plague of his father and the terror of all the neighborhood. If the cats were worried, it was sure to be Nicky; if the eggs were stolen from the hen-roost, it was Nicky too. He was, in fact, the scape-goat of the place, and all the sins of the community were fastened upon him. He never had any visible employment, but sauntered about with his hands in his pockets, and a slouch in his gait, which indicated an admirable nonchalance in the affairs of every-day life. In fact, Nicky was one of those gentlemen who are perfectly independent of their own exertions, taking the world as they find it, and living upon the gains of others.

In process of time, Nicky was missing from his usual places of resort. He was no longer seen, seated on the style which led into the small church yard, or swinging on his father's gate, or basking at full length beneath the gossiping tree. Nicky was gone: no one knew whither: not even his father; but the fact was certain-Nicky was gone—and the cats came from their hiding places, and the dogs marched about securely, and the hens cackled over their new laid eggs in quiet, for the general tormenter had left the place.

Small reason however had the inhabitants to congratulate themselves on this short respite from tronble. Fresh disasters accumulated fast upon them; the eggs were again missing, and with them things of far greater importance fat sheep from the fold, and linen from the garden hedge; meat from the larder, and savory pasties from the cupboard-all disappeared like magic, before the wondering senses of the terrified owners. What could have become of the property? What could they do? Truly idle questions were these, for they led to nothing but surmises. In vain man and maid were set on the watch; in vain the master sat up himself till dead of night to catch the thief.

No thief was forthcoming, and yet the articles dis

appeared. The man and maid averred that the things went without hand, and the master only thrust a pike through his own coat suspended at the front door, imagining it to be the thief's.

However fast the houses were made at night; by morning the usual depredations had been committed. At length a vague terror seized "the folks." Gossips talked of evil eyes and witchcraft, until they shivered over their blazing fires; little children crept closer to their mothers' sides as they listened with wide-mouthed wonder to the ghostly tales. The panic spread from cottage to farm, and from farm to manor house, until the landlord himself was cognizant of the matter. Now a stout-hearted man was he; one who neither cared for things visible or invisible in this world; so he set to flight all the hobgoblin stories in a trice, and laid the misdemeanors on the only probable delinquent-one whom no one had thought on before-Nicky Mason. "Sure enough the Squire had spoken the truth; all the mischief must have been done by Nicky: it could be no other than he." Alas for poor Nicholas ! and alas for poor Nicholas's father, who was beset by a host of ceaseless interrogators, and even by the lord himself, who insisted on knowing where his son was, on pain of his being removed from the estate. At length the tears of the old man softened the hearts of his tormenters; the squire was easily moved, and he left the father to his grief and his solitude, without putting his threat into execution, for he thought "it was sorrow enough already to have such a worthless son." Still where was Nicky? and where, even in this hungry world, could he bestow all the victuals which he carried away in his nightly visits? "He must have grown wonderfully 'cute in handy work," observed one neighbour; and "wonderfully quick in dispatch," said another; and while they smoked their pipes with greater vigor after these sage

observations, Nicky's laugh would be heard at the open door. The farmer who had picked a hole in his own coat, instead of that of the thief, heard Nicky's voice beside him, saying, that a "miss was as good as a mile, and that he should take better care of his own." The housewife was reminded that "houses had chimneys as well as doors;" but although acting on this hint, she stuffed old sacks and bundles of hay up the large oldfashioned chimneys at night, by the morning all was down again; Nicky had been there. Hunger and thirst are more than a match for housewives.

So the summer passed: but when autumn came, chance favored the sufferers, and the wicked author of all this terror and dismay was caught. A certain fox had assisted Nicky in committing thefts on the hen roosts. The second interloper had been seen several times, and once was well nigh caught in a gin, but he escaped with the loss of part of his brush, and scampered away to the wood. So the Squire summoned his huntsman and dogs, and went forth to catch the fox. But as if aware of his intentions, the cunning animal was nowhere to be found: however the scent was hot, and the hounds went on in full cry, "through bush and briar o'er stock and stone" with the huntsman and squire at their heels. Suddenly there was a dead stop: and the yelping of the dogs became furious as they seized upon a large heap of bones which lay in their track.

