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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Adèle Dubois, by Mrs. William T. Savage
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Adèle Dubois
+       A Story of the Lovely Miramichi Valley in New Brunswick
+
+Author: Mrs. William T. Savage
+
+Release Date: July 5, 2005 [EBook #16207]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADÈLE DUBOIS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Sankar Viswanathan and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                             ADÈLE DUBOIS:
+
+                                A Story
+
+                                OF THE
+
+                       LOVELY MIRAMICHI VALLEY,
+
+                                  IN
+
+                            NEW BRUNSWICK.
+
+
+
+
+                          LORING, Publisher,
+
+                        319 WASHINGTON STREET,
+
+                               BOSTON.
+
+
+
+      Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by
+
+                             A.K. LORING,
+
+    In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of
+                            Massachusetts.
+
+
+                         ROCKWELL & ROLLINS,
+
+       PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS, 122 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE DUBOIS HOUSE.
+
+
+"Well, verily, I didn't expect to find anything like this, in such a
+wild region", said Mr. Norton, as he settled himself comfortably in a
+curiously carved, old-fashioned arm-chair, before the fire that blazed
+cheerily on the broad hearth of the Dubois House. "'Tis not a Yankee
+family either", added he, mentally. "Everything agreeable and tidy,
+but it looks unlike home. It is an Elim in the desert! Goodly
+palmtrees and abundant water! O! why", he exclaimed aloud, in an
+impatient tone, as if chiding himself, "should I ever distrust the
+goodness of the Lord?"
+
+The firelight, playing over his honest face, revealed eyes moistened
+with the gratitude welling up in his heart. He sat a few minutes
+gazing at the glowing logs, and then his eyelids closed in the blessed
+calm of sleep. Weary traveller! He has well earned repose.
+
+There will not be time, during his brief nap, to tell who and what he
+was, and why he had come to sojourn far away from home and friends.
+But let the curtain be drawn back for a moment, to reveal a glimpse of
+that strange, questionable country over which he has been wandering
+for the last few months, doing hard service.
+
+Miramichi,[A] a name unfamiliar, perhaps, to those who may chance to
+read these pages, is the designation of a fertile, though partially
+cultivated portion of the important province of New Brunswick,
+belonging to the British Crown. The name, by no means uneuphonious, is
+yet suggestive of associations far from attractive. The Miramichi
+River, which gives title to this region, has its rise near the centre
+of the province, and flowing eastward empties into the Gulf of St.
+Lawrence, with Chatham, a town of considerable importance, located at
+its mouth.
+
+[Footnote A: Pronounced _Mir´imisheé_.]
+
+The land had originally been settled by English, Scotch, and Irish,
+whose business consisted mostly of fishing and lumbering. These
+occupations, pursued in a wayward and lawless manner, had not exerted
+on them an elevating or refining influence, and the character of the
+people had degenerated from year to year. From the remoteness and
+obscurity of the country, it had become a convenient hiding-place for
+the outlaw and the criminal, and its surface was sprinkled over with
+the refuse and offscouring of the New England States and the Province.
+With a few rare exceptions, it was a realm of almost heathenish
+darkness and vice. Such Mr. Norton found it, when, with heart full of
+compassion and benevolence, thirty-five years ago, he came to bear
+the message of heavenly love and forgiveness to these dwellers in
+death shade.
+
+The Dubois House, where Mr. Norton had found shelter for the night,
+was situated on the northern bank of the river, about sixty miles west
+from Chatham. It was a respectable looking, two story building, with
+large barns adjacent. Standing on a graceful bend of the broad stream,
+it commanded river views, several miles in extent, in two directions,
+with a nearer prospect around, consisting of reaches of tall forest,
+interspersed with occasional openings, made by the rude settlers.
+
+Being the only dwelling in the neighborhood sufficiently commodious
+for the purpose, its occupants, making a virtue of necessity, were in
+the habit of entertaining occasional travellers who happened to visit
+the region.
+
+But, softly,--Mr. Norton has wakened. He was just beginning to dream
+of home and its dear delights, when a door-latch was lifted, and a
+young girl entering, began to make preparations for supper. She moved
+quickly towards the fire, and with a pair of iron tongs, deftly raided
+the ponderous cover of the Dutch oven, hanging over the blaze. The
+wheaten rolls it contained were nearly baked, and emitted a fragrant
+and appetizing odor.
+
+She refitted the cover, and then opening a closet, took from it a
+lacquered Chinese tea-caddy and a silver urn, and proceeded to arrange
+the tea-table.
+
+Mr. Norton, observing her attentively with his keen, gray eyes, asked,
+"How long has your father lived in this place, my child?"
+
+The maiden paused in her employment, and glancing at the broad,
+stalwart form and shrewd yet honest face of the questioner, replied,
+"Nearly twenty years, sir".
+
+Mr. Norton's quick ear immediately detected, in her words a delicate,
+foreign accent, quite unfamiliar to him. After a moment's silence he
+spoke again.
+
+"Dubois,--that is your name, is it not? A French name?"
+
+"Yes, sir, my parents are natives of France".
+
+"Ah! indeed!" responded Mr. Norton, and the family in which he found
+himself was immediately invested with new interest in his eyes.
+
+"Where is your father at the present time, my dear child?"
+
+"He is away at Fredericton. He has gone to obtain family supplies. I
+hope he is not obliged to be out this stormy night, but I fear he is".
+
+She made the sign of the cross on her breast and glanced upward.
+
+Mr. Norton observed the movement, and at the same time saw, what had
+before escaped his notice, a string of glittering, black beads upon
+her neck, with a black cross, half hidden by the folds in the waist of
+her dress. It was an instant revelation to hint of the faith in which
+she had been trained. He fell into a fit of musing.
+
+In the mean time, Adèle Dubois completed her preparations for the
+tea-table,--not one of her accustomed duties, but one which she
+sometimes took a fancy to perform.
+
+She was sixteen years old,--tall already, and rapidly growing taller,
+with a figure neither large, nor slender. Her complexion was pure
+white, scarcely tinged with rose; her eyes were large and brown, now
+shooting out a bright, joyous light, then veiled in dreamy shadows. A
+rich mass of dark hair was divided into braids, gracefully looped up
+around her head. Her dress was composed of a plain red material of
+wool. Her only ornaments were the rosary and cross on her neck.
+
+A mulatto girl now appeared from the adjoining kitchen and placed upon
+the table a dish of cold, sliced chicken, boiled eggs and pickles,
+together with the steaming wheaten rolls from the Dutch oven.
+
+Adèle having put some tea in the urn, poured boiling water upon it and
+left the room.
+
+Returning in a few minutes, accompanied by her mother and Mrs. McNab,
+they soon drew up around the tea-table.
+
+When seated, Mrs. Dubois and Adèle made the sign of the cross and
+closed their eyes. Mrs. McNab, glancing at them deprecatingly for a
+moment, at length fixed her gaze on Mr. Norton. He also closed his
+eyes and asked a mute blessing upon the food.
+
+Mrs. Dubois was endowed with delicate features, a soft, Madonna like
+expression of countenance, elegance of movement and a quiet, yet
+gracious manner. Attentive to those around the board, she said but
+little. Occasionally, she listened in abstracted mood to the beating
+storm without.
+
+Mrs. McNab, a middle-aged Scotch woman, with a short, square, ample
+form, filled up a large portion of the side of the table she
+occupied. Her coarse-featured, heavy fare, surrounded by a broad,
+muslin cap frill, that nearly covered her harsh yellow hair, was
+lighted up by a pair of small gray eyes, expressing a mixture of
+cunning and curiosity. Her rubicund visage, gaudy-colored chintz
+dress, and yellow bandanna handkerchief, produced a sort of glaring
+sun-flower effect, not mitigated by the contrast afforded by the other
+members of the group.
+
+"Madam", said Mr. Norton to Mrs. Dubois, on seeing her glance
+anxiously at the windows, as the wild, equinoctial gale caused them to
+clatter violently, "do you fear that your husband is exposed to any
+particular danger at this time?"
+
+"No special danger. But it is a lawless country. The night is dark and
+the storm is loud. I wish he were safely at home", replied the lady.
+
+"Your solicitude is not strange. But you may trust him with the Lord.
+Under His protection, not a hair of his head can be touched".
+
+Before Mrs. Dubois had time to reply, Mrs. McNab, looking rather
+fiercely at Mr. Norton, said, "Yer dinna suppose, sir, if the Lord had
+decreed from all eternity that Mr. Doobyce should be drowned, or
+rabbed, or murdered to-night, that our prayin' an' trustin' wad cause
+Him to revoorse His foreordained purpose? Adely", she continued, "I
+dinna mind if I take anither egg an' a trifle more o' chicken an' some
+pickle".
+
+By no means taken aback by this pointed inquiry, Mr. Norton replied
+very gently, "I believe, ma'am, in the power of prayer to move the
+Almighty throne, when it comes from a sincere and humble heart, and
+that He will bestow His blessing in return".
+
+"Weel", said Mrs. McNab, "I was brought up in the church o' Scotland,
+and dinna believe anything anent this new-light doctrine o' God's
+bein' turned roun' an' givin' up his decrees an' a'that. I think it's
+the ward o' Satan", and she passed her cup to be again refilled with
+tea.
+
+Adèle, who had noticed that Mrs. McNab's observations had suggested
+new solicitudes to her mother's mind, remarked, "What you said just
+now, Aunt Patty, is not very consoling. Whoever thought that my father
+would meet with anything worse than perhaps being drenched by the
+storm, and half eaten up with vermin in the dirty inns where he will
+have to lodge? I do not doubt he will be home in good time".
+
+"Yes, Miss Adely, yes. I ken it", said Aunt Patty, as she saw a firm,
+defiant expression gathering in the young girl's countenance. "I'd a
+dream anent him last night that makes me think he's comin".
+
+"Hark!" said Adèle, starting and speaking in a clear, ringing tone,
+"he has come. I hear his voice on the lawn".
+
+Murmuring a word or two of excuse, she rose instantly from the table,
+requested Bess, the servant, to hand her a lantern, and arrayed
+herself quickly in hood and cloak.
+
+As she opened the door, her father was standing on the step, in the
+driving rain, supporting in his arms the form of a gentleman, who
+seemed to be almost in a state of insensibility.
+
+"Make way! make way, Adèle. Here's a sick man. Throw some blankets on
+the floor, and come, all hands, and rub him. My dear, order something
+warm for him to drink".
+
+Mrs. Dubois caught a pile of bedding from a neighboring closet and
+arranged it upon the floor, near the fire. Mr. Dubois laid the
+stranger down upon it. Mr. Norton immediately rose from the tea-table,
+drew off the boots of the fainting man, and began to chafe his feet
+with his warm, broad hand.
+
+"Put a dash of cold water on his face, child", said he to Adèle, "and
+he'll come to, in a minute". Adèle obeyed.
+
+The stranger opened his eyes suddenly and looked around in
+astonishment upon the group.
+
+"Ah! yes. I see", he said, "I have been faint, or something of the
+kind. I believe I am not quite well".
+
+He attempted to rise, but sank back, powerless. He turned his head
+slowly towards Mr. Dubois, and said, "Friend Dubois, I think I am
+going to be ill, and must trust myself to your compassion", when
+immediately his eyes closed and his countenance assumed the paleness
+of death.
+
+"Don't be down-hearted, Mr. Brown", said Mr. Dubois. "You are not used
+to this Miramichi staging. You'll be better by and by. My dear, give
+me the cordial,--he needs stimulating".
+
+He took a cup of French brandy, mixed with sugar and boiling water,
+from the hand of Mrs. Dubois, and administered it slowly to the
+exhausted man. It seemed to have a quieting effect, and after awhile
+Mr. Brown sank into a disturbed slumber.
+
+Observing this, and finding that his limbs, which had been cold and
+benumbed, were now thoroughly warmed, Mr. Dubois rose from his
+kneeling position and turning to his daughter, said, "Now then, Adèle,
+take the lantern and go with me to the stables. I must see for myself
+that the horses are properly cared for. They are both tired and
+famished".
+
+Adèle caught up the lantern, but Mr. Norton interposed. "Allow me,
+sir, to assist you", he said, rising quickly. "It will expose the
+young lady to go out in the storm. Let me go, sir".
+
+He approached Adèle to take the lantern from her hand, but she drew
+back and held it fast.
+
+"I don't mind weather, sir", she said, with a little sniff of contempt
+at the thought. "And my father usually prefers my attendance. I thank
+you. Will you please stay with the sick gentleman?"
+
+Mr. Norton bowed, smiled, and reseated himself near the invalid.
+
+In the mean time, Mr. Dubois and his daughter went through the rain to
+the stables; his wife replenished the tea-urn and began to rearrange
+the table.
+
+Mrs. McNab, during the scene that had thus unexpectedly occurred, had
+been waddling from one part of the room to the other, exclaiming,
+"The Lord be gude to us!" Her presence, however, seemed for the time
+to be ignored.
+
+When she heard the gentle movements made by Mrs. Dubois among the
+dishes, her dream seemed suddenly to fade out of view. Seating herself
+again at the table, she diligently pursued the task of finishing her
+supper, yet ever and anon examining the prostrate form upon the floor.
+
+"Peradventure he's a mon fra' the States. His claithes look pretty
+nice. As a gen'al thing them people fra' the States hae plenty o'
+plack in their pockets. What do you think, sir?"
+
+"He is undoubtedly a gentleman from New England", said Mr. Norton.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+MRS. M'NAB.
+
+
+Mrs. McNab was a native of Dumfries, Scotland, and had made her advent
+in the Miramichi country about five years previous to the occurrences
+just mentioned.
+
+Having buried her husband, mother, and two children,--hoping that
+change of scene might lighten the weight upon her spirits, she had
+concluded to emigrate with some intimate acquaintances to the Province
+of New Brunswick.
+
+On first reaching the settlement, she had spent several weeks at the
+Dubois House, where she set immediately at work to prove her
+accomplishments, by assisting in making up dresses for Mrs. Dubois and
+Adèle.
+
+She entertained them with accounts of her former life in
+Scotland,--talking largely about her acquaintance with the family of
+Lord Lindsay, in which she had served in the capacity of nurse. She
+described the castle in which they resided, the furniture, the
+servants, and the grand company; and, more than all, she knew or
+pretended to know the traditions, legends, and ghost stories
+connected, for many generations past, with the Lindsay race.
+
+She talked untiringly of these matters to the neighbors, exciting
+their interest and wonder by the new phases of life presented, and
+furnishing food for the superstitious tendencies always rife in new
+and ignorant settlements. In short, by these means, she won her way
+gradually in the community, until she came to be the general factotum.
+
+It was noticed, indeed, that in the annual round of her visits from
+house to house, Mrs. McNab had a peculiar faculty of securing to
+herself the various material comforts available, having an excellent
+appetite and a genius for appropriating the warmest seat at the
+fireplace and any other little luxury a-going. These things were,
+however, overlooked, especially by the women of the region, on account
+of her social qualities, she being an invaluable companion during the
+long days and evenings when their husbands and sons were away, engaged
+in lumbering or fishing. When the family with which she happened to be
+sojourning were engaged in domestic occupations, Mrs. McNab,
+established in some cosey corner, told her old wife stories and whiled
+away the long and dismal wintry hours.
+
+Of all the people among whom she moved, Adèle Dubois least exercised
+the grace of patience toward her.
+
+On the return of Mr. Dubois and his daughter to the house, after
+having seen the horses safely stowed away, he refreshed himself at the
+tea-table and left the room to attend to necessary business. Mrs.
+Dubois and Mrs. McNab went to fit up an apartment for the stranger.
+
+In the mean time Mr. Norton and Adèle were left with the invalid.
+
+Mr. Brown's face had lost its pallid hue and was now overspread with
+the fiery glow of fever. He grew more and more restless in his sleep,
+until at length he opened his eyes wide and began to talk deliriously.
+At the first sound of his voice, Adèle started from her seat,
+expecting to hear some request from his lips.
+
+Gazing at her wildly for a moment, he exclaimed, "What, _you_ here,
+Agnes! you, travelling in this horrible wilderness! Where's your
+husband? Where's John, the brave boy? Don't bring them here to taunt
+me. Go away! Don't look at me!"
+
+With an expression of terror on his countenance, he sank back upon the
+pillow and closed his eyes. Mr. Norton knelt down by the couch and
+made slow, soothing motions with his hand upon the hot and fevered
+head, until the sick man sank again into slumber. Seeing this, Adèle,
+who had been standing in mute bewilderment, came softly near and
+whispered, "He has been doing something wrong, has he not, sir?"
+
+"I hope not", said the good man, "He is not himself now, and is not
+aware what he is saying. His fever causes his mind to wander".
+
+"Yes, sir. But I think he is unhappy beside being sick. That sigh was
+_so_ sorrowful!"
+
+"It was sad enough", said Mr. Norton. After a pause, he continued, "I
+will stay by his bed and take care of him to-night".
+
+"Ah! will you, sir?" said Adèle. "That is kind, but Aunt Patty, I
+know, will insist on taking charge of him. She thinks it her right to
+take care of all the sick people. But I don't wish her to stay with
+this gentleman to-night. If he talks again as he did just now, she
+will tell it all over the neighborhood".
+
+At that moment, the door opened, and Mrs. McNab came waddling in,
+followed by Mr. and Mrs. Dubois.
+
+"Now, Mr. Doobyce", said she, "if you and this pusson will just carry
+the patient up stairs, and place him on the bed, that's a' ye need do.
+I'll tak' care o' him".
+
+"Permit me the privilege of watching by the gentleman's bed to-night",
+said Mr. Norton, turning to Mr. Dubois.
+
+"By no means, sir", said his host; "you have had a long ride through
+the forest to-day and must be tired. Aunt Patty here prefers to take
+charge of him".
+
+"Sir", said Mr. Norton, "I observed awhile ago, that his mind was
+quite wandering. He is greatly excited by fever, but I succeeded in
+quieting him once and perhaps may be able to do so again".
+
+Here Mrs. McNab interposed in tones somewhat loud and irate.
+
+"That's the way pussons fra' your country always talk. They think they
+can do everything better'n anybody else. What can a mon do at nussin',
+I wad ken?"
+
+"Mr. Norton will nurse him well, I know. Let him take care of the
+gentleman, father", said Adèle.
+
+"Hush, my dear", said Mr. Dubois, decidedly, "it is proper that Mrs.
+McNab take charge of Mr. Brown to-night".
+
+Adèle made no reply, and only showed her vexation by casting a defiant
+look on the redoubtable aunt Patty, whose face was overspread with a
+grin of satisfaction at having carried her point.
+
+Mr. Norton, of course, did not press his proposal farther, but
+consoled himself with the thought, that some future opportunity might
+occur, enabling him to fulfil his benevolent intentions.
+
+A quieting powder was administered and Mrs. McNab established herself
+beside the fire that had been kindled in Mr. Brown's apartment.
+
+After having indicated to Mr. Norton the bedroom he was to occupy for
+the night, the family retired, leaving him the only inmate of the
+room.
+
+As he sat and watched the dying embers, he fell into a reverie
+concerning the events of the evening. His musings were of a somewhat
+perplexed nature. He was at a loss to account for the appearance of a
+gentleman, bearing unmistakable marks of refinement and wealth, as did
+Mr. Brown, under such circumstances, and in such a region as
+Miramichi. The words he had uttered in his delirium, added to the
+mystery. He was also puzzled about the family of Dubois. How came
+people of such culture and superiority in this dark portion of the
+earth? How strange, that they had lived here so many years, without
+assimilating to the common herd around them.
+
+Thus his mind, excited by what had recently occurred, wandered on,
+until at length his thoughts fell into their accustomed
+channel,--dwelling on his own mission to this benighted land, and
+framing various schemes by which he might accomplish the object so
+dear to his heart.
+
+In the mean time, having turned his face partially aside from the
+fire, he was watching unconsciously the fitful gleaming of a light
+cast on the opposite wall by the occasional flaring up of a tongue of
+flame from the dying embers.
+
+Suddenly he heard a deep, whirring sound as if the springs of some
+complicated machinery had just then been set in motion.
+
+Looking around to find whence the noise proceeded, he was rather
+startled on observing in the wall, in one corner, just under the
+ceiling, a tiny door fly open, and emerging thence a grotesque,
+miniature man, holding, uplifted in his hand, a hammer of size
+proportionate to his own figure. Mr. Norton sat motionless, while this
+small specimen proceeded, with a jerky gait and many bobbing grimaces,
+across a wire stretched to the opposite corner of the room, where
+stood a tall, ebony clock. When within a short distance of the clock
+another tiny door in its side flew open; the little man entered and
+struck deliberately with the hammer the hour of midnight. Near the top
+of the dial-plate was seen from without the regular uplifting of the
+little arm, applying its stroke to the bell within. Having performed
+his duty, this personage jerked out of the clock, the tiny door
+closing behind him, bobbed and jerked along the wire as before, and
+disappeared at the door in the wall, which also immediately closed
+after his exit.
+
+Having witnessed the whole manoeuvre with comic wonder and curiosity,
+Mr. Norton burst into a loud and hearty peal of laughter, that was
+still resounding in the room when he became suddenly aware of the
+presence of Mrs. McNab. There she stood in the centre of the
+apartment, her firm, square figure apparently rooted to the floor, her
+head enveloped in innumerable folds of white cotton, a tower of
+strength and defiance.
+
+Her unexpected appearance changed in a moment the mood of the good
+man, and he inquired anxiously, "Is the gentleman more ill? Can I
+assist you?"
+
+"He's just this minnut closed his eyes to sleep, and naw I expect he's
+wide awake again, with the dreadfu' racket you were just a makin' O!
+my! wadna you hae made a good nuss?"
+
+Mr. Norton truly grieved at his inadvertency in disturbing the
+household at this late hour of the night, begged pardon, and told Mrs.
+McNab he would not be guilty of a like offence.
+
+"How has the gentleman been during the evening?" he asked.
+
+"O! he's been ravin' crazy a'maist, and obstacled everything I've done
+for him. He's a very sick pusson naw. I cam' down to get a bottle of
+muddeson", and Mrs. McNab went to a closet and took from it the
+identical bottle of brandy from which Mrs. Dubois had poured when
+preparing the stimulating dose for the invalid. Mr. Norton observed
+this performance with a twinkle of the eye, but making no comment, the
+worthy woman retired from the room.
+
+That night Mr. Norton slept indifferently, being disturbed by exciting
+and bewildering dreams. In his slumbers he saw an immense cathedral,
+lighted only by what seemed some great conflagration without, which,
+glaring in, with horrid, crimson hue upon the pictured walls, gave the
+place the strange, lurid aspect of Pandemonium. The effect was
+heightened by the appearance of thousands of small, grotesque beings,
+all bearing more or less resemblance to the little man of the clock,
+who were flying and bobbing, jerking and grinning through the air,
+beneath the great vault, as if madly revelling in the scene. Yet the
+good man all the while had a vague sense of some awful, impending
+calamity, which increased as he wandered around in great perplexity,
+exploring the countenances of the various groups scattered over the
+place.
+
+Once he stumbled over a dead body and found it the corpse of the
+invalid in the room above. He seemed to himself to be lifting it
+carefully, when a lady, fair and stately, in rich, sweeping garments,
+took the burden from his arms, and, sinking with it on the floor,
+kissed it tenderly and then bent over it with a look of intense
+sorrow.
+
+Farther on he saw Mr. and Mrs. Dubois, with Adèle, kneeling
+imploringly, with terror-stricken faces, before a representation of
+the Virgin Mary and her divine boy. Then the glare of light in the
+building increased. Rushing to the entrance to look for the cause of
+it, he there met Mrs. McNab coming towards him with a wild, disordered
+countenance,--her white cotton headgear floating out like a banner to
+the breeze,--shaking a brandy bottle in the faces of all she met. He
+gained the door and found himself enwrapped in a sheet of flame.
+
+Suddenly the whole scene passed. He woke. A glorious September sun was
+irradiating the walls of his bedroom. He heard the movements of the
+family below, and rose hastily.
+
+A few moments of thought and prayer sufficed to clear his healthy
+brain of the fantastic forms and scenes which had invaded it, and he
+was himself again, ready and panting for service.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MR. NORTON.
+
+
+In order to bring Mr. Norton more distinctly before the reader, it is
+necessary to give a few particulars of his previous life.
+
+He was the son of a New England farmer. His father had given him a
+good moral and religious training and the usual common school
+education, but, being poor and having a large family to provide for,
+he had turned him adrift upon the sea of life, to shape his own course
+and win his own fortunes. These, in some respects, he was well
+calculated to do.
+
+He possessed a frame hardened by labor, and, to a native shrewdness
+and self reliance, added traits which threw light and warmth into his
+character. His sympathies were easily roused by suffering and want. He
+spurned everything mean and ungenerous,--was genial in disposition,
+indeed brimming with mirthfulness, and, in every situation, attracted
+to himself numerous friends. He was, moreover, an excellent
+blacksmith.
+
+After leaving his father's roof, for a half score of years, he was led
+into scenes of temptation and danger. But, having passed through
+various fortunes, the whispers of the internal monitor, and the voice
+of a loving wife, drew him into better and safer paths. He betook
+himself unremittingly to the duties of his occupation.
+
+By the influence of early parental training, and the teachings of the
+Heavenly Spirit, he was led into a religious life. He dedicated
+himself unreservedly to Christ. This introduced him into a new sphere
+of effort, one, in which his naturally expansive nature found free
+scope. He became an active, devoted, joyous follower of the Great
+Master, and, thenceforward, desired nothing so much as to labor in his
+service.
+
+About a year after this important change, a circumstance occurred
+which altered the course of his outward life.
