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THE BLACK DWARF.
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entreaties could prevail upon the hag to give Miss Vere any information on the object of her being carried forcibly off and confined in this secluded place. The arrival of Earnscliff, with a strong party of horsemen before the tower, alarmed the robber. As he had already directed Grace Armstrong to be restored to her friends, it did not occur to him that this unwelcome visit was on her account; and seeing at the head of the party, Earnscliff, whose attachment to Miss Vere was whispered in the country, he doubted not that her liberation was the sole object of the attack upon his fastness. The dread of personal consequences compelled him to deliver up his prisoner in the manner we have already narrated.

At the moment the tramp of the horses was heard which carried off the daughter of Ellieslaw, her father fell to the ground, and his servant, a stout young fellow, who was gaining ground on the ruffian