him from his pecuniary difficulties. The young man that same night believed, or dreamed, that he saw an apparition; that he jumped out of bed, and struck his foot against a packet on the floor. The idea was so vivid that he could scarcely believe it was a dream; and to his surprise, on getting out of bed in the morning, he saw the packet on the floor. Now, from what is said in the end of the story, it appears that this Karl Müller was an acquaintance of the Jew, and that a man of that very name had died in that same town to which the Jew had gone (Frankfort, I think the name was, but your Magazine has left this house now); that he had lived there many years, and had begun to reside there at the same time as a boat with three men saved from a wreck had come in somewhere on the coast of Brittany, one of whom he was supposed to have been. Now the Jew was quite aware of his young friend's difficulties, and, a few days before, had written to assure him that he was greatly interested in his circumstances, and solemnly promising him that all should come right. Is it impossible that Karl Müller, supposed to have been lost, may, for reasons of his own, have given sanction to that supposition, and have gone to his friend at Frankfort; but feeling that ruin might be the consequence to an innocent person-a friend, too, of the Jew's-if the packet he was intrusted with missed its destination at the time it should have reached it, is it not probable that he consulted his friend as to what was best to be done; and that the Jew, perhaps knowing something about his own house that others did not, and perhaps having an able confederate (I think there was something said about a clockmaker who repaired a clock in that room the day before), contrived that the packet should be made to reach the floor in the middle of the night I think I could contrive such a thing myself. We know what conjurors do with horse-hair ;-and if any movement of bedclothes detached a packet from the top of the clock, the noise of its fall might in a dream be connected with a great many extraordinary ideas. As for the bearer of the second packet believing that the mys

VOL. CXV.-NO. DCXCIX.

teriously found one was the very one he was intrusted with, owing to the number marked on it, there is no great difficulty in supposing he was simply mistaken; and his mistake was not of such a character as to have attracted his attention, but that he really believed his packet was marked with the number it should have been marked with. I should like much to know if the writer of the story agrees with me. However, I don't know that I should have written this to you, were it not for the circumstance of the knowledge I possess, and for the truth of which I can vouch, of another story perhaps as extraordinary-an episode in the life of my father, and which I have often heard my mother relate-though, to be sure, I cannot sprinkle it judiciously with a ghost and a love story; and yet it is not absolutely without a little touch of the latter. I have already scribbled so much, that I believe I must take it for granted you will not publish it; yet an old friend of mine told me the other day, when we were conversing on the subject of Providence, that I ought not to keep such a tale unknown. I will therefore jot it down. In the year 1807, my father (Captain Courtenay Ilbert of the Artillery) was ordered to take troops to Quebec; and in those days the Government was not very particular sometimes with regard to the seaworthiness-so I have been led to believe-and proper provisioning of troop-ships. My father was a young married man then, and had his wife, with an infant, on board, so that the voyage was a matter of anxiety. Just as they neared the Gulf of Newfoundland, a passing ship hailed the Thames transport, in which my father was; and the captain of the ship, in the few words that passed about their position, said that "of course they had with them a chart of the Gulf of St Lawrence?" On the captain of the Thames replying that he had not, the observation of the other captain was, "Then if you get safe to Quebec your lives are given to you!" The Thames soon got into difficulties, owing to the fogs, and more than once narrowly escaped being wrecked. Provisions were falling very short also. One day they observed, at a little distance from them, a dark ob

G

ject, which, on nearing, they perceived to be an abandoned vessel. My father and his subaltern (the late Major-Gen. Hardinge), and a sergeant, took the boat to examine her, and went on board. They found that she had been scuttled; but going out of the cabin, one of the party kicked the door of a sort of cupboard more open than it was, and saw some litter. There were three thingsan old wig, an old Bible, and a chart of the Gulf of St Lawrence. This was not supernatural, but it was what we will term providential. This soon set the Thames right in its bearings. However, as the provisions were short, as, soon after, they were passing an island, my father and others thought they might as well take the boat and rectify their commissariat a little, if they could. The island was called Percy, in Gaspe Bay, and they found its population was merely a few Irish people, the chief of whom was named Phelim O'Flinn. They were living in rather a primitive manner; but on my father's asking Phelim O'Flinn if he could possibly render them any assistance regarding food, he immediately collected all he could, chiefly bread and such things as would be acceptable. When my father asked him what he should pay him for them, his answer was, that "he was not the man to take advantage of his fellow-creatures in distress; " and refused to accept any money at all. When he heard, however, that my father was going to be stationed at Quebec, he said it was just possible he might have to go there some day, and if it should so happen that my father was still at Quebec, he would make so bold as to come and see him. Many months after this, one dark night after a heavy fall of snow, it was my father's turn, as captain of the guard, to go round the fortifications of Quebec with a sergeant and twenty men,-the sergeant, with a lantern, marching first, my father rather behind the others. He kicked something with his foot, and as the ground was even with snow he was surprised, and desired the sergeant to step back with the lantern. It was a large pocket-book, and in it he perceived there were many dollar-notes, and to a large amount-more than a hundred pounds' worth, I believe. Look ing for the name of the owner, he

