consequence of an unfortunate incident
having reference to the name of a lady at
Boston, with whom the writer believed
that Mr. John Ackland had been acquainted
previous to her marriage. It narrated the
circumstances already known to the reader,
of the departure from Glenoak, the
mysterious return of the horse, and the failure
of Mr. Cartwright, assisted by his friend,
Judge Griffin, and by the Richmond police,
to discover any tidings of his late guest.

On the evening of his return to Glenoak,
Mr. Cartwright was in excellent spirits.
He kissed his little daughter with more
than usual paternal unction, when she bade
him good-night that evening.

He was pleasantly awakened next morning,
by a despatch from the inn at the
coach's halting town, informing him that
Mr. Ackland had just sent to fetch away
his luggage which had been lying there,
in charge of the landlord, ever since the
day on which John Ackland left Glenoak.
The landlord had delivered the luggage to
Mr. Ackland's messenger, on receipt of an
order from Mr. Ackland which the messenger
had produced, authorising him to
receive it on Mr. Ackland's behalf. This
order the landlord now forwarded to Mr.
Cartwright, in consequence of the inquiries
which that gentleman had been making
with reference to Mr. Ackland. The messenger
who called for the luggage had informed
the landlord that he had come from
Petersburg, where Mr. Ackland had been
laid up by the effects of a bad accident;
from which, however, he was now so far
recovered that he intended to leave Petersburg
early next morning, accompanied by
a gentleman with whom he had been staying
there, and by whom, at Mr. Ackland's
request, this messenger had been sent for
the luggage.

Mr. Cartwright lost no time in communicating
this good news, both to his friends
at Richmond, and to Mr. Ackland's cousin
at Boston. In doing so, he observed that
he feared Mr. Ackland could not have
completely recovered from the effects of
his accident—whatever it was—when he
signed the order forwarded to Glenoak;
for he had noticed that in the signature to
this order, the usually bold and firm character
of John Ackland's handwriting had
become shaky and sprawling, as though he
had written from a sick bed.

Now Tom Ackland was rendered so
anxious, that he resolved to leave Boston
in search of his cousin; and he certainly
would have done so if he had not received
on the following day, this letter, written in
a strange hand, and dated from Petersburg.

"My dear Tom. You will be surprised
to receive from me, so soon after
my last, a letter in a strange hand. And,
indeed, I have a long story to tell you in
explanation of this fact; but, for the sake
of my kind amanuensis, as well as for my
own sake (for I am still too weak to dictate
a long letter), the story must be
told briefly." The letter then went on
to mention that Mr. John Ackland had
left Glenoak sooner than he had intended
at the date of his last letter to his
cousin, availing himself of Mr. Cartwright's
loan of a horse to catch the Charleston
coach. How Cartwright had accompanied
him through the plantation, and had
insisted on taking a couple of guns with
them, "though I assured him that I am
no sportsman, my dear Tom;" how, in
consequence of a shot fired suddenly by
Cartwright from his saddle, at a hare which
he missed, the mare on which John Ackland
was riding had become rather restive,
"making me feel very uncomfortable, my
dear Tom;" how, after parting with Cartwright,
and probably a little more than half
way to his destination, at a place where
there were cross-roads, Mr. Ackland had
encountered a buggy with two persons in
it (an English gentleman and his servant,
as it afterwards turned out), and how this
buggy, crossing the road at full speed close
in front of his horse, had caused the horse
to rear and throw him. He had immediately
lost consciousness. Fortunately,
the persons in the buggy saw the accident,
and hastened to his assistance; the mare, in
the mean while, having taken to her heels.
Finding him insensible and severely injured,
they had conveyed him with great
care to Petersburg, whither they were
going when he met them. There they
obtained for him medical assistance. He
believed he had been delirious for many
days. He could not yet use his right
arm, and he still felt a great deal of pain
about the head. He was, however,
sufficiently recovered to feel able to leave
Petersburg, travelling easily and by slow
stages. His kind friend, Mr. Forbes, the
English gentleman who had taken such
care of him, was going to meet his yacht
at Cape Hatteras, intending to sail to the
Havannah, and had kindly offered to take
him in the yacht as far as Charleston.
John Ackland hoped the sea voyage would
do him good. They intended to start
immediately—that evening or early next
morning. Tom had better address all