and hidden in caverns till, by the retreat of the troops and the opening of the passes, he had found his way back to the old valley. How much of change and trial, too, the Constants had to tell! But Joseph listened calmly even to Humbert's desertion, and then said, Let us give thanks, my children, that so little of this time's abounding evil has fallen on us; and as for our Claire and Gaston's son, let us hope that God will restore even them."

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and as usual, profligacy walked hand in hand with superstition. The great tent was crowded with officers, young and old, who seemed to have come for nothing but gazing at the prisoners. In the place of honour sat Mancini himself, luxurious, grave, and haughty. An abbot, a Jesuit coadjutor, several other ecclesiastics, and two or three old Castellans of the propaganda, sat on his right, while some senior officers, and the captain of halberdiers among them, stood in a group at his left hand. There was one too standing alone, as if he had no certain place, despite the rich uniform and silver-hilted sword which had rewarded his recent perversion: and that was the shepherd's son. Humbert Renaud had not been apprised of the Constants' capture, and stood like one thunderstruck, while a scornful smile played on the lips of the officers, who little liked the rustic addition to their number; for Humbert, as a reward for his treachery, had been made a lieutenant. Mancini himself seemed amused, as hard and shallow men will be with things most sad and pitiful, and from some hope of sport, thought proper to begin with Gueslin, by demanding his name, and if he were a heretic?

Here a poor ill-doing peasant, whom the Rosas had often relieved in his distress, and who now stood among the crowd of soldiers and camp followers, which the laxity of free-lance discipline permitted to congregate at the entrance, shouted: "Oh! serene count. Oh! illustrious seigneur! he is a good catholic, and a relation of the noble Castellan Bazzano!"

"Is that true, young man ?" said the count.

My lord," said Gueslin, "it is true that I was brought up in that faith which you call catholic, and that I am related to the Castellan Bazzano; but I have chosen for myself the religion of the Vaudois, and desire to live and die with these my trusty neighbours."

It is a pity," said Mancini, with affected kindness, "that a youth of your birth and prospects should forget himself with heretic peasants; your own church and sovereign would be more profitable to serve. Was not that gentleman also your neighbour ?" and he pointed to Humbert, who had now retired into a corner.

"I knew," said Gueslin, looking full upon him"I knew one in his likeness, who stood by my side in the pass of the Pra, when we were six against five hundred; but he was a brave man, fighting for faith and home, and this is a traitor to his people and his God."

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My son," said pastor Joseph, "speak not so warmly; remember he was our brother."

"Art thou the father of that bold varlet ?" said the colonel, with involuntary applause in his look. "Not by nature," said the pastor. "Who art thou, then?" demanded Mancini, struck by the noble simplicity of the pastor's manner.

"I was once," replied pastor Joseph "a member of that society which calls itself of Jesus. I have been a Vaudois missionary for twenty years, and my name is Joseph de Valencourt." It was even as the venerable pastor had said. Born of an old and high Roman catholic family, he had been trained a member of the order of the Jesuits, and no pains had been spared on his education. The subtle order in which he was enrolled considered

him to be of too bold and frank a character for secret service, but such was their trust in his eloquence, that they sent him into the Vaudois country to oppose and confute Jacob Constant. In the course of that controversy he found it necessary for the first time to study the Vaudois bible, and on his clear and candid mind the truth had prevailed. He openly professed himself a Vaudois, was received by the valley churches, and at last became Jacob Constant's companion in his missionary labours.*

Pastor Joseph's words had startled no one more than they did the Jesuit coadjutor who stood by Mancini's side. He hastily scanned the person of the old man with a scrutinizing glance, and then turning to the general, said in tones of great apparent humility: "Noble count, the name of this unhappy apostate is too well known to us, and richly he has deserved to die a fiery death. But holy mother church is ever pitiful and patient. I crave as a special boon, that he be intrusted to the care of our college at Susa; where peradventure he may yet listen to the loving voice of counsel and wisdom.' The Jesuit coadjutor was a man of too much weight and influence for his suggestion to be despised, and Mancini therefore, after a large dis play of affected consideration, judged it prudent to comply with his request; but his tone entirely changed when he said, addressing the guard who remained in readiness: "Take yonder heretic peasants to the common prison, and tell the governor from me, to see they be safely kept."

