cried, and her blue eyes danced with pleasure
and with expectation.

"It is simple and it is sure," said the confessor;
"thou knowest the wort called cress, or,
as others name it, watercress?"

"I do," answered the Lady Rowena; "I like
it much, both with butter and with cheese."

"Good!" said the father. "Thou shalt take
thereof, at even, ere thou liest down to rest, and
shalt rub thereof upon thy nose, first with thy
right hand and then with thy left hand, and
when both hands are weary, then shalt thou call
unto thy tiring-woman, and she also shall rub
upon thy nose. Thus shalt thou do every
night."

"Oh!" said the Lady Rowena, very slowly.

"Thou likest not the remedy?" asked the
confessor.

"But——" began the Lady Rowena, and
stopped short.

"Say on, my daughter."

"But, father dear, will not the rubbing of my
nose cause a redness thereon, or peradventure
tear the skin thereoff?"

"I know not, my daughter; peradventure it
may, but it will restore thy hair."

"Oh! what am I to do?" asked the Lady
Rowena, in despair.

"What thou wilt," answered the confessor,
sternly.

"But, father, if I do as thou biddest me, how
soon will my hair be fast again?"

"I bid thee not; do what thou wilt; thy hair
will be fast again when it shall please God."

Then the Lady Rowena began to weep, and
threw herself at the father confessor's feet, and
entreated him, saying,

"O father, be kind unto me, for I am wretched."

And the confessor stooped down to raise
her, and she put out her hand, and lo it came
upon the crown of his head, and it was smooth
like unto a billiard ball.* And the Lady
Rowena was astonished, for she knew that,
when hair has been shaved off, the skin is rough
and unpleasant to the touch, and she said unto
him
* Curious proof of the antiquity of the game of
billiards.

"Why, how is this, father confessor? I
thought it was only the tonsure which made bare
the crown of thy head, and lo thou art bald.
Where are thy watercresses, father confessor?"

Then there was a redness in the confessor's
face, as of a fire reflected therein, and he answered
unto her, and laid his hand upon her head, and
said unto her,

"Fair daughter, the vanities of this world are
naught unto me. God gave me my hair, and
God hath taken it away again. But thou,
wherefore dost thou repine? Thy hair is thick and
fair to look upon. Fear God, and be good, and
all shall be well with thee and with thy bright
locks."

And the Lady Rowena went on her way rejoicing.

Do thou likewise, O reader, when hairdressers
would make thee nervous.

THROUGH THE BLOCKADE

"PHILLIPS, something must have happened
to the governor. I've been watching the clock
ever since eleven. It is almost half past. He
has never been five minutes after time in all the
twenty-seven years that I have been a clerk
here."

So said the elderly cashier, and I could not
but admit that the occurrence was unprecedented,
though my own experience in the firm
was short in comparison with that of the first
speaker. Mr. Trent, second partner in the
old-established banking-house of Follett, Trent,
and Co., was punctuality itself. He chiefly
managed the business, since we saw little of
our nominal principal, the first partner, whose
working days were past. And during the five
years for which I had been in the employ of the
firm, I had never known Mr. Trent to be absent
from his post. Any deviation from routine on
the part of a methodical man of business is apt
to startle his subordinates, and it is not
surprising that while Mr. Griffith and myself
were shaking our heads over the non-appearance
of our chief, the juniors should be venturing on
rash conjectures, ranging from apoplexy to
insolvency. But these guesses were abruptly
checked by the sudden arrival of Mr. Trent
himself. He came in with a hasty step, and I
thought, as he passed by with a nod and a civil
word of greeting to the bank parlour, that he
looked ill and harassed. Almost immediately
he sent for me.

"Mr. Phillips," said the banker, speaking in
a nervous fidgety manner quite unlike his usual
calm decision of speech and bearing, "I have
something to ask of you—a service—a favour,
in short, for I am sensible that this is not at all
in the way of regular business duty—in a word,
would you go to America to oblige me?"

"Certainly, sir," I replied, at once. "I have
been there before, if you remember, to attend
the winding up of that Wall-street firm, three
years since. If it is your desire that——"

But here I was interrupted.

"I want much more than that, Frank
Phillips," broke in my employer, speaking with
unwonted excitement, "more than I have a
right to ask of you, and more than I would ask
of any of your companions, except, perhaps,
Griffith, who is too old, and we have been good
friends out of business hours, you and I, and
and I knew your father, Frank, and knew you
before you left Charterhouse, so I think I may
rely on you in this sad business."

And then Mr. Trent proceeded to explain.
The service he required at my hands was strictly
of a private character, and wholly unconnected
with money matters. The banker, as I was
vaguely aware, had an orphan niece to whom he