read inside the cover the words, "Phelim O'Flinn, Percy, Gaspe Bay, Gulf of St Lawrence." Of course my father, the next morning, made every inquiry he could for any one of that name, but for a great part of the day unsuccessfully; but in the latter part of it, in his search in the lower part of the city-Lower Town, as I believe it was called-looking in at a large sort of cellar, there he saw Phelim O'Flinn sitting on a cask-the picture of misery and despondency. He went up to him, and asked him how he could possibly come to Quebec and not come and see him, as he had promised. "Ah, sir!" said the poor man, "I am heartbroken. Yesterday I arrived at Quebec from home-for I had come up to get the things required for my daughter's marriage-her furniture and other things; and I had brought up all the money we had saved. I met some fellow countrymen, who were very kind to me, and very hospitable. We were very merry last evening, and we thought we would take a walk round the garrison. In the walk I lost my pocket-book that contained all my money, and now I must go back, and my poor girl must remain unmarried." My father then produced the pocketbook, telling him he had found it. Phelim O'Flinn dropped on his knees, and thanked God. I believe I have told you the story in the very words used, or almost exactly the words-remembering so well the words in which I have so often heard my mother relate them and I well remember, when I was a boy, the old sergeant's wife showing me the Bible that was found in the deserted vessel, with the chart of the Gulf of St Lawrence. This story, then, may certainly be placed in the class termed providential; and I believe apparent interpositions of divine providence are often happening in the world, especially to such as poor Phelim O'Flinn, whose first ejaculation was to thank God. Not that I think that the persons to whom they happen have any very great reason to congratulate themselves on account of them. They may be intended to strengthen the faith of those whom God sees to be rather inclined to weakness; not for such as those whose lot will be the most glorious in a future state. For instance, the three who, in

the face of the fiery furnace, could say: "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not

The third story (without the writer's address, though he asks for an answer) has the Limerick post-mark; and although it has something in common with "The Missing Bills," as exhibiting a spirit moving matter, yet there is not sufficient similarity to suggest to any candid mind that the one tale can be derived from the other. It appears that our correspondent's great-grandmother, being at the time in delicate health, in which state she continued for a month or two afterwards, woke up one night out of a troubled sleep, with an intense longing for a drink of butter-milk. This desire had not long oppressed her, when she saw a girl named Biddy-(surname illegible)-enter the chamber bearing a pitcher which the invalid lady felt assured contained the coveted butter-milk. So vehement was her craving that she never thought for a moment of the singular way in which it was to be gratified; for it was past midnight, the house was locked and barred, and she might have remembered that the girl who came in was supposed to be in the country, seven or eight miles off. She heeded not the strangeness of these things, but aroused her husband, desiring him to rise and fetch her the drink from Biddy's pitcher. No sooner, however, had she given this order than she revoked it, and with frantic haste (she was a woman of very refined feeling) pulled the bedclothes over her spouse's eyes. The cause of this sudden action was, that the girl was making some singular motions, and seemed inclined to throw a somersault. She did not exactly do this, but she did what

serve thy gods;"--and for a reward and testimony to their faith and trust so strong, and for the benefit of others who had it not, God did then and there interpose.-Yours faithfully, PEREGRINE A. ILBERT.

was quite as peculiar. She stood on her head; and now the meaning of this position became apparent. It was intended to show that the being on whom the lady in the bed looked was not material, nor clad in material drapery, for the natural consequence of inverting her position did not ensue. After remaining inverted long enough to convince the beholder that this could not be Biddy So-and-so in the flesh, the apparition vanished; and now the lady, still intent on the buttermilk, permitted her husband to get up, strike a light (for it had become dark again), and examine the room. There he found, sure enough, a pitcher full of the most beautiful butter-milk, with which he soon relieved his wife's intolerable craving. After this they both enjoyed a tranquil night. In the morning they inquired after Biddy, and were shocked to hear that she had been hysterical for some days, and that last night she was for several hours in a trance, during which she carried (as she declared) butter-milk to the lady who saw the apparition. This was not all. The grandfather of the writer was born not long after, and he was curiously marked with a pitcher; so that when he stood on his head, as he used to do when a little bit of a thing, the mark could be distinctly seen. His descendants (including, of course, our correspondent) have all the same mark.

We now leave the subject, only regretting our inability to explain particulars, which, if they could be made clear, would take the story of "The Missing Bills" out of the list of Unsolved Mysteries.