He therefore delivered the paper into Mr.Bertram's hand, and requested him to keep it for five years with the seal unbroken, until the month of November was expired.

After that date had intervened he left him at liberty to examine the writing, trusting that, the first fatal period being then safely overpassed, no credit would be paid to its farther contents.

This Mr.Bertram was content to promise, and Mannering, to ensure his fidelity, hinted at misfortunes which would certainly take place if his injunctions were neglected.

The rest of the day, which Mannering, by Mr.Bertram's invitation, spent at Ellangowan, passed over without anything remarkable; and on the morning of that which followed the traveller mounted his palfrey, bade a courteous adieu to his hospitable landlord and to his clerical attendant, repeated his good wishes for the prosperity of the family, and then, turning his horse's head towards England, disappeared from the sight of the inmates of Ellangowan.

He must also disappear from that of our readers, for it is to another and later period of his life that the present narrative relates..