the waking from a sound nap as the mail came dashing past like a highway comet with gleaming lamps and rattling hoofs and visions of a guard behind standing up to keep his feet warm and of a gentleman in a bur cap opening his eyes and looking wild and stupefied the stopping at the turnpike where the man was gone to bed and knocking at the door until ite answered with a smothered shout from under the bedclothes in the little room above where the faint light was burning and presently came down night


capped and shivering to throw the gate wide open and wish all waggons off the road except by day


the cold sharp interval between night and morning the distant streak of light widening and spreading and turning from grey to white and from white to yellow and from yellow to burning redthe pre sence of day with all its cheerfulness and life men and horses at the ploughbirds in the trees and hedges and boys in solitary fields frightening them away with rattles


the coining to a town people busy in the market light carts and chaises round the tavern yard tradesmen standing at their doors men running horses up and down the street for sale pigs plunging and grunting in the dirty distance getting off with long strings at their legs running into clean chemists shops and being dis lodged with brooms by prentices the night coach changing horsesthte passengers cheerless cold ugly and discontented with three months growth of hair in one nightthe coachman fresh as from a bandbox and exquisitely beautiful by contrast so much bustle so many things in motion such a variety of incidentswhen was there a journey with so many delights as that journey in the waggon i sometimes walking for a mile or two while her grandfather rode inside and sometimes even pre vailing upon the schoolmaster to take her place and lie down to rest nell travelled on very happily until they came to a large town where the waggon s topped and where they spent a night


they passed a large church and so the streets were a number of old houses built of a kind of earth or plaster crossed and recrossed in a great many directions with black beams which gave them a remarkable and very ancient look


the doors too were arched and low some with oaken portals and quaint benches where the former inhabitants had sat on summer evenings


the windows were law ticed in little diamond panes that seemed to wink and blink upon the passengers as if they were dim of sight


they had long since got clear of the smoke and furnaces except so one or two solitary instances where a factory planted among fields withered the space about it like a burning moun tain


when they had passed through this town they entered again upon the country and began to draw near their place of destination


it was not so near however but that they spent another night upon the road not that their doing so was quite an act of necessity but that the school master when they approached within a few miles of his village had a fidgetty sense of his dignity as the new clerk and was unwilling to make his entry in dusty shoes and traveldisordered dress


it was a fine clear autumn morning when they came upon the scene of his promotion and stopped to contem plate its beauties


see heres the church t cried the delighted schoolmaster in a low voice and that old build ing close beside it is the schoolhouse ill be sworn


five and thirty pounds a year in this beau tiful place


i they admired everything the old grey porch the mullioned windows the venerable grave stones dotting the green churchyard the ancient tower the very weathercock the brown thatched roofs of cottage barn and homestead peeping from among the trees the stream that rippled by the distant watermill the blue welch mountains far away


it was for such a spot the child had wearied in the detnse dark miserable iiaunts of labour upon hrer bed of ashtes and amidst she squalid horrors through whics tirey ltad forced tiruir way visiona of such scenesbeautiful indeed but not more beautiful than this sweet realityhad been always preseat to hser mind they had seemed so melt into a ditn aad airy distance as she prospect of tsar behoiding them again gresv fainter but as they receded site had loved and panted for slhem more


i muss leaue you someswhere for a faew minuttes said tire scheolinaster at length breaking she silence into which they tad fallen in their gtndneon


i hrave a letter to present and inquiries to make you know


where shall i take you


to the little inn yonder j et us trait here rejoined nell


the gate is open


we trill sit in the church porch till you coeback


a good place too said thre schsoolmaster lead ing thre way towardsa it rilsencunsbering himself of iris eportmanteoru and placing it on tire stone seat


be sur tirat i come hack with good news and am ntot long gone so the happy achoolmasler pus on a bran now pair of gloves svhict hte had exerted in a little parcel an lils pocket nil the stay and hurried elf fuil of ardour and excitement


tire chlud watched hint from thse porch until the intervening foliage hid him from her view and than stepped softly out into stie old chrurelsyardso solemn nod quiet that every rustle of her dress upon the allotn leaves which strewed the petit and mtade irer footsteps noiseleas seemed an invasiors of ita silence it was a very aged glirrtly place t sthe cirurch had been built ninny hundreds of years ago atid had once sad a convent or monaslery attached for arcires in ruins remains of oren windowsa and fragmenta of blackened walls terae yet standing svirsi otiter portions of sthe old builditig witicht had crumbled stray and fallen down weore stinglad with sire chordsyard earth and oveegrowon wuiti grass as if tirey too claimed a buryisig place and sougiht to mix their ashes writh tire dust of men ilard by there graveatoses of dead years and formiag a part of tire ruin triich some pains had been taken so render irshitable in modern tinres were two small dsvoliings with sunken wviadowa and otken doora fat hasresiug to decay empty anti desolate


upmon these tenements the attentiots of the child beca exaclusively riveted


site knewv not why the church ithe ruin tite antiquated graves lied equal claims at least upon a strangers sthoughsts btit from she mement when her eyes first rested on threne two dwvellings ash could turn to nothring alas even when she had made she circuit of tir lade


sure and reiurnlng to tire porcis sat pensively waiting for threir friend sire took hrer station swhere she could still look upon tihem and fell as if fasci nated towards thalt spot


tobe coatnutert


the story of a feather


j tatt strrtrtv


a strfrrom w posch chapter xxxvi


coutluedfrom our lait


something more of fanny davisthe poor actors homemiss gaunt wolf


fanny davis continued the boddice is only now in tier seventeenth year and for her salary she may perhaps liave as msny shilling as years


yet is she the most discreet the most gentle of creatures


her first baby recollections are of the playhouse


from the first hour she could balance her self upon bcr two feet fanny was an actress


ere he had been twenty month in the worlds theatre she was a little toddling fairy at one shilling per night


being the child of poorest actorsfolks just trusted with syllables in london her baby earnings were precious silver drops in the small household cup of her parents


heneo too she had no real childhood


happily for her she was not an infant wonder


she was not taught to think herself a little lump of brain in ted shoes a dwarfed woman housed in the image of on infant


oh those baby prodigies cried the boddice


baby prodigies echoed in my ignorance


comedy and tragedy queens of six years old said the boddice


creatures made to chew shskspere with their pap poor little soul forced out of babyhood to mum maturity


and they catch o trick of it poor things


i and fullgrown babies stare and applaud and whoop at the miracle as doubt less adam wondered when the brst parrot cried


pretty poll r to make a prodigy of this sort you must first kill the baby


depend upon it these doings are childmurders with only this diherencethey escape the coroner


happily i say then fanny davis was none of these


she was not fed on the appluuses of an audicnceishe was not brought up by the clapping hands of a wise and discerning public


to this moment she has never heard her voice upon the stage but is accounted no more of than a part of the human furniture which makes up the train of queens and princesses is now one of a mob of happy villagers and now a silent chambermaid


hence to fanny there is no hopenone


she can never be an actressnever anything buta sort of fringe upon an actresss robe


her seventeen shillings per wcik may have increase of threeand there in the playhouse at leastmust the hopes of fanny rest


and


the best of it is dear creature she knows this and in all her poverty is blithe as a robin in december


is she pretty


i asked


very beautiful answered the boddice and therefore in this place had need of a stout heart and constant spirit


mr garrick is somewhat particular and doesnt let the wild fellows of the town sharpen their wits upon the actresseshe doesnt let his greenroom be a place of ease to other places nevertheless he cant stop lette and presents in them with promises and kickshaws that catch poor butterfly girls


gene rally one a night of these things comes to fanny and still it is refused


only tno nights since a note was offered her


i know nobody to write to rae she said


but it is of conse quence miss davis said the bearer


is it so indeed


ciled fanny then pray take it to my father


bless her i cried the boddice


hugged her for the moment all the closer for it


a sweet thing indeed said


how should like to sec bsrt


in good timer observed the boddice


but i havnt told yoa half


though i loved the dear child from the first time etna wore me knew not her fall worth until about a fortnight aga


t is a touching story though indeed theres little in it


tell ft me i cried impatiently


last thursday leek said the boddice i was norn by fanny who i observed looked illvery ill


poor child


i she was hoarsealmost inarticulate and i could feel burnt with a fever


several of the ladiesfor fanny is m general favouritespoke to her and begged her to go home


still she answered with a smile faint enough that it was nothingit wouldpats offshe should be better


at length dear airs


clisa calle ute under prompter to fanny


his dear child must go nomeshe shant sty


hsre well said the prompter she had bstter take onher dress and


dress dont talk to me of your rags mn she shant stop an instant htre neill and clive called to her maid wrap her up wann in my cloakget her things together andyou


bob go for a coach she said toone of the men


and mind mall yo take her safe home and ssy i shall come and see her in the morning


now mrs clive saidthe boddice is not a oman to be dented anything even david hake before hers and so in a very few minutes fann well wrapt up was in a coach on her way home and nell with her found fannys dwellingplace humble enough but clean and orderly


there were five children all much younger than herself at home


fanny mother bad some time since quitted the stage as she says to look after her family


poor aull this is a bit of professional pride the stage quitted her


her first hold upon it was merely a pretty face and stim figure and as bloom and alimness departed why the stage slipped from her and sha then said it would be cheaper for her to look to hr children at home than to remain in the profession


mr davis with conjugal pride is wont to speak of the sacrifice that mr davis made for her family what she might have been had she continued on the boards nobody could tell


however there was no arguing with a mothers heart the dear soul would have her way andit was a sacrifice


but she hasit


mr davis hadan uncertain nightly salary at covent garden which he always speaks of as our house though it is now three years since he belonged to it


poor fellow


he s an honestr worthy creature devoted to his wife and children and by such devotion enabled to bear much


