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 CHAPTER XII.

 ILL-GOTTEN PLEASURE NO ENJOYMENT.

 "Whoever"dreads punishment suffers it, and whoever deserves it, dreads it."
 --Colton,

 AKE IRIS was about seven miles from
 Crosslin. Beside the lake there was a
 charming little shooting box, built in the
style of a Swiss chalet, and the place belonged to
an old friend of Mr. Gilbert's, who, however, only
made a short stay there for a few weeks in the
shooting season.
 For the remainder of the year it was left in the
charge of the steward and his wife, a respectable
middle-aged couple of the name of Muffin.
 They lived in the lower part of the cottage. Mrs.
Muffin was able to cook a picnic dinner for any
friends of her master's who might have an order
to spend a day in the place, and Muffin saw the
horses put up and made comfortable, and gave