.

A MIDNIGHT VENTURE.
Not a word was said to Laura when she returned as to the scene which had occurred in her absence.

She was in the gayest of spirits, and prattled merrily about her purchases and her arrangements, wondering from time to time when Raffles Haw would come.

As night fell, however, without any word from him, she became uneasy.
"What can be the matter that he does not come ?" she said.

"It is the first day since our engagement that I have not seen him." Robert looked out through the window.
"It is a gusty night, and raining hard," he remarked.