letters for the present to the post-office,
Charleston.

A few lines were added by Mr. Forbes,
to whom this letter had been dictated.
They described Mr. Ackland's injuries as
serious, but not at all dangerous. A bad
compound fracture of the right arm, broken
in two places. The surgeon had at first
feared that amputation might be necessary;
but Mr. Forbes was happy to say that the
arm had been set, and he trusted Mr. Ackland
would eventually recover the use of
it. There had been a severe concussion of
the brain, but fortunately no fracture of
the skull. Mr. Ackland had made good
progress during the last week. Mr. Forbes
was of opinion that Mr. Ackland was
suffering in general health and spirits from
the shock of the fall he had had, rather
than from any organic injury.

On receipt of this letter, Tom Ackland
wrote to his cousin, addressing his letter to
the post-office at Charleston, and enclosing
a line expressive of his thanks, &c. for Mr.
Forbes, to whom he hoped John Ackland
would be able to forward it. He also wrote
to Mr. Cartwright, thanking that gentleman
for his kind interest and exertions,
and communicating to him what he had
heard of his cousin from Mr. Forbes.
When Cartwright mentioned the contents
of this letter to Judge Griffin: "I always
thought," said the judge, " that the man
would turn up some how or other. We
need not have taken such a deal of trouble
about him." All further proceedings with
a view to obtaining information about John
Ackland were immediately stayed: and
Mr. Cartwright made a handsome present
to the police of Richmond for their " valuable
assistance."

CHAPTER VI.

IT was some time before Tom Ackland
heard again from his cousin. When he
did hear, John Ackland's letter was written
by himself, but was almost illegible. He
apologised for this, dwelling on the pain
and difficulty with which he wrote, even
with his left hand. He thought his broken
arm must have been very ill set. As for
business, he had not yet been able to
attend to any. He would send Tom's letter
to Mr. Forbes. But he really didn't know
whether it would ever find him. He believed
that gentleman must have left the
Havannah. As for himself, he had found
the journey by sea to Charleston very
fatiguing, and it had done him no good.
The whole letter breathed a spirit of
profound dejection. It complained much of
frequent pain and constant oppression in
the head. Life had become an intolerable
burden. He, John Ackland, had never
wished for a long life, and now desired it
less than ever. He was so constantly
changing his quarters (not having yet
found any situation which did not horribly
disagree with him), that Tom had
better continue to direct his letters to the
post-office.

Some expressions in the letter made Tom.
Ackland almost fear that John's mind had
become affected. He wrote at once
imploring his cousin to return to Boston if
well enough to travel, and offering, if he
were not, to start for Charleston at once,
in order to be with him.

John Ackland, in his reply, assured his
cousin that he felt quite unable to undertake
the fatigue of even a much shorter
journey than the journey from Charleston
to Boston. He begged that Tom would
not think of joining him at Charleston.
He could not at present bear to see any
one. Even half an hour's conversation,
especially with any one he knew, excited
him almost beyond endurance. He avoided
the sight of human faces as much as he
could. His only safety was in complete
seclusion. Every one was in a conspiracy
to distress and injure him. He might
tell Tom, in strict confidence, that all the
people in Charleston were so afraid of his
setting up business in that town, that they
were determined to ruin, and even to
murder him if they could. There were
persons (he had seen them) who followed
him about, wherever he went, in order to
poison the air when he was asleep; but he
had been too sharp for them The letter
concluded with some quotations from
Rousseau on the subject of suicide. It
bore such evident traces of mental derangement,
that Tom Ackland resolved to lose
no time in going to Charleston. A statement
which attracted his attention in the
next morning's newspapers, confirmed his
worst fears, and greatly increased his
anxiety to arrive there.

CHAPTER VII.

AT this time, some political friends of
Mr. Dobbins, whose opinions had been
advocated with great ability in the Richmond
Courier on a subject of a question so
hotly debated between North and South
that it had threatened to break up the
Union, invited that gentleman to a public
banquet at one of the principal hotels in