he and mrs davis think each other the greatest creature in the world


hence have they enjoymentwith only a liandrul of sleepy fire in the winters grate and with palefaced children about hemto talk of the triumphs of one another in the country hit possible


i asked


true i assure you and a great solace it is to them


vetnained about a weeli in their lodgings and heard them at it very day


well john mrs davi would begin i saw hamlet last night


people may call it a wifes prejudice but twas nothing like your hamlet at cranbrolre shall never forget that point of yours at the ghosts speech


i am thy fathers spirit


as for garrick he quite missed it


its very odd mary said davis i wasjust then thinking of the new juliet and your juliet at gravesend


that line of yours


what line john


mrs davis


asked with the prettiest innocence


oh my dear that line that struck the mayor


so much as with a club dash out my desperate brains there mary though youre my own wife i will say it you went quite through the bean


the poor girl of the other night scarcely touched one waistcoat


and thus said the boddice thehappy pauper couple are wont to flatter one another


with an etupty cupboard t ivas yod say agret solace ami may serve them somewhaf instead of beet and ale eaid i


yes answered the boddice drily but tbey cannot feed the little davises after that fashion


however to my story of fan hy ler poor mother was dreadfully alarmed when the girl wa brought home


oh she cried those shoesthose dreadful shoerl knew hed catch her death p this made me look at the shots which wit fstiaf street attire mr


cfives maid brought with her


they were worn thin as paper and though stitched and stitched there were treacherous holes at tha sides lo tai fever and death in from the cold wet street


poor thing i in bow


tfthag


saoeihsd she that day stood three hours at slissseslh my dear fanny i cried mrs davis wlth all thw i saothttvra har fata


oh i shall be quit vrcll tomorrow i tasiu lodead


i am not so ill now was only mr clive would maka mecom hame said fanny


and shell bo here maam abo bid massy la tba taornlngt criad


ntl who tiroturimattober mistress mrs davis assisted fawny to m an taon with nvy lihrcklbtibliiiifiehrm toblatp


awaited ttsacomlrtg of hsr mrtkohaywbb beat tbv tory of fannys hints with tearful eyes and swort that jp bevix ooi hfum coan tonnorrotr


poor penniless play tri shall never forget this wrtubtd btwlldtrtd look with whs har turtitdaadtornad over each abo


i knawt would coos to thiaki waa sureof it ha aid


wita aaalous volco and thoa again sttd again b handled tkoafcoo again looked at tvtry flaw and again and again alftft mutkm at us bos


ho thoa tat moodily lottototwhhptlttwmtttlmtltuvl tiri otu my god i that i should lose a childand auk a childibr a pair of shoes


i btv seen many a tragedy acted skid we boddlce bave many a time heard grrlcks soliloquy on deathit never touched me half so much as that poor players grief on two old shoes


ahd fanny said i impatiently


she was betterso milch better in the morning answered the boddice that she resolved to go to the theatre


the streets were quite dry she skid and she could get too hurt ftr lathet had one out to borrow money for new shoeleather and her motheras i thinkupon the same fruitless errand


fanny sat by the re with one of her little sisters in her lap and her shoesthe fatal pairwere still upon the hearth


a sharp short rap struck the door which ere one of the children could reach was opened and miss gauntwolf entered


and who is miss gauntwolf


i asked


i forgot j ou have not yet seen her


she is a girl in the theatre in the same rank and receiving about the same salary as fanny


perceive said fannys friend


certainly not said the boddlce save on tho business of the house they never speak


poor sold thing


but you shall hear all in time


miss gauntwolf entered the room in b very cloud of musk


she wasas indeed she always ismagni ficently dressed in a sack of rich skycoloured satin with cloak and bonnet and the prettiest shoes to match


miss gaunt wolf cried fanny colouring and setting down her sister


my dear creature cried the young lady i saw you were very ill last night and you know i couldnt rest this morning till i carne to see you


my dear soul you dont take caro of yourself


you dont wrap yourself dp enough this dreadful weather


now look at me i always muffle alwaysthough i never stir out but in the carriage


carriage


did you not say the young lady had only seventeen shillings a week


seventeen shillings answered the boddlce gravely and then proceeded with the talk of miss gauntwolf


now my dear i hope you are bettermuch better and the visitor pouted her pretty ups and threw a look of concern into her mealy dolls fuce as she gazed at fanny


better much better answered fanny rising


now dont get updont use any ceremony with me


the truth is came in the hope of finding you well enough to go to the house


my dear they do work us to death at that theatre and so ive told his lordship over and over again so that if you were recovered id take you in my carriage


there is only my dear father in it said miss gauntwolf


your father in the carriage said fanny coldly


thats all and hes nobody you knowso theres a sweet craturedo come said miss gauntwolf


i thank you said fitnny i must wait for my mother i now


urged the young lady im sure thats unneces sary


do come


fanny resolutely shook her head


but why not


well you ore such a strange girl such a day as thisand you so weak so ill and theres a warm seat in the sweetest carriage in the world and


id rather walk said fanny firmly


youd rather walk i exclaimed miss gauntwolf


much rather repeated fanny


well you are the strangest girl again said miss gaunt wolf piqued by fannys resolution


and then at a loss for further arguments miss gauntwolf sat in silence at the fire side and listlessly with her pretty blue satin slipper pushed at fannys leathern shoe


ha my friend i cried to the boddice what a picture of ulcerous misery and noble truth is there i


oh that silly satin slipper that would at all cost rideand that heroic wornout leathern shoe that in all eathers wouldrather walk i to be continued


the mysteries of paris continued


when the maitre decole was informed that rodolphe was the owner of theo farm and that madame georges as resident there his first impulse was to fly


ro dolpho inspircd him with invincible terror perhaps at this moment he might be at the farm


hardly had he recovered from his stupor than he rose from the table took the hand of tortillard and cried in a wild manner let us golet us go hencel the laborers looked at one another in surprise


you go i now


you must not think of it my poor man said the pere chatelain


yes yes l said thebrigand in alarm have changed my mind


my relation at louvres lwill go and find her


as you please said the laborer be


lieving he was conversing with a crasy man


you shallgo tomorrow morning but as fobrsetting out tonight doutthink of it


althoughrodolphe was not at the farm the fears of the maitre decole were not quieted notwithstanding he was so fright fully disfigured he


still drdaded that his wife might recognise him


he was com pelled to resign himself to his situation but to avoid being surprised he said to the laborer that as he was very much fatigued he would go to bed as he wished to start the next morning at daiylight


oh i tomorrow morning when you please i we are early risers here and for fear that you may be lost again some one will show you the road


the brigand having been conducted to his sleeping place seated himself gloomily on the bed


he shortly afterwards retired to rest sleep however was a stranger to him for some time and his fitful slumbers were disturbed by such dreams as even to alarm iortillard


day at length broke and be departed at the earliest possible moment


nine oclock was striking as ltmadame georges entered softly into the chamber of marie


the sleep of the young girl was so light that she awoke immediately


a brilliant winters sun shone gaily through the blinds and curtains of persian chintz lined with rosecolored muslin spreading a vermilion tint throughout the chamber of la goualeuse and giving to her pale f and charming face the color which itl wanted


well mychild said madame georges seating herself on tlhe bed cf the young girl and kissing her forehead how do you find yourself


better madame i tlhankyou


you have not been uawakened early this morning


no madame


somuch the better


this unfortunate blind man and his son to whom we gave a lodging last night would leave the farm at daybreak ifeared that the noise they made in opening the doors might awaken you


poor peoplel why did they go so soon


sbut i see you have been feverish i do not wish you should expose yourself to the sold today you must not go out of the room madame pardon me i must go to night at liveoclock to the parsonage m le cure expects me


that would be imprudent you have passed a bad nighti am sure of it your eyes are heavy


it is true


lhave again had frightful dreams


i saw in my sleep the woman who illtreated me when i was a child


i started from my slumbers alarmed itis a weakness of which i am ashamed


and this weakness afflicts me since it makes you suffer poor childlv v pardon madame but icannottell why for two days past myheart siiks within me


tears come into myeyes unbidden


i have strange presentiments


it seems to me some great calamity is about to over take me


marie marie i willscold youif thus you allow yourself to be affected by imaginary terrors


you are right madame i will try to overcome this weakness


a few hours afterwards la goualeuse set out for the parsonage by the hollow road where the evening previous the maitre decole and tortillard had agreed to join la chouette the sun was sinking in the west


the plain was silent deserted


marie ap proached the entrance of


the road when she saw


a little lame boy with a blue cap come out of the ravine he seemed to be weeping and as he perceived la gous leuse in the distance he ran towards her


oh i my good lady have pity on me cried he joining his hands in a suppli cating manner


what do you want


what is the matter my child


asked la goualeuse


alas


my good lady my poor grand mother who is very old has fallen there in descending the ravine she has hurt herself very much


i am too weak to help her up


mon dieu


what shall i do if you dontcome and help mep la


goualeuse touched with the grief of the boy cried i am not very strong either my child but i can perhaps help you to assist your grandmother


letus goquickly to her


i live at the firm yonder


if the poor old woman cant walk there with us i will send for sohl i my good lady the good god will bless you surely


it is this waytwo stepsin the hollow road


do you belong to this part of the coun try asked la goualeuiso


no my good lady we come from ecouen


andwhere are you going tor to a good priest who lives on the hill there said the sn of brasrouge to in crease the confidence of marie


i am just going to see him said marie going down lower and lower into the hol lowroad


grandmammal here i amherei amnl ji bring you some help cried tortillard to warn the wretches to hold themselves in readiness to seize their victim


la chouette whispered she is mine


then springing at la goualeuse she seized her by the throat with one hand while with the other she stopped her mouth


