The removal, however, of James Woodruff from his previous confinement to this place had not been effected without Fanny's knowledge; and, for the possession of this fact, it is believed, she was indebted to the friendly agency of Mrs. Rowel. Not knowing in her present dilemma what other step to take, Fanny was no sooner made acquainted with the removal which Rowel contemplated, than she forthwith communicated it to her master, the young man who had succeeded to the business of the deceased Mr. Skinwell, one Sylvester by name; and a man who, though but a crest-fallen looking affair outside, had yet, when occasion needed, a pretty considerable amount of spirit at command within. No sooner was he informed of the particulars of the affair than he volunteered his immediate assistance. He and Fanny were fully prepared on the intended night of Woodruff's removal, quietly to follow the vehicle that contained him until it should arrive at its ultimate destination; after having ascertained which, they would be prepared to take the most prompt steps within their power to insure his restoration to his liberty, property, and friends. In accordance with this arrangement they had acted, and at a convenient distance had followed in a gig, and, as they thought, unobserved. On Sylvester's subsequently making application at the house already described, and to which he had seen the carriage containing Woodruff driven, he found Doctor Rowel there, who expressed great surprise at seeing him, and on being informed of the nature of his mission, at once frankly declared that Mr. Sylvester was totally mistaken. In proof whereof, and to establish his own innocence the more completely, he conducted him up-stairs into a chamber where lay a gentleman sick in bed, and who the Doctor averred, was the identical person he had brought in his carriage the night before, and whom he had thus removed to his brother's for the benefit of the purer air of the forest. Beyond this Sylvester saw nothing to warrant Fanny's suspicions; while the girl herself declared on seeing him that that man certainly was not the father of whom they were in search. In fact, so admirably had the Doctor managed matters, that Fanny began to think herself that she was labouring under some very strange mistake; more especially when, on the question being put to him, the sick man himself concurred in the statement made by the Doctor, and solemnly averred that he had, as previously stated, been brought from Nabbfield the preceding night. And so far he spoke the literal truth; for, in fact, the sick man was no other than Robson, the Doctor's assistant, fitted with a very consumptive and deranged-looking night-cap, a bedgown slipped over his shirt, and a big bottle of hot water at his heels to make him look like an invalid; while James Woodruff himself, very shortly after his arrival, had been again removed--in consequence of the Doctor's suspicions that he was followed--to another and a more secret place in