I was delirious with joy, my feet spurned the earth. My bliss was the ecstasy of the blest. My delight seemed to color the contentment of other men with gloom, and I felt like begging pardon for being so happy. It seemed that this valley of tears, astonished that any one should from a terrestrial paradise gaze upon its afflictions and still be happy, would revolt against me! My dear Edgar, the smoke of hell has darkened my vision--I grope in the gloom of a terrible mystery--Vainly do I strive to solve it, and I turn to you for aid. Irene has left Paris! Home, street, city, all deserted! A damp, dark nothingness surrounds me! Not an adieu! a line! a message! to console me-- Women do such things-- I have done all in my power, and attempted the impossible to find Irene, but without success. If she only had some ground of complaint against me, how happy I would be. A terrible thought possesses my fevered brain--she has fallen into some snare, my marvellously beautiful Irene. Hide my sorrows, dear Edgar, from the world as I have hidden them. You would not have recognised the writer of this, had you seen him on the boulevard this morning. I was a superb dandy, with the poses of a Sybarite and the smiles of a young sultan. I trod as one in the clouds, and looked so benevolently on my fellow man that three beggars sued for aid as if they recognised Providence in a black coat. The last observation that reached my ear fell from the lips of an observing philosopher: "Heavens! how happy that young man must be!" Dear Edgar, I long to see you. ROGER DE MONBERT. III. EDGAR DE MEILHAN _to the_ PRINCE DE MONBERT, St. Dominique Street, Paris. RICHEPORT, 20th May, 18-- No, no, I cannot console you in Paris. I will escort your grief to Smyrna, Grand Cairo, Chandernagore, New Holland, if you wish, but I would rather be scalped alive than turn my steps towards that fascinating city surrounded by fortifications. Your elegy found me moderately impressible. Fortune has apparently always treated you like a spoiled child; were your misfortunes mine I should be delighted, and in your torment I should find a paradise. A disappearance afflicts you with agony. I was forced to beat a retreat once, but not from creditors; my debts are things of the past. You are fled from--I am pursued; and whatever you may say to the contrary, it is much more agreeable to be the dog than the hare.