in the meantime tortillardrthrew himself at the feet of the young girl and clasped them in his arms to prevent her


moving


all this passed sorapidly that la chouette had not had time to examine the features of la goualeuse but while the maitre decole was creeping out of his hiding place the old woman recognised her former victim


pegriottel cried she with savage joy it is then you


ah


it is the devil who sends you to me it is your fate then al ways to fall under my claws


i i have my vitriol in the carriage this time your


mug shant escape for you make me sick with your virgin face


takehold my mal


be carefulshedontbite


iokl


tight while we bundle her up


with his powerful hands the maitre decolec seizedla goualeuse and before she could utter a cry her old tormenter threw a mantle over her head and wrapped her up closely


in a moment marie tied and gagged was in no situation either to


move or utter a cry for help


now you take charge of the bundle said la chouette


come quick let us be off


carry pegriotte


quick to the car


riagequick i we have not attempted to describe the terror of fleur de marie when she found herself in the power of the maitre decole and la chouette


she felt incapable of resistance


some moments aftcrwards she was placed in the carriage thd blinds were carefully drawn and the three occomplices with their almost expiring victim were rapidly conveyed to the plain of st deanis where thomas seyton awaited them


chapter xv


the patal staaaia ge it will be recollected that the evening preceding the diay on which the events we havejust related took place rodolphe had saved madame dharville from the con spiracy of helen seyton against her good name


rtodolphe quite overcome with the scene had returned home after leaving the house in the rue du temple putting off till the next day the visit that hlie had intended to make to the family of the unfbortunate work mran of whom we have spoken for he be lieved them relieved by thle money wvhich he had transmitted tothem by the mar clntness hut unfirtunately rodolphe forgot that tortillard had stolen her purse towards four oclock the prince received the following detter monsieoneur i owe you more than lifo i am therefore desirous to express toyou nmy profound gratitude


ifyou could do me


the honor to come to me tonight you would finish this day as youhave commence it mon


sicgnuur by a generous action


s d oabiony diarvilb


rodolphe happy at having rendered ma dame dharville an eminent service never tlheless gregretted the kind of forced inti macy that this circumstance would thus suddenly estfiblish between him and the marchioness


as the time approachedforher interview with rodolphe the emotion of the mar chioness was redoubled however her con fusion gave place to the most resolute thoughts after long reflection she deter mined to confide to irodolphe a greata cruel secret


in a few minutes his serene highness the grandduke of gerolstein was an nounced


after paying his compliments feeling how painful it must be for the mar chioness to commence this conversation rodolphe said to her you have been madame the victim of a shameful treason a scandalous accusa tion had nearly caused your ruin can it be truel monseigneur


cried clemence


my presentiments did not deceive me then and how did your high ness discover it yesterday by chance at theball of the ambassadress i discovered the infamous design


after having tried several me thods to warn you of your danger iwas forced to resort to the one i followed


i have only one way my lordto prrve to you my gratitude


it is tomake an avowal to you thatj have never yet made to any one


this


avowal


will not raise me in your estimatiou butperhaps itwill make you at least pity me


smadame


dharville then itiformed rodolphe


that married by her parents against her own inclinations she could notlove her husband although his charac ter inspired her with esteemand had it not been for an event which followed this fatal union a more tendersentiment would doubtless have attached her to him for ever


that event was a frightful one one day soon after their marriagethe marquis suddenly seized his wifes arm with a force sufficient to break it uttering a dreadful cry


she tried in vain to escape from his iron grasp


iiis face was con tracted with the most violent convulsions his eyes rolled in their orbits with a rapi dity that paralyzed her his contorted mouth was filled with a bloody foam lhis stiffened fingers at length released their grasp his wife faidid while he wasstill


struggling in the paroxysms of this fright ful attack


unfortunate woman


said rodolphe quite overcome


i comprehendepi lepsy


he is subject tothe fallinegickness ah it is frightful


and this is not all added clemence my child the poor little angel has inhe rited this fearful malady


syour child also


how


sher pallorher weakness


it is this mon dieu it is this and the physicians think that the disease is incurable because it is hereditary


i madame dharville concealed herface in her hands overcome by this mournful story she had not the strength to utter a word


rodolphe blamed m dharville much but he endeavoured to excuse him in the eyes of clemence although well convinced after her sad revelations that the marquis was for ever alienatedfrom her heart


clemence leaning on her hand her eyes wet with tears her checks burning with confusion avoided the looks of rodolphe


i cannot express to you madame how much your story has affected me


oh i believe me monseigneur when one suffers such troubles it is sad to hear it said how happy she is


nothing is more painful but you are not the only one who suffers from the cruel contrast of what is and what appears to be


show


monseigneur


in the eyes of everybody yourhusband must appear still more happy than you are andyetis he not also much to be pitied


can there be a more unfortunate life than his


his wrongs towards youi are great but he isfrightfully punished


he loves you asyou merit to be loved and heknows you can only entertain for him an insur mountable repugnance


in his suffering sickly child he sees a constantreproach


i assure you madame that if the service i have rendered you merited a recompense i believe myself a thousand times repaid by your confidence but if you wish to ask my advice and will allow me to speak frankly to you oh i entreatyou monseigneur


letine tell you thatfrom notemploying one of your most precious qualities your opportunity ofdoing good you lose great enjoyments which would amply satisfy the wants of your heart and woulddivert you from your domestic sorrows


swhat do you mean to say monseig neur wish to say you would amuse your self in doing good nothing would please you or could interest you more


madame dharville regarded rodolphe with astonishment


and you must comprehend continued he that i do not sperik of your sending carelessly almost with disdain your bounty to any unfortunate whom you do not know and who may not be worthy of your bounty


but if you would amuse yourself like me in playing as it were the part of a servant to providence you would acknowledge that good deeds have often all the interest of a romance it is perhaps true said madame dhar ville smiling


well i what say you


will you agree that we shall contrive together all sorts of benevolent enterprisesu charitable dissipa tions of which as always very good people shall be the subjects i


accept with joy with gratitude this association said clemence gaily and to commence our romance i will return to morrow to these unfortunates to whom this morning i could only give words of consolation


ahi monseigneur added clemence and her face lost its expression of sweet playfulness which had for a mo ment animated it if you knew what misery what a horrible picture


no no i did not believe that such unfortunates ex isted


i blame myself and accuse my destiny


rodolpho answerd gaily if you will permit it i will except the morels from our partnership you must let me take charge of these poor people and you will promise me above all not to return to that house


adieu monsieur i do not forget to give me news soon of those poor people in the rue du temple


chapter mil


what


john avsstiock said to tom linchs sister j what tom linclls sistfn said to john westlock j what tom iikcii said to both of them and how ran all passed the hebiaikder of the dav


bnilliaktlv the temple fountain spar kled in the sun and laughingly its liquid music played aud merrily the idle drops of water danced and danced and peeping out in sport among the trees plunged lightly down to hide themselves as little llulli and her companion came towards it


and why they came towards the foun tain at all is a mystery for they had no business there


it was not in their way


it was quite out of their way


they had no more to do with the fountain bless you than they had with with love or any out of the way tiling of that sort


it was all very well for tom and his sister to make appoiutineuts by the foun tain but that was quite another affair


because of course when she had to wait a miuute or two it would have been very awk ward for her to have had to wait in any but a tolerably quiet spot aud that was a quiet snot evorvtbiiip considered as tlievirnuld choose


but when she had john westlock with her arm in his home being in a dif ferent direction altogether their coming anywhere near that fountain was quite extraordinary


however there they found themselves


and another extraordinary part of the mattor was that they seemed to have come there by a silent understanding


yet when they got there they were a little confused by being there which was the strangest part of all because there is nothing natu rally confusing in a fountain


we all know that


what a good old place it was i john said


with quite an earnest aflectiou for it


a pleasant place indeed said little ltntli


so shady


i oh wicked little ruth


tiiey came to a slop when john began to praise il


the day was exquisite and stopping at all it was quite natural no thing could be more so that they should glance down garden court because garden court ends in the garden and the garden ends in the river and that glimpse is very bright nnil fresh and shining on a summers day


then oh little llulh why not look boldly at it i


why fit that liny precious blessed little foot into the cracked corner of an insensible old flagstone in the pave ment and be so very anxious to adjust it to a nicety j if flip piprv fipp nintrmi in lio fnniiiiliril bonnet could have seen them as they uiilked away how many years purchase might fiery face have been disposed to take for her situation in furuivals inu as laundress tumr


weblloekf they went away but uot through lou dons strectsl through some enchanted city where the pavements were of air where ull the rough sounds of a stirring lowu were softened into gentle music where everything was happy where llmre was no distance aud no time


there wore two goodtempered burly draymen letting down big butts of beer into a cellar some where and when john helped her almost lifted her the lightest easiest ueatcbt thing you ever saw across tho rope they said he owed them a good turn for giving him the chance


celestial draymcu green pasliiresiu tbe summer tide deep liltered strawyards in the winter no stint of corn and clover ever to that noble horse who would dance on the pavement with a gig behind him and who frightened licr aud made her clasp his arm with both hands both hands meeting one apou the other so endearingly and caused her to implore him to take refuge in the pastrv cooks and afterwards to peep out at the door so bhrinkingly and then looking at him with those eyes to ask him was he eure uow was he sure they might go safely on


oh fur a string of rampaut horses i fora lion for a bear for a mad bull nnythiug to bring the little bands together ou his arm again they talked of course


they talked of tom and all these changes aud tlie attach ment mr chuzzlewit had


conceived for him aud the bright prospects be had in such a friend and a great deal more to the same purpose