+
+It happened that a stranger came to pass a night at his, house. During
+the conversation of a long winter evening, his curiosity became
+greatly excited, in an account, given by his guest, of the Miramichi
+region. He was astonished at the moral darkness reigning there. The
+place was distant, and, at that time, almost inaccessible to any, save
+the strong and hardy. But the light of life ought to be thrown into
+that darkness. Who should go as a torch-bearer? The inquiry had
+scarcely risen in his breast, before he thought he heard the words
+spoken almost audibly, _Thou must go_.
+
+Here, a peculiarity of the good blacksmith must be explained.
+Possessed of great practical wisdom and sagacity, he was yet easily
+affected by preternatural influences. He was subject to very strong
+"impressions of mind", as he called them, by which he was urged to
+pursue one course of conduct instead of another; to follow out one
+plan of business in preference to another, even when there seemed to
+be no apparent reason, why the one course was better than its
+alternative. He had sometimes obeyed these impressions, sometimes had
+not. But he thought he had found, in the end, that he should have
+invariably followed them.
+
+A particular instance confirmed him in this belief. One day, being in
+New York, he was extremely anxious to complete his business in order
+to take passage home in a sloop, announced to leave port at a certain
+hour in the afternoon. Resolving to be on board the vessel at the time
+appointed, he hurried from place to place, from street to street, in
+the accomplishment of his plan. But he was strangely hindered in his
+arrangements and haunted by an impression of trouble connected with
+the vessel. Having, however, left his wife ill at home, and being
+still determined to go, he pressed on. It happened that he arrived at
+the wharf just as the sloop had got beyond the possibility of reaching
+her, and he turned away bitterly disappointed. The night that followed
+was one of darkness and horror; the sloop caught fire and all on board
+perished.
+
+He had now received an impression that it was his duty to go, as an
+ambassador of Christ, to Miramichi.
+
+Having for sometime previous, "exercised his gift" with acceptance at
+various social religious meetings, he applied to the authorities of
+his religious denomination for license to preach.
+
+After passing a creditable examination on points deemed essential in
+the case, he obtained a commission and a cordial God speed from his
+brethren. They augured well for his success.
+
+To be sure, the deficiencies of his early education sometimes made
+themselves manifest, notwithstanding the diligent efforts he had put
+forth, of late years, to remedy the lack. But on the other hand, he
+had knowledge of human nature, sagacity in adapting means to ends, a
+wide tolerance of those unfortunate ones, involved by whatever ways in
+guilt, deep and earnest piety, and a remarkable natural eloquence,
+both winning and forcible.
+
+So he had started on his long journey through the wilderness, and
+here, at last, he is found, on the banks of the Miramichi, cheerful
+and active, engaged in his great work.
+
+The reader was informed, at the close of the last chapter, that after
+the perplexing visions of the night, by the use of charms of which he
+well knew the power, Mr. Norton had cleared his brain of the
+unpleasant phantoms that had invaded it during his slumbers. Being
+quick and forgetive in his mental operations, even while completing
+his toilet, he had formed a plan for an attack upon the kingdom of
+darkness lying around him.
+
+As he entered the room, the scene of his last night's adventure, his
+face beaming with cheerfulness and courage, Adèle, who was just then
+laying the table, thought his appearance there like another sunrise.
+
+After the morning salutations were over, he looked around the
+apartment, observing it, in its daylight aspect, with a somewhat
+puzzled air. In some respects, it was entirely unlike what he had
+seen before. The broad stone hearth, with its large blazing fire, the
+Dutch oven, the air of neatness and thrift, were like those of a New
+England kitchen, but here the resemblance ceased.
+
+A paper-hanging, whose originally rich hues had become in a measure
+dimmed, covered the walls; and curious old pictures hung around; the
+chairs and tables were of heavy dark wood, elaborately and grotesquely
+carved, as was also the ebony clock in the corner, whose wonderful
+mechanism had so astonished him on the previous evening. A low lounge,
+covered with a crimson material, occupied a remote corner of the room,
+with a Turkish mat spread on the floor before it. At the head of the
+couch was a case, curiously carved, filled with books, and beneath, in
+a little niche in the wall, a yellow ivory crucifix.
+
+It did not occur to the good man to make any comparison between this
+room with its peculiar adornings, and the Puritan kitchen with its
+stiff, stark furniture. One of the latter description was found in his
+own home, and the place where his loved ones lived and moved, was to
+him invested with a beauty altogether independent of outward form and
+show. But, as he looked around with an air of satisfaction, this room
+evidently pleased his eye, and he paid an involuntary tribute to its
+historic suggestiveness, by falling into a reverie concerning the life
+and times of the good Roman Catholic Fenelon, whose memoir and
+writings he had read.
+
+Soon Adèle called him to the breakfast-table.
+
+Mrs. McNab not having made her appearance, he inquired if any tidings
+had been heard from the sick-room. Mrs. Dubois replied, that she had
+listened at the door and hearing no sound, concluded Mr. Brown was
+quiet under the influence of the sleeping powder, and consequently,
+she did not run the risk of disturbing him by going in.
+
+"Should Aunt Patty happen to begin snoring in her chair, as she often
+does", said Adèle, "Mr. Brown would be obliged to wake up. I defy any
+one to sleep when she gets into one of those fits".
+
+"Adèle", said her father, while a smile played round his mouth and
+twinkled in his usually grave eyes, "can't you let Mrs. McNab have any
+peace?"
+
+"Is Mr. Brown a friend of yours?" inquired Mr. Norton of his host.
+
+"I met him for the first time at Fredericton. He was at the hotel when
+I arrived there. We accidentally fell into conversation one evening.
+He made, then and subsequently, many inquiries about this region, and
+when I was ready to start for home, said that, with my permission, he
+would travel with me. I fancy", Mr. Dubois added, "he was somewhat ill
+when we left, but he did not speak of it. We had a rough journey and I
+think the exposure to which he was subjected has increased his
+sickness. If he proves to be no better to-day, I shall send Micah for
+Dr. Wright", said he, turning to his wife. "I hope you will, father",
+said Adèle, speaking very decidedly. "I should be sorry to have him
+consigned over wholly to the tender mercies of Mrs. McNab".
+
+"Mr. Dubois", said the missionary, laying down his knife and fork,
+suddenly, "I must confess, I am perfectly surprised to find such a
+family as yours in this place. From previous report, and indeed from
+my own observation in reaching here, I had received the idea, that the
+inhabitants were not only a wicked, but a very rude and uncouth set of
+people".
+
+"Whatever may be your opinion of ourselves, sir", replied his host,
+"you are not far amiss in regard to the character of the people. They
+are, in general, a rough set".
+
+"Well, sir", said Mr. Norton, "as an honest man, I must inform you,
+that I came here with a purpose in view. I have a message to this
+people,--a message of love and mercy; and I trust it will not be
+displeasing to you, if I promulgate it in this neighborhood".
+
+"I do not understand your meaning", said Mr. Dubois.
+
+"I wish, sir, to teach these people, some of the truths of morality
+and religion such as are found in the Bible. I have ventured to guess
+that you and your family are of the Roman Catholic faith".
+
+"We belong to the communion of that church, sir".
+
+"That being the case, and thinking you may have some interest in this
+matter, I would say, that I wish to make an attempt to teach the
+knowledge of divine things to this people, hoping thereby to raise
+them from their present state to something better and holier".
+
+"A worthy object, sir, but altogether a hopeless one. You have no idea
+of the condition of the settlers here. You cannot get a hearing. They
+scoff at such things utterly", said Mr. Dubois.
+
+"Is there any objection in your own mind against an endeavor to enlist
+their interest?" asked Mr. Norton.
+
+"Not the least", said Mr. Dubois.
+
+"Then I will try to collect the people together and tell them my views
+and wishes. Is there any man here having influence with this class,
+who would be willing to aid me in this movement?"
+
+Mr. Dubois meditated.
+
+"I do not know of one, sir", he said. "They all drink, swear, gamble,
+and profane holy things, and seem to have no respect for either God or
+man".
+
+"It is too true", remarked Mrs. Dubois.
+
+"Now, father", said Adèle, assuming an air of wisdom, that sat rather
+comically on her youthful brow, "_I_ think Micah Mummychog would be
+just the person to help this gentleman".
+
+"Micah Mummychog!" exclaimed Mr. Norton, throwing himself back in his
+chair and shaking out of his lungs a huge, involuntary haw, haw,
+"where does the person you speak of hail from to own such a name as
+_that_, my dear child?"
+
+"I rather think he came from Yankee land,--from your part of the
+country, sir", said Adèle, mischievously.
+
+"Ah, well", said Mr. Norton, with another peal of laughter, "we _do_
+have some curious names in our parts".
+
+"Micah Mummychog!" exclaimed Mr. Dubois, "what are you thinking of,
+Adèle? Why, the fellow drinks and swears as hard as the rest of them".
+
+"Not quite", persisted the child, "and besides, he has some good about
+him, I know".
+
+"What have you seen good about him, pray?" said her father.
+
+"Why, you remember that when I discovered the little girl floating
+down the river, Micah took his boat and went out to bring her ashore.
+He took the body, dripping, in his arms, carried it to his house, and
+laid it down as tenderly as if it had been his own sister. He asked me
+to please go and get Mrs. McNab to come and prepare it for burial. The
+little thing, he said, was entirely dead and gone. I started to go, as
+he wished, but happened to think I would just step back and look at
+the sweet face once more. When I opened the door, Micah was bending
+over it, with his eyes full of tears. When I asked, what is the
+matter, Micah? he said he was thinking of a little sister of his that
+was drowned just so in the Kennebec River, many years ago".
+
+"That showed some feeling, certainly", said Mrs. Dubois.
+
+"Then, too, I know", continued Adèle, "that the people here like him.
+If any one can get them together, Micah can".
+
+"Well!" said Mr. Dubois looking at his child with a fond pride, yet as
+if doubting whether she were not already half spoiled, "it seems you
+are the wiseacre of the family. I know Micah has always been a
+favorite of yours. Perhaps the gentleman will give your views some
+consideration".
+
+"Father", replied Adèle, "I have only said what I think about it".
+
+"I'll try what I can do with Micah Mummychog", said Mr. Norton
+decidedly, and the conversation ended.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+MICAH MUMMYCHOG.
+
+
+About ten years before the period when this narrative begins, Micah
+Mummychog had come to this country from the Kennebec River, in the
+State of Maine.
+
+He soon purchased a dozen acres of land, partially cleared them, and
+built a large-sized, comfortable log house. It was situated not far
+from the Dubois house, at a short distance from the bank of the river,
+and on the edge of a grove of forest trees.
+
+Micah inhabited his house usually only a few months during the year,
+as he was a cordial lover of the unbroken wilderness, and was as
+migratory in his habits as the native Indian. On the morning after the
+events related in the last chapter, he happened to be at home. While
+Adèle was guiding the missionary to his cottage, he was sitting in his
+kitchen, which also served for a general reception room, burnishing up
+an old Dutch fowling-piece.
+
+The apartment was furnished with cooking utensils, and coarse wooden
+furniture; the walls hung around with fishing tackle, moose-horns,
+skins of wild animals and a variety of firearms.
+
+Micah was no common, stupid, bumpkin-looking person. Belonging to the
+genus Yankee, he had yet a few peculiar traits of his own. He had a
+smallish, bullet-shaped head, set, with dignified poise, on a pair of
+wide, flat shoulders. His chest was broad and swelling, his limbs
+straight, muscular, and strong. His eyes were large, round, and blue.
+When his mind was in a state of repose and his countenance at rest,
+they had a solemn, owl-like expression. But when in an excited,
+observant mood, they were keen and searching; and human orbs surely
+never expressed more rollicking fun than did his, in his hours of
+recreation. He had a habit of darting them around a wide circle of
+objects, without turning his head a hairsbreadth. This, together with
+another peculiarity of turning his head, occasionally, at a sharp
+angle, with the quick and sudden motion of a cat, probably was
+acquired in his hunting life.
+
+Micah had never taken to himself a helpmate, and as far as mere
+housekeeping was concerned, one would judge, on looking around the
+decent, tidy apartment in which he sat and of which he had the sole
+care, that he did not particularly need one. He washed, scoured,
+baked, brewed, swept and dusted as deftly as any woman, and did it all
+as a matter of course. These were, however, only his minor
+accomplishments. He commanded the highest wages in the lumber camp,
+was the best fisherman to be found in the region, and had the good
+luck of always bringing down any game he had set his heart upon.
+
+Micah had faults, but let these pass for the present. There was one
+achievement of his, worthy of all praise.
+
+It was remarked, that the loggery was situated on the edge of a grove.
+This grove, when Micah came, was "a piece of woods", of the densest
+and most tangled sort. By his strong arm, it had been transformed into
+a scene of exceeding beauty. He had cut away the under growth and
+smaller trees, leaving the taller sons of the forest still rising
+loftily and waving their banners toward heaven. It formed a
+magnificent natural temple, and as the sun struck in through the long,
+broad aisles, soft and rich were the lights and shadows that flickered
+over the green floor. The lofty arches, formed by the meeting and
+interlaced branches above, were often resonant with music. During the
+spring and summer months, matin worship was constantly performed by a
+multitudinous choir, and praises were chanted by tiny-throated
+warblers, raising their notes upon the deep, organ base, rolled into
+the harmony by the grand old pines.
+
+It is true, that hardly a human soul worshipped here, but when the "Te
+Deum" rose toward heaven, thousands of blue, pink, and white blossoms
+turned their eyes upward wet with dewy moisture, the hoary mosses
+waved their tresses, the larches shook their tassels gayly, the
+birches quivered and thrilled with joy in every leaf, and the rivulets
+gurgled forth a silvery sound of gladness. On this particular
+September morning Micah's grove was radiant with beauty. The wild
+equinoctial storm, which had so fiercely assailed it the day before,
+had brightened it into fresh verdure and now it glittered in the
+sunbeams as if bejewelled with emerald.
+
+Mr. Norton and Adèle reached the cottage door, on which she tapped
+softly.
+
+"Come in", Micah almost shouted, without moving from his seat or
+looking up from his occupation.
+
+The maiden opened the door, and said, "Good morning, Micah".
+
+At the sound of her voice he rose instantly and handing a chair into
+the middle of the floor, said, "O! come in, Miss Ady; I didn't know ez
+it was yeou".
+
+"I cannot stop now, Micah, but here is a gentleman who has a little
+business with you. I came to show him the way. This is Mr. Norton".
+
+And away Adèle sped, without farther ceremony.
+
+Micah looked after her for a moment, with a half smile on his
+weather-beaten face, then turned and motioning Mr. Norton to a chair,
+reseated himself on a wooden chest, with his gun, upon which he again
+commenced operations, his countenance setting into its usual owl-like
+solemnity.
+
+He was not courtly in his reception of strangers. The missionary,
+however, had dealt with several varieties of the human animal before,
+and was by no means disturbed at this nonchalance.
+
+"I believe you are from the States, as well as myself, Mr. Mummychog",
+said he, after a short silence.
+
+"I'm from the Kennebec River", said Micah, laconically.
+
+"I am quite extensively acquainted in that region, but do not remember
+to have heard your name before. It is rather an uncommon one".
+
+"I guess ye won't find many folks in them parts, ez is called
+Mummychog", said Micah, with a twinkle of the eye and something like a
+grin, on his sombre visage.
+
+"You've a snug place here, Mr. Micah", said Mr. Norton, who, having
+found some difficulty in restraining a smile, when repeating Mr.
+Mummychog's surname, concluded to drop it altogether, "but what could
+have induced you to leave the pleasant Kennebec and come to this
+distant spot?"
+
+"Well, I cam' to git a chance and be somwhere, where I could jest be
+let alone".
+
+"A chance for what, Mr. Micah?"
+
+"Why, hang it, a chance to live an' dew abeout what I want tew. The
+moose an' wolves an' wildcats hev all ben hunted eout o' that kentry.
+Thar wa'nt no kind ev a chance there. So I cam' here".
+
+"You have a wife, I suppose, Mr. Micah?"
+
+"Wife! no. Do ye spose I want to hev a woman kep' skeered a most to
+death abeout me, all the time? I'm a fishin' an' huntin good part o'
+the year. Wild beasts and sech, is what I like".
+
+"Don't you feel lonely here, sometimes, Mr. Micah?"
+
+"Lunsum! no. There's plenty o' fellers reound here, all the time.
+They're a heowlin' set tew, ez ever I see".
+
+"You have a good gun there", suggested the missionary.
+
+"Well, tolable", said Micah, looking up for the first time since Mr.
+Norton had entered the house, and scanning him from head to foot with
+his keen, penetrating glance. "I spose you aint much used to
+firearms?"
+
+"I have some acquaintance with them; but my present vocation don't
+require their use".
+
+Here Mr. Mummychog rose, and laying his gun on the table, scratched
+his head, turned toward Mr. Norton and said, "Hev yeou any pertikilar
+business with me?"
+
+"Yes sir, I have. I came to Miramichi to accomplish an important
+object, and I don't know of another person who can help me about it so
+well as you can".
+
+"Well, I dunno. What upon arth is it?"
+
+"To be plain upon the point", said the missionary, looking serious and
+earnest, "I have come here to preach the gospel of Christ".
+
+"Whew! religin, is it? I can tell ye right off, its no go en these ere
+parts".
+
+"Don't you think a little religion is needed here, Mr. Micah?"
+
+"Well, I dunno. Taint _wanted_. Folks ez lives here, can't abide
+sermans and prayers en that doleful stuff".
+
+"You say you came here for a chance, Mr. Micah. I suppose your friends
+came for the same purpose. Now, I have come to show them, not a
+_chance_, but a glorious certainty for happiness in this world and in
+the eternity beyond".
+
+"Well, they don't want tew know anything abeout it. They just want tew
+be let alone", said Micah.
+
+"I suppose they do wish to be let alone", said Mr. Norton. "But I
+cannot permit them to go down to wretchedness and sorrow unwarned. You
+have influence with your friends here, Mr. Micah. If you will collect
+the men, women, and children of this neighborhood together, some
+afternoon, in your beautiful grove, I will promise to give them not a
+long sermon, but something that will do them good to hear".
+
+"I can't dew it no heow. There's ben preachers along here afore, an'
+a few 'ud go eout o' curiosity, an' some to make a disturbance an'
+sech, an' it never 'meounts to anything, no heow. Then sposin we haint
+dun jest as we'd oughter, who'se gin _yeou_ the right tew twit us on
+it?"
+
+"I certainly have no right, on my own responsibility, to reproach you,
+or your friends for sin, for I am a sinful man myself and have daily
+need of repentance. But I trust I have found out a way of redemption
+from guilt, and I wish to communicate it to my fellow-beings that they
+also may have knowledge of it, and fly to Christ, their only safety
+and happiness in this world".
+
+Micah made no reply.
+
+There was a pause of several minutes, and then the missionary rose and
+said, "Well, Mr. Micah, if you can't help me, you can't. The little
+maiden that came with me, told me you could render me aid, if any one
+could, and from what she said, I entertained a hope of your
+assistance. The Lord will remove the obstacles to proclaiming this
+salvation in some way, I know".
+
+"Miss Ady didn't say I could help ye neow, did she?" said Micah,
+scratching his head.
+
+"Certainly. Why did she bring me here?"
+
+"Well, ef that aint tarnal queer", said Micah, falling into a deep
+reverie.
+
+In a few moments, Mr. Norton shook his new acquaintance heartily by
+the hand and bade him good morning. Was the good man discouraged in
+his efforts? By no means.
+
+He had placed in the mind of Micah Mummychog a small fusee, so to
+speak, which he foresaw would fire a whole train of discarded ideas
+and cast-off thoughts, and he expected to hear from it.
+
+He filled up the day with a round of calls upon the various families
+of the neighborhood, and came home to his lodgings at Mr. Dubois's
+with his heart overwhelmed by the ignorance and debasement he had
+witnessed.
+
+Yet his courage and hopes were strong.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MRS. LANSDOWNE.
+
+
+P---- is a city by the sea. Built upon an elevated peninsula,
+surrounded by a country of manifold resources of beauty and fertility,
+with a fine, broad harbor, it sits queenlike in conscious power,
+facing with serene aspect the ever-restless waves that wash
+continually its feet. The place might be called ancient, if that term
+could properly be applied to any of the works of man on New England
+shores. There are parts of it, where the architecture of whole streets
+looks quaint and time-worn; here and there a few antique churches
+appear, but modern structures predominate, and the place is full of
+vigorous life and industry.
+
+It was sunset. The sky was suffused with the richest carmine. The
+waters lay quivering beneath the palpitating, rosy light. The spires
+and domes of the town caught the ethereal hues and the emerald hills
+were bathed in the glowing atmosphere.
+
+In a large apartment, in the second story of a tall, brick mansion
+on ---- street, sat Mrs. Lansdowne. Susceptible though she was to the
+attractions of the scene before her, they did not now occupy her
+attention. Her brow was contracted with painful thought, her lip
+quivered with deep emotion. The greatest sorrow she had known had
+fallen upon her through the error of one whom she fondly loved.
+
+Though enwrapped in a cloud of grief, one could see that she possessed
+beauty of a rich and rare type. She had the delicate, aquiline nose,
+the dark, lustrous eyes and hair, the finely arched eyebrows of the
+Hebrew woman. But she was no Jewess.
+
+Mrs. Lansdowne could number in her ancestry men who had been notable
+leaders in the Revolutionary war with England, and, later in our
+history, others, who were remarkable for patriotism, nobility of
+character, intellectual ability, and high moral and religious culture.
+
+Early in life, she had been united to Mr. Lansdowne, a gentleman
+moving in the same rank of society with herself. His health obliged
+him to give up the professional life he anticipated, and he had become
+a prosperous and enterprising merchant in his native city. They had an
+only child, a son eighteen years old, who in the progress of his
+collegiate course had just entered the senior year.
+
+Edward Somers was Mrs. Lansdowne's only brother, her mother having
+died a week after his birth. She was eleven years of age at the time,
+and from that early period had watched over and loved him tenderly. He
+had grown up handsome and accomplished, fascinating in manners and
+most affectionate toward herself. She had learned that he had been
+engaged in what appeared, upon the face of it, a dishonorable affair,
+and her sensitive nature had been greatly shocked.
+
+Two years before, Mr. Lansdowne had taken him as a junior partner in
+his business. He had since been a member of his sister's family.
+
+A young foreigner had come to reside in the city, professing himself a
+member of a noble Italian family. Giuseppe Rossini was poet, orator,
+and musician. As poet and orator he was pleasing and graceful; as a
+musician he excelled. He was a brilliant and not obtrusive
+conversationalist. His enthusiastic expressions of admiration for our
+free institutions won him favor with all classes. In the fashionable
+circle he soon became a pet.
+
+Mrs. Lansdowne had from the first distrusted him. There was no
+tangible foundation for her suspicions, but she had not been able to
+overcome a certain instinct that warned her from his presence. She
+watched, with misgivings of heart, her brother's growing familiarity
+with the Italian. A facility of temper, his characteristic from
+boyhood, made her fear that he might not be able to withstand the
+soft, insinuating voice that veils guilty designs by winning
+sophistics and appeals to sympathy and friendship. And so it proved.
+
+One day, in extreme agitation, Rossini came to Mr. Somers, requesting
+the loan of a considerable sum of money, to meet demands made upon
+him. Remittances daily expected from Europe had failed to reach him.
+Mr. Somers was unable to command so large a sum as he required. His
+senior partner was absent from home. But the wily Rossini so won upon
+his sympathies, that he went to the private safe of his
+brother-in-law, and took from thence the money necessary to free his
+friend from embarrassment. He never saw the Italian again.
+
+When the treachery of which he had been the victim burst upon him,
+together with his own weakness and guilt, he was filled with shame and
+remorse. Mr. Lansdowne was a man of stern integrity and uncompromising
+justice. He dared not meet his eye on his return, and he dreaded to
+communicate the unworthy transaction to his sister, who had so gently
+yet so faithfully warned him.
+
+He made desperate efforts to get traces of the villain who had
+deceived him. Unsuccessful--maddened with sorrow and shame, he wrote a
+brief note of farewell to Mrs. Lansdowne, in which he confessed the
+wrong he had committed against her husband, which Mr. Lansdowne would
+reveal to her. He begged her to think as kindly of him as possible,
+averring that an hour before the deed was done, he could not have
+believed himself capable of it. Then he forsook the city.
+
+When these occurrences were communicated to Mr. Lansdowne, he was
+filled with surprise and indignation,--not at the pecuniary loss,
+which, with his ample wealth, was of little moment to him, but on
+account of such imprudence and folly, where he least expected it.
+
+A few hours, however, greatly modified his view of the case. He had
+found, in the safe, a note from Mr. Somers, stating the circumstances
+under which he had taken the money and also the disappearance of
+Rossini. This, together with his wife's distress, softened his
+feelings to such a degree that he consented to recall his brother and
+reinstate him in his former place in business.
+
+But whither had the fugitive gone? Mrs. Lansdowne found no clue to his
+intended destination.
+
+During the morning of the day on which she is first introduced to the
+attention of the reader, she had visited his apartment to make a more
+thorough exploration. Looking around the room, she saw lying in the
+fireplace a bit of paper, half buried in the ashes. She drew it out,
+and after examining carefully found written upon it a few words that
+kindled a new hope in her heart. Taking it to her husband, a
+consultation was held upon its contents and an expedition planned, of
+which an account will be given in the next chapter.
+
+She was now the prey of conflicting emotions. The expedition, which
+had that day been arranged, involved a sacrifice of feeling on her
+part, greater she feared than she would be able to make.
+
+But in order to recover her brother to home, honor, and happiness, it
+seemed necessary to be made. Voices from the dead were pleading at her
+heart incessantly, urging her, at whatever cost, to seek and save him,
+who, with herself, constituted the only remnant of their family left
+on earth. Her own affection for him also pressed its eloquent suit,
+and at last the decision was confirmed. She resolved to venture her
+son in the quest.