In vain the huntsman cracked his whip: in vain the squire halloed to send them away; there the animals staid, feasting on their bones of contention, and snuffing the air even after every bone was picked. There's something in this maister," said the huntsman sagaciously, beating the bushes with his whip; "these bones never came to be here without hands, I never seed such a pile in my life; as sure as possible Nicky's been here." "Probable, very probable," returned the squire senten

tiously; then in an impressive whisper: "Ride to the farmhouses Dick: call out the lads for the hunt; make them bring pitchforks,-anything to beat up the woods for the daring thief." "And you maister? "Oh I'm

safe enough, I shall hunt in a round circle, and come back again to the lair." So Richard went off at full speed, and the squire hunted with seeming diligence, whistling to his dogs with double vigor, and pursuing his way to deceive the thief. In a wonderfully short time came the farmers and their sons, pouring along, strong in the might of companionship, and all on the alert to catch their foe. Then the wood resounded with the cry of dogs, and the shouts of men, as they sought here and there for their wily prey. And where in the meanwhile was Nicky? Seated securely aloft in an ivy bush; he thought for a time that it was fine amusement to watch the proceedings of his neighbours. He had a gun in his hand as he said "to shoot crows," and he felt once or twice a strong desire to level it at the head of those who passed so close beneath him. But Nicky's better wisdom restrained him; or perhaps some latent sense of humanity induced him to forego shedding another's blood. Be that as it may, there sat Nicky, laughing to himself at the various mishaps of his pursuers. When he saw one old farmer slip into a shaking bog, and another fall flat in a furze brake, Nicky pronounced it fine work, and thought no one at fault but themselves. When he heard the various consultations and conjectures carried on, as to where in the world he might be; he chuckled again and said, "Nicky is wiser than they after all, for he knoweth." There was a proud feeling of superior sagacity which supported Nicky through all his deeds of prowess. Had he known the poet he might have exclaimed with Alexander Selkirk "I am monarch of all I survey;" for such was exactly his feeling as he kept his elevated situation. But alas! the proudest of

the earth must be brought low; and discontent is sure to be felt even in the highest station. Nicky began to be tired of his ivy bush, and as the pursuit was slackening he thought he might creep without danger to another spot, so he slid down from the tree, and crawled with stealthy pace to the top of the wood. When the dogs were near, he climbed a tree again, and when the men passed, he crept into the brake. At length he reached the desired nook, where the briars and hazels were thickly set, and he laid himself comfortably down on a bed of dry leaves. There lay Nicky as snug as a squirrel in his nest, hugging himself once more on his supposed safety. "I may as well sleep," said Nicholas, turning himself round to take the desired repose; when lo! as if by magic, there appeared close at his head, and peering through the hedge, the round jolly face of Farmer Pike. Farmer Pike looked at Nicky, and Nicky looked at Farmer Pike, until the broad fat face of the latter grew broader and fatter with surprise and delight. "Hollo, hollo,” shouted he to his companions, as he pinioned Nicholas to the ground with a pitchfork. "Hollo, hollo, was ever the like?" and a shout of laughter from all the crew soon announced their hearty participation in his obstreperous joy. Then commenced their triumphant march, as Nicholas was hoisted on the broad shoulders of his foe, and transported with all due deliberation, to the court-yard of the Squire's house. "There ye are, my man," said Farmer Pike, setting the crestfallen hero upright on the epping stock. "Now speak out will ye, and let us hear what you have to say for yourself." But Nicky said nothing, for obstinate as wicked was Nicky Mason. Only once, when the Squire asked him if he saw him alone in the wood, did Nicky deign a reply; then the spirit of malice shone out from his eye as he said, "Yes maister, that I did; you did'nt see me, for I was up in the ivy bush, but

but