the more they talked the more afraid this fluttering little ruth became of any pause and sooner than have a pause she would say the same things over again and if she hadnt courage or presence of miud enough for that to say the truth she very seldom had she was ten thousand times more charming aud irresistible than she had been before


manin will be married very soon now i suppose said john


she supposed he would


never diil a bewitching little woman suppose anything in such a faint voice as hut supposed but feeling that another of those alarm ing pauses wob upproaching she remarked unit he would have a beautiful wife


didul mr avestlock think sol


ye yes said john oh yes


shu feared he was rather hard to please he spoke so coldly


llather say already pleased said john


have scarcely seen her


i had no care to see her


i had uo eyes ior her this morning


oh good gracious


to be continued


chapter iv


the baron never condescended tb register a true and particular account of his feelings when he awoke


with tho full consciousness that he must quit his bed at a most unseasonable hour to have it might be


cola steel run through his abdomen or curiously inserted between his ribs


it is a pity that mankind have not been enriched with tho reflections which a man in tlio situation of von boots must inevitably make


did honour appear to him the tume bright majestic presence as some twelve hours ago


or rather did not honour soem a meddling exaggerating knave u follow hulfbully halfmischiefmaker


did not this same honour walk alout delighting when a little hole appeared to rip it into a wide rent wben but for his meddling and inischevious propensity tbe flaw neatly darned had escaped all notice


had not we would huvo asked tho baron had not hil charity towards tho imperfections of his fol lowcrea tures increasod and that very considerably nay grown gourd like from a mere seeding into a full grown charity in one night


had not his gall de creased was not tho bitterness almost sweetened


away in a now benevolence


was neatskio such a scoundrel


we will imagine this ohango in tho baron we will for a minute fancy that these questions were put by tho barons common sense to the baron and then we must picture to ourselves von boots lying in his bod pacific gentlo subdued into philantropby willing to closo his eyes to fall iuto a droam of arcady und tho goldon ago when all honour was comprised in not being a shoepstealer and when the true satisfaction of a gentlemen was tho sati faction felt and taught by old silonus with a swag bollied wine skin


see


tho baron von boots is about to dose he is sinking like a babq to rest when bnrk


what a rattling of tho curtain ring


and see what a hide ous grotesque foolish savugo simple monster thrusts his joltorhoad and hundred armt between the curtnins and us with u thousand roaring bqueuking pulling laughing oroaking voices cries get up


the baron von boots startled at the sounds sits bolt upright ho rubs his oyes looks full at the monster and in anothor socondbouncos out of bed and grasps his stockings


reader the nipjibtor that startlod tho baron von boots frpiudceamjngthat now atartds over mm watching him ub ho draws on his hose is atonceuie most terrible nd tlie niobthaimlebs of inonstars


ho is in fact whatever you choose to fushion him if you tremble before him ho is nrfbfcro and may swnllow


you alive if you snap your fingers at him ho walks oil like a detected client ho is now as ravenom as a vulture and now as incapablo of injury as the greenest goose


to the baron von boots and to riihe valorousrhon out of a dozen the monster is the vilest tyrant there he stands with the baron and now walks with him to tho glass and now on perhaps the last morning von boots has loft him of his mortal life makes him take particular pains with his toilet that let tho worst come he inay ap pear a decent corpse doing credit to himself and to his slayer


and who what is this grim despot


who is this oxecrable tyrant this mixture of the mounter bank and maneater


gentle reader you nnd we aro pieceb of him even so little pieces particles if you will of this same quacksalver and cannibal christened and known as the worlds opinion


baron von boots and certainly phillip neatskin got up particularly early to cut one anothers throats only to please ub as you must allow singulurly in terested in tho matter and whother one or both are killed or whother thoy shako hands and embrace the circumstance will as you must allow considerably impede or accelerate our digestion


however the monster sticks to tho skirts of baron von boots whilst another monster another and the same drags phillip neatbkin out of bed who from the very bottom of his heart turned as it is to a jelly curses tho tyrant as bo bows to him


philip cannot tie his neckcloth his fingers tremble so his teeth all that he has rattle in his head he damns tho worlds opinion and then like a whimpering boy suflbrs himself to ho carried by it to punishment


left alone how diflerently would philip construe what the bigmouthed world calls injuries


with what a chastened elevated spirit would he consider the petty affronts of rash and ignorant persons whose faults and follies foibles ho would cull them are made tho silly prologues to sanguinary tragedies


inmiis own high and private philosophy


he would think no jot the worse of his nose for being soundly pulled but then there was tho worlds opinion leoringatthe outraged member there was yoursolf to say nothing of ourselves exacting reader staring at the nose and insisting in tho name of all the noses in tho univorse on a signal and summary vengeance


novor never did philip noatskin feel such bene volent yoarnings towards the whole human race ns on tho morning whun ho roso and went forth to slaughter his fellow


yes at tho moment tho awful moment when ho stood opposed to his deadly cnomy such was tho fountain ofgooduess opened in his heart that wo can answer him ho olt a now born lovo tor all tho brotherhood of man


and with this exalting impulse how provoking to be com pelled rapiur in hand to stajid upon your guard


the morning was chilly tho clouda hung low black and pallliko a drizzling rain began to fall and all things promised a mobt uncomfortable moot ing when philip ncatskin attended by his sucond


and his surgeon arrived on tho ground where wero alroady waiting tho baron von boots his very particular friend and a gentleman who had performed it wab related an amazing cure on tho wounded ventriclo of a heart in a certain duel that had taken placo somewhere in upper saxony


tho baron von boots received hie adversary with a lofty air of politeness the seconds bowed and


the professional gentlemen shook hands making the warmost demonstrations of friendship


why why thought philip nontskin leering at tho sur goons why can wo not all embrace


with this christian thought noatskin beckoned to his second the exact words pokon to his friend wo heard not but we can aver that tho gentleman started suddonly and peremptorily exclaimed impossible


at which decision tho jaw of neat


skin full almost as low ns his waistband and the bile stirred up in his sensitive anatomy sud denly gave to his face tho colour of a dying marigold


impossible ropoatod tho second unless ha there was hope then for neatskin who fairly grinnod at the goodly prospect unless you give up tho widow


let the baron carry off mrs ftfouser and you may shako hands and go home to break fast this was a hard condition to a man deoply smitten as was nentskin with the lady and the money a condition not to be acceded to


without thinking of tho consequences of tho word but think ing solely of the guinoas of mrs mousor nentskin in his turn exclaimed impossible


and tho second with graceful alacrity prosontod to tho coin batants tho choice of weapons


since tho time of bootb and neatskin there had been a considerable and most praiseworthy improvo inent in may wo uso tho word the economy of


duels


swords aro happily exploded and bull nnd powder certainly powder have taken their placo


we consider this a most fortunate nay a most in telligent and enlightened reform of u wild and bloods thirsty practice for instance in these our happy days two gentlemen moet tho siguul is given tho deudly tubes are discharged and one of tho parties by the counsel of his second expresses himsolf his cravat smelling horribly of gunpowder perfectly satisfied


his wounded dignity hasbeen dressed with sultpetro charcoal nnd lend tho last of which has gone by him like the idle wind and ho roturns to his lares a wiser and a sounder man but who knows what iiniiiinont dun go


r he has escaped


the bullet may have whistled within a hairs breadth of his whisker it may have bhot madly by his heart nay more the mortal bull by sotno strange forgetfulnoss on the part of tho second may not have been deposited in the pistol nevertheless no man can quostion tho propriety of tho satisfaction and the quarrel dies un honourable death


how different tho result when gcntlemon measured swords


tho rapier was a cruel uncompromising weapon it would have blood


ay it may be urged but thon the slightest scratch would sorvo


very true wo answer but in the heat und deudly enmity of n thrust who shall onbiiio the longth and depth of tho scratch


it may notbe so deep as a well nor so wide as a church door but buflloiont for ull mortal purposor with swords there must bo blood let the seconds bo tho mobt pacific tho most prudont of men lot thorn go out with tho very best and most humano intentions they must pluco tho naked pointed weapons in tho hands of the combatants they cannot by any accident clap buttons to tho steel


now the pistol permits a genorous altur


native


to roturn to our combatants


noatskin stands holding his bword as though ho held a vipor by the tail tho baron von boots mars in iris sangninary visage prepares hinv for thoonset


he takes oft his coat and noatskin sliudders at the cool determination of his antagonist did ho mean to butcher him


having carefully laid


his coatupon the grass the duron next unbuttons his waistcoat coolly whistling the while


you whl oxcubo tne cried baron von boots bowing to neatskin and his second but dis is always my way


and ns he spoke the baron luid his waist coat on his upper garment neatskin almost groaning at the preparation but when the baron proceeded to take the silverwashed shirtbuttons from his wrists and having placed them in the lefthand pocket of the only part of his dross he had deter mined to keep upon him began to pull his shirt over his head noatskin fairly burst into tears


all his old friendship all hi latent regard for the baron valhallah von boots arose within him he cast nway the hated sword the murderous steel drawn to be warmed within tlio hearts blood of his friend and rushing to von doots flung his arms around him


what do devil


mein gott


get out


what dis exclaimed the baron astonished at the acco lade and blinded muffled by his best cambric igno rant of the person who embracod him


what dis get out again roared the baron


no no cried noatskin i feel it is impos sible i cannot tnke your life i cannot imbruemy hands in tho blood of a man whom i love respect and honour


dear von boots


neatskin cried the baron grinning with a contemptuous surpriso what what is all dis


put on your coat answered neatakin inca pable for tho time of further speech put put on your coat


the baron von boots with a significant self satisfied look adjusted his under garment replaced his wristbuttons put on his waistcoat and thrusting his second arm into his coat placidly observed to neatskin den sir i auv to understand dot you givo up the vidow