+
+In the mean time, the sunset hues had faded from the sky and evening
+had approached. The golden full moon had risen and was now shining in
+at the broad window, bringing into beautiful relief the delicate
+tracery on the high cornices, the rich carvings of the mahogany
+furniture, and striking out a soft sheen from Mrs. Lansdowne's black
+satin dress, as she moved slowly to and fro, through the light.
+
+She seated herself once more at the window and gazed upon the lovely
+orb of night. A portion of its serenity entered and tranquillized her
+soul. The cloud of care and anxiety passed from her brow, leaving it
+smooth and pure as that of an angel.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+"JOHN, DEAR".
+
+
+On the evening that Mrs. Lansdowne was thus occupied, John, her son,
+who had been out on the bay all the afternoon, rushed past the
+drawing-room door, bounded up the long staircase; entered his room,
+situated on the same floor, not far from his mother's, and rang the
+bell violently.
+
+In a few minutes, Aunt Esther, an ancient black woman, who had long
+been in the service of the family, made her appearance at the door,
+and inquired what "Massa John" wanted.
+
+"I want some fire here, Aunt Esther. I've been out on the bay,
+fishing. Our smack got run down, and I've had a ducking; I feel
+decidedly chilly".
+
+"Law sakes!" said she, in great trepidation, "yer orter get warm right
+away", and hastened down stairs.
+
+A stout, hale man, soon entered the room, with a basket of wood and a
+pan of coals, followed immediately by Aunt Esther, who began to
+arrange them on the hearth.
+
+Aunt Esther's complexion was of a pure shining black, her features of
+the size and cut usually accompanying that hue, and lighted up by a
+contented, sunshiny expression, which truly indicated the normal
+state of her mind. A brilliant, yellow turban sat well upon her woolly
+locks and a blue and red chintz dress, striped perpendicularly,
+somewhat elongated the effect of her stout dumpy figure. She had taken
+care of John during his babyhood and early boyhood, and he remained to
+this day her especial pet and pride.
+
+"Aunt Esther", said that young man, throwing himself into an
+easy-chair, and assuming as lackadaisical an expression as his frank
+and roguish face would allow, "I have just lost a friend".
+
+"Yer have?" said his old nurse, looking round compassionately.
+
+When did yer lose him?"
+
+"About an hour ago".
+
+"What did he die of, Massa John?"
+
+"Of a painful nervous disease", said he.
+
+"How old was he?"
+
+"A few years younger than I am".
+
+"Did he die hard?"
+
+"Very hard, Aunt Esther", said John, looking solemn.
+
+"Had yer known him long?"
+
+"Yes, a long time".
+
+Aunt Esther gave a deep sigh. "Does yer know weder he was pious?"
+
+"Well, here he is. Perhaps you can tell by looking at him", said he,
+handing her a tooth, he had just had extracted, and bursting into a
+boyish laugh.
+
+"O! yer go along, Massa John. I might hev knowed it was one of yer
+deceitful tricks", said Aunt Esther, trying to conceal her amusement,
+by putting on an injured look. "There, the fire burns now. Yer jest
+put on them dry clothes as quick as ever yer can, or mebbe ye'll lose
+another friend before long".
+
+"It shall be done as you say, beloved Aunt Esther", said he, rising
+and bowing profoundly, as she left the room.
+
+Having obeyed the worthy woman's injunction, he drew the easy-chair to
+the fire, leaned his head back and spent the next half hour hovering
+between consciousness and dreamland.
+
+From this state, he was roused by a gentle tap on his door, followed
+by his mother's voice, saying, "John, dear?"
+
+John rose instantly, threw the door wide open and ushered in the lady,
+saying, "Come in, little queen mother, come in", and bowing over her
+hand with a pompous, yet courtly grace.
+
+Mrs. Lansdowne, when seen a short time since walking in her solitude,
+seemed quite lofty in stature, but now, standing for a moment beside
+the regal height of her son, one could fully justify him in bestowing
+upon her the title with which he had greeted her.
+
+John Lansdowne was fast developing, physically as well as mentally
+into a noble manhood, and it was no wonder that his mother's heart
+swelled with pride and joy when she looked upon him. Straight,
+muscular, and vigorous in form, his features and expression were
+precisely her own, enlarged and intensified. Open and generous in
+disposition, his character had a certain quality of firmness, quite in
+contrast with that of his uncle Edward, and this she had carefully
+sought to strengthen. In the pursuit of his studies, he had thus far
+been earnest and successful.
+
+During the last half year, however, he had chafed under the
+confinements of student life, and having now become quite restive in
+the harness, he had asked his father for a few months of freedom from
+books. He wished to explore a wilderness, to go on a foreign voyage,
+to wander away, away, anywhere beyond the sight of college walls.
+
+"John", said Mrs. Lansdowne, "I have been conversing with your father
+on the subject, and he has consented to an expedition for you".
+
+"O! glorious! mother where am I to go? to the Barcan desert, or to the
+Arctic Ocean?"
+
+"You are to make a journey to the Miramichi River?"
+
+"Miramichi!" said John, after a brief pause, "I thought I had a slight
+acquaintance with geography, but where in the wide world is
+Miramichi?"
+
+"It is in the province of New Brunswick. You will have seventy-five
+miles of almost unbroken wilderness to pass through".
+
+"Seventy-five miles of wilderness! magnificent! where's my rifle,
+mother? I haven't seen it for an age".
+
+"Don't be so impetuous, John. This journey through the wilderness will
+be anything but magnificent. You will meet many dangers by the way and
+will encounter many hardships".
+
+"But, mother, what care I for the perils of the way. Look at that
+powerful member", stretching out his large, muscular arm.
+
+"Don't trust too much in that, John. Your strong arm is a good weapon,
+but you may meet something yet that is more than a match for it".
+
+"Possibly", said John, with a sceptical air, "but when am I to start,
+mother?"
+
+"To-morrow".
+
+"To-morrow! that is fine. Well! I must bestir myself", said he,
+rising.
+
+"Not to-night, my dear. You've nothing to do at present. Arrangements
+are made. Be quiet, John. We may not sit thus together again for a
+long while".
+
+"True, mother", said he, reseating himself. "But how did you happen to
+think of Miramichi?" he asked, after a pause.
+
+"That is what I must explain to you. Your uncle Edward has committed
+an act of imprudence which he fancies your father will not forgive
+him. He has left us without giving any information of his destination.
+We hope you will find him in New Brunswick, and this is your errand.
+You must seek him and bring him back to us".
+
+John had been absent at the time of Mr. Somers's departure, and,
+without making definite inquiries, supposed him to be away on ordinary
+business.
+
+After his first surprise at his mother's announcement, he was quite
+silent for a few moments.
+
+Then he said, firmly, "If he is there, I will find him".
+
+Mrs. Lansdowne did not explain to him the nature of her brother's
+offence, but simply communicated her earnest desire for his return.
+Then going together to the library they consulted the map of Maine
+and New Brunswick. Mr. Lansdowne joined them,--the route was fully
+discussed, and John retired to dream of the delights of a life
+untrammelled by college, or city walls.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS.
+
+
+Two days after the arrival of Mr. Norton at the Dubois House, on the
+banks of the Miramichi, John Lansdowne, on a brilliant September
+morning, started on his memorable journey to that region.
+
+He was up betimes, and made his appearance at the stables just as
+James, the stout little coachman, was completing Cæsar's elaborate
+toilet.
+
+Cæsar was a noble-looking, black animal, whose strength and capacity
+for endurance had been well tested. This morning he was in high
+spirits and looked good for months of rough-and-tumble service.
+
+"Here's yer rifle, Mister John. I put it in trim for ye yesterday. I
+s'pose ye'll be a squintin' reound sharp for bears and wolves and
+other livin' wild beasts when ye git inter the woods".
+
+"Certainly, James. I expect to set the savage old monsters scattering
+in every direction".
+
+"Well, but lookeout, Mister John and keep number one eout o' fire and
+water and sech".
+
+"Trust me for doing that, James".
+
+After many affectionate counsels and adieus from his parents, John,
+mounted on the gallant Cæsar, with his rifle and portmanteau, posted
+on at a rapid rate, soon leaving the city far behind.
+
+The position of one who sits confidently upon the back of a brave and
+spirited horse, is surely enviable. The mastery of a creature of such
+strength and capacity--whose neck is clothed with thunder--the glory
+of whose nostrils is terrible, gives to the rider a sense of freedom
+and power not often felt amidst the common conditions of life. No
+wonder that the Bedouin of the desert, crafty, cringing, abject in
+cities, when he mounts his Arab steed and is off to the burning sands,
+becomes dignified and courteous. Liberty and power are his. They
+elevate him for the time in the scale of existence.
+
+John was a superb rider. From his first trial, he had sat on
+horseback, firm and kingly.
+
+He and Cæsar apparently indulged in common emotions on this morning of
+their departure from home. They did not it is true "smell the battle
+afar off, the thunder of the captains and the shouting," but they
+smelt the wilderness, the wild, the fresh, the free, and they said ha!
+ha! And so they sped on their long journey.
+
+The young man made a partial acquaintance with lumbering operations at
+Bangor; had his sublime ideas of the nobility of the aborigines of the
+country somewhat discomposed by the experience of a day spent in the
+Indian settlement at Oldtown; found a decent shelter at Mattawamkeag
+Point, and, at last, with an exultant bound of heart, struck into the
+forest.
+
+The only road through this solitary domain was the rough path made by
+lumbermen, in hauling supplies to the various camps, scattered at
+intervals through the dense wilderness, extending seventy-five miles,
+from Mattawamkeag Point to the British boundary.
+
+Here Nature was found in magnificent wildness and disarray, her hair
+quite unkempt. Great pines, shooting up immense distances in the sky
+skirted the path and flung their green-gray, trailing mosses abroad on
+the breeze; crowds of fir, spruce, hemlock, and cedar trees stood
+waving aloft their rich, dark banners; clusters of tall, white
+birches, scattered here and there, relieved and brightened the sombre
+evergreen depths, and the maple with its affluent foliage crowned each
+swell of the densely covered land. Here and there, a scarlet tree or
+bush shot out its sanguine hue, betokening the maturity of the season
+and the near approach of autumn's latest splendor. Big boulders of
+granite, overlaid with lichens, were profusely ornamented with crimson
+creepers. Everything appeared in splendid and wasteful confusion.
+There were huge trees with branches partially torn away; others, with
+split trunks leaning in slow death against their fellows; others,
+prostrate on the ground; and around and among all, grew brakes and
+ferns and parasitic vines; and nodded purple, red, and golden berries.
+
+The brown squirrels ran up and down the trees and over the tangled
+rubbish, chirping merrily; a few late lingering birds sang little
+jerky notes of music, and the woodpecker made loud tapping sounds
+which echoed like the strokes of the woodman's axe. The air was rich
+and balmy,--spiced with cedar, pine, and hemlock, and a thousand
+unknown odors.
+
+The path through this wild of forest was rude and difficult, but the
+travellers held on their way unflinchingly,--the horse with
+unfaltering courage and patience, and his rider with unceasing wonder
+and delight.
+
+At noon they came to a halt, just where the sun looked down golden and
+cheery on a little dancing rivulet that babbled by the wayside. Here
+Cæsar received his oats, for which his master had made room in his
+portmanteau, at the expense, somewhat, of his own convenience. The
+young man partook of a hearty lunch and resigned himself to dreams of
+life under the greenwood tree.
+
+After an hour's rest, again in the saddle and on--on, through
+recurring scenes of wildness, waste, and beauty. Just as the stars
+began to glint forth and the traveller and horse felt willing perhaps
+to confess to a little weariness, they saw the light of the expected
+cabin fire in the distance. Cæsar gave a low whinny of approval and
+hastened on.
+
+Two or three red-shirted, long-bearded men gave them a rude welcome.
+They blanketed and fed Cæsar, and picketed him under a low shed built
+of logs.
+
+John, as hungry as a famished bear, drank a deep draught of a black
+concoction called tea, which his friends here presented to him, ate a
+powerful piece of dark bread, interlarded with fried pork, drew up
+with the others around the fire, and, in reply to their curious
+questionings, gave them the latest news from the outside world.
+
+For this information he was rewarded by the strange and stirring
+adventures of wilderness life they related during the quickly flitting
+evening hours.
+
+They told of the scores who went into the forest in the early part of
+winter, not to return until late in the spring; of snow-storms and
+packs of wolves; of herds of deer and moose; they related thrilling
+stories of men crushed by falling trees, or jammed between logs in the
+streams, together with incidents of the long winter evenings, usually
+spent by them in story telling and card playing. Thus he became
+acquainted with the routine of camp life.
+
+Wearied at last with the unaccustomed fatigues of the day, he wrapped
+himself in his cloak, placed his portmanteau under his head for a
+pillow and floated off to dreamland, under the impression that this
+gypsying sort of life, was just the one of all others he should most
+like to live.
+
+The following morning, the path of our traveller struck through a
+broad reach of the melancholy, weird desolation, called a burnt
+district. He rode out, suddenly, from the dewy greenness and
+balm-breathing atmosphere of the unblighted forest, into sunshine that
+poured down in torrents from the sky, falling on charred, shining
+shafts and stumps of trees, and a brilliant carpet of fireweed.
+
+It is nearly impossible to give one who has not seen something of the
+kind, an adequate impression of the peculiar appearance of such a
+region. The strange, grotesque-looking stems, of every imaginable
+shape, left standing like a company of black dwarfs and giants
+scattered over the land, some of them surmounted with ebony crowns;
+some, with heads covered like olden warriors, with jetty helmets;
+some with brawny, long arms stretched over the pathway as if to seize
+the passer by, and all with feet planted, seemingly in deep and
+flaming fire. How quickly nature goes about repairing her desolations!
+So great in this case is her haste to cover up the black, unseemly
+surface of the earth, that, from the strange resemblance of the weed
+with which she clothes it to the fiery elements, it would seem as if
+she had not yet been able to thrust the raging glow out of her fancy,
+and so its type has crept again over the blighted spot.
+
+John rode on over the glowing ground, the black monsters grimacing and
+scowling at him as he passed. What a nice eerie place this would be
+thought he for witches, wizards, and all Satan's gentry, of every
+shape and hue, to hold their high revels in. And he actually began to
+shout the witches song--
+
+
+   "Black spirits and white,
+   Red spirits and gray".
+
+
+At which adjuration, Cæsar, doubtless knowing who were called upon,
+pricked up his ears and started on a full run, probably not wishing to
+find himself in such company just at that time.
+
+An establishment similar to the one that had sheltered him the night
+previous, proffered its entertainment at the close of our adventurer's
+second day. The third day in the wilderness was signalized by an
+incident, which excited such triumphant emotions as to cause it to be
+long remembered. About an hour subsequent to his noon halt, as he and
+Cæsar were proceeding along at a moderate pace, he heard a rustling,
+crackling noise on the right side of the path and suddenly a deer,
+frightened and panting, flew across the road, turned for a moment an
+almost human, despairing look toward him, plunged into the tangled
+under-growth on the left and was gone from sight. John drew his reins
+instantly, bringing his horse to a dead stand, loosened his rifle from
+his shoulder and after examining it closely, remained quiet. His
+patience was not taxed by long waiting. Within the space of two
+minutes, there was another sharp crunching and crackling of dry
+boughs, when a wolf, large, gray, and fierce, sprang into the path
+from the same opening, following on the trail of the deer. He had
+nearly crossed the narrow road in hot pursuit and was about springing
+into the thicket beyond, when an accidental turn of his head brought
+our hero suddenly to his attention. He stopped, as if struck by a
+spell of enchantment.
+
+Whiz! the ball flew. The very instant it struck, the bloodthirsty
+monster fell dead. When John reached the spot, there was scarcely the
+quiver of a limb, so well had the work of death been accomplished. Yet
+the wolfish face grinned still a savage, horrible defiance.
+
+"Here, Cæsar", he exclaimed, in a boastful tone, "do you know that
+this old fellow lying here, won't get the drink out of the veins of
+that dainty creature he was so thirsty for? No! nor ever cheat any
+sweet little Red Riding Hood into thinking him her grandmother? This
+is the last of him. Didn't I do the neat thing, Cæsar?"
+
+Cæsar threw his head on one side, with an air of admiration and gave a
+low whinny, that betokened a state of intense satisfaction at the
+whole transaction.
+
+It may appear frivolous to those who have read with unwavering
+credulity the olden tales of the prowess and achievements of knights
+errant in the days of chivalry, that one should stop to relate such a
+commonplace incident as the shooting of a wolf, and above all, that
+the hero of this narrative, should betray, even to his horse, such a
+decided emotion of self admiration for having performed the feat. Such
+a trifle would not indeed be worth mentioning in company with the
+marvellous deeds and mysterious sorceries of the old romaunt, but this
+being a true story, the hero young, and this the first game of the
+kind he has yet brought down, it must be excused.
+
+After a critical examination of his victim, our traveller mounted his
+horse and proceeded on his journey, much gratified at his afternoon's
+work, and inwardly resolving how he would make the eyes of James and
+Aunt Esther stand out, while listening to the account of it he should
+give them, on his return home.
+
+In about seventeen days after his departure from P., John safely
+accomplished his journey. Amidst the subsequent hardships, rough fare
+and toils of that journey, which, in truth, thirty-five years ago,
+were things not to be laughed at, he had a constant satisfaction in
+the recollection of having, with one keen shot, killed a large,
+fierce, gray wolf.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A FUNERAL.
+
+
+The day following the call made by Mr. Norton on Micah Mummychog, the
+last-named personage came to Mr. Dubois's house and Adèle happening to
+open the outside door, just as he hove in sight, he called out, "Miss
+Ady, do ye know where that individooal that ye brought to my heouse
+yisterday, is?"
+
+"You mean the missionary?" said Adèle.
+
+"Well, yis, I spose so; where is he?"
+
+"He is engaged with a sick gentleman we have here. He has taken the
+place of Aunt Patty, who is tired out and has gone to rest".
+
+"Well, that piece of flesh, what's called McNab, has the greatest
+fakkilty of gittin' tired eout when there's any work reound, that ever
+I see. Any heow, she's got to stir herself this time. But I want to
+see the minister, neow".
+
+"Yes, I will speak to him. But I shall not call Aunt Patty. She _is_
+tired now. I can take care of the sick gentleman. But what has
+happened, Micah?"
+
+"Well, there's goin' to be a funeral. I can't jestly tell ye abeout
+it neow. Ye can ax yer sir, when he comes in", said Micah, reluctant
+to go into particulars which he knew would shock Adèle.
+
+"Well, Captin", said Micah, when Mr. Norton made his appearance at the
+door, here's a reg'lar wind-fall for ye. Here's an Irishman over here,
+as is dead as a door nail. He's goin' to be buried to-night, 'beout
+sunset, and I dun no but what I can git a chance for ye to hold forth
+a spell in the grove, jest afore they put him under greound".
+
+"Dead! the poor man dead! indeed!" exclaimed Mr. Norton.
+
+"Yis. He was shot right through his heart, and I hope a swingin' cuss
+'ill come on him that put the ball threough, tew".
+
+"Why, how was it, Mr. Micah?" said Mr. Norton earnestly.
+
+"Well, yeou jest tell me fust wether yeou'll say prayers, or somethin'
+or 'nother over the poor chap's reeliks".
+
+"Certainly, I will, Mr. Micah".
+
+"Well, ye see, Pat McGrath lived back here, half a mile or so, an'
+he's got lots o' cousins an' friends 'ut live all along on this 'ere
+river, more or less, till ye git to Chartham, _that's_ sitooated to
+the mouth. Well, these fellers has been in the habit o' gittin'
+together and goin' deown river and hirin' once in a spell, some sort
+of old, cranky craft and goin' skylarking reound to Eastport and
+Portland. Arter a while they'd cum back and smuggle in a cargo o'
+somethin' or 'nother from the States, and sheirk the dooties. Well,
+'beout a week ago, there was a confounded old crittur 'ut lives
+halfway from here to Chartham, that informed on' em. So they jes'
+collected together--'beout twenty fellers--and mobbed him. And the old
+cuss fired into 'em and killed this 'ere man. So neow they've brought
+his body hum, and his wife's a poor shiftless thing, and she's been a
+hollerin' and screechin' ever sence she heerd of it".
+
+"Poor woman!" said Mr. Norton, greatly shocked.
+
+"Well, I might as well tell yer the whole on't", said Micah,
+scratching his head. "Yer see, he was one o' these Catholics, this Pat
+was, and the fellers went to the priest (he lives deown river, little
+better'n ten mile from here) in course to git him to dew what's to be
+done to the funeral, and the tarnal old heathen wouldn't dew it. He
+sed Pat had gone agin the law o' the kentry, and he wouldn't hev
+anything to do 'beout it. So the fellers brought the body along, and I
+swear, Pat McGrath shall hev a decent funeral, any way".
+
+"Where is the funeral to be?" asked Mr. Norton, after listening
+attentively to the account Micah had given him.
+
+"O! deown here 'n the grove. The body's to my heouse, and Maggie his
+wife's there a screechin'. The graveyard's close here, and so they
+didn't carry him hum".
+
+"I'll, go down and see this poor Maggie", said Mr. Norton.
+
+"Don't, for the Lord's sake. I'm eenermost crazy neow. The heouse is
+jammed full o' folks, and there ain't nothin, ready. You jes' wait
+here, till I git things in shape and I'll cum arter ye".
+
+Micah then departed to complete his arrangements, and Mr. Norton
+returned to his post, in the sick-room.
+
+It was nearly five o'clock in the afternoon, before a messenger came
+to inform him that the hour of burial had arrived.
+
+A strange scene presented itself to his view, as he approached the
+grove. A motley company, composed of the settlers of every grade and
+condition for miles around, had collected there. Men, women, and
+children in various costume--the scarlet and crimson shirt, or tunic,
+carrying it high above all other fashions--were standing, or walking
+among the trees, conversing upon the event that had brought them
+together.
+
+As the missionary approached, the loud indignant voices subsided into
+a low murmur, and the people made way for him to reach the centre of
+the group.
+
+Here he found the coffin, placed upon a pile of boards, entirely
+uncovered to the light of day and to the inspection of the people, who
+had, each in turn, gazed with curious eyes upon the lifeless clay it
+enclosed.
+
+In the absence of Mrs. McNab, who was still sleeping away the effects
+of her late fatigues at the house of Mr. Dubois, the women of the
+neighborhood had arrayed Patrick McGrath, very properly, in a clean
+shirt of his accustomed wearing apparel, so arranging it that the
+folds of the red tunic could be lifted in order to expose to those who
+came to look upon him the wound he had received. There he lay, the
+rude smuggler, turned gently upon his side, one cheek pressing the
+pillow. Death had effaced from his countenance every trace of the
+stormy passions which raged in his breast when the fatal bullet struck
+him, and had sealed it with even a pleasant serenity.
+
+Not so with the compeers of his race, who encircled the coffin. _They_
+scowled a fierce fury from beneath their bushy brows and muttered vows
+of vengeance. The rays of the sun, now rapidly declining, shot into
+their angry faces, the evening breeze shook out their matted locks of
+hair. A peculiar glow was cast over their wild, Erin features, now
+gleaming with unholy passion.
+
+Mr. Norton bent for a few minutes over the coffin, while an expression
+of sorrow and deep commiseration overspread his countenance. Then he
+stepped upon a slight knoll of ground near by, raised himself to his
+full height and began to speak in a voice that rose above the crowd,
+clear, melodious, full and penetrating as the notes of a bugle. It
+thrilled on every ear and drew instant attention.
+
+"Friends, brethren, fellow-sinners, one of our number has been
+suddenly struck down by the relentless hand of death, and we are here
+to pay the last honors to his mortal remains,--each and all to learn a
+solemn lesson while standing at the mouth of the grave. Brethren, we
+are to learn anew from this occasion that death often comes to man
+with the suddenness of the lightning flash. One moment before your
+comrade was struck by the fatal bullet, his eye glowed as keenly and
+his right arm was as powerful as yours. The next moment he was
+prostrate on the ground, with no power to move a single limb of his
+body, or utter a single sigh, or breathe a single prayer. He was dead".
+
+"I am ignorant whether he was prepared to make such a sudden transit
+from this world to that scene of judgment to which he has been
+summoned. _You_ know, who were his friends and comrades, what his
+former course has been, and whether he was prepared to meet the Judge
+of all the earth. I know nothing of all this, but I fervently hope
+that at the last erring, awful moment, when he had just committed an
+act of transgression against the laws of his country, he had in his
+heart, and did, offer up this prayer, 'God be merciful to me, a
+sinner.' We must leave him in the hands of the Almighty, who is both
+merciful and just. We cannot change his lot, but we have it in our
+power to profit by the circumstances of his death. Beholding how
+suddenly he has been cut off, in the prime and strength of his days,
+we may learn that we too may be called at some unexpected moment, and
+that it behooves us to be found ever in the right path, so living, so
+acting, that we shall be ready, when death comes, to meet our Judge
+without fear and with the assurance that when we depart this life,
+through the righteousness of Christ, we shall be introduced into a
+better and nobler country. I beg of you earnestly, my dear brethren,
+in order to secure this happy result, to turn immediately from your
+sins, repenting of them without delay, and apply to Christ whose blood
+can alone wash them away. Take the Bible, this precious gift from
+Heaven, for your counsellor and guide, follow its instructions, and
+you will be safe and happy, whether in life or in death".
+
+"My brethren, I will say but one word more; that word I earnestly
+implore you to listen to. This book from God says, vengeance is mine;
+I will repay. I fear it is in your hearts to seek revenge upon him who
+is the author of your comrade's death. I beseech you not to do it. God
+knows where the wrong is, in this case, and He, the great Avenger,
+will not suffer it to go unpunished. Sooner or later He brings every
+wicked and wrong-doer to a just reward. Leave all in His righteous
+hands, and stain not your souls with blood and violence. Let us seek
+the divine blessing".
