As they walked back to the salon, the Frenchman was busy with his thoughts. ‘What a lucky find!’ he muttered. ‘It is the missing insignia, sure enough, and the ill-fated Ughtred Charteris is mine host’s brother. I wonder what I can make out of this? There ought to be something in it, with a feeble-minded man who believes in spiritualism, if my hand has not lost its cunning. _Nous verrons._’ He showed nothing of his thoughts, however, as he parted from Enid with a smile and neatly turned compliment. It was getting late now; the streets were empty as the friends turned homeward, Salvarini bidding the others good-night and turning off in the direction of his apartments. ‘You had better change your mind, and come with us on Friday, Hector,’ Visci urged Le Gautier. ‘The baronet and his daughter are to be of the party. Throw work to the dogs for the day, and come.’ ‘My dear Carlo, the thing is impossible. Do you think I should be chained here this lovely weather, if stern necessity did not compel? If possibly I can get over later in the day, I will not fail you.’ ‘I am very sorry,’ Visci replied regretfully, ‘because this is the last time, in all probability, our friends will meet together for some time.’ ‘I am sorry too, Carlo, but I cannot help it. Good-night.’ Le Gautier watched his friend along the moonlit street, a smile upon his face not pleasant to see. ‘Ah, yes,’ he murmured, ‘it is quite impossible. Genevieve is a good little girl, but good little girls are apt to cloy. It is getting dangerous. If Visci should find out, it would be a case of twelve paces and hair-triggers; and I cannot sacrifice myself yet—not even for Genevieve.’ ULSTER PROVINCIALISMS. The people of Ulster may fairly claim a larger share of public attention than has usually been accorded to them: they have rendered their province prosperous in a country which is a stranger to prosperity; they have established and maintained great industries in a country of decayed trade and ruined commerce. In the colonies, they have risen in a remarkable degree to positions of affluence and authority; and in all the British dominions, Ulstermen are found in the van of commercial and professional life. The Ulsterman comes of a very mixed descent. Just as the Englishman was originally a compound of Saxon, Norman, and Dane, so in the Ulsterman’s veins flows the blood of Irish, Scotch, and English progenitors. The relative proportion of each element varies much according to locality and religion. On the shores of Antrim and Down, the population is in many places almost as purely Scotch as in Ayrshire or Lanark. In Belfast, Scotch blood predominates; but there was originally a large English element. In Donegal and Fermanagh, the Celtic element is in excess. Everywhere, the Protestant derives more from Scotch and English sources; the Roman Catholic, from Irish.