•toCe  knelt  down,  undid  the  case,  and  examined  the
guti  eagerly.
350  THROWN  TOGETHER.
*  I  say,  what  a  jolly  one !  I  wish  I  liad  a  breech-
loader !     I  wonder  if  I  could  carry  this.'

He  took  it  out  carefully,  lifted  it  on  to  his  shoulder,
and  tried  to  rise  to  his  feet,  gun  and  all.  It  was  very
heavy,  and  he  nearly  toppled  over.  In  trying  to  recover
his  balance  the  gun  fell  from  his  shoulder,  and  came
down  with  a  crash  on  the  marble  floor.
The  drawing-room  door  opened  hastily,  and  Lord
Wardlaw  came  out.
'  Oh,  I  say,  I'm  so  awfully  sorry  !  '  exclaimed  Mervyn,
running  up  to  him,  and  holding  out  his  hands  ;  '  I  liojpe
it  is  not  hurt.'

And  he  looked  eagerly  up  into  his  step-father's  face,
with  flushed  cheeks  and  glowing  eyes.
Lord  "Wardlaw  took  both  the  boy's  hands  in  his,  and
returned  the  gaze  with  interest.  His  eyes  never  turned
towards  the  gun  ;  they  were  rivetted  on  the  boy's  face,
and  he  made  no  answer.
The  past  came  rushing  before  him  as  he  gazed.  The
likeness  of  feature  and  colouring,  the  strange  inde-
scribable resemblance  of  voice  and  manner,  the  expres-
sion in  the  eyes,  took  him  back  years  and  years,  and  he
seemed  to  be  looking  on  the  bright  face  of  Magdalen
Middleton  as  it  had  appeared  the  first  time  he  had
seen  her.