i cannot be your assassin dear von boots answered neatskin


the baron however was in some matters a man


of precision thorefore unsatisfied with the vague assurance of neatskins friendship and humanity von boots repeated tho question touching


mrs agatha mousor


there aro ten thousand widows said neatskin but how many real friends


my dear boots win her


and war her


tho baron was about to embrace tho generous neatskin when he paused to survey the person of his late opponents second who astounded scan dalised at what ho called the meanness of hi prin cipal muttered certain epithets such sis adven turer vagabond bastard of odin and other names which the baron in his humility eonosived to be applied to himself


however that ho might act without precipitancy he begged to inquire of the gentleman if he the baron von boots was the subject of his soliloquy


the second ingenuously answered yea and declared himself quite prepared to maintain the truth of every disjointed syllable


the baron bowed an equal readiness to dispute it and noatskin that an affair in which his dear von boots was so vitally concerned might come to sn instant issue avowed himself willing to second even the barons antagonist


the offer was coldly ac cepted the late second but now principal observing that neatskin would do as well as a better and the preliminaries quickly arranged behold the par ties thrusting fiercely at each other


the baron was an accomplished swordsman by every rale of the nrt ho ought to have finished or disarmed hi opponent in a trice but


luck mere vulgar luok to often in this world of chance steps in and wins the stake that deepest calculation long has played for luck then aided perhaps by youth directed the arm of tho barons antagonist for after a few passes valhallah von boots lay upon the grmt bleeding liko the dying gladiator


are you hurt asked neatskin very unnecet sarily of tho wounded man who evidently thought so for shaking his boad he made no answer


very serious said one of the surgeons in a low voice and the other nodded ominously


and seconds are principals


exclaimed neat skin in tho tone of a man who has suddenly dis covered a most unpleasant truth and without waiting to take leave of his moribund friend he ran with his brother second to the coach that had conveyed some of the party to the ground and jumping into it swore to make the fortune of the coachman if for


once he would drive like fifty furies


the barons antagonist following the vehicle supplicated to be token in


come come cried one of the surgeons minutely examining the wound its not so bad


ifoull live and have the widow yet


she has the gold said the baron von booti with a sickly smile


heaps of it said esculapius


i have and his woundpouredout the evidence i have de blood


florence de rohn


a fragment from the history of napoleon


continued


as the last footstep of tlie officer became inaudible the lady i threw aside her cloak and hood which had effectually concealed her features


her companion started in amazement he could scarcely credit the evidence of his senses when he saw before him the lady with whomthe duke denghien was known to have ex changed vows of affection the consummation of which had been suspeuded by


the dukes untimely arrest


napoleons ultimate design had plainly been anticipated


to conceal a momentary surprise the perturbed warrior crossed the room and closed the door which was still ajar


returning to his seat he said coolly i know not whether to censure or admire the energy that has led the daughter of a bourbon to enter my camp at this unseason able time although notunaware of the motives by which you mav seek to justify this act


the intruder instantly rose from her chair dismayed at these sarcastic tones so foreign to human feeling and sympathy


as tonishment seemed to grow upon her till she looked more like a beautiful statue than a living being


as she sank down her face buried in her hands tearsthose most eloquent of witnesses to the hearts sorrowflowed abundantly but quickly recovering that dignity which never long forsakes a noble woman she replied it is not necessary to tell general bonaparte that no trifling errand would tempt me to such a venturesome act


the speaker hesi tated and with difficulty added i believe that my person is known to you


undoubtedly returned napoleon who had the faculty of re membering all whom he had uce seen you are the betrothed bride of the duke denghien


if then you know of my engagement you will at once ac knowledge strong cause for my interest in his welfare


there was a time when i should have shrunk as from death from such an avowal but now i hesitate not to own my love for him


i a quick and icstless motion of the man whom she confronted going to botany


followed this appeal and she looked into his face as if to gather some sign of mercy


rigid as ever were those features and yet she was speaking to onewho held in his handsthe destiny of her lover


whose


one word could restore him from the gloom of a prisonto the liberty of life


the duke denghien replied napoleon is my prisoner under charge of the heavy crime of treason


he has incurred its penalty hy acting as spy of the enemies of france


this was not without its effect upon the listener


she exclaimed this charge is false


could i forget my position and my sex for one so unworthy of his countrys regard


but even if he has erred give him the advantage of a fair trial


napoleons eye rested with a gentler expression upon her glow ing face


theduke denghien he replied ought indeed to value an affection which can dare all things but i cannot allow it to interfere with my duty to my country


she grew paler as she whispered with an earnestness that ren dered the soft tories of her voice doubly impressive i have come here to learn the truth general bonaparte and it would be cruel in you to conceal your intention


napoleon gazed on the feminine loveliness of the beautiful creature before him and at the suspended animation on her coun tenance but the beholding her had no influence to turn him from his firm purpose for he said coldly i shall not conceal any thing


i will allow that you possess the fullest right to learn everything connected with one so nearly related


his is no ordi nary crime mademoiselle and it becomes my painful duty


he paused proceed


cried the excited girl nearly ceasing to breathe in tlte intensity of her interest


napoleon without trusting himself to any utterance drew forth the deathwarrant and placed it in her hands


she took it with a sort of charmed submission but the instant her eye fell on the engrossing formulary words an ab sorbing curiosity concentrated every feeling


the reader read the i oil a second time from the firt to the last letter before it pro dttced any clear impression on her mind


she could not bring home to herself the possibility that her lover was immediately to be consigned to death


there must be some mistake she thought it could not be that he to whom she had united every thought of earthly happiness was thus to die


this was truly a happy doubt but for which the shock of that sudden blow might have proved fatal


when she had a third time read the scroll her looks turned eagerly to her companion anxious to detect signs of mercy in his countenance


but napoleons intention was too plain to be long misunderstood and when by degrees this painful dream became a conviction her whole frame seemed giving way


yet she con tinued in full consciousness the very imminence of the danger endued her with strength to embrace it in its most disheartening aspects and as she closed her eyes and leaued back wearily in the chair she tried to collect some sustaining consideration but noher lovers death appeared inevitable


as napoleon stood watching her in silence she suddenly raised herself from her posture uf grief and ina voice so low thather lips scarcely moved with the utterance she whispered general bonaparte you have doomed an innocent man to dieto die with out guilt


yes she added with a look of touching anguish you have destroyed my last hope


and yetoh


what is this strange impulse of prophecyan inward voice whispers toime that as surely as shall perish from before my eyes all that i love on earth for want of a fellowbeings mercy so will it be with you


the speaker paused her feelings excited as they were could sustain her no longer and before napoleon could reply she be came insensible


on recovery from her swoon she was seatedin zl chair her dress damp with the water that had been sprinkled in her face and in that moment of illusion she fondly trusted that the impression on her mind had been all a dream


the sight of napoleon who still supported her dispelled the fancy and in stantly withdrawing herself from his encircling arms she walked to the door descended the solitary stairway and recrossed the threshold


the sentinels dropped their arms and interchanged expressive olances as if seeking in the countenance of each other some solu tion of the interview


several officers with an air of the deepest respect pressed forward to accompany the mysterious stranger to the extremity of the camp


napoleon after her abrupt and sudden departure turned with a look of chagrin towards the yet unsigned deathwarrant and again his aze recoiled quickly with the air of one not sufficiently at easeto feel any desire for repose


for an hour he did no more than watch the motions of his timepiecemotions that increased returning from botany


in ptace of lessening his own impatience


once more he sought employment for his mind in looking on the lifeless moonpale and sorrowful as the face he had just seenmoving in the tranquil heavens without voice or sound to soothe his troubled spirit


as


he pursued the current of his thoughts he became himself ap palled at his meditated purpose and a virtuous indignation was about frustrating the intention when his ambition once more sprung up to cancel the resolution


the master of armies took up the fatal document for the third timereperused it this time with less reflection


seizing his pen and thrusting open the re coiling parchment he wrolenapoleonand all was over


all over


nay not so


the cloud of doom rose in that moment un perceived and began to overshadow him


he felt scarce knowing it a sad regret at the quick departure of the midnight visitor who at the eleventh hour had preached to him repentance


what if the prophecy should be fulfilled


the prophecy of his fall from that towering height to which arms were pledged to raise him


it was a solemn and a gloomy thought


the last shades of night were fading when orders were issued to the army to put itself again in motion


as the soldiers sprang from their brief rest and cast looks towards the scene of their late war they uttered the most extravagant expressions of delight


the very horrors of that warfare had made every heart more sen sible to the quiet loveliness of nature exhibitinghow trulythat the fiercest passions cannot entirely efface the hearts tenderest sen timents


forests valleys and gushing streamlets were lit up by the rising sun a warm southern wind blew sweetly over and the sky above only bore those light fleecy clouds lhat sweep in the higher altitudes


though the eventful night was long since over and in the memory of the roving legions was no more than a re collection the dark act which ere this had consigned a living being to the grave still darkened one spirit wich an aspect of ma lignity


tlie bugle sounded shrill and clear inspiring a spirit of exultation in every soldiers breast but without the camp far way was one who could never hope again


an hour after the orders had been gi veil every piece of artillery every baggagewaggon was in motion


the straggling houses on the slope and the hamlets that dotted the vast surrounding plains were once moreleft to their old sweet quiet and the reassured villagers now creeping from their hidingplaces felt the joy of the condemned on receiving a sudden reprieve


during the mareil now commenced the officers of napoleon made various attempts to introduce to his attention the subject of the last nights adventure little deeming how gladly he would haveforgotten it


a severe reproof was the only answer to these vain endeavours so that all expressions of curiosity were very readily suppressed under fear of exciting his displeasure