Renee had heard the hard truth spoken by Gues

lin. She had seen the once brave and high-spirited Humbert steal away like an escaping criminal, unregarded by those for whom he had left his faith and friends, and her woman's heart bled over that sight for years; but the thought of the innocent young Louisin being shut up in the common prison of Susa was something still worse. Gueslin had heard of the prison, as who in the land had not? The worst criminals in Piedmont were there; and it was a place of sin rather than of punishment. He was about to implore for the girls, but entreaties are powerful only with the good, and Renee knew there was but one resource. "My lord," she said, addressing Mancini, "I speak not for myself. Ast you say, I am but a peasant born, and can go to the common prison; but this girl is of noble blood, and not my sister. Her mother was the wife of Amadeus, late Castellan of Bazzano. The French troops invaded our sovereign's country when she was still a girl; and the people of your religion, for leagues round, sent their families for peace safety to our valleys. The Lady Adelaize was my father's guest; from him she learned the faith for which you send us this day to prison. A kinsman of her husband betrayed her to the inquisition years after, when she nursed a fatherless babe; but she escaped its officers by flying from her own castle on a winter's night, and wandering to my fa ther's door. The frost and snow of our mountains, through which she had lost her way, were not for

and

protestant truth. The reader conversant with the history of *The above is no imaginary picture of a conversion to the Vaudois will remember the parallel which it bears to that of Geoffry Varaille, one of the preachers of the valleys, who abandoned the Romish creed under circumstances not unlike the above.

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one so fair and delicate. She died in my father's house before the break of day, leaving her child in solemn trust to be brought up a Vaudois, and never to be revealed to her kindred, except there were great cause to tell the tale."

Here stepped forth from the mingled crowd of priests, soldiers, and laymen, father Bernardo, the confessor of Bazzano's grandmother, and titular superior of the convent of the Holy Manger. Noble count," he said, with a very slight reverence," albeit there is little trust to be placed in such people's stories, the charity of that most Christian lady the marchioness of Susa will, I am sure, rejoice to have those unhappy girls committed to her charge; and, with your permission, I will take upon myself to conduct them to her house, and give you certain warrant for their safety." The last words were spoken with a meaning lock, and Mancini, after balancing matters for a moment in his own mind, said: "So be it, reverend father; we could trust much weightier concerns to you and the marchioness."

Nobody seemed dissatisfied with the arrangement but pastor Joseph, who humbly petitioned to be committed to the common prison with Gueslin, rather than to the Jesuit's care. But Mancini would not hear of such a plan. Gueslin went off well pleased that the Constants had got better quarters; and it was marvellous to see the number of friars, Jesuits, and sisters of mercy, who collected from all sides to form their escort. The little old town of Susa looked much as it does now when the party entered it. Travellers descending from the Vaudois country still know it as the first town of Roman catholic Piedmont, and the stronghold of monks, priests, and cretinism. The same narrow, dirty streets are still full of beggars, and always impeded by some procession or other. The same churches and convents are crowded, and the same old windowless houses painted over with legends of Romish saints in the most glaring coours. Time has dealt heavily with these mansions; but in the middle of the seventeenth century they were mostly the dwellings of Piedmontese nobility. The marchioness occupied one in the street of Saint Barbara. No two carriages could possibly pass in it; but the church of "Our lady the Sorrowful," the Jesuit college, the convent of "the Holy Manger," and the house of inquisition were there. The dowager's mansion was of the fortified castellated order, like those in which the nobles ere accustomed to besiege each other in Italian cities. At its ponderous iron gate, pastor Joseph, to whom the coadjutor had talked incessantly, said solemnly, "The Lord bless and keep you, my children," as Renee and Louisin heard the portal close behind them and father Bernardo.

ing even to the corner of the eyes, to the lining membrane of the stomach and the grinding teeth, with which that stomach is furnished. During the years of growth, (a period not satisfactorily determined) this change of an unyielding armour is necessary, inasmuch as without it the animal could not increase in size, but would be forced to remain no larger than what it was at first. The effect of the release from a hard unyielding encasement is to allow the expansion of the whole frame, which suddenly pushes forth its growth, and, this being attained, a new coat of armour is acquired, to be cast off again at a subsequent period. This moult of solid armour is termed by naturalists exuviation.