+
+Mr. Norton then offered a short and simple prayer, imploring the
+forgiveness of sins, and blessings upon Patrick's wife, his
+companions, and the community.
+
+Maggie, who had wailed herself into perfect exhaustion and almost
+stupor, sat gazing fixedly in his face; the rest seemed hushed as by a
+spell, and did not begin to move until some moments after his voice
+ceased.
+
+Then the tongues were loosened, and amid the ebbs and flows of
+murmuring sound, the coffin was covered, placed upon a bier and borne
+to the grave, followed by the crowd.
+
+"And shure", said a poor Irishwoman to her crony, as they trudged
+along behind, "the praste's voice sounded all the while like a great
+blessed angel, a blowin' through a silver trumpet. Shure, he's a
+saint, he is".
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+ADÈLE DUBOIS.
+
+
+The Dubois family, though widely separated by social rank and worldly
+possessions from the population around them, had yet, to a certain
+degree, mingled freely with the people. Originating in France, they
+possessed the peculiar national faculty of readily adapting themselves
+to the manners and customs of races foreign to their own.
+
+It is impossible to forget in the early history of the North American
+colonies, what facility the French displayed, in contrast with the
+English, in attaining communication with the children of the forest,
+in acquiring and retaining their confidence, in taking on their rude
+and uncultivated modes of life, and in shaping even their
+superstitions to their own selfish purposes.
+
+Of all the foreigners who have attempted to demonstrate to the world,
+the social and political problems of America, who has investigated
+with such insight, and developed so truly our manners and customs and
+the spirit and genius of our government as Tocqueville?
+
+Mr. Dubois, though possessing a conservative power that prevented him
+from descending to the low type of character and the lax principles
+of the country, yet never made any other than the most quiet assertion
+of superiority. It was impossible indeed for him to hold business
+connections with the rough settlers without mingling freely with them.
+But he never assumed the air of a master. He frequently engaged with
+them in bold, adventurous exploits, the accomplishment of which did
+not involve an infringement of law; sometimes he put hand and shoulder
+to the hard labors they endured, and he was ever ready with his
+sympathy and aid in redressing their grievances. Though often shocked
+at their lawless and profane customs, he yet recognized in many of
+them traits of generosity and nobleness.
+
+Without a particle of aggressiveness in his disposition, he had never
+undertaken actively the work of reform, yet his example of uprightness
+and integrity had made an impression upon the community. The people
+treated him with unvarying respect and confidence, partly from a sense
+of his real superiority, and partly, perhaps, from the very lack of
+self-assertion on his side. Consequently without having made the least
+effort to do so, he exercised an autocratic power among them.
+
+Mrs. Dubois visited the women of the place frequently, particularly
+when the men were absent in their lumbering, or fishing operations,
+conversing with them freely, bearing patiently their superstitions and
+ignorance, aiding them liberally in temporal things, and sometimes
+mingling kindly words of counsel with her gifts.
+
+Adèle's intercourse with the settlers was in an altogether different
+style. Her manner from earliest childhood, when she first began to
+run about from one cottage to another, had been free, frank, and
+imperious. Whether it was, that having sniffed from babyhood the fresh
+forest air of the new world, its breath had inspired her with a
+careless independence not shared by her parents, or, whether the
+haughty blood that had flowed far back in the veins of ancestors,
+after coursing quietly along the generations, had in her become
+stimulated into new activity, certain it is, she had always the
+bearing of one having authority and the art of governing seemed
+natural to her. It was strange, therefore, that she should have been
+such a universal favorite in the neighborhood. But so it was. Those
+who habitually set public law at defiance, came readily under the
+control of her youthful sway.
+
+Possessing a full share of the irrepressible activity of childhood,
+she enacted the part of lady of the Manor, assuming prerogatives that
+even her mother did not think of exercising.
+
+When about eleven summers old, she opened one afternoon the door of an
+Irish cabin and received at once a cordial, noisy welcome from its
+inmates. She did not however, make an immediate response, for she had
+begun taking a minute survey of the not over-nice premises. At length
+she deigned to speak.
+
+"Bridget Malone, are you not ashamed to have such a disorderly house
+as this? Why don't you sweep the floor and put things in place?"
+
+"Och! hinny, and how can I swape the floor without a brum?" said
+Bridget, looking up in some dismay.
+
+"Didn't my father order James to give you a broom whenever you want
+one? Here Pat", said she, to a ragged urchin about her own age, who
+was tumbling about over the floor with a little dirty-faced baby,
+"here, take this jack-knife and go down to the river by Mrs.
+Campbell's new house and cut some hemlock boughs. Be quick, and bring
+them back as fast as you can". Pat started at once.
+
+Adèle then deliberately took off her bonnet and shawl, rolled them up
+into as small a package as she could make, and placed them on the
+nearest approximation to a clean spot that could be found. Then she
+stooped down, took the baby from the floor and handed him to his
+mother.
+
+Here, Bridget, take Johnny, wash his face and put him on a clean
+dress. I know he has another dress and it ought to be clean".
+
+"Yes. He's got one you gave him, Miss Ady, but it aint clane at all.
+Shure it's time to wash I'm wanting, it is".
+
+"Now, don't tell me, Bridget, that you have not time to wash your
+children's clothes and keep them decent. You need not spend so many
+hours smoking your pipe over the ashes".
+
+"You wouldn't deprive a poor cratur of all the comfort she has in the
+world, would ye, hinny?"
+
+"You ought to take comfort in keeping your house and children clean,
+Bridget".
+
+In the meanwhile, Bridget had washed Johnny's face, and there being no
+clean dress ready for the little fellow, Adèle said, "Come, Bridget,
+put on a kettle of water, pick up your clothes, and do your washing".
+
+"Shure, and I will, if ye say so, Miss Ady".
+
+The poor shiftless thing having placed the baby on the floor again,
+began to stir about and make ready.
+
+Adèle sat poking and turning over the chubby little Johnny with her
+foot.
+
+At last, Pat appeared with a moderate quantity of hemlock boughs,
+which Adèle told him to throw upon the floor,--then to hand her the
+knife and sit down by her side and learn to make a broom. She
+selected, clipped, and laid together the boughs, until she had made
+quite a pile; sent Pat for a strong piece of twine and an old broom
+handle and then secured the boughs firmly upon it.
+
+"Now Pat", she said, "here is a nice, new jack-knife. If you will
+promise me that you will cut boughs and make your mother two new
+brooms, just like this, every week, the knife shall be yours".
+
+Pat, with eyes that stood out an unmentionable distance, and mouth
+stretched from ear to ear, promised, and Adèle proceeded vigorously to
+sweep the apartment. In the course of half an hour, the room wore a
+wholly different aspect.
+
+"And who tould the like of ye, how to make a brum like that, hinny?"
+said Bridget, looking on in admiration of her skill.
+
+"Nobody told me. I saw Aunt Patty McNab do it once. You see it is easy
+to do. Now, Bridget, remember. Have your house clean after this, or I
+will not come to see you".
+
+"Yes, shure, I'll have them blessed brums as long's there's a tree
+grows".
+
+And true it was, that Adèle's threat not to visit her cabin proved
+such a salutary terror to poor Bridget, that there was a perceptible
+improvement in her domestic arrangements ever after.
+
+As Adèle grew older, the ascendency she had obtained in her obscure
+empire daily increased. At twelve, she was sent to a convent at
+Halifax, where she remained three years. At the end of that period,
+she returned to Miramichi, and resumed at once her regal sceptre. The
+sway she held over the people was really one of love, grounded on a
+recognition of her superiority. Circulating among them freely, she
+became thoroughly acquainted with their habits and modes of living,
+and she was ever ready to aid them, under their outward wants and
+their deeper heart troubles. A community must have some one to look up
+to, whether conscious of the want or not. Hero-worship is natural to
+the human soul, and the miscellaneous group of women and children
+scattered over the settlement, found in Adèle a strong, joyous,
+self-relying spirit, able to help them out of their difficulties, who
+could cheer them when down-hearted, and spur them up when getting
+discouraged or inefficient.
+
+But, added to this were the charms of her youthful beauty, which even
+the humblest felt, without perhaps knowing it, and an air of authority
+that swept away all opposition, and held, at times, even Aunt Patty
+McNab at arms' length. Yes, it must be confessed that the young lady
+was in the habit of queening it over the people; but they were
+perfectly willing to have it so, and both loved and were proud of
+their little despot.
+
+In the mean time, the Dubois family were living a life within a life,
+to the _locale_ of which the render must now be introduced.
+
+It has been said that the outward aspect of their dwelling was
+respectable, and in that regard was not greatly at variance, except in
+size, with the surrounding habitations. Within, however, there were
+apartments furnished and adorned in such a manner as to betoken the
+character and tastes of the inmates.
+
+In the second story, directly over the spacious dining room already
+described, there was a long apartment with two windows reaching nearly
+to the floor. It was carpeted with crimson and black Brussels,
+contained two sofas of French workmanship, made in a heavy, though
+rich style, covered with cloth also of crimson and black; with chairs
+fashioned and carved to match the couches, and finished in the same
+material. A quaint-looking piano stood in one corner of the room. In
+the centre was a Chinese lacquered table on which stood a lamp in
+bronze, the bowl of which was supported by various broadly-smiling,
+grotesque creatures, belonging to a genus known only in the domain of
+fable.
+
+On the evening following the burial of poor Pat McGrath, Mrs. Dubois
+sat in this apartment, engaged in embroidering a fancy piece of dress
+for Adèle. That young lady was reclining upon a sofa, and was looking
+earnestly at a painting of the Madonna, a copy from some old master,
+hanging nearly opposite to her. It was now bathed in the yellow
+moonlight, which heightened the wonderfully saintly expression in the
+countenances of the holy mother and child.
+
+"See! _ma bonne mère_, the blessed Marie looks down on us with a sweet
+smile to-night".
+
+"She always looks kindly upon us, _chère_, when we try to do right",
+said Mrs. Dubois, smiling. "Doubtless you have tried to be good to-day
+and she approves your effort".
+
+"Now, just tell me, _ma chère mère_, how she would regard me to-night
+if I had committed one wicked deed to-day".
+
+"This same Marie looks sad and wistful sometimes, my Adèle".
+
+"True. But not particularly at _such_ times. It depends on which side
+the light strikes the picture, whether she looks sad or smiling. Just
+that, and nothing more. Now the moonlight gives her a smiling
+expression. And please listen, _chère mère_. I have heard that there
+is, somewhere, a Madonna, into whose countenance the old painter
+endeavored to throw an air of profoundest repose. He succeeded. I have
+heard that that picture has a strange power to soothe. Gazing upon it
+the spirit grows calm and the voice unconsciously sinks into a
+whisper. Our priests would tell the common people that it is a
+miraculous influence exerted upon them by the Virgin herself, whereas
+it is only the effect produced by the exquisite skill of the artist.
+_Eh, bien!_ our church is full of superstitions".
+
+"We will talk no more of it, _ma fille_. You do not love the holy
+_Marie_ as you ought, I fear".
+
+"Love her! indeed I do. She is the most blest and honored among
+women,--the mother of the Saviour. But why should we pray to her, when
+Jesus is the only intercessor for our sins with the Father? Why, _ma
+chère mère_?"
+
+_"Helas! ma fille_. You learned to slight the intercession of the holy
+saints while you were at the convent. It is strange. I thought I could
+trust you there".
+
+"Do not think it the fault of the sisters, _chère mère_. They did
+their duty. This way of thinking _came_ to me. I did not seek it,
+indeed".
+
+"How did it come to you, _ma pauvre fille_?"
+
+"I will tell you. The first time I went into the convent parlor,
+Sister Adrienne, thinking to amuse me, took me around the room and
+showed me its curiosities. But I was filled, with an infinite disgust.
+I did not distinctly know then why I was so sickened, but I understand
+it all now".
+
+"What did you see, Adèle?"
+
+"Eh! those horrid relics of saints,--those teeth, those bones, those
+locks of hair in the cabinet. Then that awful skeleton of sister
+Agnes, who founded the convent and was the first Abbess, covered with
+wax and preserved in a crystal case! I thought I was in some
+charnel-house. I could hardly breathe. Do you like such parlor
+ornaments as those, _ma chère mère_?"
+
+"Not quite".
+
+"What do we want of the dry bones of the saints, when we have memoirs
+of their precious lives? They would themselves spurn the superstition
+that consecrates mere earthly dust. It nauseates me to think of it".
+
+"_Procedez, ma fille_".
+
+"My friend from the States, Mabel Barton, came to the convent, the day
+I arrived. As our studies were the same, and as, at first, we were
+both homesick, the sisters permitted us to be together much of the
+time. _Eh! bien!_ I read her books, her Bible, and so light dawned.
+She used to pray to the Father, through the Redeemer. I liked that way
+best. But _ma mère_, our cathedral service is sublime. There is
+nothing like _that_. Now you will forgive me. The arches, the altar,
+the incense, the glorious surging waves of music,--these raised me and
+Mabel, likewise, up to the lofty third heaven. How high, how holy we
+felt, when we worshipped there. Because I like the cathedral, you will
+forgive me for all I said before,--will you not, _ma chère mère_?"
+
+Turning her head suddenly towards her mother, Adèle saw her eyes
+filled with tears.
+
+"_Eh! ma chère mère, pardonnez moi_. I have pained you". And she rose
+and flung her arms, passionately, around her mother's neck.
+
+"_Pauvre fille!_" said the mother, returning her embrace mournfully,
+"you will wander away from the church,--our holy church. It would not
+have been thus, had we remained in sunny Picardy. _Eh! oublier je ne
+puis_."
+
+"What is it, _chère mère_", said Adèle, "that you cannot forget? There
+is something I have long wished to know. What was there, before you
+came here to live? Why do you sometimes sit and look so thoughtful, so
+sad and wishful? Tell me;--tell me, that I may comfort you".
+
+"I will tell you all, Adèle, yes,--all. It is time for you to know,
+but--not to-night--not to-night".
+
+"To-morrow then, _ma mère_?"
+
+"Yes. Yes--to-morrow".
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+PICARDY.
+
+
+"Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but, weep sore for him
+that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native
+country". The prophet, who wrote these words, well knew the exile's
+grief. He was himself an exile. He thought of Jerusalem, the city of
+his home, his love, and his heart was near to breaking. He hung his
+harp upon the willow; he sat down by the streams of Babylon and wept.
+
+The terrible malady of homesickness,--it has eaten out the vigor and
+beauty of many a life. The soul, alien to all around, forlorn amid the
+most enchanting scenes, filled with ceaseless longing for a renewal of
+past delights, can never find a remedy, until it is transplanted back
+to its native clime.
+
+Nor was the prophet singular in his experience of the woes of exile.
+We have heard of the lofty-spirited Dante, wandering from city to
+city, carrying with him, in banishment, irrepressible and unsatisfied
+yearnings for his beloved Florence; we have seen the Greek Islander,
+borne a captive from home, sighing, in vain, for the dash and roar of
+his familiar seas; we have seen the Switzer, transplanted to milder
+climes and more radiant sides, yet longing for the stern mountain
+forms, the breezes and echoes of his native land. Ah! who does not
+remember, with a shudder, the despairing thoughts, choking tears, and
+days of silent misery that clouded his own boyhood, and perhaps even
+some days of his early manhood?
+
+_Oublier je ne puis_. Poor lady! she had been homesick twenty years.
+
+On the afternoon following the conversation recorded in the last
+chapter, Mrs. Dubois was ready to unfold to Adèle the story of her
+past life. They were sitting in the parlor. The golden glory of the
+September sun gave an intense hue to the crimson furniture, lighted up
+the face of the Madonna with a new radiance, and touched the ivory
+keys of the piano with a fresh polish. Adèle's eyes were fixed with
+eager expectation upon her mother.
+
+"You know, _ma chère_", Mrs. Dubois began, "we once lived in France.
+But you cannot know, I trust you never may, what it cost us to leave
+our beautiful Picardy,--what we have suffered in remaining here,
+exiled in this rude country. Yet then it seemed our best course.
+Indeed, we thought there was no other path for us so good as this. We
+were young, and did not enough consider, perhaps, what such a change
+in our life involved. I must tell you, my Adèle, how it came about.
+
+"In the province of Picardy not many miles from the city of Amiens,
+there was a fine, but not large estate, bordering on the River Somme.
+A long avenue of poplars led from the main road up a gentle slope
+until it opened upon a broad, green plateau of grass, studded with
+giant trees, the growth of centuries. Here and there were trim little
+flower-beds, laid out in a variety of fantastic shapes, with stiff,
+glossy, green, closely-clipped borders of box. And, what was my
+childish admiration and delight, there was a fountain that poured
+itself out in oozing, dripping drops from the flowing hair and finger
+tips of a marble Venus, just rising in the immense basin and wringing
+out her locks. Then the park,--there was none more beautiful, more
+stately, extending far back to the banks of the Somme, where birds sat
+on every bough and the nightingale seemed to pour its very heart away,
+singing so thrillingly and so long. I hear the liquid notes now, my
+Adèle, so tender, so sweet! At the end of the avenue of poplars of
+which I spoke stood the chateau, with the trim flower-beds in front.
+It was built of brown stone, not much ornamented externally, with four
+round towers, one in each corner. Though not as old as some of those
+castles, it had been reared several centuries before, by a Count de
+Rossillon, who owned the estate and lived on it.
+
+"In that chateau, I first saw the light of day, and there I spent my
+happy childhood and youth.
+
+"The estate of Rossillon had been bequeathed by the will of my
+grandfather, to his two sons. The elder, the present Count de
+Rossillon, inherited the larger portion; my father, the younger son,
+the smaller share.
+
+"My father was a Bonapartist, and at the time of his marriage held a
+high rank in the army. During his absence from the country, my mother
+resided at the chateau with her brother-in-law, the Count.
+
+"One day in June, news arrived of the sudden death of my father. It was
+communicated to my mother, by the messenger who brought it, without
+precaution. That night, one hour after, I was ushered into an orphaned
+existence and my mother took her departure from the world. Think of
+me, Adèle, thus thrown a waif upon the shore of life. Yet, though born
+in the shadow of a great sorrow, sunlight struck across my path.
+
+"The faithful _bonne_, who had taken care of my mother in her infancy
+and had never left her, now took charge of me. She watched over me
+faithfully and filled up my childhood with affectionate attention and
+innocent pastime. My uncle, the Count, who had never been married,
+loved, petted, and indulged me in every wish. When I grew old enough,
+he secured a governess well qualified to teach and discipline me.
+Under her care, with the aid of masters in Latin, music, and drawing,
+from Amiens, I went through the course of instruction considered
+necessary for young ladies at that time.
+
+"I was at your age my Adèle when I first met your father. He was not
+the bronzed and careworn man you see him now. Ah! no. He was young and
+gay, with a falcon glance and, black wreathing locks hanging over his
+white, smooth brow. His father was of noble blood, and sympathized
+warmly with the dethroned Bourbons. He was no lover of the great
+Consul. The political troubles in France had operated in ways greatly
+to impoverish his house.
+
+"He owned and occupied only the remnant of what had been a large
+estate, adjoining that of the Count de Ros.
+
+"While acquiring his education, your father, except at occasional
+intervals, was six years from home, and it so happened that I never
+met him in my childhood. Indeed, the families were not on terms of
+intimacy. On his return from the University, I first saw him. _Eh!
+bien!_ It is the same old story that you have heard and read of, in
+your books, my Adèle. We became acquainted, I will not stop now, to
+tell you how, and soon learned to love each other. Time passed on, and
+at last your father sought the consent of my uncle, to our marriage.
+But he put aside the proposition with anger and scorn. He thought that
+Claude Dubois was neither distinguished nor rich enough to match his
+niece. In his heart, he had reserved me for some conspicuous position
+in the great circle at Paris, while I had given myself to an obscure
+youth in Picardy.
+
+"Your father was too honorable to ask me to marry him without the
+consent of the Count, and too proud to take me in his poverty. So one
+day, after his stormy interview with my uncle, he came to me and said
+he was going away to endeavor to get fame, or wealth, to bestow upon
+me and make himself more worthy in the eyes of the Count de Rossillon.
+Yet he wished to release me from any feeling of obligation to him, as,
+he said, I was too young and had too little acquaintance with life and
+society to know fully my own heart. It would not be right, he thought,
+to bind me to himself by any promise. I told him my affection for him
+would never change, but acquiesced in his arrangements with a sad and
+foreboding heart. In a few weeks, he embarked for India.
+
+"Then my uncle roused himself from the inertia of his quiet habits and
+made arrangements for a journey through France and Italy, which he
+said I was to take with him.
+
+"I received the announcement with indifference, being wholly occupied
+with grief at the bitter separation from your father. The change
+however proved salutary, and, in a week after our departure, I felt
+hope once more dawning in my heart.
+
+"The country through which we travelled was sunny and beautiful, veined
+with sparkling streams, shadowed by forests, studded with the olive
+and mulberry, and with vines bearing the luscious grape for the
+vintage. The constant change of scene and the daily renewal of objects
+of interest and novelty, combined with the elasticity of youth,
+brought back some degree of my former buoyancy and gayety. My uncle
+was so evidently delighted with the return of my old cheerfulness, and
+exerted himself so much to heighten it in every way, that I knew he
+sincerely loved me, and was doing what he really thought would in the
+end contribute to my happiness. He judged that my affection for your
+father was a transient, youthful dream, and would soon be forgotten;
+he fancied, no doubt, I was even then beginning to wake up from it. He
+wished to prevent me from forming an early and what he considered an
+imprudent marriage, which I might one day regret, unavailingly.
+
+"And it proved to be all right, my Adèle. Your father and I were both
+young, and the course the Count de Rossillon took with us, was a good
+though severe test of our affection. In the meanwhile, I was secretly
+sustained by the hope that your father's efforts would be crowned with
+success, and that, after a few years, he would return and my uncle,
+having found, that nothing could draw me from my attachment to him,
+would out of his own love for me and consideration for my happiness,
+at last consent to our union.
+
+"We crossed the Alps and went into Italy. Here a new world was opened
+to me,--a world of beauty and art. It bestowed upon me many hours of
+exquisite enjoyment. The Count travelled with his own carriage and
+servants, and we lingered wherever I felt a desire to prolong my
+observations. He purchased a collection of pictures, statues, and
+other gems and curiosities of art. Among the rest, the Madonna there,
+my Adèle, which he presented to me, because I so much liked it. But I
+must not linger now. On our return to France, we spent a month at
+Paris, and there, though too young to be introduced into society, I
+met in private many distinguished and fashionable people, who were
+friends of the Count.
+
+"We were absent from the chateau one year. It was pleasant to get back
+to the dear old place, where I had spent such a happy childhood, the
+scene too of so many precious interviews with your beloved father. We
+returned again to our former life of quiet ease, enlivened at frequent
+intervals by the visits of guests from abroad and by those of friends
+and acquaintances among the neighboring nobility. Though I received no
+tidings from your father, a secret hope still sustained me. A few
+times only, during the first three years of his absence, did I lose
+my cheerfulness. Those were, when some lover pressed his suit and I
+knew that in repelling it, I was upsetting some cherished scheme of my
+uncle. But I will do him the justice to say that he bore it patiently,
+and, only at long intervals, gave vent to his vexation and
+disappointment.
+
+"It was when my hope concerning your father's return began to fail, and
+anxiety respecting his fate began to be indulged in its stead, that my
+spirits gave way. At the close of the fourth year of his absence, my
+peace was wholly gone and my days were spent in the restless agony of
+suspense. My health was rapidly failing, and my uncle who knew the
+cause of my prostration, instead of consulting a physician, in the
+kindness of his heart, took me to Paris. But the gayeties to which I
+was there introduced were distasteful to me. I grew every moment more
+sad. Just when my uncle was in despair, I was introduced accidentally
+to the Countess de Morny, a lovely lady, who had lost her husband and
+three children, and had passed through much sorrow.
+
+"Gradually, she drew me to her heart and I told her all my grief. She
+dealt very tenderly with me, my Adèle. She did not seek to cheer me by
+inspiring fresh hopes of your father's return. No. She told me, I
+might never be Claude Dubois's happy bride, but that I might be the
+blessed bride of Jesus. In short, she led me gently into the
+consolations of our Holy Church. Under her influence and guidance I
+came into a state of sweet resignation to the divine will,--a peaceful
+rest indeed, after the terrible alternations of suspense and despair
+I had suffered. But, my Adèle, it was only by constant prayers to the
+blessed _Marie_ that my soul was kept from lapsing into its former
+state of dreadful unrest. _Ma chère_ Adèle, you know not what you do,
+when you speak slightingly of our Holy Church. I should then have
+died, had I not found rest in my prayers to the blessed mother. Now,
+you are young and gay, but the world is full of sorrow. It may
+overtake you as it did me. Then you will need a hope, a consolation, a
+refuge. There is no peace like that found at the foot of the cross,
+imploring the intercession of the compassionate, loving _Marie_. Do
+not wander away from the sweet eyes of the mother of Christ, _ma
+fille_".
+
+Here Mrs. Dubois ceased speaking, and turned a tearful, affectionate
+gaze upon her daughter. Adèle's eyes, that had been fixed upon her
+mother with earnest, absorbed attention, filled with tears, instantly.
+
+"_Ma chère mère_, I would not make you unhappy. I will try not to give
+you pain. Please go on and tell me all".
+
+"_Eh! bien! ma chère_, my uncle was pleased to see me becoming more
+peaceful. Finding I was not attracted by the pleasures of the gay
+city, he proposed our return to the chateau, and begged the Countess
+de Morny to accompany us. At my urgent request, she consented.