chapter ii


two months had elapsed from the period in which the incidents recorded in the last chapter transpired two weary months replete with events that concerned all europe and which were made especially famous by the incessant marches of the french armies


through all europe and along the peopled borders of asia flew the tidings that napoleon the lieutenant the general the con sul was to receive as his giftthe crown of france


yet so great had been the slaughter so many the hearths endangered or bereft as seriously to check that hilarity which a triumph scarce ever fails to excite in a victorious nation


through blood napoleon had marched onward to the goal of his ambition and the evening of the nd of december found him emperor of france


in spite of the distresses of war the common people had by this time been in a great measure restored to former comfort and sharing in one common and united hope they enjoyed heartily the day of pomp the like of which had not been witnessed since the time of charle magne


e very public place was crowded with the gay parisians while shouts of five napoleon in every direction rent the air


from the suburbs of paris to the waters of the seine snatches of popular songs were constantly mingling in the shouts of the gay revellers


but not alone for paris was this time eventful the country from every nook poured in her artisans and labourers to pay homage to the meteor which blazed so brightly


yes the lofty pinnacle was won


that day witnessed ambassadors from every city in europe bearing tokens of favour and distinction


as night drew on the interior of the palace of the tuillefies be j came illumined with a splendour which made every stone ofthat i magnificent and ancient pile and every slate of the highslanting i roof clear to the shining multitudes who thronged the gardens i round


in their midst breasthigh in foliage and canopied by rustling doughs rose the white marble forms that italy bad loved while towards the elysian fields the bright watery columns of a fountain sustained themselves almost as tranquilly


beneath the central arch and at the foot bf the grand staircase leading to the reception rooms stem sentinels were stationed these however challenged none


so there went up whoever listedthe young to see something new the old to revive their faded dreams of royalty both alike feverish with au undefined expectancy


it seemed as though all the world that night would welcome its oppressor


surrounded by his brave marshalsa chief amidst chiefsna poleon suffered group after group to gather before him reading by sshort and piercing glances the character of each individual and with a wonderful aptitude suiting his words to thecapacities of whomsoever lie addressed


early in the evening he withdrew yet not till a triumphant shout had risen from the dense mass that still heaved billowlike withouta shout taken up and repeated over and over by thousands yet beyond


napoleon satiated with the glories of the day repaired at an early hour to his own roouinot however to rest


when mid night came hewas still sitting pensive and alone


he noted not that the illumination was fading awaythat activity and merri ment were being changed to silence and forgetfulness


the room he occupied was furnished in a style that if not suit able to a soldier or remarkably adapted for the president of a re public was at least worthy of an emperor


to look on napoleon himself his visage was strikingly altered since the midnight in


terview with the betrothed of his murdered victim the lines about his month were deeper and constant exposure to unkindly climates had darkened his complexion


his palid features told not only of months of hardships but nightsof wakefulness


the propulsions of his frame too were enlarged


these outward changes had been observed by the least observing but the most shrewd could have detected more than one causeincessant labours and watching for so striking a change


the posthumous journals of napoleon discover the fact that recollections which had lain torpid under the excitemeut of successive triumphs now sprang ap within him with severe fidelity


each particular event in his life seemed with wonderful distinctness to stride forward into the present


he remembered as it were but yesterday the joyous season of his youth the fostering hands which caressed him the nursery i on the floor of which he had once so demurely played


again he sat within the charmed circle of youthful hearts and heard merry voices and noisy laughter or stood hand in hand with loved com panions


his mother too appeared to rise out of the grave like one who had seen corruption and to pass before him in all the i beauty and sanctityof love


the innocent passion the guileless i serenity of those days seemed revived


prattling voices and the voices of the wind the vision of green flelds and the fragrance of fresh flowers came


over him


and then suddenly the whole scene died oft and wretchedness was in their stead


i


to be concluded in our next


childrens portfolio pet perennials no iv


by patty parsley


chapter i ah little ranting johnny for ever blithe and bonny


with cockup nose so lightsome and sidelong eyes so brightsome and cheeks as ripe as apples and head as rough as dapples and arms as sunny shining as if their veins had wine in and mouth that smiles so truly heaven seems to have made it newly it breaks into such sweetness with merrylipped completeness


leigh hunt


once there was a little chubby child with eyes like two bits of the blue sky and a little star twinkling in each and the sun had so often kissed his bonny little head that his golden locks gleamed and glittered with the light he had left


and the little child was weary with playing the long summers day and when night came nurse put him to sleep in his cosy cot


oh but he was a lovely little boy and if any of those good men who picture little children on paper with the sweet thought that there never can be too much beauty on this already beau tiful earth if any such had been there he would have been glad to draw little sleeping johnny


he lay with his little heavy head rest ing on a dimpled arm and the golden hair had all tumbled away to the pillow and over his arm and left his clear broad white babybrow bare


and the little pale lids were folded down over his eyes like white clouds over two stars


on his rosy little lips sat a merry sprite of a smile playing at bobeep with the dimple in his cheeks


and because the night was warm the little fellow had kicked away the covering and one charming chubby foot hung over the side of the cot


and then johnny dreamt a pretty dream


he thought that he was lying in a bed of clover out in his fathers paddock and wondering in his baby way why the stars did not shine out in the day as in the night and if the dear little stars were flowers up in gods garden or if they were angels eyes who looked down to see what little children were about or if they were lamps in gods world up there or if they were only angels robes hung out to dry


and while johnny was wondering he thought the sky opened just over where he lay and there came out a smiling womanangel and she came slowly down to him and laid a little baby on the grass beside him


at first johnny thought that it was a babyangel but soon he saw that it had no wings and then he knew that it was a real baby indeed


and he looked round to say thank you to the good angel but she was gone and had left him the dear little baby


johnny remembered how his mother had taught him that god sends all blessings to people on earth and he clasped his little hands and thanked gentle jesus who had sent him a baby sister


and then he took the little thing in his arms and it smiled and chuckled and gurgled aud clutched at the clover flowers and at last it called with its broken little accent mam mam ma


then was johnny glad and clasped the little darling to his bosom and his little heart ached with love to the baby


but just then a soft white hand caught the little one and drew it gently away


johnny held the baby fast and so he too was lifted up


and he was glad for he thought that he was going to see the dear lord jesus at last


but another angel loosened his arms from around the baby before they reached the blue sky and bore him back to the earth and laid him softly down among the clover


and johnny wept because he had lost the baby and because he was still upon earth


and so his dream passed away


chapter iii


a very select party was congrogatcd at the house of mrs liraetwig to celobrato the birthday of her daughter the youngest of four tho fair belinda who at the tune wo write had entered into her ninetoonth year and although she had no fortune at least what is vulgarly understood by tho mercenary young men of our day as fortune sho had tho nobler kind of wealth in great abundance sho was accomplished to tho verge of per fection


her pineapples painted on white satin wore equal if not superior to any in coventgarden


and then her portraits of dear and particular friends thoy lived and looked


it was only known to a few but sho had contributed somn of the fancy heads to cither the bloomsbury or tho bagniggo w ells beauties wo forget which


her modesty withheld her name but they who had seen ono of her faces could oasily point out the whole gallery


they had all the same sweet small mouth in which the artist finely indicated the ethereal nature of tho heroine showing that with such a mouth it was impossible to cat


a mouth if we may daro oven to approach a raasculino simile almost the sizo of a shirt buttonholo indeed when any of tho teeth were seen it might almost be doubted if they wore not the pearl button itself


and then tho dianliko purity illustrated in such little lips


thoy might with difficulty compass a whistle but could nover bo brought to perpetrate a kiss tho eyes were worthy of tho lips nico little beads looking up in ono head and down in another as in obedience to a wire wo sco tho different orbs of different dolls


and thon tho flesh and the general expression of the faco so soft so vory sweet so unlike tho flesb that on this dull earth is wooed and won and taken boforo a parson


v no it is clear such beauties live upon honoydow liko hummingbirds on conserves of roses and jessamine pasto


thoy are a groat improvement on tho ideal woman of words worthy and aro


much too good


for human naturo dnly food it may bo thought that wo have lingorod too long on lha ono ability of belinda seeing that ahp has so many buf wo could not for tho life of us lot tho reader pass inig norahbo of the fair hand so successfully helping thead


vancomont of high british art


wo have paused many a timo havowo paused before these heads contemplating


them with tho same profound sense of the beajjtiful tbat


in our schoolboy days we have lavished upon sugarplutris


nay it may bo wrong to own tho weakness but perhaps with tho sclfrsame wish


to return to tho birthday party


wo never sop a young lady surrounded by eight or ten bachelors tako oft her gloves and seat herself at the piano but wo shudder from an association of ideas yes wo instantly think of tho infernal maohlue


who knows how many men may be killed dead on tho spot by tho first crash


belinda played divinely lidgur flinwy the youngor son of a country banker looked vory ienoiu as llio music proceeded


mrs limetwig observed the grnvity of tho young gentloman and doubtless to divert it desired belinda to sing


belinda obeyed and sang in the finest possible taste


had she been wound up for tho oocasion jlko a musical snubvbox sho could not navo acquitted herself with more precision and with less vulgar impulso ovory noto fell from hor lips as if it wor


chissollod and then her execution poor edgar flimdy


i his heart was dragged


up and down tho gamut until exhausted when at tho last threomiriiito shake of tho


songstress it fell


into a thousand little pieces


indcotl wo would not own tho heart that could stand


that shako


thoro was a general burst of npplauso followed for a moment by a profound silonco


mrs limetwig looked


proudly at the young bachelors but favoured tho


younger son of the banker with a look entirely for himself


in this pause a voice cried out and it seemed as if accompanying the glances of mrs iamotwig does nobody offer


n


a titter deepening into a laugh went round tho room and mrs limctwig and belinda turned to scarlet