Reaumur, who watched the progress of exuviation on the river crayfish, describes it as attended with many efforts and much struggling. A few days previous to the commencement of the operation, (early in autumn) the creature abstains from all solid nourishment, and the plates of shell on the back and tail will be found to offer less than the usual resistance to the pressure of the finger. Shortly afterwards the crayfish appears restless, and rubs its legs against each other; it then throws itself on its back, agitates its whole body, which appears to become distended, until some of the plates are partially burst and raised. Some degree of rest follows these first struggles, but after a short time the animal again exerts its muscular energy. The back plate is now seen to rise gradually from the legs beneath, and in about half an hour the animal has extricated itself from this portion of its shell. By drawing in its head, the antennæ, the eyes, and the legs are dragged out as from a case, but the extrication of the last, being the most difficult and complicated operation, is not effected without great effort, and occasionally even the loss of one or more limbs-a matter of the less consequence, as they will sprout forth again. The hinder parts are withdrawn with less difficulty, the tail-plates being thrown off by a forward motion, attended with a brisk and stretching action. The creature is now seen divested of its armour, which is cast off, appearing unbroken as if no struggle had ever taken place within it.

In the prawn and the shrimp, the process of exuviation has not, we believe, been rigidly watched. In the lobster, the circumstances attending exuviation, as detailed by Mr. Couch, are different, and this fact is the more surprising when we consider how closely allied the river crayfish is to the marine lobster. The lobster, to the last, is ravenous and vigorous; and instances have been known in which, enticed by the bait, it has entered into the traps on the very eve of casting its shell, insomuch that on the fisherman commencing to handle his prize, the animal has slipped away, leaving an empty husk as the only reward of his labour. A circumstance of this kind afforded Mr. Couch the opportunity of giving a minute description of the creature, when it made its escape, (for It is well known that what naturalists call the escape it did) to the no small annoyance of the crustacea, or in other words crabs, lobsters, and fisherman, who had calculated on the possession of the like, change their shells at given intervals, at a prize somewhat above the ordinary magnitude, east until they arrive at a very advanced period of It does not appear that any extraordinary strug existence. This change is very complete, extend-gles or contortions have been observed in the lobster when engaged in delivering itself from its trammels, or that the time of moulting is pro

CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT SHELLFISH.

BY A NATURALIST.

• See Chapter I.

tracted, as in the case with the river crayfish; moreover, it is certain that when delivered from its shell, it possesses great activity in effecting its escape.

Reverting to the specimen examined by Mr. Couch, it was found that the case of the horns and feelers was perfect to their minutest extremity; the sheath of the eye-stalk, and the transparent covering of the eyes were uninjured; the joints of the back part of the body with the tail plates were all joined together, and the parts beneath the snout, including the jaws, foot-jaws, nipping claws, and legs, with the breast plate, the lining of the stomach, etc. formed one connected portion. But how was the escape of the animal from its too tightly braced armour effected? Through the middle of the great back plate ran a line as straight as if it had been cut with a knife, and evidently formed by a natural process of separation. Through this aperture, when expanded, the animal had made its escape.