+
+"On the day of our arrival, the Countess weary with the journey, having
+gone to her own apartments, I went to stroll in the beautiful, beloved
+park. It was June,--that month so full of leaves, flowers, birds, and
+balmy summer winds. I sat at the foot of an old beech-tree, leaning
+my head against its huge trunk, listening to the flow of the river,
+indulging in dangerous reverie,--dangerous certainly to my peace of
+mind. Suddenly, I was startled by the sound of footsteps. Before I
+could collect my scattered senses, your father stood before me.
+'_Marie_,' he said, '_Marie_.'
+
+"For one moment, I met his earnest, questioning gaze, and then rushed
+into his open arms. In short, he had come back from India, not a rich
+man, but with a competence, and when he found I had not forgotten him,
+but had clung to him still, through those weary years of absence, he
+resolved to see the Count de Rossillon and renew the request he had
+made four years previous.
+
+"My uncle, though much surprised at his sudden appearance, received him
+politely, if not cordially. When your father had laid before him a
+simple statement of our case, he replied frankly."
+
+"I am convinced", he said, "by what I have observed during your
+absence, M. Dubois, that the arrangement you propose, is the only one,
+which will secure Marie's happiness. I will say, however, honestly,
+that it is far enough from what I designed for her. But the manliness
+and honorable feeling you have manifested in the affair, make me more
+willing to resign her to you than I should otherwise have been, as I
+cannot but hope that, although deprived of the advantages of wealth
+and station, she will yet have the faithful affection of a true and
+noble heart". This was enough for us both and more than we expected".
+
+"But a new difficulty arose. Upon observing the troubled and uncertain
+state of affairs in France, your father became convinced that his
+chances to secure the ends he had in view, would be greater in the new
+world. After a brief period of deliberation, he fixed upon a plan of
+going to British America, and purchasing there a large tract of land,
+thus founding an estate, the value of which he anticipated would
+increase with the growth of the country".
+
+"To this arrangement, the Count was strenuously opposed. There was a
+pretty embowered residence, a short distance from the chateau, on the
+portion of the estate I had inherited from my father. There he wished
+us to live. In short, he wished to retain us near himself. But your
+father, with the enterprise and enthusiasm of youth, persisted in his
+purpose. At last, my uncle gave a reluctant consent and purchased my
+share of the estate of Rossillon".
+
+"Not to my surprise, but to my great gratification, soon after this,
+the gentle Countess de Morny consented to become the Countess de
+Rossillon".
+
+"Surrounded by a joyous group of friends, one bright September
+morning, in the chapel of _St. Marie_, they were married, and then the
+priest united me to your father. The sweet mother looked down from
+above the altar and seemed to give us a smiling blessing. We were very
+happy, my Adèle".
+
+"In a few days we set sail for New Brunswick. We arrived at St. John in
+October and there spent the following winter. In the spring, your
+father explored this region and made a large purchase of land here. At
+that time it seemed a desirable investment. But you see how it is, my
+Adèle. All has resulted strangely different from what we anticipated.
+And somehow it has always been difficult to change our home. From time
+to time, we have thought of it,--obstacles have arisen and--we are
+still here".
+
+"But where is the Count de Rossillon, mother? It is twenty years, is
+it not, since you left France? Does he yet live?"
+
+"_Ah! ma chère_, we know not. After our departure from France we
+received frequent letters from him and the dear Countess until five
+years since, when the letters ceased. They constantly urged our return
+to Rossillon. You remember well the thousand pretty toys and gifts
+they showered upon your childhood?"
+
+"Ah! yes, mother, I remember. And you have not heard a word from them
+for five years!"
+
+"Not a word".
+
+"Do you wish to go back to France, mother?"
+
+"It is the only wish of my heart that is unsatisfied. I am full of
+ceaseless yearnings for the beautiful home of my youth. Would that we
+could return there. But it may not be. France is in a state of
+turmoil. I know not what fate has befallen either my uncle, or his
+estate. He may be dead. Or, if living, he may no longer be the
+proprietor of beautiful Rossillon. We cannot learn how it is".
+
+"Cannot my father go to France and ascertain what has happened there?
+Perhaps, mother, he might find a home for you once more in your dear
+Picardy".
+
+"He is thinking of it even now, _ma fille_".
+
+"Is he, mother? Then be comforted. You will see that sweet home once
+more, I feel assured".
+
+She rose and flung her arms around Mrs. Dubois, exclaiming, "Dear,
+beautiful mother!"
+
+An hour later, Adèle might have been seen, wandering about in Micah's
+grove, her mind and heart overflowing with new, strange thoughts and
+emotions. She had just received the first full revelation of the early
+life of her parents. Her knowledge of it before had been merely vague
+and confused. Now a new world was opened for her active fancy to revel
+in, and fresh fountains of sympathy to pour forth, for those whom she
+so fondly loved. She sighed as she recalled that yearning, wistful
+look upon her mother's face, in those hours when her thoughts seemed
+far away from the present scene, and grieved that her gentle spirit
+should so long have suffered the exile's woe.
+
+For weeks after, she continually fell into reverie. In her day dreams
+she wandered through the saloons and corridors of the old chateau,
+where her mother had spent so many years, chequered with sunshine and
+shade. She rambled over the park and cooled her fevered head and hands
+in the water that dripped from the tresses of the marble Aphrodite.
+Fancy took her over the route of foreign travel, her mother had
+pursued with the Count de Rossillon. She longed herself to visit those
+regions of classic and romantic interest. During the long, golden,
+September afternoons, she spent hours, in the Madonna room,
+questioning her mother anew respecting the scenes and events of her
+past life, and listening eagerly to her replies. The young examine
+distant objects as through a prism. Adèle's imagination invested these
+scenes and events with rainbow splendors and revelled in the wealth
+and beauty, she had herself partially created. The new world thus
+opened to her was infinitely superior to the one in which she held her
+commonplace, humdrum existence. She never wearied of her mother's
+reminiscences of the past. Each fresh description, each recalled item
+of that history, added to the extent and the charms of her new world.
+
+Mrs. Dubois herself felt a degree of pleasure in thus living over
+again her former life with one, who entered artlessly and
+enthusiastically into its joys and sorrows. She also experienced an
+infinite relief in pouring out to her sympathizing child the regrets
+and longings which had, for so long a period, been closely pent in her
+own breast. Mother and daughter were drawn nearer to each other day by
+day, and those hours of sweet communion were among the purest, the
+happiest of their lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+MR. BROWN.
+
+
+Nearly two weeks had elapsed since the night when Mr. Dubois had
+brought Mr. Brown, in a sick and fainting condition, into his house.
+That gentleman had lain very ill ever since. The disease was typhoid
+fever; the patient was in a critical state, and nothing now but the
+utmost care and quiet could save his life.
+
+"What directions have you left for to-day, Dr. Wright?" said Adèle to
+the physician, as he came one morning from the sick-room.
+
+"Mrs. McNab has the programme", he replied.
+
+"Will you please repeat it to me, sir? Mrs. McNab has been called
+elsewhere, and will not have charge of the gentleman to-day".
+
+Mrs. Dubois looked at Adèle with some surprise. She made no remark,
+however, as Dr. Wright immediately began to give the directions for
+his patient to that young lady.
+
+When he had taken leave and closed the door, Adèle turned to her
+mother and said, "I have suspected for several days that things were
+not going on properly in that sick-room. Last night, I became
+convinced of it. I cannot stop to tell you about it now, mamma, as
+there is no time to lose with our invalid. But Mrs. McNab must
+decamp. I have it all arranged, and I promise you I will not offend
+Aunt Patty, but will dismiss her peaceably. Do trust her to me once,
+mamma. Please go now and tell her there is a message waiting for her
+in the dining-room. Stay with Mr. Brown just one half hour, and you
+shall have no more trouble to-day".
+
+"But, _ma chère_, you have no patience with Aunt Patty. I am afraid
+you will be too abrupt with her".
+
+"Don't fear, mamma, I promise you I will not outrage Aunt Patty.
+Please go".
+
+"Ah! well! I will go", said Mrs. Dubois.
+
+Mrs. McNab soon made her appearance in the dining-room, and, with some
+degree of trepidation, inquired who wanted her there.
+
+"Micah was here an hour ago", replied Adèle, "and said Mrs. Campbell
+sent him here to ask you to come and help her. Four of her children
+are sick with the measles and she is nearly down herself, in
+consequence of fatigue and watching. I did not speak to you then, as I
+supposed you were sleeping. I told Micah I had no doubt you would
+come, as there are enough here to take care of the sick gentleman, and
+Mrs. Campbell needs you so much".
+
+"Weel, Miss Ady", said Mrs. McNab, twitching violently a stray lock of
+her flaming hair and tucking it beneath her cap, "I dinna ken how you
+could tak' upon yourself to send such a ward as that, when Mr. Brown
+is just on the creesis of his fever and not one of ye as knows how-to
+tak' care o' him more than a nussin' babe".
+
+"Ah! indeed! Aunt Patty", said Adèle, pretending to be offended, "do
+you say that my mother knows nothing about sickness, when you are
+aware she has carried my father through two dangerous fevers and me
+through all the diseases of babyhood and childhood?"
+
+"That mon 'ull never get weel if I leave him noo, when I've the run of
+the muddesons and directions. A strange hand 'ull put everything wrang
+and he'll dee, that's a'".
+
+"And if he does die", said Adèle, "you will not be responsible. You
+have done what you could for him and now you are called away. I am
+sure you will not permit Mrs. Campbell to suffer, when she gave you a
+comfortable home in her house all last winter".
+
+"Weel, Mrs. Cawmmells' a gude woman enough and I'm sorry the bairns
+are sick. But what's the measles to a fever like this, and the mon
+nigh dead noo?" Aunt Patty's face flushed scarlet.
+
+"Aunt Patty", said Adèle, very slowly and decidedly, "Mr. Brown is my
+father's guest. We are accountable for his treatment, and not you. My
+mother and I are going to take charge of him now. I sent word to Mrs.
+Campbell that there was nothing to prevent you from coming to assist
+her. You have had your share of the fatigue and watching with our
+invalid. Now we are going to relieve you". There was something in
+Adèle's determined air, that convinced Mrs. McNab the time for her to
+yield had at length come, and that it was of no use for her to contest
+the field longer. Feeling sure of this, there were various reasons,
+occurring to her on the instant, that restrained her from a further
+expression of her vexation. After a few moments of sullen silence, she
+rose and said--
+
+"Weel! I'll go and put my things tegither, that's in Mr. Brown's room,
+and tell Mrs. Doobyce aboot the muddesons and so on".
+
+"That is not necessary", said Adèle; "The Dr. has given me directions
+about the medicines. Here is breakfast all ready for you, Aunt Patty.
+Sit down and eat it, while it is hot. I will go to the gentleman's
+room and gather up what you have left there. Come, sit down now".
+
+Adèle placed a pot of hot coffee and a plate of warm rolls upon the
+table.
+
+Mrs. McNab stood for a moment, much perplexed between her impulse to
+go back to Mr. Brown's room and unburden her mind to Mrs. Dubois, and
+the desire to partake immediately of the tempting array upon the
+breakfast-table. Finally, her material wants gained the ascendency and
+she sat down very composedly to a discussion of the refreshments,
+while Adèle, anticipating that result, hastened up stairs to collect
+the remaining insignia of that worthy woman's departing greatness.
+
+Mrs. Dubois, on going to Mr. Brown's room, had found the atmosphere
+close and suffocating, and that gentleman, tossing restlessly on the
+bed from side to side, talking to himself in a wild delirium. She left
+the door ajar and began bathing his fevered head in cool water. This
+seemed to soothe him greatly and he sank back almost immediately into
+a deathlike slumber, in which he lay when Adèle entered the chamber.
+
+Cautioned by her mother's uplifted finger, she moved about
+noiselessly, until she had made up a large and miscellaneous package
+of articles; then descended quietly, inwardly resolving that the
+"Nuss" as she called herself, should not for several weeks at least,
+revisit the scene of her late operations.
+
+Mrs. McNab was still pursuing her breakfast, and Adèle sat down, with
+what patience she could command, to wait for the close.
+
+"You'll be wanting some ain to watch to-night, Miss Ady", said Aunt
+Patty.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Norton will do that. He has offered many times to watch. He
+will be very kind and attentive to the invalid, I know".
+
+"I s'pose he'll do as weel as he knows hoo, but I havena much faith in
+a mon that sings profane sangs and ca's 'em relegious heems, to a
+people that need the bread o' life broken to 'em".
+
+"Have you heard him sing, Aunt Patty? I did not know you had attended
+his meetings at the grove".
+
+"I havena, surely. But when the windows were up, I heard him singin'
+them jigs and reels, and I expectin' every minut to see the men,
+women, and bairns a dancin'".
+
+"They sit perfectly still, while he is singing", said Adèle, "and
+listen as intently as if they heard an angel. His voice is sometimes
+like a flute, sometimes like a trumpet. Did you hear the words he
+sang?"
+
+"The wards! yes! them's the warst of a!" said Mrs. McNab, expanding
+her nostrils with a snort of contempt. "They bear na resemblance
+whatever to the Psalms o' David. I should as soon think o' singing
+the' sangs o' Robby Burns at a relegious service as them blasphemous
+things".
+
+"Oh! Aunt Patty, you are wrong. He sings beautiful hymns, and he tells
+these people just what they need. I hope they will listen to him and
+reform".
+
+"Weel he's a very light way o' carryin himself, for a minister o' the
+gospel, I must say".
+
+"He is cheerful, to be sure, and sympathizes with the people, and
+helps them in their daily labor sometimes, if that is what you refer
+to. I am sure that is right, and I like him for it", said Adèle.
+
+"Weel! I see he's a' in a' with you, noo", said Mrs. McNab, at last
+rising from the table. "I'll go up noo and tak' leave o' the patient".
+
+"No, no", said Adèle. "He is sleeping. He must not be disturbed on any
+account. His life may depend upon this slumber remaining unbroken".
+
+She rose involuntarily and placed herself against the door leading to
+the stairs.
+
+Mrs. McNab grew red with anger, at being thus foiled. Turning aside to
+hide her vexation, she waddled across the room, took her bonnet and
+shawl from a peg she had appropriated to her special use, and
+proceeded to invest herself for her departure.
+
+"Weel! I s'pose ye'll expect me to come when ye send for me", said
+she, turning round in the doorway with a grotesque distortion of her
+face intended for an ironical smile.
+
+"That is just as you please, Aunt Patty. We shall be happy to see you
+whenever you choose to come. Good-by".
+
+"Good by", said Mrs. McNab in a quacking, quavering, half resentful
+tone, as she closed the door behind her.
+
+Adèle went immediately to the adjoining pantry, called Bess, a tidy
+looking mulatto, gave her directions for the morning work and then
+went up stairs to relieve her mother. Mrs. Dubois made signs to her
+that she preferred not to resign her post. But Adèle silently insisted
+she should do so.
+
+After her mother had left the room, she placed herself near the
+bedside that she might observe the countenance and the breathing of
+the invalid. His face was pale as that of death. His breath came and
+went almost imperceptibly. The physician had excluded every ray of
+sunshine and a hush, like that of the grave, reigned in the apartment.
+In her intercourse with the people of the settlement, Adèle had often
+witnessed extreme illness and several dying scenes; but she had never
+before felt herself so oppressed and awestruck as now. As she sat
+there alone with the apparently dying man, she felt that a silent, yet
+mighty struggle was going on between the forces of life and death. She
+feared death would obtain the victory. By a terrible fascination, her
+eyes became fixed on the ghastly face over which she fancied she could
+perceive, more and more distinctly, shadows cast by the hand of the
+destroyer. Every moment she thought of recalling her mother, but
+feared that the slightest jarring movement of the atmosphere might
+stop at once that feeble respiration. So she remained, watching terror
+stricken, waiting for the last, absolute silence,--the immovable
+repose.
+
+Suddenly, she heard a long, deep-drawn sigh. She saw the head of the
+sufferer turn gently on one side, pressing the pillow. A color--the
+faintest in the world, stole over the features. The countenance
+gradually settled into a calm, natural expression. The respiration
+became stronger and more regular. In a few moments, he slept as softly
+as a little child.
+
+Adèle's heart gave one bound, and then for a moment stood still. She
+uttered a sigh of relief, but sank back in her chair, wearied by
+excess of emotion. She felt instinctively, that the crisis had been
+safely passed, that there was hope for the invalid.
+
+Then, for a long time, her mind was occupied with thoughts respecting
+death and the beyond.
+
+Suddenly a shadow, flitting across the curtained window recalled her
+to the present scene.
+
+Ah! what a mercy, she thought, that Aunt Patty did not kill him,
+before I discovered her beautiful mode of nursing sick people. No
+wonder he has been crazed all this time, with those strange manoeuvres
+of hers!
+
+On the previous, night, Adèle had been the last of the family to
+retire. Stealing noiselessly past the door of the sick-room, which was
+somewhat ajar, her steps were arrested by hearing Aunt Patty, whose
+voice was pitched on a very high key, singing some old Scotch song.
+Thinking this rather a strange method of composing the nervous system
+of a delirious patient, she stood and listened. Up, far up, into the
+loftiest regions of sound, went Aunt Patty's cracked and quavering
+voice, and then it came down with a heavy, precipitous fall into a
+loud grumble and tumble below. She repeated again and again, in a most
+hilarious tone, the words--
+
+
+   "Let us go, lassie, go,
+      To the braes of Balquhither,
+    Where the blaebarries grow.
+      'Mang the bonnie Highland heather".
+
+
+In the midst of this, Adèle heard a deep groan. Then she heard the
+invalid say in a feeble, deprecating tone--
+
+"Ah! why do you mock me? Am I not miserable enough?"
+
+Mrs. McNab stopped a moment, then replied in a sharp voice, "Mockin'
+ye! indeed, it's na such thing. If ye had an atom o' moosic in ye, ye
+wad ken at ance, its a sweet Scotch sang I'm singin' to ye. I've sung
+mony a bairn to sleep wi' it".
+
+There was no reply to this remark. All was quiet for a moment, when
+Adèle, fancying she heard the clinking of a spoon against the side of
+a tumbler, leaned forward a little and looked through the aperture
+made by the partially opened door. The nurse was sitting by the fire,
+in her huge headgear, wrapped in a shawl and carefully stirring, what
+seemed, by the odor exhaled, to be whiskey. Her face was very red and
+her eyes wide open, staring at the coals.
+
+The sufferer uttered some words, which Adèle could not distinguish, in
+an excited voice.
+
+"I tell ye, there isna ony hope for ye", said Mrs. McNab, who, for
+some reason, not apparent, seemed to be greatly irritated by whatever
+remarks her patient made.
+
+"There isna ony hope for thum that hasna been elected. Ye might talk
+an' pray a' yer life and 'twould do ye na gude, I dinna ken where
+you've been a' yer life, not to ken that afore. With a' yer furbelowed
+claithes and jewelled watch and trinkets, ye dinna ken much aboot the
+gospel. And then, this new preacher a' tellin' the people they can be
+saved ony minut they choose to gie up their hearts to the Lord! Its a'
+tegither false. I was taught in the Kirk o' Scotland, that a mon might
+pray and pray a' his days, and then he wadna be sure o' bein' saved.
+That's the blessed doctrine I was taught. If ye are to be saved, ye
+will be. There noo, go to sleep. I'll read the ward o' God to ye".
+
+Alas! for the venerable church of old Scotia, had she many such
+exponents of her doctrine as Mrs. McNab.
+
+Having thus relieved her mind, the nurse swallowed the contents of the
+tumbler. She then rose, drew a chair towards a table, on which stood a
+shaded lamp and took from thence a Bible; but finding her eyesight
+rather dim, withdrew to a cot in one corner of the room, threw herself
+down and was soon sleeping, and snoring prodigiously.
+
+Adèle, who had, during the enactment of this scene, been prevented
+from rushing in and deposing Mrs. McNab at once, only by a fear of
+exciting the patient to a degree of frenzy, stole in quietly, bathed
+his head with some perfumed water, smoothed his pillow and seated
+herself, near the fire, where she remained until morning.
+
+Mr. Brown slept only during the briefest intervals and was turning
+restlessly and talking incoherently all night.
+
+Soon after day dawn, Aunt Patty began to bestir herself, but before
+she had observed her presence, Adèle had escaped to her own room.
+Soon, hearing Micah's voice, she went to the kitchen. She found his
+message from Mrs. Campbell, just the excuse she needed to enable her
+to dispose of Mrs. McNab. She had become quite convinced that whatever
+good qualities that worthy woman might possess as a nurse, her
+unfortunate proclivities towards the whiskey bottle, united with her
+rigid theological tenets, rendered it rather unsafe to trust her
+longer with a patient, whose case required the most delicate care and
+attention.
+
+The queer, old clock in the dining-room struck one. Adèle heard it.
+She was still watching. Mr. Brown still slept that quiet sleep. Just
+then, Mrs. Dubois entered, took her daughter's hand, led her to the
+door, and whispered--
+
+"Now, take some food and go to rest. I will not leave him". Adèle
+obeyed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+A CASE OF CONSCIENCE.
+
+
+Mr. Brown remained in a peaceful slumber during the afternoon. Mrs.
+Dubois aroused him occasionally, in order to moisten his parched lips,
+and with her husband's aid and Mr. Norton's to change his position in
+the bed. At such times he opened his eyes, gazed at them inquiringly,
+feebly assented to their arrangements, then sank away into sleep
+again.
+
+The members of the family felt a peculiar interest in the stranger.
+Mr. Dubois had described him, as a man of intelligence, refined and
+elegant in his deportment and tastes. He had noticed in him, an air of
+melancholy, which even ludicrous events on the journey had dissipated,
+but for the moment. The wild words he had uttered on the night of his
+arrival, revealed some deep disquiet of mind. Away from home, hovering
+between life and death, and thrown on the tender mercies of strangers,
+Mrs. Dubois was filled with compassion and solicitude in his behalf.
+
+Having confidence in Mrs. McNab's skill as a nurse, she had not
+suspected that her partiality for a hot dose at night, would
+interfere with her faithfulness to her charge. Not having communicated
+with Adèle, she did not yet know why it had been deemed important to
+dispose of her so summarily, and she secretly wondered how it had been
+accomplished with so little ado. When informed, she approved Adèle's
+decisive action.
+
+Mr. Norton had fully shared the interest felt by the family in the
+stranger, and was happy to relieve Mrs. Dubois in the evening and to
+remain by his bedside during the night. Since his first interview with
+Mr. Brown, on the day of his arrival, he had felt that, in
+accordance-with the vows by which he had bound himself to the great
+Master, the unfortunate stranger had a claim on him, which he resolved
+to fulfil at the earliest moment possible. He had had no opportunity
+as yet, of executing his purpose, Mrs. McNab having guarded the door
+of the sick-room like a lioness watching her cubs. When she had by
+chance permitted him to enter, he had found her patient wandering in
+mind and entirely incapable of coherent conversation.
+
+Meantime, he had prayed earnestly for his recovery and secretly
+felicitated himself with the hope of leading him to a rock of
+refuge,--a tower of defence, which would secure him from sin and
+sorrow.
+
+Mr. Brown continued to sleep so peacefully during the night, that Mr.
+Norton, whose hopes for his recovery had been increasing every hour,
+was not surprised at the dawn of day to perceive his eyes open,
+examining the objects in the room, with the air of a person just
+awakened from a bewildering dream.
+
+He gazed curiously at the heavy, carved bureau of dark wood, at the
+grotesque little table, covered with vials and cups, at the cabinet
+filled with specimens of foreign skill and art, at the Venetian carpet
+and at last, his eyes remained fixed upon a black crucifix, placed in
+the centre of the mantle. He uttered a deep sigh.
+
+Mr. Norton, convinced that he had fully collected his scattered
+thoughts and become aware of the realities of his situation, stepped
+gently forward from his station behind the bed and taking Mr. Brown's
+hand, said, in a cheerful tone, "How do you find yourself, my dear
+sir?"
+
+After a momentary surprise, Mr. Brown replied--
+
+"Better, I think, sir, better".
+
+"Yes sir. You _are_ better. I thank God for it. And also for this
+hospitable roof and the kind care these people have taken of you in
+your illness. The Lord's angel must have guided your steps to this
+house, and mine also".
+
+"This house, sir! whose is it?"
+
+"It belongs to Mr. Dubois".
+
+"Ah! I recollect. I came here with him and have been ill several days.
+And the country is--"
+
+"Miramichi", said Mr. Norton. "A desperate region sir. A land where
+the darkness may be _felt_".
+
+Just then a ray of red, burning sunshine shot into the room. The good
+man modified his remark, exclaiming, "Morally, sir, morally".
+
+Observing a cloud of anxiety stealing over Mr. Brown's face, he went
+on.
+
+"Now, my dear sir, let me tell you--you have been very ill for two
+weeks. The danger in your case is now over, but you are extremely
+weak, and need, for a time, the attention of the two lovely nurses,
+who watched over you yesterday and are ready to bestow kind care upon
+you again to-day. You must lay aside, for the present, all troubles of
+mind and estate, and devote yourself to getting well. When you are
+somewhat stronger, I have excellent things to tell you".
+
+"Excellent things!" exclaimed Mr. Brown, excitedly,--a flush
+overspreading his wan features. "Has the traitor been found?" Then
+with a profound sigh of disappointment, he uttered feebly--
+
+"Ah! you do not know".
+
+"I do not know what your particular trouble is, my dear sir, but I
+know of a way to relieve you of that, or any other burden that weighs
+on your spirits. I will inform you when you get stronger. What you
+need now, is a cup of oatmeal gruel, mingled with a tea-spoonful of
+wine, which shall immediately be presented to you by the youthful
+queen of this mansion".
