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68 CHAPTER VII.

SOME NEW CHARACTERS WALK, GLIDE, AND FURIOUSLY GALLOP INTO THE TALE, AND OTHERWISE INTRODUCE THEMSELVES TO NOTICE.

the interior court of a beautiful Moorish villa not far from the city, sat Mrs. Langley, wife of Colonel Langley, British consul at the "Court" of Algiers.

The lady of whom we write was unusually romantic, for her romance consisted of a deep undercurrent of powerful but quiet enthusiasm, with a pretty strong surface-flow of common sense. Her husband was a man of noble mind and commanding presence—a magnificent representative John Bull, with the polish of a courtier and the principles of a Christian; one who had been wisely chosen to fill a very disagreeable post, full of responsibility and danger.

On a stool at the feet of Mrs. Langley sat a sunny second edition of herself, about eight years of age, named Agnes. In the cradle which Agnes had