Among the arrivals from the East came Aaron Rockharrt, with his wife, his two sons, Fabian and Clarence, and his grandson, Sylvan, the younger brother of Cora. The main door of the mansion was open, and several gentlemen, wearing official badges, stood without or just within it. "By Jove! we are just in time, and it has been a close shave! That is the committee come to take him to the State house!" exclaimed old Aaron Rockharrt as he stepped out of the carriage, and helped his feeble little wife to alight. He led her up the steps, followed by the other three men of his party. "Good morning, Judge Abbot. We are just in time, I find. We came up by the night train, and a close shave it has been. Well, a miss is as good as a mile, and we are safe to see the whole of the pageant," said the old man, speaking to a tall, thin, gray-haired gentleman, who wore a rosette on the lapel of his coat. "Yes, sir; but here is a very strange difficulty--very strange, indeed," replied the official, with a deeply troubled and perplexed air, which was shared by all the gentlemen who stood with him. "What's the trouble, gentlemen? Is the chief justice ill, that his honor cannot administer the oath, or what?" "It is much worse than that--if anything could be worse," gravely replied one of the committee. "What is it then? A contested election at this late hour?" "The governor-elect cannot be found. No one has seen him since eleven o'clock last night. He is missing." CHAPTER II. A LOST GOVERNOR AND BRIDEGROOM. "Missing!" echoed old Aaron Rockharrt, drawing up his huge frame to its fullest height, and staring with strong black eyes in a defiant and aggressive manner. "Missing! did you say, sir?" he repeated sternly. "Yes, Mr. Rockharrt; ever since last night," replied Judge Abbot, chairman of the committee, in much distress and anxiety. "Impossible! Never heard of such a thing in the whole course of my life! A bridegroom lost on the evening of his marriage! A governor lost on the morning of his inauguration! I tell you, sir, it is impossible--utterly and entirely impossible! How do you know, sir, that he has not been seen by some one or other since last night? How do you know that he cannot be found, somewhere, this morning?" "All his household have failed to find him. Our messengers have been sent in every direction without discovering the slightest clew to his--fate," gloomily replied the judge. Mr. Rockharrt turned to the porter, who was still in attendance at the door, and demanded: "Where is your mistress?" The man, a negro and an old family servant of the Rockharrts, replied: "The young madam is in the back drawing room, sir; and if you please, sir, I think she would be all the better for seeing the old madam." "Who is with her now?" shortly demanded Mr. Rockharrt, ignoring his servant's suggestion, although Mrs. Rockharrt looked nervously anxious to follow it "There is no one with her, sir."