+
+He turned to go and call Adèle. But Mr. Brown motioned him to remain.
+
+"Do you reside here, sir?" he asked, in accents indicating great
+prostration and despondency.
+
+"No, sir. I arrived here only a few hours before you. I am from the
+State of ----. You are also from that region, and I shall not leave you
+until I see you with your face set towards your native soil. Now, my
+dear sir, be quiet. Perhaps your life depends on it".
+
+"My life is not worth a penny to anybody".
+
+"It is worth ten thousand pounds and more to your friends. Be quiet, I
+say".
+
+And Mr. Norton went out of the room, gently but decisively. Mr.
+Brown's eyes followed him as he closed the door.
+
+Already he felt the magnetic power of that good and sympathizing
+heart, of that honest, upright soul, which inspired by heavenly love
+and zeal, cast rays of life and happiness wherever it moved.
+
+Moreover, he was too much prostrated in mind and body, vigorously to
+grasp the circumstances of his situation, whatever they might be. Pain
+and debility had dulled his faculties and the sharpness of his sorrow
+also. The good missionary's cheery voice and heartfelt smile soothed,
+for the time, his wounded spirit. It was as if he had taken a sip of
+Lethe and had come into the land in which it always seemeth afternoon.
+
+Soon Adèle opened the door and approaching the table gently, placed
+upon it the gruel. When she turned her eyes full of sympathy and
+kindness upon him and inquired for his health, he started with a
+remembrance that gave him both pain and pleasure. She reminded him
+strangely of the being he loved more than any other on earth--his
+sister. He answered her question confusedly.
+
+She then raised his head upon the pillow with one hand and presented
+the cup to his lips with the other. He drank its contents,
+mechanically.
+
+Adèle proceeded noiselessly to arrange the somewhat disordered room,
+and after placing a screen between it and the bed, raised a window,
+through winch the warm September atmosphere wandered in, indolently
+bathing his weary brow. As he felt its soft undulations on his face,
+and looking around the pleasant apartment observed the graceful
+motions of his youthful nurse, the scenes through which he had
+recently passed, appeared like those of an ugly nightmare, and floated
+away from his memory. The old flow of his life seemed to come back
+again and he gave himself up to pleasant dreams.
+
+Mr. Brown continued thenceforward to improve in health, though slowly.
+Mr. Norton slept on a cot in his room every night and spent a part of
+every day with him, assisting in his toilet, conversing with him of
+the affairs, business and political, of their native State, and
+reading to him occasionally from books furnished by Mr. Dubois's
+library.
+
+He informed Mr. Brown of his mission to this wild region of Miramichi,
+and the motives that induced it. That gentleman admired the purity and
+singleness of purpose which had led this man, unfavored indeed by a
+careful classical culture, but possessing many gifts and much
+practical knowledge, thus to sacrifice himself in this abyss of
+ignorance and sin. He was drawn to him daily by the magnetism which a
+strong, yet heroic and genial soul always exercises upon those who
+approach it.
+
+In a few days he had, without any effort of the good man and
+involuntarily on his own part, confided to him the heavy weight that
+troubled his conscience.
+
+"Ah!" said Mr. Norton, his eyes full of profound sorrow, and probing
+the wound now laid open to the quick, "it was a terrible weakness to
+have yielded thus to the wiles of that artful foreigner. May Heaven
+forgive you!"
+
+Surprised and shocked at this reception of his confession, Mr. Brown,
+who had hoped-for consolation or counsel from his sympathizing
+companion, felt cut to the heart. His countenance settled into an
+expression of utter despair.
+
+"Why have you sought so diligently to restore me to health,--to a
+disgraced and miserable existence? You must have known, from the
+delirous words of my illness, of which you have told me, that life
+would be a worthless thing to me. You should have permitted me the
+privilege of death", said he bitterly.
+
+"The privilege of death!" said Mr. Norton. "Don't you know, my dear
+sir, that a man unprepared to live, is also unprepared to die? Every
+effort I have put forth during your illness has been for the purpose
+of saving you for a happy life here, and for a blissful immortality".
+
+"A happy life here! For me, who have deeply offended and disgraced my
+friends and my pure and unstained ancestry!"
+
+"It is true, in an hour of weakness and irresolution, you have sinned
+against your friends. But you have sinned all your life against a
+Being infinitely higher that earthly friends. Your conduct has
+disturbed family pride and honor, and thereby destroyed your peace.
+But, do you never think of your transgressions against God? For a
+world, I would not have had you present yourself before His just
+tribunal, with your sins against Him unrepented of. Is there no other
+thought in your heart, than to escape the misery of the present?"
+
+Mr. Brown was silent. Mr. Norton continued.
+
+"It is utter weakness and cowardice, in order to escape present
+discomfort and wretchedness, to rush from this world into another,
+without knowing what we are to meet there".
+
+A flush of resentment at these words covered the invalid's face. Just
+then Adèle knocked on the door, and said a poor woman below wished to
+see Mr. Norton.
+
+He rose instantly, went towards Mr. Brown, and taking his thin hand
+between his own and pressing it affectionately, said, "Look back upon
+your past life,--look into your heart. Believe me, my dear sir, I am
+your friend".
+
+Then he went to obey the summons, and Mr. Brown was left alone.
+
+The emotion of anger towards his benefactor soon passed away. He had
+been trained early in life to religious truth, and he knew that Mr.
+Norton presented to him the stern requisitions of that truth, only in
+friendliness and love. The good man was absent several hours, and the
+time was employed, as well as the solitude of several subsequent days,
+by Mr. Brown, in looking into his heart and into his past life. He
+found there many things he had not even suspected. He saw clearly,
+that he had hitherto held himself amenable only to the judgment of
+the world. Its standard of propriety, taste, honor, had been his. He
+had not looked higher.
+
+His friend Mr. Norton, on the contrary, held himself accountable to
+God's tribunal. His whole conversation, conduct, and spirit, showed
+the ennobling effect which that sublime test of character had upon
+him. In fine, he perceived that the basis of his own character had
+been false and therefore frail. The superstructure he had raised upon
+it, had been fair and imposing to the world, but, when its strength
+came to be tried, it had given way and fallen. He felt that he had
+neglected his true interests, and had been wholly indifferent to the
+just claims of the only Being, who could have sustained him in the
+hour of temptation. He saw his past errors, he moaned over them, but
+alas! he considered it too late to repair them. His life, he believed
+to be irretrievably lost, and he wished only to commit himself to the
+mercy of God, and die.
+
+For a few days, he remained reserved and sunk in a deep melancholy.
+
+At length, Mr. Norton said to him, "I trust you are not offended with
+me, my dear sir, for those plain words I addressed to you the other
+day. Be assured that though stern, they were dictated by my friendship
+for you and my duty towards God".
+
+"Offended! my good friend. O no. What you said, is true. But it is too
+late for me to know it. Through the merits of Christ, I hope for the
+pardon of my sins. I am willing to live and suffer, if it is His
+behest. But you perceive my power to act for the cause of truth is
+gone. My past has taken away all good influence from my future course.
+Who will accept my testimony now? I have probably lost caste in my own
+circle, and have, doubtless, lost my power to influence it, even
+should I be received back to its ties. In society, I am a dishonored
+man. I cannot have the happiness of working for the truth,--for
+Christ. My power is destroyed".
+
+"You are wrong, entirely wrong, my dear sir. Have courage. Shall not
+that man walk erect and joyous before the whole world, whatever his
+past may have been, whose sins have been washed away in the blood of
+Christ and whose soul is inspired by a determination to abide by faith
+in Him forever? I say, yes. Do the work of God. He will take care of
+you. Live, with your eye fixed on Him, ready to obey His will, seeking
+His heavenly aid, and you can face the frowns of men, while serene
+peace fills your heart".
+
+Thus cheered and strengthened from day to day, Mr. Brown gained
+gradually in health and hope. Especially did Mr. Norton strive to
+invigorate his faith. He justly thought, it was only a strong grasp on
+eternal realities, that could supply the place of those granite
+qualities of the soul, so lacking in this lovable, fascinating young
+man.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE GROVE.
+
+
+In the meanwhile, three or four times during the week, Mr. Norton
+continued to hold meetings for the people in Micah's Grove.
+
+There had been but little rain in the Miramichi region during the
+summer and autumn. In fact, none worthy of note had fallen for two
+months, except what came during the late equinoctial storm. The grass
+was parched with heat, the roads were ground to a fine dust, which a
+breath of wind drove, like clouds of smoke, into the burning air; the
+forest leaves, which had been so recently stained with a marvellous
+beauty of brown, crimson and gold, became dim and shrivelled; a slight
+touch snapped, with a sharp, crackling sound, the dried branches of
+the trees; even the golden rod and the purple aster, those hardy
+children of autumn, began to hang their heads with thirst. All day
+long, the grasshopper and locust sent through the hot, panting air,
+their shrill notes, stinging the ear with discord. The heaven above
+looked like a dome of brass, and a thin, filmy smoke gathered around
+the horizon.
+
+Even the rude settlers, with nerves toughened by hardship,
+unsusceptible of atmospheric changes, were oppressed by the long,
+desolating drought.
+
+It was only when the shadows of afternoon began to lengthen and the
+sun's rays to strike obliquely through the stately trees of the Grove,
+that they were able to gather there and listen to the voice of the
+missionary. He had so far succeeded in his work, as to be able to draw
+the people together, from a considerable distance around, and their
+number increased daily.
+
+On the opposite bank of the river, half way up a slight eminence,
+stood a small stone chapel. Tasteful and elegant in its proportions,
+it presented a picturesque and attractive appearance. There, once on
+each Sunday, the service of the Church of England was read, together
+with a brief discourse by a clergyman of that order.
+
+Behind the chapel, and near the top of the hill, was a large stone
+cottage surrounded by pretty grounds and with ample stable
+conveniences. It was the Rectory.
+
+The Chapel and Rectory had been built and the clergyman was sustained,
+at a somewhat large cost, by the Establishment, for the purpose of
+enlightening and Christianizing the population of the parish of ----.
+
+Unfortunately, the incumbent was not the self-sacrificing person
+needed to elevate such a community. Though ministering at the altar of
+God, he had no true religious feeling, no disinterested love for men.
+He was simply a man of the world, a _bon vivant_, a horse jockey and
+sportsman, who consoled himself in the summer and autumn for his exile
+in that barbarous region, by filling his house with provincial
+friends, who helped him while away the time in fishing, hunting, and
+racing. The winter months, he usually spent at Fredericton, and
+during that interval no service was held in the chapel. Of late, the
+few, who were in the habit of attending the formal worship there, had
+forsaken it for the more animating services held in the Grove.
+
+Not only the habitual church-goers, but the people of the parish at
+large, began to feel the magnetizing influence, and were drawn towards
+the same spot. For a week or more past, late in the afternoons on
+which the meetings were held, little skiffs might have been seen
+putting off from the opposite shore, freighted with men, women, and
+children, crossing over to hear the wonderful preachings of the
+missionary.
+
+What attracted them thither? Not surely the love of the truth.
+
+Most of them disliked it in their hearts, and had not even began to
+think of practising it in their lives. They were interested in the
+man. They were, in some sort, compelled by the magical power he held
+over them, to listen to entreaties and counsels, similar to those to
+which they had often hitherto turned a deaf ear.
+
+Mr. Norton spent much of the time with them, going from house to
+house, partaking of their rude fare, sympathizing in their joys and
+sorrows, occasionally lending them a helping hand in their toils, and
+aiding them sometimes by his ingenuity and skill as an artisan. They
+found in him a hearty, genial, and unselfish friend. Hence when he
+appeared among them at the Grove, their personal interest in him
+secured a certain degree of order and decorum, and caused them to
+listen to him respectfully.
+
+Even beyond this, he held a power over them, by means of his natural
+and persuasive eloquence, enlivened by varied and graphic
+illustrations, drawn from objects within their ken, and by the
+wonderful intonations of his powerful and harmonious voice. He began
+his work by presenting to them the love of Christ and the winning
+promises of the gospel.
+
+This was his favorite mode of reaching the heart.
+
+On most of these occasions, Adèle went to the Grove. It varied her
+monotonous life. The strange, motley crowd gathered under the
+magnificent trees, sitting on the ground, or standing in groups
+beneath the tall arches made by the overlapping boughs; the level rays
+of the declining sun, bringing out, in broad relief, their grotesque
+varieties of costume; the gradual creeping on of the sobering
+twilight; the alternating expressions of emotions visible on the
+countenances of the listeners, made the scene striking to her
+observing eye.
+
+Another burning, dusty day had culminated. It was nearly five o'clock
+in the afternoon. Mr. Norton was lying upon a lounge in Mr. Brown's
+apartment. Both gentlemen appeared to be in a meditative mood. The
+silence was only interrupted by the unusual sound of an occasional
+sigh from the missionary.
+
+"Why! friend Norton;" at length exclaimed Mr. Brown, "have you really
+lost your cheerfulness, at last?"
+
+"Yes", replied Mr. Norton, slowly. "I must confess that I am wellnigh
+discouraged respecting the reformation of this people. Here, I have
+been preaching to them these weeks the gospel of love, presenting
+Christ to them as their friend and Saviour, holding up the truth in
+its most lovely and winning forms. It has apparently made no
+impression upon their hearts. It is true, they come in crowds to hear
+me, but what I say to them makes no permanent mark. They forget it,
+the moment the echo of my voice dies upon their ears. The fact is,
+friend Brown, I am disappointed. I did hope the Lord would have given
+this people unto me. But", continued he, after a moment's pause, "what
+right have I to be desponding? God reigns".
+
+"According to all accounts", replied Mr. Brown, "they must be a hard
+set to deal with, both mentally and morally. I should judge, from what
+Miss Adèle tells me of your instructions, that you have not put them
+upon the same rigid regimen of law and truth, that you may remember
+you prescribed for my spiritual cure". Mr. Brown smiled. "Perhaps", he
+continued, "these men are not capable of appreciating the mild aspect
+of mercy. They do not possess the susceptibility to which you have
+been appealing. They need to have the terrors of the law preached to
+them".
+
+"Ah! that is it, friend Brown, you have it. I am convinced it is so. I
+have fell it for several days past. But I do dislike, extremely, to
+endeavor to chain them to the truth by fear. Love is so much more
+noble a passion to enlist for Christ. Yet they must be drawn by some
+motive from their sins. Love often follows in the wake and casts out
+fear".
+
+"I remember", said Mr. Brown, "to have heard Mr. N----, the famous
+Maine lumber-merchant, who you know is an infidel, say that the only
+way the lumbermen can be kept from stealing each other's logs, is by
+preaching to them eternal punishment".
+
+"No doubt it is true", replied the good man, "and if these souls
+cannot be sweetly constrained into the beautiful fields of peace, they
+must be compelled into them by the terrors of that death that hangs
+over the transgressor. Besides, I feel a strong presentiment that some
+great judgment is about to descend upon this people. All day, the
+thought has weighed upon me like an incubus. I cannot shake it off.
+Something terrible is in store for them. What it may be, I know not.
+But I am impressed with the duty of preaching a judgment to come to
+them, this very afternoon. I will do it".
+
+A slight rattling of dishes at the door announced the arrival of Bess,
+with a tray of refreshment for Mr. Brown, and, at the same moment, the
+tinkling of a bell below, summoned Mr. Norton to the table.
+
+Half an hour later, the missionary, with a slow pace and the air of
+one oppressed with a great burden, walked to the Grove. He seated
+himself on a rustic bench and with his head resting on the trunk of an
+immense elm, which overshadowed him, sat absorbed in earnest thought,
+while the people gathered in a crowd around him.
+
+At length, the murmuring voices were hushed into quiet. He rose, took
+up his pocket Testament, read a portion of the tenth chapter of
+Hebrews, offered a prayer, and then sang in his trumpet tones,
+Charles Wesley's magnificently solemn hymn, commencing,--
+
+
+   "Lo! on a narrow neck of land
+    'Twixt two unbounded seas, I stand
+      Secure! insensible!"
+
+
+He then repeated a clause in the chapter he had just read to them. "If
+we sin wilfully after that we have received a knowledge of the truth,
+there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful
+looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the
+adversaries".
+
+He began his discourse by reminding the people of the truths he had
+presented to them during the weeks past. He had told them faithfully
+of their sinfulness before a holy God, and pointed out the way of
+safety and purification through a crucified Saviour. And he had
+earnestly sought to induce them, by the love this Saviour bore them,
+to forsake their transgressions and exercise trust in Him. He now told
+them, in accents broken with grief, that he had every reason to fear
+they had not followed his counsel, and observing their hardness of
+heart, he felt constrained to bring them another and different
+message,--a message less tender, but coming from the same divine
+source. He then unfolded to them the wrath of the Most High, kindled
+against those who scorn the voice of mercy from a dying Saviour.
+
+They listened intently. His voice, his manner, his words electrified
+them. His countenance was illumined with an awful light, such as they
+had not before witnessed there. His eye shot out prophetic meanings.
+At the close, he said, in a low tone, like the murmur of distant
+thunder, "what I have told you, is true,--true, as that we stand on
+this solid ground,--true, as that sky that bends above us. This book
+says it. It is, therefore, eternal truth. I have it impressed upon my
+mind, that a judgment, a swift, tremendous judgment, is about to
+descend upon this people on account of their sins. I cannot shake off
+this impression, and, under its power, I warn you to prepare your
+souls to meet some dreadful calamity.
+
+"I know not how it will come,--in what shape, with what power. But I
+feel that death is near. It seems to me that I see many before me, who
+will soon be beyond the bounds of time. I feel constrained to say this
+to you. I beg you prepare to meet your God".
+
+When he ceased, a visible shudder ran through the multitude. They rose
+slowly and wended their way homeward, many with blanched faces, and
+even the hardiest with a vague sense of some startling event
+impending.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+JOHN AND CÆSAR.
+
+
+At four o'clock in the afternoon on the following day Mrs. Dubois sat
+in the Madonna room. Her fingers were employed upon a bit of exquisite
+embroidery, over which she bent with a contracted brow, as if her mind
+was filled with anxious thought.
+
+Adèle, robed in a French silk of delicate blue, her rich, dark hair
+looped up in massive braids, sat listlessly, poring over a volume of
+old French romance.
+
+Suddenly rising, she threw it hastily aside, exclaiming as she went
+towards an open window, "O! this interminable drought! It makes me
+feel so miserable and restless. Does it not oppress you, _ma chère
+mère?_"
+
+Mrs. Dubois started suddenly, as Adèle spoke.
+
+"Ah! yes. It is very wearisome", she replied.
+
+"_Ma mère_, I have disturbed you. Of what were you thinking when I
+spoke?"
+
+"Thinking of the chateau de Rossillon and its inmates. It is very long
+since we have had news of them. I am much troubled about the dear
+friends. It would be like rain on the parched ground, could I once
+more hear my uncle's voice. The good, kind old man!"
+
+"Never fear, _ma mère_. You shall hear it. I have a plan that will
+soon take us all to Picardy. You smile, but do I not accomplish my
+little schemes? Do not ask me, please, how I shall do it. The
+expedition is not wholly matured".
+
+"Not wholly matured, indeed!" said Mrs. Dubois, with an incredulous
+smile.
+
+"Nevertheless, it will take place, _ma mère_. But not this week. In
+the mean time, I am going to invite the gentlemen, who are doubtless
+moping in Mr. Brown's room, as we are here, to come in and examine
+that curiously illuminated missal of yours. How agreeable Mr. Brown
+is, now that he is getting well! Don't you think so? And Mr. Norton is
+as good and radiant as a seraph! No doubt, they are pining with
+homesickness, just as you are, and will be glad of our society".
+
+Adèle left the room, and soon returned, accompanied by the two
+individuals, of whom she had gone in search.
+
+She placed Mr. Brown, who looked quite superb in his brilliantly
+flowered dressing-gown, in a corner of a sofa. Having examined the
+missal with interest, for a time, he handed it to Mr. Norton, and was
+soon engaged in an animated conversation with Mrs. Dubois, respecting
+various works of ancient art, they had both seen in Europe.
+
+Adèle watched with pleasure the light kindling in her mother's eyes,
+as she went back, in memory and thought, to other days.
+
+Mr. Norton gazed at his friend Brown, transfigured suddenly from the
+despairing invalid, who had lost all interest in life, to the
+animated being before him, with traces indeed of languor and disease
+upon his person, but glowing now with life, thought, and emotion. "A
+precious jewel gathered for the crown of Him, who sits on the throne
+above", he whispered to himself.
+
+Felicitating himself with this thought, he divided his attention
+between the conversation of Mrs. Dubois and Mr. Brown, and the marvels
+of skill, labor, and beauty traced by the old monk upon the pages
+before him.
+
+"I must say, Miss Adèle, that these lines and colors are put on most
+ingeniously. But I cannot help thinking those ancient men might have
+been better employed in tracing the characters of divine truth upon
+the hearts of their fellow-beings".
+
+"True", said Adèle, "had they been free to do it. But they were shut
+up from the world and could not. Illuminating missals was far better
+than to pass their lives in perfect idleness and inanition".
+
+"Don't you think, my dear", said the missionary, who had wisely never
+before questioned any member of the family on the points of religious
+faith, "that the cloister life was a strange one to live, for men who
+professed to have the love of God in their hearts, with a whole world
+lying in sin around them, for a field to labor in?"
+
+"Yes, I do, and I think too many other things are wrong about the
+Roman Church, but it pains my mother to hear me speak of them", said
+Adèle, in a low tone, glancing at her mother.
+
+"Is it so?" exclaimed the good man. His face lighted up with a secret
+satisfaction. But he fixed his eyes upon the book and was silent.
+
+Just then, some one knocked on the parlor door. Adèle opened it and
+beheld Mrs. McNab,--her broad figure adorned with the brilliant chintz
+dress and yellow bandanna handkerchief, filling up the entire doorway,
+and her face surrounded by the wide, full frill, its usual framework,
+expressing a curious mixture of shyness and audacity.
+
+It was her first call at the house, since Adèle's summary process of
+ejection had been served upon her, and it was not until that young
+lady had welcomed her cordially and invited her to come in, that she
+ventured beyond the threshold. She then came forward, made a low
+courtesy, and seating herself near the door, remarked that Bess was
+not below, and hearing voices in the picture parlor, wishing to hear
+from the patient, she had ventured up.
+
+"An' how do ye find yersel' Mr. Brown?" said she, turning to that
+gentleman. "But I needna ask the question, sin' yer looks tell ye're
+amaist weel".
+
+Mr. Brown assented to her remark upon his health, and expressed to her
+his obligations for her attentions to him during his illness.
+
+"Them's naethin;" she replied with a conscious air of benevolence.
+"'Tis the buzziness o' my life to tak' care o' sick bodies".
+
+"How are Mrs. Campbell's children?" inquired Mrs. Dubois.
+
+"All got weel, but Katy. She's mizerble eneugh".
+
+"Has she not recovered from the measles, Mrs. McNab?"
+
+"The measles are gone, but sunthin' has settled on her lights. She
+coughs like a woodchuck. An' I must be a goin', for I tole Mrs.
+Cawmell, I wadna stay a bit, but wad come back, immediate".
+
+As she rose to go, she caught a sight of several objects on the lawn
+below, that rooted her to the spot.
+
+"Why ther's Mummychog", she exclaimed, "leading a gran' black charger,
+wi' a tall brave youth a walkin' by his side. Wha can he be?"
+
+At that moment a low, clear laugh rang out upon the air, reaching the
+ears of the little company assembled in the parlor.
+
+At the sound, Mr. Brown's pale face changed to a perfectly ashen hue,
+then flushed to a deep crimson. He started to his feet, and exclaimed,
+"John Lansdowne! brave fellow!"
+
+It was even so. John and Cæsar had reached their destination.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+TRAVELLING IN NEW BRUNSWICK.
+
+
+The following morning, Mr. Norton, Mr. Somers, alias Mr. Brown and
+John Lansdowne were sitting together, talking of the route from ---- to
+Miramichi.
+
+"You must have had a tedious journey, Mr. Lansdowne", observed the
+missionary.
+
+"By no means, sir. Never had a more glorious time in my life. The
+reach through the forest was magnificent. By the way, Ned, I shot a
+wolf. I'll tell you how it was, sometime. But how soon shall you feel
+able to start for home?"
+
+"In two or three weeks, Dr. Wright says", replied Mr. Somers.
+
+"You must not take the road again, young gentleman", remarked Mr.
+Norton, "until we have had a fall of rain. The country is scorched
+with heat beyond anything I ever knew. Fine scenery on the St. John
+River, Mr. Lansdowne".
+
+"Wonderfully fine and varied! Like the unfolding of a splendid
+panorama! In fact, it nearly consoled me for the sleepless nights and
+horribly cooked dinners".
+
+"Ah! well--. I've had some experience while passing up and down in
+these parts. In some localities, the country is pretty well
+populated", said Mr. Norton with a broad smile.
+
+"I can certify to that geographical fact", said John, laughing. "One
+night, after retiring, I found that a large and active family of mice
+had taken previous shares in the straw cot furnished me. A stirring
+time, they had, I assure you. The following night, I was roused up
+from a ten horse-power slumber, by a little million of enterprising
+insects,--well,--their style of locomotion, though irregular,
+accomplishes remarkable results. By the way, I doubt that story of a
+pair of fleas, harnessed into a tiny chariot and broken into a trot".
+
+"So do I," said Mr. Norton. "'Tis a libel on them. They couldn't go
+such a humdrum gait".
+
+"That reminds me", said Mr. Somers, "of a very curious and original
+painting I saw in England. It represented the ghost of a flea".
+
+"Ridiculous!" exclaimed John. "You are romancing, Ned".
+
+"I am stating a fact. It was painted by that eccentric genius, Blake,
+upon a panel, and exhibited to me by an aquaintance, who was a friend
+of the artist".
