He was sitting just as she had last seen him; but this time she thought that there was something strange about his unaltered posture. He must certainly be asleep. She walked gingerly into the outer office, and spoke to him—no answer. She spoke louder—still silence. Then she went up to the motionless figure and touched it on the shoulder. The next instant, she jumped back with a ringing shriek, stumbled out on to the landing, and got herself down the stairs and into the street with an agility which would have done credit to a younger and lighter woman; and in fifteen minutes the house was in the occupation of the police.

Mr Blackford had fallen forward on his desk, the papers on which were spattered with his blood. The top and back of his head were smashed in by blows from some heavy blunt instrument. He had been horribly murdered; and before dawn the murderer was in the hands of the police—a raving maniac, flourishing the blood-incrusted life-preserver with which he had done the deed, and boasting of having silenced for ever the most dangerous of all his foes. It was ascertained that his name was Charles Willoughby; and from the papers found at his lodgings, it was easy to communicate with his friends. He is now in a lunatic asylum, hopelessly incurable, and his property is in the hands of trustees.

Both wills were found on the dead man’s table; and before many hours were over, Tom and Lucy Wedlake were informed of the interposition which had taken place in their favour. When the first shock at the terrible nature of that interposition was over, Lucy could not help triumphing a little over her husband at the complete fulfilment of her prophecy, and Uncle Franklin’s exoneration from the suspicion of ingratitude and treachery. Tom was beyond measure astonished, and confessed to his wife’s superior acumen.

They lost no time in putting themselves in competent professional hands; and the will which constituted Lucy sole legatee was established without much difficulty. There was a little trouble at first with the dead man’s relations; but they were fairly respectable people, and when the hopelessness of their case was made apparent to them, they withdrew their opposition to the document which bore the clear impress of the testator’s real intentions.

Tom Wedlake has purchased a partnership in a flourishing commercial house, and is now richer than Uncle Franklin ever was, and a far greater object of respect to his own and his wife’s families. Towards them, however, he by no means enacts the old gentleman’s ill-conditioned part, being open-handed and generous to the last degree; and he is at this moment the head of as happy a household as can be found within the four-mile radius or outside it, a fact which he prizes far beyond all his wealth.

OCCASIONAL NOTES.

THE HESSIAN FLY.

The following suggestions have been prepared by Mr Charles Whitehead, F.L.S., F.G.S., at the request of the Lords of the Committee of Council for Agriculture, for the information of agriculturists:

The Hessian fly is terribly destructive to corn crops in the United States, Canada, and parts of Germany. In some years it has almost entirely destroyed the wheat crops in large districts in these countries. In the upper counties of Georgia Packard States ‘the fly has committed such ravages upon the wheat as scarcely to leave enough seed for another year.’ It had not been found in Great Britain until this present year, though in 1800 fears were entertained that it had been introduced. In 1788 the importation of wheat from America was prohibited by the British government until it was ascertained that it was not likely that the insect could be brought over in this way. Now, however, without any doubt it has appeared here, and all effort must be made, and at once made, to stamp out this dangerous intruder. To effect this, if possible, information is given below as to the nature of the attack of the Hessian fly, and a description of it in its various stages, as well as methods of preventing it from spreading in this country.

The plants of wheat and barley infested with this insect turn yellow, and become stunted and unhealthy. Plants upon sharp gravelly patches, ‘pinnocky places,’ ‘stone-brash,’ or ‘stone-shatter,’ and upon the poorest parts of fields, show the attack first and most seriously. As the plants ripen, the straw becomes root-fallen and scrawled, the ears are small, and the grains misshapen and shrivelled. Corn-plants thus affected should be carefully examined, especially their leaves or blades, just at the points where they cover the second points of the stems from the ground. Upon corn-plants thus injured, either the larvæ of the Hessian fly or its pupæ will be found close to the lower joints between the stems and the leaves or blades. The larvæ, which are the authors of the mischief, as they suck out the juices of the plants, are clear, white, or translucent maggots about the fifteenth of an inch long, having stripes of a greenish hue under their skins. They remain in this state from four to six weeks, and then assume the pupal or semi-pupal form. The pupæ are called ‘flax-seeds’ in America, because they are like small elongated flax-seeds. They are a little longer than the larvæ, and are of a chestnut colour. It is in this state alone that the Hessian fly has been seen in England. These pupæ are unmistakable, and when once discovered, immediate steps should be taken to prevent them from transforming into flies, which would lay eggs upon the corn-plants either in the coming autumn or in the spring.