his false relative did not hesitate to take possession of the estate which had been entrusted to his care. His niece now demanded the restoration of her infant brother’s property from the base usurper; but he refused, under the pretext that her parent had left the property to him, and denied the promise of restoration. After much contention, the lady remembered the writings which her father had concealed in the ball of the tower; but too prudent to reveal this circumstance to her powerful enemy, she kept it secret, in the intention of imparting it at a future period to her brother. But having in some moment of anger allowed words to escape her which only too clearly signified that she was possessed of an all important secret, a cruel persecution against her was commenced. Threats and promises were tried in vain, to induce her to discover the mystery. At last, they accused her of sorcery; and imprisoned her in the very tower which contained the precious documents. Here she found an opportunity of transcribing her history; and of mentioning, for the benefit of her posterity, the place in the tower, where the papers were concealed.
Bentheim thanked Heaven, for having ordained that this disclosure should be made at a time when it would cost him so little effort to restore the unjustly acquired property to its rightful owners, if any still existed. Immediately, he caused the ball on the top of the tower to be opened; and the papers were discovered. But, imagine my astonishment, when the name of the former possessor was brought to light! It was that of my ancestor—Wolf von Huwald. I remembered an ancient tradition, that he had sold his estates, and had been slain in the Holy Land. There was consequently the strongest probability that I was the direct descendant and rightful heir of Wolf.
Bentheim was not much less astonished than I, when I revealed to him my real name, and the supposition which I had
