum to be laid aside unfinished, and sent Frank striding up, four stairs at a time, to his bedroom.