+
+"What was it like?" said John.
+
+"It was a naked figure with a strong body and a short neck, with
+burning eyes longing for moisture, and a face worthy of a murderer,
+holding a bloody cup in its clawed hands, out of which it seemed eager
+to drink. The shape was strange enough and the coloring splendid,--a
+kind of glistening green and dusky gold,--beautifully varnished. It
+was in fact the spiritualization of a flea".
+
+"What a conception!" exclaimed Mr. Norton. "The artist's imagination
+must have been stimulated by intense personal sufferings from said
+insect. The savage little wretch. How did you manage the diet, Mr.
+Lansdowne?" continued the missionary, a smile twinkling all over his
+face.
+
+"Ah! yes, the _table d'hote_. I found eggs and potatoes safe, and
+devoted myself to them, I was always sure to get snagged, when I tried
+anything else".
+
+"Verily, there is room for improvement in the mode of living, among
+His Majesty's loyal subjects of this Province. I should say, that in
+most respects, they are about half a century behind the age", said Mr.
+Norton.
+
+"How did you ascertain I was here, John?" inquired Mr. Somers.
+
+"I learned at Fredericton that you had left with Mr. Dubois, and I
+obtained directions there, for my route. Really", added John, "you are
+fortunate to have found such an establishment as this to be laid up
+in".
+
+"Yes. God be thanked for the attention and care received in this house
+and for the kindness of this good friend", said Mr. Somers, laying his
+hand affectionately on the missionary's arm.
+
+"But this Mummychog", said John, breaking into a clear, musical laugh,
+"that I came across last night. He is a curiosity. That, of course,
+isn't his real name. What is it?"
+
+"He goes by no other name here", replied Mr. Norton. "I met him", said
+John, "a few rods from here", and asked him if he could inform me where
+Mr. Dubois lived. "Well, s'pose I ken", he said. After waiting a few
+minutes for some direction, and none forthcoming, I asked, "will you
+have the goodness to show me the house, sir?" "S'pose you hev
+particiler business there", he inquired. "Yes. I have, sir". "Well! I
+s'pose ye are goin' fur to see _hur_?"
+
+"Hur!" I exclaimed, my mind immediately reverting to the worthy
+ancient, who assisted Aaron in holding up the hands of Moses on a
+certain occasion, mentioned in the old Testament. "Hur! who is Hur? I
+am in pursuit of a gentleman,--a friend of mine. I know no other
+person here". "O well! come then; I'll show ye". As he was walking
+along by Cæsar's side, I heard him say, apparently to himself, "He's a
+gone 'un, any way".
+
+"He is a queer specimen", said Mr. Norton. "And now I think of it, Mr.
+Somers, Micah told me this morning, that a good horse will be brought
+into the settlement, by a friend of his, in about a week. He thinks,
+if you like the animal, he can make a bargain and get it for you".
+
+"Thank you for your trouble about it, my dear sir", replied Mr.
+Somers.
+
+"Two weeks then, Ned", said John, "before the Doctor will let you
+start. That will give me ample opportunity to explore the length of
+the Miramichi River. What are the fishing privileges in this region?"
+
+"Fine,--remarkably good!" said the missionary.
+
+In the course of a few minutes, John, with the assistance of Mr.
+Norton, arranged a plan for a fishing and hunting excursion, upon
+which, if Micah's services could be obtained, he was to start the next
+day.
+
+After inquiring for the most feasible way of transmitting a letter, he
+retired to relieve the anxiety of his parents by informing them of the
+success of his journey. As might have been expected, after a somewhat
+detailed account of his travels, the remainder of his epistle home was
+filled with the effervescence of his excitement at having found Mr.
+Somers, and thus triumphantly accomplished the object of his
+expedition.
+
+Beneath the flash and foam of John's youthful spirit, there were
+depths of hidden tenderness and truth. He was warmly attached to his
+uncle. The difference in age between them was not great, and even
+that, was considerably diminished by the peculiar traits of each. John
+possessed the hardier features of character. He had developed a
+strong, determined will and other granite qualities, which promised to
+make him a tower of defence to those that might shelter themselves
+beneath his wing. These traits, contrasting with his own, Mr. Somers
+appreciated and admired. They imparted to him a strengthening
+influence. John, on the other hand, was charmed with the genial
+disposition, the mobile and brilliant intellect of his uncle, and the
+ready sympathy he extended him in his pursuits. In short, they were
+drawn together in that peculiar, but not uncommon bond of friendship,
+symbolized by the old intimacy of the ivy and the oak.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE FLOWER UNFOLDING.
+
+
+There is nothing in human life more lovely than the transition of a
+young girl from childhood into womanhood. It suggests the springtime
+of the year, when the leaf buds are partly opened and the tender
+blossoms wave in the genial sunshine; when the colors so airy and
+delicate are set and the ethereal odors are wafted gently to the
+senses; when earth and air are filled with sweet prophecies of the
+ripened splendor of summer. It is like the moments of early morn, when
+the newly risen sun throws abroad his light, giving token of the
+majestic glories of noon-day, while the earth exhales a dewy freshness
+and the air is enchanted by the songs of birds, just wakened from
+their nests. It recalls the overture of a grand musical drama
+introducing the joyous melodies, the wailing minors, the noble chords
+and sublime symphonies of the glorious harmony.
+
+The development of the maiden is like the opening of some lovely
+flower-bud. As life unfolds, the tender smile and blush of childhood
+mingle with the grace of maidenly repose; the upturned, radiant eye
+gathers new depths of thought and emotion; the delicate features, the
+wavy, pliant form, begin to reveal their wealth of grace and beauty.
+
+Sometimes, the overstimulated bud is forced into intense and unnatural
+life and bloom. Sometimes, the development is slow and almost
+imperceptible. Fed gently by the light and dews of heaven, the flower,
+at length, circles forth in perfected beauty. Here, the airy grace and
+playfulness of a Rosalind, or the purity and goodness of a Desdemona
+is developed; there, the intense, passionate nature of a Juliet, or
+the rich intellect and lofty elegance of a Portia.
+
+But, how brief is that bright period of transition! Scarcely can the
+artist catch the beautiful creation and transfer it to the canvas, ere
+it has changed, or faded.
+
+
+   "How small a part of time they share,
+   That are so wondrous sweet and fair!"
+
+
+Adèle Dubois had just reached this period of life. Her form was
+ripening into a noble and statuesque symmetry; the light in her eyes
+shot forth from darkening depths; a faint bloom was creeping into her
+cheek; a soft smile was wreathing those lips, wrought by nature, into
+a somewhat haughty curve; the frank, careless, yet imperious manner
+was chastening into a calmer grace; a transforming glory shone around
+her, making her one of those visions that sometimes waylay and haunt a
+man's life forever.
+
+Her physical and intellectual growth were symmetrical. Her mind was
+quick, penetrative, and in constant exercise. Truthful and upright,
+her soul shone through her form and features, as a clear flame, placed
+within a transparent vase, brings out the adornments of flower, leaf,
+and gem, with which it is enriched.
+
+In a brown stone house, in the city of P., State of ----, there hangs
+in one of the chambers a picture of Adèle, representing her as she was
+at this period of her life. It is full of beauty and elegance.
+Sun-painting was an art unknown in the days when it was executed. But
+the modern photographist could hardly have produced a picture so
+exquisitely truthful as well as lovely.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE DEER HUNT.
+
+
+Early in the morning, John Lansdowne, having donned his hunting suit
+and taken a hasty breakfast, seized his rifle and joined Micah,
+already waiting for him on the lawn in front of the house.
+
+He was equipped in a tunic-like shirt of dressed buckskin, with
+leggings and moccasins of the same material, each curiously
+embroidered and fringed. The suit was a present from his
+mother,--procured by her from Canada. His head was surmounted by a
+blue military cap and his belt adorned with powder pouch and
+hunting-knife. Micah with a heavy blanket coat of a dingy, brown
+color, leggings of embroidered buckskin, skull cap of gray fox skin,
+and Indian moccasins; wore at his belt a butcher knife in a scabbard,
+a tomahawk, otter-skin pouch, containing bullets and other necessaries
+for such an expedition.
+
+In the dim morning light they walked briskly to a little cove in the
+river, where Micah's birchen canoe lay, and found it already stored
+with supplies for the excursion. There were bags of provisions,
+cooking utensils, a small tent, neatly folded, Micah's old Dutch
+rifle, fishing tackle, and other articles of minor account.
+
+"Ever traviled much in a canoo?" inquired Micah.
+
+"None at all", replied John.
+
+"Well, then I'll jest mention, yeou needn't jump into it, like a
+catameount rampagin' arter fodder. Yeou step in kinder keerful and set
+deown and don't move reound more'n ye ken help. It's a mighty crank
+little critter, I tell ye. 'Twould be tolable unconvenient to upset
+and git eour cargo turned into the stream".
+
+"It would indeed!" said John. "I'll obey orders, Mummychog".
+
+John entered the canoe with tact, apparently to Micah's satisfaction
+and soon they were gliding down the river, now, owing to the
+long-continued drought, considerably shrunk within its banks.
+
+Just as night gave its parting salute to the advancing day, the
+voyagers passed into a region densely wooded down to the water's edge.
+Oaks, elms, and maples, birches of different sorts, willows and
+cranberry, grew in wild luxuriance along the margin, tinged with the
+rich hues of autumn. A thousand spicy odors exhaled from the
+frostbitten plants and shrubs, filling the senses with an intoxicating
+incense. When the rising sun shot its level rays through the trees,
+the clear stream quivered with golden arrows.
+
+John viewed the scenes through which they glided with eager eye.
+
+Micah's countenance expressed intense satisfaction. He sat bolt
+upright in the stern of the canoe, steering with his paddle, his keen
+bullet eyes dancing from side to side examining every object as they
+passed along. Both were silent.
+
+At length, Micah exclaimed, "Well, Captin', this is the pootiest way
+of livin' I know on, any heow. My 'pinion is that human natur was
+meant to live reound on rivers and in the woods, or vyagin' on lakes,
+and sech. I never breathe jest nateral and lively, till I git eout o'
+between heouse walls into the free air".
+
+"'Tis a glorious life, Micah! I agree to it".
+
+"Hark!" said Micah! "Got yer piece ready? Maybe you'll hev' a chance
+to bring sumthin' deown. I heerd an old squaw holler jest neow".
+
+"I'm ready", said John. "But I didn't hear any sound. What was it
+like?"
+
+"O! kinder a scoldin' seound. Cawcawee! cawcawee! Don't yer hear the
+critter reelin' of it off? Ha! 'tis dyin' away, though. We shall hear
+it agin, by and by".
+
+"An old squaw", said John, as the excitement the prospect of a shot
+had raised in his mind subsided. "Do you have such game as _that_, in
+Miramichi? I've heard of witches flying on broomsticks through the
+air, but didn't know before that squaws are in the habit of skylarking
+about in that way".
+
+"Well, ye'll know it by observation, before long", said Micah, with a
+slight twitch of one eye. "Them's ducks from Canada, a goin'
+south'ard, as they allers do in the fall o' the year. They keep up
+that ere scoldin' seound, day and night. Cawcawee! cawcawee! kind of
+an aggravatin' holler! But I like it, ruther. It allers 'minds me of a
+bustin' good feller that was deown here from Canada once".
+
+"How remind you of him?" inquired John.
+
+"Well, he cam' deown on bissiniss, but he ran afowl o' me, and we was
+eout in the woods together, consid'able. He used to set eoutside the
+camp, bright, starlight nights, and sing songs, and sech. He had a
+powerful, sweet v'ice, and it allers 'peared to me as ef every kind of
+a livin' thing hushed up and listened, when he sung o' nights. He
+could reel off most anything you can think on. There was one kind of a
+mournful ditty he sung, and once in a while he brung in a
+chorus,--cawcawee! cawcawee,--jest like what them ducks say, only, the
+way he made it seound, was soft and meller and doleful-like. I liked
+to hear him sing that, only he was so solemn arter it, and would set
+and fetch up great long sythes. And once I asked him what made him so
+sober and take on so, arter singin' it. He said, Micah, my good lad,
+when I war a young man, I had a little French wife, that could run
+like a hind and sing like a wild bird. Well, she died. The very last
+thing she sung, was, that 'ere song. When I see how he felt, I never
+asked him another question. He sot and sythed a spell and then got up,
+took a most oncommon swig of old Jamaky and turned into his blanket".
+
+Just as Micah ended this account, John caught sight of a large bird at
+a distance directly ahead of them, and his attention became entirely
+absorbed. It took flight from a partly decayed tree on the northern
+bank, and commenced wheeling around, above the water. The canoe was
+rapidly nearing this promising game.
+
+Micah said not a word, but observed, in an apparently careless mood,
+the movements of his young companion.
+
+Suddenly, the bird poised himself for an instant in the air, then
+closed his wings and shot downward. A whizzing sound! then a plash,
+and he disappeared beneath the surface, throwing up the water into
+sparkling foam-wreaths. He was absent but a moment, and then bore
+upward into the air a large fish.
+
+John's shot took him on the wing, and he dropped dead, his claws yet
+grasping the fish, on the water's edge.
+
+"Ruther harnsum than otherwise!" exclaimed Micah. "You've got your
+dinner, Captin'".
+
+And he put the canoe rapidly towards the river-bank, to pick up the
+game.
+
+They found it to be a large fish-hawk, with a good-sized salmon in its
+fierce embrace. It was a noble specimen of the bird, tinted with
+brown, ashy white, and blue, with eyes of deep orange color.
+
+"Well, that are a prize", said Micah. "Them birds ain't common in
+these parts, bein' as they mostly live on sea-coasts. But this un was
+on his way seouth, and his journey has ended quite unexpected".
+
+Saying which, he threw both bird and fish into the canoe, and darted
+forward on the river again.
+
+"When shall we reach the deer feeding-ground you spoke of, Micah?"
+
+"O! not afore night", said Micah. "And then we mustn't go anyst it
+till mornin'".
+
+"I suppose you have brought down some scores of deer in your hunting
+raids, Micah?"
+
+"Why, yes,--takin' it by and large, I've handled over consid'able
+many of 'em. 'Tis a critter I hate to kill, Captin', though I s'pose
+it seounds soft to say so. Ef 't wan't for thinkin' they'll git picked
+off, anyway, I dunno but I should let 'em alone altogether".
+
+"Why do you dislike to kill them?"
+
+"Well, to begin with, they're a harnsum critter. They hev sech
+graceful ways with 'em, kinder grand ones tew, specially them bucks,
+with their crests reared up agin the sky, lookin' so bold and free
+like. And them bright little does,--sometimes they hev sech a skeerd,
+tender look in their eyes,--and I've seen the tears roll out on 'em,
+when they lay wounded and disabled like, jest like a human critter. It
+allers makes me feel kind o' puggetty to see that".
+
+They made a noon halt, in the shadows cast by a clump of silver
+birches, and did ample justice to the provision supplied from the
+pantry of the Dubois house.
+
+At four o'clock they proceeded onward towards the deer hunt. John
+listened with unwearied interest to Micah's stories of peril and
+hair-breadth 'scapes, by flood, field, and forest, gathering many
+valuable hints in the science of woodcraft from the practised hunter.
+
+Just at dark, they reached a broad part of the stream, and selected
+their camping-ground.
+
+The tent was soon pitched, a fire of brushwood kindled and the salmon
+broiled to a relish that an epicure could not have cavilled at. The
+table, a flat rock, was also garnished with white French rolls, sliced
+ham, brown bread, blocks of savory cheese, and tea, smoking hot.
+
+The sylvan scene,--the moon shedding its light around, the low music
+of the gently rippling waves, the spicy odor of the burning cedar, the
+snow-white clouds and deep blue of the sky mirrored in the stream,
+made it a place fit at least for rural divinities. Pan might have
+looked in,--ah! he is dead,--his ghost then might have looked in upon
+them from behind some old gnarled tree, with a frown of envy at this
+intrusion upon his ancient domain.
+
+On the following morning, at the first faint glimmering of light,
+Micah was alert. He shook our young hero's shoulder and woke him from
+a pleasant dream.
+
+"Neow's the time, Captin'", said Micah, speaking in a cautious
+undertone, "neow's the time, ef we do it at all, to nab them deer.
+While your gittin' rigged and takin' a cold bite, I'll tell ye the lay
+o' things. Ye see, don't ye, that pint o' land ahead on us, a juttin'
+out into the stream? Well, we've got to put the canoe on the water
+right away, hustle in the things, and percede just as whist and
+keerful as we ken, to that pint. Jest beyend that, I expect the
+animils, when day's fairly up, will come to drink. And there's where
+we'll get a shot at 'em".
+
+"But what makes you expect they'll come to drink at that particular
+place, Micah?"
+
+"You see that pooty steep hill, that slopes up jest back o' the pint
+o' land, don't ye? Well, behind that hill which is steeper 'n it looks
+to be, there's a largish, level piece of greound that's been burnt
+over within a few years, and it's grown up to tall grass and got a
+number o' clumps of young trees on it, and it's 'bout surreounded by a
+lot o' master rocky hills. That's the feedin' greound. There's a deep
+gorge cut right inter that hill, back 'o the pint. The gorge has a
+pooty smooth rocky bed. In the spring o' the year, there's a brook
+runs through there and pours inter the river jest below. But it's all
+dry neow, and the deer, as a gen'al thing scramble eout of their
+feedin' place into this gorge and foller it deown to the river to git
+their drink. It brings 'em eout jest below the pint. We have got neow
+to cross over to the pint, huggin' the bank, so the critters shan't
+see us, and take a shot from there. Git yer piece ready, Captin. Ef
+there's tew, or more, I'll hev the fust shot and you the second. Don't
+speak, arter we git on to the pint, the leastest word".
+
+"I understand", said John, as he examined his rifle, to see that all
+was right.
+
+"Now for it", said Micah, as having finished their arrangements, they
+entered the canoe.
+
+Silently, they paddled along, sheltered from observation by the little
+wooded promontory and following as nearly as possible the crankling
+river as it indented into the land. In a few minutes, they landed and
+proceeded noiselessly to get a view of the bank below.
+
+After a moment's reconnoitre, John turned his face towards Micah with
+a look of blank disappointment.
+
+But Micah looked cool and expectant. He merely pointed up the rocky
+gorge and said under his breath--
+
+"'T aint time to expect 'em yet. The wind, what there is on it, is
+favorable tew,--it blows right in our faces and can't kerry any smell
+of us to 'em. Neow hide yourself right away. Keep near me, Captin',
+so that we ken make motions to each other".
+
+In a few moments they had secured their ambuscade, each lying on the
+ground at full length, concealed by low, scrubby trees. By a slight
+turn of the head, each could command a view up the gorge for a
+considerable distance.
+
+Just as the sun began to show his broad, red disc in the east, new
+light shot forth from the eyes of the hunters, as they perceived a
+small herd coming down the rocky pathway. The creatures bounded along
+with a wild and graceful freedom, until they reached the debouche of
+the pass into the valley. There they paused,--scanned the scene with
+eager eyes and snuffed the morning breeze. The wind brought no tale of
+their enemies, close at hand, and they bounded on fearlessly to the
+river's brink.
+
+It was apparently a family party, a noble buck leading the group,
+followed by a doe and two young hinds. They soon had their noses in
+the stream. The buck took large draughts and then raising his haughty
+front, tossed his antlers, as if in defiance, in the face of the god
+of day.
+
+Micah's eye was at his rifle. A crack and a whizz in the air. The
+noble creature gave one mighty bound and fell dead. The ball had
+entered his broad forehead and penetrated to the brain.
+
+At the report of the rifle, the doe, who was still drinking, gave a
+bound in the air, scattering the spray from her dripping mouth,
+wheeled with the rapidity of lightning, and sprang towards the gorge.
+But John's instantaneous shot sped through the air and the animal fell
+dead from her second bound, the ball having entered the heart. In the
+midst of their triumph, John and Micah watched, with relenting eyes
+the two hinds, while they took, as on the wings of the wind, their
+forlorn flight up the fatal pathway.
+
+Having slung their booty on the boughs of a wide-branching tree, and
+taken some refreshment from the supplies in the canoe, Micah declared
+himself good for a scramble up the hill to the feeding-ground, a
+proposition John readily accepted.
+
+Over rock, bush and brier, up hill and down, for five hours, they
+pursued their way with unmitigated zeal and energy. They scaled the
+hill, cut by the gorge,--approaching, cautiously, its brow,
+overlooking the deer haunt. But they could perceive no trace of the
+herd.
+
+"It's abeout as I expected", said Micah, "them two little hinds we
+skeered, gin the alarm to the rest on 'em and they've all skulked off
+to some covit or ruther. S'pose Captin', we jest make a surkit reound
+through the rest of these hills, maybe we'll light on 'em agin".
+
+"Agreed", responded John.
+
+They skirted the enclosure, but without a chance for another shot. As,
+about noon, they were rapidly descending the gorge, on their way back
+to the promontory, the scene of their morning success, Micah proposed
+that they should have "a nice brile out of that fat buck at the pint,
+and then put for the settlement".
+
+"Not yet", said John. "Why, we are just getting into this glorious
+life. What's your hurry, Mummychog?"
+
+"Well, ye see", said Micah, "I can't be gone from hum, no longer
+neow, any heow. Next week, I'll try it with ye agin, if ye say so".
+
+John acceded reluctantly to the arrangement, though his disappointment
+was somewhat mitigated by the prospect of another similar excursion.
+
+The meal prepared by Micah, for their closing repast, considering the
+circumstances, might have been pronounced as achieved in the highest
+style of art. Under a bright sky, shadowed by soft, quivering
+birch-trees, scattering broken lights all over their rustic table,
+never surely was a dinner eaten with greater gusto.
+
+Life in the forest! ended all too soon. But thy memories live.
+Memories redolent of youth, health, strength, freedom, and beauty,
+come through the long years, laden with dews, sunshine, and fragrance,
+and scatter over the time-worn spirit refreshment and delight.
+
+As our voyagers were paddling up stream in the afternoon, in answer to
+questions put by John to Micah, respecting the Dubois family, he
+remarked--
+
+"Them Doobyce's came to the kentry, jest ten year before I did. Well,
+I've heerd say, the Square came fust. He didn't set himself up for
+anything great at all, but explored reound the region a spell, and was
+kinder pleasant to most anybody he came across. Somehow, or 'nuther,
+he had a kind of a kingly turn with him, that seemed jest as nateral
+as did to breathe, and ye could see that he warn't no ways used to
+sech a wildcat sort of a place as Miramichi was then".
+
+"I wonder that he remained here", said John.
+
+"Well, the pesky critters reound here ruther took to him, and he
+bought a great lot o' land and got workmen and built a house, and
+fetched his wife and baby here. So they've lived here ever since. But
+they're no more like the rest o' the people in these parts, than I'm
+like you, and it has allers been a mystery to me why they should stay.
+But I s'pose they know their own bissiniss best. They're allers givin'
+to the poor, and they try to make the settlers more decent every way,
+but 'taint been o' much use".
+
+After a long, meditative pause, Micah said, "Neow Captin', I want yeou
+to answer me one question, honestly. I aint a goin' to ask any thing
+sarcy. Did ye ever in yer life see a harnsumer, witchiner critter than
+Miss Adèle is?"
+
+Micah fixed his keen eye triumphantly upon our hero, as if he was
+aware beforehand that but one response could be made. John surprised
+by the suddenness of the question, and somewhat confused, for the
+moment, by a vague consciousness that his companion had found the key
+to his thoughts, hesitated a little, but soon recovered sufficiently
+to parry the stroke.
+
+"You don't mean to say, Micah, that there's any person for beauty and
+bewitchingness to be compared with Mrs. McNab?"
+
+"Whew-ew", uttered Micah, while every line and feature in his
+countenance expressed ineffable scorn. He gave several extra strokes
+of the paddle with great energy. Suddenly, his grim features broke
+into a genial smile.
+
+"Well, Captin'", he said, "ef yeou choose to play 'possum that way,
+ye ken. But ye needn't expect _me_ to believe in them tricks, cos I'm
+an old 'un".
+
+John laughed and replied, "Mummychog, Miss Adèle Dubois is a perfect
+beauty. I can't deny it".
+
+"And a parfeck angel tew", said Micah.
+
+"I don't doubt it", said John, energetically. "When shall we reach the
+settlement, Micah?"
+
+"Abeout three hours arter moonrise".
+
+And just at that time our voyagers touched the spot they had started
+from the day before, and unloaded their cargo. They were received at
+the Dubois house with the compliments due to successful hunters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE PERSECUTION.
+
+
+On the following afternoon, Mr. Norton preached to a larger and far
+more attentive audience than usual. The solemn warnings he had uttered
+and the fearful presentiments of coming evil he had expressed on the
+last occasion of assembling at the Grove, had been communicated from
+mouth to mouth. Curiosity, and perhaps some more elevated motive, had
+drawn a numerous crowd of people together to hear him.
+
+He spoke to them plainly of their sinful conduct, particularizing the
+vices of intemperance, profanity, gambling, and Sabbath-breaking, to
+which many of them were addicted. He earnestly besought them to turn
+from these evil ways and accept pardon for their past transgressions
+and mercy through Christ. He showed them the consequences of their
+refusal to listen to the teachings and counsels of the book of God,
+and, at last, depicted to them, with great vividness, the awful
+glories and terrors of the day of final account,
+
+
+   "When the Judge shall come in splendor,
+   Strict to mark and just to render".
+
+
+As his mind dilated with the awful grandeur of the theme, his thoughts
+kindled to a white heat, and he flung off words that seemed to scorch
+and burn even the callous souls of those time-hardened transgressors.
