his own mind. "It was a pretty thing, indeed," they usually concluded, "that he, no native born, and possessed of no visible means of subsistence that was known to any one, should presume to hesitate, or affect to have the power of selection and choice, betwixt the two most distinguished beauties of Zetland. If they were Magnus Troil, they would soon be at the bottom of the matter"and so forth. All which remarks were only whispered, for the hasty disposition of the udaller had too much of the old Norse fire about it to render it safe for any one to become an unauthorized intermeddler with his family affairs; and thus stood the relation of Mordaunt Mertoun to the family of Mr Troil of Burgh-Westra, when the following incidents took place.

CHAPTER IV.

"This is no pilgrim's morning-yon grey mist
Lies upon hill, and dale, and field, and forest,
Like the dun wimple of a new-made widow ;
And, by my faith, although my heart be soft,
I'd rather hear that widow weep and sigh,
And tell the virtues of the dear-departed,
Than, when the tempest sends his voice abroad,
Be subject to its fury."

The Double Nuptials.

THE spring was far advanced, when, after a week spent in sport and festivity at Burgh-Westra, Mordaunt Mertoun bade adieu to the family, pleading the necessity of his return to Jarlshof. The proposal was combatted by the maidens, and more decidedly by Magnus himself: He saw no occasion whatever for Mordaunt returning to Jarlshof. If his father desired to see him, which, by the way, Magnus did not believe, Mr Mertoun had only to throw himself into the stern of Sweyn's boat, or betake himself to a poney, if he liked a land journey better, and he would see not

only his son, but twenty folks besides, who would be most happy to find that he had not lost the use of his tongue entirely during his long solitude; 66 although I must own," added Magnus, “that when he lived amongst us, nobody ever made less use of it."

Mordaunt acquiesced both in what respected his father's taciturnity and his dislike to general society; but suggested, at the same time, that the first circumstance rendered his own immediate return more necessary, as he was the usual channel of communication betwixt his father and others; and that the second corroborated the same necessity, since Mr Mertoun's having no other society whatever, seemed a weighty reason why his son's should be restored to him without loss of time. As to his father's coming to Burgh-Westra," they might as well,” he said, "expect to see Sumburgh Cape come thither."

"And that would be a cumbrous guest," said. Magnus; "but you will stop for our dinner today? There are the families of Muness, Quendale, Therelivoe, and I know not whom else are expected; and, besides the thirty that were in the house this blessed night, we shall have as

many more as chamber and bower, and barn and boat-house, can furnish with beds, or with barleystraw, and you will leave all this behind

you!" "And the blithe dance at night," added Brenda, in a tone betwixt reproach and vexation; "and the young men from the Isle of Paba that are to dance the sword-dance, whom shall we find to match them, for the honour of the Main ?"

“There is many a merry dancer on the mainland, Brenda,” replied Mordaunt, “even if I should never rise on tiptoe again. And where good dancers are found, Brenda Troil will always find the best partner. I must trip it to-night through the Wastes of Dunrossness."

"Do not say so, Mordaunt,” said Minna, who, during this conversation, had been looking from the window something anxiously; "go not to-day at least, through the Wastes of Dunrossness."

"And why not to-day, Minna,” said Mordaunt, laughing, "any more than to-morrow ?"

"O, the morning mist lies heavy upon yonder chain of isles, nor has it permitted us since daybreak even a single glimpse of Fitful-Head, the lofty cape that concludes yon splendid range of

mountains. The fowl are winging their way to the shore, and the shell-drake seems, through the mist, as large as the scarf. See, the very shearwaters and bonxies are making to the cliff for shelter."

"And they will ride out a gale against a king's frigate," said her father; "there is foul weather when they cut and run.”

"Stay, then, with us," said Minna; "the storm will be dreadful, yet it will be grand to see it from Burgh-Westra, if we have no friend exposed to its fury. See, the air is close and sultry, though the season is yet so early, and the day so calm, that not a windel-straw moves on the heath. Stay with us, Mordaunt; the storm which these signs announce will be a dreadful one."

"I must be gone the sooner," was the conclusion of Mordaunt, who could not deny the signs, which had not escaped his own quick observation. "If the storm be too fierce, I will abide for the night at Stourburgh.”

"What!" said Magnus; "will you leave us for the new chamberlain's new Scots tacksman, who is to teach all us Zetland savages new ways?