young man, happening to be in Calais, he
saw a young gentleman, whom he perceived
at once to be an Englishman, surrounded by
a low crowd, with whom he was in
contention. They attempted to drag the young
gentleman away, but he manfully resisted.
My father, with his usual impulsiveness,
immediately placed himself beside his countryman,
and demanded that the infuriated crowd
should hear reason, and show fair play. But
they were deaf to this, and, without knowing
the ground of the quarrel, my father exhorted
the young man to unite with him in driving
off the throng. At once, they placed
themselves with their backs against a wall and in
a boxing attitude, and struck some effective
blows against their adversaries. All foreigners
have a horror of the pugilistic powers of
Englishmen. After no very sharp fight, the
crowd took to flight, and my father was about
to march off in triumph his unknown
companion, when a posse of gensdarmes
surrounded them, and compelled them to the
presence of a magistrate. Here, when their
names had been demanded, and proved, by
their passports at their respective inns, to be
correct, the case was heard; and as the
people who had been in the fray, represented
the assault to have commenced with the
Englishmen, my father and the stranger, for
whose sake he had entered into this dispute,
were ordered a month's imprisonment in a
place of confinement seven miles distant, and
they were accordingly marched away,
handcuffed together, between two gensdarmes.

"The day was already declining when they
set out, and it bade fair to be night before
they reached their destination.  As they
proceeded, they took care to ascertain whether
their guides understood English. They found
that they certainly did not. The young
gentleman in whose cause my father was thus
suffering, was Mr. Churton. He lamented
bitterly this chance, and declared that it
would be his utter ruin, for that a trial,
regarding an estate — this very estate — must
come on in the meantime, and his absence
would be the assured loss of his cause, and
leave him a penniless man.

"My father, with that reckless impetuosity
which has ultimately been so fatal to him,
declared at once that they would attempt a
rescue. He knew if they failed that it would
be death to them, but this did not weigh a
moment with him. Mr. Churton agreed, and
on arriving at a solitary place, where four
roads met in the woods, just as it was growing
dark, my father and Mr. Churton suddenly
inclosed each his man with his free arm, and
brought them face to face between them.
The gensdarmes had loaded carbines at their
sides, but these, by this sudden movement,
became useless; and the two powerful young
Englishmen declared that if the gensdarmes
made any outcry or resistance, they would
at once strangle them. The men, who were
of inferior strength, were so convinced of
their power to carry their threat into effect,
that they gave up the key of the fetters
at their demand. My father compelled one
of them to unlock the fetters from the wrists
of himself and companion; took the
carbines from the gensdarmes, threw them into
the ditch full of water by the roadside, and
then binding the two gensdarmes back to
back with their own fetters, and securing their
legs with their handkerchiefs, they left them
standing in the middle of the road, assuring
them that if they made any outcry, they
would return and shoot them. They then
made the best of their way to the neighbouring
coast. It was already dark when they
arrived there, but hearing a boat not far
from the strand, they shouted, and received
an answer in English. They soon found
that the vessel was an English fishing-boat,
and explaining their case, begged to be taken
on board. But the fishermen declared that they
had no dingay or small boat with them, and
that if they came on board, they must wade
or swim. Churton could not swim; but
destruction was behind them: my father was
an admirable swimmer, and a very powerful
man; he encouraged Churton to make the
attempt. They waded into the dark waters,
but long before they could reach the boat,
they were beyond their depth. The fishermen
protested that they dared not come a
yard nearer, on account of rocks. There was
nothing else for it: my father flung off his
coat, bade Churton hold fast by his waistcoat
collar behind, and struck out for the vessel.
It was a case of life and death. If Churton
lost his presence of mind, and flung his arms
round my father, or if my father's strength
failed him, they were both inevitably lost.
But Churton preserved his coolness, and by
desperate effort, my father reached the side of
the boat, and both were safely drawn on
board. There, furnished with additional
clothes to defend them from the cold, and
with homely fare, the two young men
remained for two days and nights with the
fishermen, ere they put across to Dover. But
there, at length, they landed; paid the fishermen
handsomely; Churton was in time for
his trial, won it, and from that day, his life
long, was my father's friend.

"Sir," continued Miss Longmore, " it is
well known that Mr. Churton was a shy and
solitary man; but his intellects were as good
as yours or mine. He never married, and
always declared, that in case of his prior
decease, he would leave my father his
property, by whom it had been saved to him.
There was no scheming, no force used. I
have found within these few days abundant
evidence in Mr. Churton's letters through
many years to my father, both of his clear
understanding, and of his unvarying
resolve to make my father his heir."

"Good heavens! " exclaimed the young
lawyer; " why were not these letters brought
forward?"