oh lia


ha observed the mamma ovidently restraining excessive laughter thatteazing bird which williams godfather brought him how came it hero


and tho servant was immediately ordered to secure tho intruder but tho parrot was asocial parrot and resolved not to lcavq tho party hence after many ineffectual attempts to catch it for its leg though weak had been set by somo samaritan tho bird was suffered to remain


it was downright cruelty to ask but would thus spoko tho bankers younger son would miss limetwig sing his favourito song tho


certainly answered mrs limetwig for her daughter and the favourito song wo forget its titlo and words but its boing very popular may account for thatwas oxo cuted with incomparable power


your


only unmarried daughter observed tho bankers son in a low voice to mrs limotwig


all married except my dear belinda and it would break my heart i believe to part with hor


yes sir eaid the mothor affected by the probability of a sopdra tion


belinda sir is is tie last lot gentlemen the last lot i cried tho


parrot and tho guests burst into uncontrolled laughtor


bolindawith fine presence of mind immediately struck tho koys of tho piano as though quite unconscious of tho interruption and in a minuto or two was in tho midst of


a furious battlo piece


i v if i might aspiro to tho notice of miss limetwjp said tho bankers son to tho mothor i hope that


l


going for a song gentleman i cried tliopnrrot j and again its words were greeted with a shout


it was too much tho creature where could it havo learned such words


should bo bent from tho houso


such was the sentence pronounced by mrs limotivig and aftor somo littlo difficulty carried into oxocution


but tho


charm of tho night was broken mrs litnotwig was


irritated bolinda languid and tho bankers son whothor tho last declaration of tho bird had given him pauso wo know not not once for tho romaindpr of the evening ventured to speak of belinda


sho died a maid a victim to the intrusion of truth


what would boooino of tho world if truth interfered in every marriage


american notes for general circulation


by charles dickens


chapter vii in canada toronto kingston montreal quebec st


johns in the united states again lebanon the shaker village and west point


i wish to abstain from instituting any comparison or drawing any parallel what ever between the social features of the united states and those of the british possessions in canada


for this reason i shall confine myself to a very brief account of our journeyings in the latter territory


but before i leave niagara i must advert to one disgusting circumstance which can hardly have escaped the obser vation of any decent traveller who has visited the falls


on table rock there is a cottage belonging to a guide where little relics of the place are sold and where visitors register their names in a book kept for the purpose


on the wall of the room in which a great many of these volumes are preserved the following request is posted visitors will please not copy nor extract the remarks and poetical effusions from the registers and albums kept here


but for this intimation i should have let them lie upon the tables on which they were strewn with careful negligence like books in a drawingroom being quite satisfied with the stupendous silliness of certain stanzas with an anticlimax at the end of each which were framed and hung upon the wall


curious however after reading this announcement to see what kind of morsels were so carefully pre served i turned a few leaves and found them scrawled all over with the vilest and the filthiest ribaldry that ever human hogs delighted in


it is humiliating enough to know that there are among men brutes so obscene and worthless that they can delight in laying their miserable profanations upon the very steps of natures greatest altar


but that these should be hoarded up for the delight of their fellow swine and kept in a public place where any eyes may see them is a disgrace to the english lan guage in which they are written though hope few of these entries have been made by englishmen and a reproach to the english side on which they are pre served


the quarters of our soldiers at niagara are finely and airily situated


some of them are large detached houses on the plain above the falls which were origin ally designed for hotels and in the even ing time when the women and children were leaning over tho balconies watching the men as they played at ball and other games upon the grass before the door they often presented a little picture of cheerfulness and animation which made it quite a pleasure to pass that way


at any garrisoned point where the line of demarcation between one country and another is so very narrow as at niagara desertion from the ranks can scarcely fail to be of frequent occurrence and it may be reasonably supposed that when the soldiers entertain the wildest and maddest hopes of the fortune and independence that await them on the other side the impulse to play traitor which such a place sug gests to dishonest minds is not weakened


but it very rarely happens that the men who do desert are happy or contented afterwards and many instances have been known in which they have confessed their grievous disappointment and their earnest desire to return to their old service if they could but be assured of pardon or of lenient treatment


many of their com rades notwithstanding do the like from time to time and instances of loss of life in the effort to cross the river with this ob ject are far from being uncommon


several men were drowned in the attempt to swim across not long ago and one who had the madness to trust himself upon a table as a raft was swept down to the whirlpool where his mangled body eddied round and round some days


i am inclined to think that the noise of the falls is very much exaggerated and this will appear the more probable when the depth of the great basin in which the water is received is taken into account


at no time during our stay there was the wind at all high or boisterous but we never heard them three miles off even at the very quiet time of sunset though we often tried


queenston at which place the steam boats start for toronto or i should rather say at which place they call for their wharf is at lewiston on the opposite shore is situated in a delicious valley through which the niagara river in colour of a very deep green pursues its course


it is approached by a road that takes its wind ing way among the heights by which the town is sheltered and seen from this point is extremely beautiful and pictu resque


on the most conspicuous of these heights stood a monument erected by the provincial legislature in memory of general brock who was slain in a battle with the american forces after having won the victory


some vagabond supposed to be a fellow of the name of lett who is now or who lately was in prison as a felon blew up this monument two years ago and it is now a melancholy ruin with a long fragment of iron railing hanging dejectedly from its top and waving to and fro like an ivy branch or broken vine stem


it is of much higher importance than it may seem that this statue should be re paired at the public cost as it ought to have been long ago


firstly because it is beneath the dignity of england to allow a memorial raised in honour of one of her de fenders to remain in this condition on the very spot where he died


secondly be cause the sight of it in its present state and the recollection of the unpunished outrage which brought it to this pass is not very likely to soothe down border feel ings among english subjects here or com pose their border quartets and dislikes


i was standing on the wharf at this place watching the passengers embarking in a steamboat which preceded that whose coming we awaited and participating in the anxiety with which a sergeants wife was collecting her few goods together keeping one distracted eye hard upon the porters who were hurrying them on board and the other on a hoopless washingtub for which as being the most utterly worth less of all her moveables she seemed to entertain particular affectionwhen three or four soldiers with a recruit came up and went on board


the recruit was a likely young fellow enough strongly built and well made but by no means sober indeed he had all the air of a man who had been more or less drunk for some days


he carried a small bundle over his shoulder sung at the end of a walking stick and had a short pipe in his mouth


he was as dusty and dirty as recruits usually are and his shoes betokened that he had travelled on foot some distance but he was in a very jocose state and shook hands with this soldier and clapped that one on the back and talked and laughed continually like a roaring idle dog as he was


the soldiers rather laughed at this blade than with him seeming to say as they stood straightening their canes in their hands and looking coolly at him over their glazed stocks go on my boy while you may


youll know better bye and bye when suddenly the novice who had been backing towards the gangway in his noisy merriment fell overboard before their eyes and splashed heavily down into the river between the vessel and the dock


i never saw such a good thing as the change that came over these soldiers in an instant


almost before the man was down their professional manner their stiffness and constraint were gone and they were filled with the most violent energy


in less time than is required to tell it they had him out again feet first with the tails of his coat flapping over his eyes everything about him hanging the wrong way and the water streaming off at every thread in his threadbare dress


but the moment they set him upright and found that he was none the worse they were soldiers again looking over their glazed stocks more composedly than ever


the halfsobered recruit glanced round for a moment as if his first impulse were to express some gratitude for his pre servation but seeing them with this air of total unconcern and having his wet pipe presented to him with an oath by the soldier who had been by far the most anxious of the party he stuck it in his mouth thrust his hands into his moist pockets and without even shaking the water off his clothes walked on board whistling not to say as if nothing had happened but as if he had meant to do it and it had been a perfect success


our steamboat came up directly this had left the wharf and soon bore us to the mouth of the niagara where the stars and stripes of america flutter on one side and the union jack of england on the other and so narrow s the space between them that the sentinels in either fort can often hear the watchword of the other country given


thence we emerged on lake ontario an inland sea and by half past six oclock were at toronto


the country round this town being very flat is bare of scenic interest but the town itself is full of life and motion bustle business and improvement


the streets are well paved and lighted with gas the houses are large and good the shops ex cellent


many of them have a display of goods in their windows such as may be seen in thriving county towns in england and there are some which would do no dis credit to the metropolis itself


there is a good stone prison here and there are besides a handsome church a court house public offices many commanding private residences and a government ob servatory for noting and recording the mag netic variations


in the college of upper canada which is one of the public estab lishments of the city a sound education in every department of polite learning can be had at a very moderate expense the annual charge for the instruction of each pupil not exceeding nine pounds sterling


it has pretty good endowments in the way of land and is a valuable and useful institution


the first stone of a new college had been laid but a few days before by the governorgeneral


it will be a handsome spacious edifice approached by a long avenue which is already planted and made available as a public walk


the town is well adapted for wholesome exercises at all seasons for the footways in the thorough fares which lie beyond the principal street are planked like floors and kept in very good and clean repair


it is matter of deep regret that politi cal differences should have run high in this place and led to most discreditable and disgraceful results


it is not long since guns were discharged from a window in this town at the successful candidates in an election and the coachman of one of them was actually shot in the body though not dangerously wounded


but one man was killed on the same occasion and from the very window whence he re ceived his death the very flag which shielded his murderer not only in the commission of his crime but from its con sequences was displayed again on the occasion of the public ceremony performed by the governorgeneral to which i have just adverted


of all the colours in the rainbow there is but one which could be so employed i need not say that flag was orange


the time of leaving toronto for kings ton is noon


by eight oclock next morn ing the traveller is at the end of his jour ney which is performed by steamboat upon lake ontario calling at port hope and coburg the latter a cheerful thriving little town