In the common crab, the exuviation takes place by a separation of the broad back plate from the under plate, the animal lying on its back at the time; this division being effected, the limbs and other parts are easily withdrawn from their sheath. It must be observed, however, that previously to this process, both in the crab, the lobster, and others, the flesh on the claws of the animal shrinks most considerably, otherwise the contents of the great claws in particular could not be extricated, for it does not appear that the shells of the claws in the crab or lobster are split open. The crab when newly extricated somewhat resembles a lump of dough inclosed in skin, and has at first only sufficient strength to enable it to crawl to some place of safety. There it takes as much fluid as will suffice to distend the whole body and its skin or membrane-like covering, which is now delicate, flexible, and elastic. There is, in short, a sudden expansion of growth, previous to the growth of the fresh plates of armour, which are, of course, adapted to the newly acquired bulk of the animal. In the earlier stages of life, the exuviation and sudden pushing forward of growth occur several times in the course of the year, but, as the animal advances toward maturity, they take place at more and more distant intervals, till at last exuviation either ceases or occurs only after lengthened periods. We suspect that after a certain time it ceases, because we have ourselves minutely examined a large Norway lobster, whose back plate formed a bed, upon which a multitude of full-grown mussels were firmly attached, like a phalanx in dense array, presenting a curious picture. In the British Museum, specimens of crabs are to be seen, the back plates of which are covered with a close mass of oysters or mussels; and Mr. Couch has found oysters 2 inches in length, attached to the back plate of living crabs.

It has been stated that the crab, the lobster, and others, devour their cast-off covering; we greatly doubt this. We possess the stomach of a marine crayfish, filled with the fragments, minutely ground, of shell, apparently either of its own species or a lobster; but this does not prove the statement; it merely informs us that these shellfish prey upon each other, the weaker falling victims to the stronger. We do not, however, posi

tively deny the fact in question, for we are well aware that the toad rolls up its cast-off cuticle, (changed at certain intervals) and swallows it at a gulp.

There is another curious fact in the history of crustaceans, to which we may here advert; we allude to the power with which they are endowed of reproducing their limbs when lost by accident. The loss of a leg is of little consequence; so little so, that when suddenly alarmed, a lobster will often throw off its claws with a jerk. Indeed, usually when a limb is injured, the animal breaks it off at the joint, second to its junction with the trunk, where the growth the most speedily and certainly commences. No pain seems to follow this strange operation; the wound is soon covered with a delicate skin, and a new claw is in due time produced. It remains, however, unprotected with a hard shell until the next time for changing the whole of it arrives, and the new limb seldom or never acquires the size of the corresponding claw, although equally perfect. An analogous circumstance occurs in many lizards, and especially the gecko, which quickly reproduces a lost tail.

THE MAN OF PERVERTED TALENTS. WE were seated one hot summer's afternoon in the balcony of our house at Alexandretta, inhaling with great gusto the first cool breath of the seabreeze, when a servant hastily announced the arrival of a European stranger-a rara avis in Scanderoon, and one which we always hailed with pleasure, as lending some variety to the sad monotony of our fever-stricken life. The stranger was shown upstairs, and a venerable yet hale-looking old man, with a firm tread, made his appearance and presented his passport to the consul. That functionary requested the visitor to be seated, and laying aside the document for future inspection, at once entered into conversation with the new visitor. He spoke English as fluently as ourselves, and, as the sequel proved, was as perfectly master of the French, Italian, German, Greek, Turkish, Arabic, and Armenian languages, all of which he read, and wrote, and spoke to perfection.

The old gentleman, for such we considered him, was one of the most agreeable companions we had ever fallen in with, full of anecdote and adventure; but what appeared to us most marvellous of all was, his immense knowledge of countries and people. We talked of old Indian officers long since dead; he had known them as children. We described scenes that had been witnessed by us in our travels in India, Siam, and China; he corrected us whenever we were at fault, and, what completely deprived us of breath, gave us an exact picture of many of our own relations and connexions, who were scattered over all parts of the world. 'Who can this be ?" was our whispered ejaculation. "It must be the wandering Jew," quoth one. "Yes, or a magician," said another; whilst another jocularly said that he looked like an antediluvian. What confirmed us in this last opinion was, that there were two very old gentlemen, both Frenchmen, and both verging on seventy, residing at Alexandretta. One was a consul, the other a factor; and I know that we