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 ball for the first and last time,” said Eloisa to me one afternoon.

“And, for the future, I will shun blind passengers like the pest,” I replied.

At this moment Wagen entered, or rather rushed in, breathless, and pale as death. Eloisa and I exchanged looks of terror; the same idea had taken possession of both.

“My dear friends,” began Wagen, “I must prepare you for an awkward business. The band of robbers in my part of the country have been taken up, and already, on the delations of the infamous captain, many an honest man has been submitted to his trial. Such an event must be in any way extremely painful to honourable minds, though we have at least this comfort; the judges, before whom the business is to come, are just, keen-sighted men, who must soon see the impossibility of our participation in any thing so dishonourable.”

We were not a little confounded at this news; every day, however, lessened our anxiety, and at length months had passed over without any