vast quantities of flour form the chief item in the freight of these vessels


we had no fewer than one thousand and eighty barrels on board between coburg and kingston


the latter place which is now the seat of government in canada is a very poor town rendered still poorer in the appear ance of its marketplace by the ravages of a recent fire


indeed it may be said of kingston that one half of it appears to be burnt down and the other half not to be built up


the government house is neither elegant nor commodious yet it is almost the only house of tiny importance in the neighbourhood


there is an admirable jail here well and wisely governed and excellently regu lated in every respect


the men were employed as shoemakers ropemakers blacksmiths tailors carpenters and stone cutters and in building a new prison which was pretty far advanced towards completion


the female prisoners were oc cupied in needlework


among them was a beautiful girl of twenty who had been there nearly three years


she acted as bearer of secret despatches for the self styled patriots on navy island during the canadian insurrection sometimes dressing as a girl and carrying them in her stays sometimes attiring herself as a boy and secreting them in the lining of her hat


in the latter character she always rode as a boy would which was nothing to her for she could govern any horse that any man could ride and could drive fourin hand with the best whip in those parts


setting forth on one of her patriotic mis sions she appropriated to herself the first horse she could lay her hands on and this offence had brought her where i saw her


she had quite a lovely face though as the reader may suppose from this sketch of her history there was a lurking devil in her bright eye which looked out pretty sharply from between her prison bars


there is n bombproof fort here of great strength which occupies a bold position and is capable doubtless of doing good service though the town is much too close upon the frontier to be long held i should imagine for its present purpose in troubled times


there is also a small navyyard where a couple of government steamboats were building and getting on vigorously


we left kingston for montreal on the tenth of may at halfpast nine in the morning and proceeded in a steam boat down the st lawrence river


the beauty of this noble stream at almost any point but especially in the commencement of this journey when it winds its way among the thousand islands can hardly be imagined


the number and constant successions of these islands all green and richly wooded their fluctuating sizes some so large that for half an hour together one among them will appear as the oppo site bank of the river and some so small that they are mere dimples on its broad bosom their infinite variety of shapes and the numberless combinations of beauti ful forms which the trees growing on them present all form a picture fraught with uncommon interest and pleasure


in the afternoon we shot down some rapids where the river boiled and bubbled strangely and where the force and head long violence of the current were tre mendous


at seven oclock we reached dickensons landing whence travellers prooeed for two or three hours by stage coach the navigation of the river being rendered so dangerous and difficult in the interval by rapids that steamboats do not make the passage


the number and length of those portages over which the roads are bad and the travelling slow render the way between the towns of montreal and kingston somewhat tedious


our course lay over a wide uninclosed tract of country at a little distance from the river side whence the bright warning lights on the dangerous parts of the st lawrence shone vividly


the night was dark and raw and the way dreary enough


it was nearly ten oclock when we reached the wharf where the next steamboat lay and went on board and to bed


she lay there all night and started as soon as it was day


the morning was ushered in by a violent thunderstorm and was very wet but gradually improved and brightened up


going on deck after breakfast i was amazed to see floating down with the stream a most gigantic raft with some thirty or forty wooden houses upon it and at least as many flag masts so that it looked like a nautical street


i saw many of these rafts after wards but never one so large


all the timber or lumber as it is called in america which is brought down the st lawrence is floated down in this manner


when the raft reaches its place of destina tion it is broken up the materials are sold and the boatmen return for more


at eight we landed again and travelled by a stagecoach for four hours through a pleasant and wellcultivated country per fectly french in every respect in the ap pearance of the cottages the air language and dress of the peasantry the signboards on the shops and taverns and the virgins shrines and crosses by the wayside


nearly every common labourer and boy though he had no shoes to his feet wore round his waist a sash of some bright colour generally red and the women who were working in the fields and gardens and doing all kinds of hus bandry wore one and all great flat straw hats with most capacious brims


there were catholic priests and sisters of charity in the village streets and images of the saviour at the corners of crossroads and in other public places


at noon we went on board another steamboat and reached the village of lachine nine miles from montreal by three oclock


there we left the river and went on by land


montreal is pleasantly situated on the margin of the st lawrence and is backed by some bold heights about which there are charming rides and drives


the streets are generally narrow and irregular as in most french towns of any age but in the more modern parts of the city they are wide and airy


they display a great variety of very good shops and both in the town and suburbs there are many excellent private dwellings


the granite quays are remarkable for their beauty solidity and extent


there is a very large catholic cathe dral here recently erected with two tall spires of which one is yet unfinished


in the open space in front of this edifice stands a solitary grimlooking square brick tower which has a quaint and re markable appearance and which the wise acres of the place have consequently de termined to pull down immediately


the government house is very superior to that at kingston and the town is full of life and bustle


in one of the suburbs is a plank roadnot footpathfive or six miles long and a famous road it is too


all the rides in the vicinity were made doubly interesting by the bursting out of spring which is here so rapid that it is but a days leap from barren winter to the blooming youth of summer


the steamboats to quebec perform the journey in the night that is to say they leave


montreal at six in the evening and arrive in quebec at six next morning


we made this excursion during our stay in montreal which exceeded a fortnight and were charmed by its interest and beauty


the impression made upon the visitor by this gibraltar of america its giddy heights its citadel suspended as it were in the air its picturesque steep streets and frowning gateways and the splendid views which burst upon the eye at every turn is at once unique and lasting


it is a place not to be forgotten or mixed up in the mind with other places or altered for a moment in the crowd of scenes a traveller can recal


apart from the re alities of this most picturesque city there are associations clustering about it which would make a desert rich in interest


the dangerous precipice along whose rocky front wolfe and his brave companions climbed to glory the plains of abraham where he received his mortal wound the fortress so chivalrously defended by montcalm and his soldiers grave dug for him while yet alive by the bursting of a shell are not the least among them or among the gallant incidents of history


that is a noble monument too and worthy of two great nations which perpetuates the memory of both brave generals and on which there names are jointly written


the city is rich in public institutions and in catholic churches and charities but it is mainly in the prospect from the site of the old government house and from the citadel that its surpassing beauty lies


the exquisite expanse of country rich in field and forest mountainheight and water which lies stretched out before the view with miles of canadian villages glancing in long white streaks like veins along the landscapei the motley crowd of gables roofs and chimney tops in the old hilly town immediately at hand the beau tiful st lawrence sparkling and flashing in the sunlight and the tiny ships below the rock from which you gaze whose dis tant rigging looks like spiders webs against the light while casks and barrels on their decks dwindle into toys and busy mariners become s many puppets all this framed by a sunken window in the fortress and looked at from the shadowed room within forms one of the brightest and the most en chanting pictures that the eye can rest upon


in the spring of the year vast numbers of emigrants who have newly arrived from england or from ireland pass between quebec and montreal on their way to the back woods and new settlements of cana da


if it be an entertaining lounge as i very often found it to take a morning stroll upon the quay at montreal and see them grouped in hundreds on the public wharfs about their chests and boxes it is matter of deep interest to be their fellow passenger on one of those steamboats and mingling with the concourse see and hear them unobserved


the vessel in which we returned from quebec to montreal was crowded with them and at night they spread their beds between decks those who had beds at least and slept so close and thick about our cabin door that the passage to and fro was quite blocked up


they were nearly all english from gloucestershire the greater part and had had a long winter passage out but it was wonderful to see how clean the children had been kept and how untiring in their love and selfdenial all the poor patents were


cant as we may and as we shall to the end of all things it is very much harder for the poor to be virtuous than it is for the rich and the good that is in them shines the brighter for it


in many a noble mansion lives a man the best of husbands and of fathers whose private worth in both capacities is justly lauded to the skies


but bring him here upon this crowded deck


strip from his fair young wife her silken dress and jewels unbind her braided hair stamp early wrinkles on her brow pinch her pale cheek with care and much priva tion array her faded form in coarsely patched attire let there be nothing but his love to set her forth or deck her out and you shall put it to the proof indeed


so change his station in the world that he shall see in those young things who climb about his knee not records of his wealth and name but little wrestlers with him for his daily bread so many poachers on his scanty meal so many units to divide his every sum of comfort and farther to re duce its small amount


in lieu of the endearments of childhood in its sweetest aspect heap upon him all its pains and wants its sicknesses and ills its fretful ness caprice and querulous endurance let its prattle be not of engaging infant fancies but of cold and thirst and hunger and if his fatherly affection outlive all this and he be patient watchful tender care ful of his childrens lives and mindful always of their joys and sorrows then send him back to parliament and pulpit and to quarter sessions and when he hears fine talk of the depravity of those who live from hand to mouth and labour hard to do it let him speak up as one who knows and tell those holders forth that they by parallel with such a class should be high angels in their daily lives and lay but humble siege to heaven at last


which of us shall say what he would be it such realities with small relief or change all through his days were his


looking round upon these people far from home houseless indigent wandering weary with travel and hard living and seeing how patiently they mused and tended their young children how they consulted ever their wants first then half supplied their own what gentle mi nisters of hope and faith the women were how the men profited by their example and how very very seldom even a moments petulance or harsh complaint broke out among them i felt a stronger love and honour of my kind come glowing on my heart and wished to god there had been many atheists in the better part of human nature there to read with me this simple lesson in the book of life


we left montreal for new york again on the thirtieth of may crossing to la prairie on the opposite shore of the st lawrence in a steamboat we then took the railroad to st johns which is on the brink of lake champlain


our last greet ing in canada was from the english offi cers in the pleasant barracks at that place a class of gentlemen who had made every hour of our visit memorable by then hos pitality and friendship and with rule britannia sounding in our ears soon left it far behind


but canada has held and always will retain a foremost place in my remem brance


few englishmen are prepared to find it what it is