+He poured upon their ears, in tones of trumpet power and fulness,
+echoed from the hills around, the stern threatenings of injured
+justice; he besought them, in low, sweet, thrilling accents, to yield
+themselves heart and life to the Great Judge, who will preside in the
+day of impartial accounts, and thus avert his wrath and be happy
+forever.
+
+At the close, he threw himself for a few moments upon the rustic bench
+appropriated to him, covered his face with his hands and seemed in
+silent prayer. The people involuntarily bent their heads in sympathy
+and remained motionless. Then, he rose and gave them the evening
+benediction.
+
+Mr. Somers, his nephew, and Adèle had been sitting under the shade of
+an odorous balm poplar, on the skirt of the crowd, at first watching
+its movements, and then drawn away from these observations, by the
+impressive discourse of Mr. Norton.
+
+"What a clear, melodious voice he has!" said John in an undertone to
+Adèle, as the missionary finished the opening service.
+
+"Wait, until you hear its trumpet tones, Mr. Lansdowne. Those will
+come, by and by. They are magnificent. Please listen". And Adèle
+placed a finger upon her lips, in token of silence.
+
+John listened, at first, in obedience to her request, but he soon
+became enchained by the speaker.
+
+After the discourse was concluded, the trio remained sitting as if
+spellbound, quite unobservant of the crowd, slowly dispersing around
+them.
+
+"What would that man have been, Ned", at length exclaimed John, "had
+he received the culture which such munificent gifts demand? Why, he
+would have been the orator of our nation".
+
+"Ay, John", replied Mr. Somers, "but it is the solemn truth of his
+theme that gives him half his power".
+
+"It is as if I had heard the _Dies iræ_ chanted", said Adèle.
+
+As they walked on towards the house in silence, they encountered a
+company of persons, of which Mr. Dubois and the missionary were the
+centre. These two were conversing quite composedly, but the
+surrounding groups seemed to be under some excitement.
+
+At the dispersion of the gathering at the Grove, as Mr. Norton was on
+his way to the quiet of his own room, Mr. Dubois had presented to him
+the bearer of a dispatch from Fredericton. The messenger said he had
+been instructed to announce that the Provincial Court was in session
+in that city, and that a complaint had been lodged with the grand jury
+against Mr. Norton, and he was requested to meet the charge
+immediately.
+
+Mr. Norton was surprised, but said very calmly--
+
+"Can you inform me, sir, what the charge is!"
+
+"It is a charge for having preached in the Province of Brunswick,
+without a license".
+
+"Can you tell me by whom the charge was brought?"
+
+"By the reverend Francis Dinsmoor, a clergyman of the Established
+Church, of the parish of ----".
+
+"Yes, sir. I understand. He is your neighbor on the other side of the
+river, Mr. Dubois. Well, sir", continued Mr. Norton, "I suppose you
+have just arrived and stand in need of refreshment. I will confer with
+you, by and by".
+
+The messenger retraced his steps towards the house.
+
+In the mean time, a few rough-looking men had overheard the
+conversation, taken in its import, and now came about Mr. Dubois and
+Mr. Norton, making inquiries.
+
+Tom Hunkins, more noted for profanity, hard drinking, and gambling,
+than any man in the settlement, and whom Mr. Norton at the risk of
+making him a violent enemy, had on one occasion severely reprehended
+for the pernicious influence he exerted in the community,--here
+interposed a word of counsel. He was just speaking, when Adèle, Mr.
+Somers, and John, joined the group.
+
+"Neow ef I may be so bold", said Tom, "I wouldn't go anyst the cussed
+court. It's nothin' at all, but the meanness and envy o' that rowdy
+priest over the river there. He's jest mad, cos the people come over
+here to git fodder instid o' goin' to his empty corncrib. They like to
+hear yer talk better than they do him, and that's the hull on it. I'd
+let the condemed critter and court whizz, both on 'em. I would't go
+aynst 'em".
+
+"But Mr. Hunkins", said Mr. Norton, "I must attend to this matter. I
+am exposed to a fine of fifty pounds and six months' imprisonment, for
+breaking a law enacted by the Assembly of His Majesty's Province".
+
+"I'll tell ye what ye can do, parson. I'll take and put ye right
+through to Chartham this very night, and ye ken take a schooner that I
+know is going to sail to-morrow for Eastport. That 'ill land ye safe
+in the State of Maine, where ye ken stay till the Court is over, and
+the fox has gone back to his hole, and then we'll give ye a lift back
+agin and ye ken go on with yer preachin'".
+
+"I thank you for your kind feeling towards me, Mr. Hunkins, but I must
+go to Fredericton. The case is just this. I knew, before I came to
+Miramichi, that the government was not particularly favorable to
+dissenting ministers, and also that the Assembly had passed this law.
+But I had heard of the condition of this people and felt constrained
+to come here, by my desire to serve Christ, my Master and my King. By
+so doing, I took all the risks in the case. Now, if I, for
+conscience's sake, have violated an unjust law, I am willing to pay
+the penalty. I have not wittingly done harm to any of His Majesty's
+subjects, or endeavored to draw them away from their loyalty. I will
+therefore go with the messenger to Fredericton and meet this charge. I
+am not afraid of what evil-minded men can do unto me".
+
+"That is right, Mr. Norton", exclaimed Adèle, who had been listening
+attentively to his words. "Will you not go with him, father?"
+
+After a moment's meditation, Mr. Dubois replied, "If it is Mr.
+Norton's wish. I have a friend who is a member of the Assembly. A
+favorable statement of the case from him, would doubtless have much
+weight with the jury".
+
+"Thank you, sir, thank you. Such an arrangement would doubtless be of
+great service to me. I should be exceedingly grateful for it".
+
+Micah, who had been hitherto a quiet listener to the colloquy, now
+gave a short, violent cough, and said, "Captin', it's kinder queer I
+should happen to hev an arrand reound to Fredericton to-morrow. But
+I've jest thought that as long as I'm a goin' to be in the place, I
+might as well step in afore the jury and say what I know abeout the
+case".
+
+"Thank you, Micah. I believe you have been present whenever I have
+discoursed to our friends, and know precisely what I have said to
+them".
+
+"Well, I guess I dew, pooty nigh".
+
+The affair being thus arranged, the party separated.
+
+Mr. Norton informed the messenger of his intention, early in the
+morning, to depart with him for Fredericton.
+
+He then retired to his room, spent an hour in reflecting upon the
+course he had adopted, examined faithfully the motives that influenced
+him, and finally came to the conclusion that he was in the right path.
+He firmly believed God had sent him to Miramichi to preach the gospel,
+and resolved that he would not be driven from thence by any power of
+men or evil spirits. He then committed himself to the care of the
+Almighty Being, and slept securely under the wing of his love.
+
+In the mean time, there was a high breeze of excitement blowing
+through the settlement, the people taking up the matter and making
+common cause with Mr. Norton. He seemed to have fairly won their good
+will, although he had not yet induced them, except in a few instances,
+to reform their habits of life. They ventilated their indignation
+against the unfortunate clergyman of the parish of ----, in no measured
+terms.
+
+There was, however, one exception to the kind feeling manifested by
+the settlers, towards the missionary at this time, in the person of
+Mrs. McNab. She informed Mrs. Campbell, as they were discussing the
+matter before retiring for the night, that it was just what she had
+expected.
+
+"Na gude comes o' sech hurry-flurry kind o' doctrenes as that man
+preaches. I dinna believe pussons can be carried into the kingdom o'
+heaven on a wharlwind, as he'd have us to think".
+
+"Well", said Mrs. Campbell, who had been much impressed with Mr.
+Norton's teachings, "I don't think there's much likelihood of many
+folks round here bein kerried that way, or any other, into the
+kingdom. And I shall always bless that man for his kindness to the
+children when they were so sick, and for the consoling way in which he
+talked to me at that time".
+
+"His doctrenes are every way delytarious, and you'll find that's the
+end on't", said Mrs. McNab.
+
+To this dogmatic remark Mrs. Campbell made no reply.
+
+Sitting in the Madonna room, that evening, John remarked to Mr.
+Somers, "I have a growing admiration for your missionary. Did you
+notice what he said, in reply to the man who counselled him to fly
+into Maine and so evade the charge brought against him? Small things
+sometimes suggest great ones. I was reminded of what Luther said, when
+cited before the diet of Worms, and when his friends advised him not
+to go. 'I am lawfully called to appear in that city, and thither I
+will go, in the name of the Lord, though as many devils as tiles upon
+the houses were assembled against me.'"
+
+"Ay, John. There are materials in the character of that man for the
+making of another Luther. Truth, courage, power,--he has them all".
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR.
+
+
+The next morning at an early hour, Mr. Dubois and Mr. Norton,
+accompanied by the bearer of the despatch, started for Fredericton.
+They were joined by Micah, whose alleged urgent business in that city
+proved to be nothing more nor less than to lend his aid towards
+getting the missionary out of what he called "a bad fix!"
+
+Proceeding up the Miramichi River a short distance, they came to the
+portage, where travelling through the wilderness twenty miles to the
+Nashwauk, they passed down that stream to its junction with the St.
+John's River, opposite Fredericton.
+
+After throwing off the dust of travel and resting somewhat from their
+fatigue, the two gentlemen first named, went to call on Col. Allen,
+the friend of whom Mr. Dubois had spoken, who was a resident of the
+Capital.
+
+He was a man of wealth and consideration in the province. Having
+listened attentively to the statement made by Mr. Dubois respecting
+the arrest of Mr. Norton, he promised to do all in his power to secure
+for him a fair trial.
+
+Although a high churchman in principle and feeling, he was yet candid
+and upright in his judgments, and happened, moreover, to be well
+acquainted with the character of the clergyman of the parish of ----,
+who had brought the charge against Mr. Norton. He made a few inquiries
+respecting the evidence the missionary could produce of good character
+in his native State.
+
+"It will be well", he remarked, "to call on his Excellency, the
+Governor, and put him in possession of these facts. It is possible the
+case may take some shape in which his action may be called for. It
+will do no harm for him to have a knowledge of the circumstances from
+yourselves, gentlemen. Will you accompany me to the Government House?"
+
+The Government House, a large building of stone, is situated near the
+northern entrance to the city. With its extensive wings, beautiful
+grounds and military appointments, it presents an imposing appearance.
+In the rear of the mansion, a fine park slopes down to the bank of the
+river, of which it commands frequent and enchanting views.
+
+The three gentlemen alighted at the entrance to the grounds, opening
+from the broad street, and after passing the sentry were conducted by
+a page to the Governor's office. His Excellency shortly appeared and
+gave them a courteous welcome. In brief terms Col. Allen presented to
+him the case.
+
+The Governor remarked in reply, that the law prohibiting persons from
+publicly preaching, or teaching, without a license, had been passed
+many years ago, in consequence of disturbances made by a set of
+fanatics, who promulgated among the lower classes certain extravagant
+dogmas by which they were led on even to commit murder; thinking they
+were doing God service. The purpose of the law, he said, having been
+thus generally understood, few, if any clergymen, belonging either to
+the Established Church or to Dissenting congregations, had applied for
+a license, and this was the first complaint to his knowledge, that had
+been entered, alleging a violation of the law. He said, also, that
+from the statement Col. Allen had made, he apprehended no danger to
+Mr. Norton, as he thought the charge brought against him could not be
+maintained.
+
+"I advise you, sir", said he, turning to the missionary, "to go to the
+Secretary's office and take the oath of allegiance to the government.
+Mr. Dubois states you are exerting a good influence at Miramichi. I
+will see that you receive no further annoyance".
+
+"I thank your Honor", Mr. Norton replied, "for your kind assurances,
+and I declare to you, sir, that I have the most friendly feelings
+towards His Majesty's subjects and government, as I have given some
+proof in coming to labor at Miramichi. But, sir, I cannot
+conscientiously take an oath of allegiance to your government, when my
+love and duty are pledged to another. I earnestly hope that the
+present amicable relations may ever continue to exist between the two
+powers, but, sir, _should_ any conflict arise between them, the
+impropriety of my having taken such an oath would become too evident".
+
+"You are right. You are right, my good sir", replied the Governor. "I
+promise you that as long as you continue your work in the rational
+mode you have already pursued, making no effort to excite treasonable
+feelings towards His Majesty's government, you shall not be interfered
+with".
+
+His Excellency then made numerous inquiries of Mr. Dubois and Mr.
+Norton, respecting the condition of society, business, means of
+education and religious worship in the Miramichi country. He already
+knew Mr. Dubois by reputation, and was gratified to have this
+opportunity of meeting him. He inquired of the missionary how he
+happened to light upon New Brunswick as the scene of his religious
+labors, and listened to Mr. Norton's account of his "call" to
+Miramichi with unaffected interest.
+
+The next day the case was brought before the Jury. The charge having
+been read, Mr. Dubois appeared in behalf of the missionary, testifying
+to his good character and to the nature of his spiritual teachings. He
+also presented to the Jury three commissions from the Governor of the
+State of ----, which Mr. Norton had in his possession, one of them
+being a commission as Chaplain of the Regiment to which he belonged.
+Inquiry being made whether Mr. Norton's preaching was calculated to
+disaffect subjects towards the government, no evidence was found to
+that effect. On the contrary, witnesses were brought to prove the
+reverse.
+
+Mr. Mummychog, aware before he left Miramichi, that a number of his
+compeers in that region, who had been in the habit of coming to the
+Grove to hear Mr. Norton discourse, were just now at Fredericton, on
+lumbering business, had been beating up these as recruits for the
+occasion, and now brought forward quite an overpowering weight of
+evidence in favor of the defendant. These men testified that he had
+preached to them the importance of fulfilling their duties as
+citizens, telling them, that unless they were good subjects to the
+civil government, they could not be good subjects in Christ's kingdom.
+They testified, also, that they had frequently heard him pray in
+public, for the health, happiness, and prosperity of His Majesty, and
+for blessings on the Lord Lieutenant-Governor.
+
+After a few minutes of conversation, the Jury dismissed the charge.
+
+The party retired, much gratified at the favorable conclusion of what
+might, under other circumstances, have proved to the missionary an
+annoying affair. Mr. Norton warmly expressed his gratitude to Mr.
+Dubois, as having been the main instrument, in securing this result.
+He also cordially thanked Micah and his friends, for their prompt
+efforts in his behalf.
+
+"Twant much of a chore, any heow", said Micah. "I never could stan' by
+and see any critter put upon by another he'd done no harm to, and I
+never will".
+
+As they returned to the hotel, Mr. Dubois remarked that this journey
+to the Capital, after all, might not be without good results.
+
+"You made", he said to Mr. Norton, "an extremely favorable impression
+on the minds of several gentlemen, who wield power in the province,
+and should you be subjected to future persecutions, you will probably
+be able to secure their protection".
+
+"Possibly--possibly. I am grateful, if I have in any way secured the
+good will of those gentlemen. I was particularly impressed by their
+dignity, affability, and readiness to oblige yourself. But, my dear
+sir, it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in
+princes".
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+MR. LANSDOWNE SUBMITS TO THE INEVITABLE.
+
+
+In the meanwhile, a change had come upon John Lansdowne. Only a few
+weeks ago, he was a careless youth, of keen and vigorous intellectual
+powers, satiated with books and tired of college walls, with the boy
+spirit in the ascendant within him. His eye was wide open and
+observant, and his ringing laugh was so merry, that it brought an
+involuntary smile upon any one who might chance to hear its rich
+peals. His talk was rapid, gay, and brilliant, with but the slightest
+dash of sentiment, and his manner frank and fearless.
+
+But now his bearing had become quiet and dignified; his conversation
+was more thoughtful and deep-flowing, less dashing and free; he spoke
+in a lower key; his laugh was less loud but far sweeter and more
+thrilling; his eyes had grown larger, darker, deeper, and sometimes
+they were shadowed with a soft and tender mist, not wont to overspread
+them before. The angel of Love had touched him, and opened a new and
+living spring in his heart. Boiling and bubbling in its hidden recess,
+an ethereal vapor mounted up and mantled those blazing orbs in a dim
+and dreamy veil. A charmed wand had touched every sense, every power
+of his being, and held him fast in a rapturous thrall, from which he
+did not wish to be released. Under the spell of this enchantment, the
+careless boy had passed into the reflective man.
+
+Stories are told of knights errant, in the times of Merlin and the
+good King Arthur, who, while ranging the world in quest of adventures,
+were bewitched by lovely wood fairies or were lulled into delicious
+slumber by some syren's song, or were shut up in pleasant durance in
+enchanted castles. Accounts of similar character are found, even in
+the pages of grave chroniclers of modern date, to say nothing of what
+books of fiction tell, and what we observe with our own eyes, in the
+actual world. The truth is, Love smites his victims, just when and
+where he finds them. Mr. Lansdowne's case then, is not an
+unprecedented one. The keen Damascus blade, used to pierce our hero
+and bring him to the pitiful condition of the conquered, had been
+placed in the hand of Adèle. Whether Love intended to employ that
+young lady in healing the cruel wound she had made, remains to be
+seen.
+
+At the beginning of their acquaintance, they had found a common ground
+of interest in the love of music.
+
+They both sang well. Adèle played the piano and John discoursed on the
+flute. From these employments, they passed to books. They rummaged Mr.
+Dubois's library and read together, selected passages from favorite
+authors. Occasionally, John gave her little episodes of his past life,
+his childish, his school, and college days. In return, Adèle told him
+of her term at Halifax in the convent; of the routine of life and
+study there; of her friendships, and very privately, of the disgust
+she took, while there, to what she called the superstitions, the
+mummeries and idolatry of the Catholic church.
+
+When Mr. Somers had acquired strength enough for exercise on
+horseback, Mrs. Dubois, Adèle, and John were accustomed to accompany
+him. Daily, about an hour after breakfast, the little party might have
+been seen fitting off for a canter through the forest. In the evening,
+the group was joined by Mr. Dubois and the missionary. The atmosphere
+being exceedingly dry, both by day and night, they often sat and
+talked by moonlight, on a balcony, built over the large, porch-like
+entrance to the main door of the house.
+
+Thus John and Adèle daily grew into a more familiar acquaintance.
+
+During the absence of Mr. Dubois at Fredericton, Mr. Somers announced
+to John that he felt himself strong enough to undertake the ride
+through the wilderness, and proposed that, as soon as their host
+returned, they should start on their journey home.
+
+With increasing strength, Mr. Somers had become impatient to return to
+the duties he had so summarily forsaken.
+
+He wished to test, in active life, his power to maintain the new
+principles he had espoused and to ascertain if the nobler and holier
+hopes that now animated him, would give him peace, strength, and
+buoyancy, amid the temptations and trials of the future.
+
+John, for several days, had been living in a delicious reverie, and
+was quite startled by the proposition. Though aware how anxiously his
+parents were awaiting his return, and that there was no reasonable
+excuse for farther delay, he inwardly repudiated the thought of
+departure. He even indicated a wish to delay the journey beyond the
+time Mr. Somers had designated. A piercing look of inquiry from that
+gentleman recalled him to his senses, and after a moment of
+hesitation, he assented to the arrangement. But the beautiful dream
+was broken. He was thrown at once into a tumult of emotion. Unwilling
+to expose his agitation to the observation of others, he went directly
+to his room and locked himself in.
+
+After sitting half an hour with his face buried in his hands, the
+chaos of his soul formed itself into definite shape. His first clear
+thought was this,--"Without Adèle, my life will be a blank. She is
+absolutely necessary to my existence. I must win her". A very decided
+conclusion certainly, for a young gentleman to reach, who when he
+arrived at this house, but a few weeks before, seemed to be enjoying a
+liberal share of hope and happiness. The question arose, Does she care
+for me? Does she regard me with any special interest beyond the
+kindness and courtesy she accords to all her father's guests? On this
+point, he could not satisfy himself. He was torn by a conflict of
+doubt, hope, and fear. He thought her not averse to him. She
+conversed, sang, and rode with him as if it were agreeable to her.
+Indeed she seemed to enjoy his society. But she was equally pleased to
+converse and ride with Mr. Somers and good Mr. Norton. He was unable
+to determine the sentiments she really cherished and remained tossed
+to and fro in painful suspense and agitation.
+
+A couple of hours passed and found him in the same state. Mr. Somers
+came and tapped upon his door. Unwilling to awaken a suspicion of any
+unusual discomposure, John opened it and let him in.
+
+"Hope I don't intrude", said Mr. Somers, "but I want you to look at
+the horse Mummychog has brought for me".
+
+"Ah! yes", said John, and seizing his hat, he accompanied his friend
+to the stables.
+
+Their observations over, they returned to the house.
+
+"You have had a fit of solitude, quite unusual, my boy", said Mr.
+Somers, planting his hand on John's shoulder.
+
+"Yes, quite. For a novelty, I have been collecting my thoughts". John
+meant to speak in a gay, indifferent tone, and thought he had done so,
+but this was a mistake.
+
+Besides he had in fact a decidedly conscious look.
+
+"If you have any momentous affair on hand, I advise you to wait, until
+you reach _home_ before you decide upon it, my boy", said Mr. Somers,
+with a light laugh, but a strong emphasis upon the word, home.
+
+And he passed up-stairs, leaving John, standing bewildered in the
+hall-door.
+
+"Ah! Ned has discovered it all", said he to himself. But he was too
+much occupied with other thoughts to be annoyed by it now.
+
+Mr. Somers's last remark had turned the course of his meditations
+somewhat. He began to question what opinion his parents might have in
+regard to the sentiments he entertained towards Adèle, and the plan
+he had formed of endeavoring to secure her love. He knew, they
+considered him as yet hardly out of boyhood. He had indeed, until
+within a few weeks, looked upon himself in that light.
+
+Not yet freed from college halls,--would they not think him foolish
+and precipitate? Would they approve his choice?
+
+But these queries and others of like character he disposed of
+summarily and decisively. He felt that, no matter how recently he had
+passed the limits of boyhood and become a man, it was no boy's passion
+that now swayed his whole being, it seemed to him that, should he make
+the effort, he could not expel it from his soul. But he did not wish
+to make the effort. Adèle was worthy the love of any man.
+
+It had been his fortune to find a jewel, when he least expected it.
+Why should he not avail himself of the golden opportunity and secure
+the treasure? Would his parents approve his choice? Certainly, Adèle
+was "beautiful as the Houries and wise as Zobeide". Considerations of
+policy and expediency, which sometimes appear on the mental horizon of
+older people, were quite unknown to our young hero.
+
+So he returned to the only aspect of the case that gave him real
+disquiet. He had fears respecting Adèle's sentiments towards himself,
+and doubts of his ability to inspire in her a love equal to his own.
+But he must be left for the present to adjust himself to his new
+situation as best he can.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+TROUBLED HEARTS.
+
+
+On the afternoon of the day following, Adèle was sitting alone in the
+parlor. She held a book in her hand, but evidently it did not much
+interest her, as her eyes wandered continually from its pages and
+rested, abstractedly, upon any object they happened to meet.
+
+She felt lonely, and wondered why Mr. Lansdowne did not, as usual at
+that hour, come to the parlor. She thought how vacant and sad her life
+would be, after he and Mr. Somers had departed from Miramichi. She
+queried whether she should ever meet them again; whether, indeed,
+either of them, after a short time, would ever think of the
+acquaintances they had formed here, except when recalled by some
+accident of memory, or association. She feared they might wholly
+forget all these scenes, fraught with so much interest and pleasure to
+her, and that fear took possession of her heart and made her almost
+miserable. She strove to turn her mind upon her favorite project of
+returning with her parents, to France. But, notwithstanding her
+efforts, her thoughts lingered around the departing gentlemen, and the
+close of her acquaintance with them.
+
+Suddenly she heard Mr. Lansdowne's step approaching the room.
+Conscious that her heart was at this moment in her eyes, she hastily
+threw the book upon the table. Taking her embroidery, she bent her
+attention closely upon it, thus veiling the tell-tale orbs, with their
+long dark lashes.
+
+She looked up a moment, as he entered, to give him a nod of
+recognition. A flash of lightning will reveal at once the whole
+paraphernalia of a room, even to its remotest corners; or disclose the
+scenery of an entire landscape, in its minutest details, each
+previously wrapt by the darkness in perfect mystery; so, one single
+glance of the eye may unveil and discover a profound secret, that has
+hitherto never been indicated, by either word or motion. By that quick
+glance, Adèle saw Mr. Lansdowne's face, very pale with the struggle he
+had just gone through, and a strange light glowing from his eyes, that
+caused her to withdraw her own immediately.
+
+Her heart beat rapidly,--she was conscious that a tide of crimson was
+creeping up to her cheek, and felt herself tremulous in every limb, as
+Mr. Lansdowne approached and drew a seat near her. But pride came to
+her aid. One strong effort of the will, and the young creature, novice
+as she was in the arts of society, succeeded in partially covering the
+flutter and agitation of spirit caused by the sudden discovery of her
+lover's secret.
+
+"When do you expect your father's return, Miss Adèle?" inquired Mr.
+Lansdowne.
+
+"In a day or two", was the reply.
+
+"Do you know that my uncle and I will be obliged to leave our
+newly-found friends here, soon after your father gets home?"
+
+"I know", replied Adèle, with apparent calmness, "that Mr. Somers's
+health has greatly improved and I supposed you would probably go away
+soon".
+
+"Pardon me, Miss Adèle", said John, in a voice that betrayed his
+emotion, "but shall you miss us at all? Shall you regret our absence?"
+
+Again Adèle's heart bounded quickly. She felt irritated and ashamed of
+its tumult.
+
+By another strong effort, she answered simply, "Certainly, Mr.
+Lansdowne, we shall all miss you. You have greatly enlivened our
+narrow family circle. We shall be very sorry to lose you".
+
+How indifferent she is, thought John. She does not dream of my love.
+
+"Miss Adèle", he exclaimed passionately, "it will be the greatest
+calamity of my life to leave you".
+
+For a moment, the young girl was silent. His voice both thrilled and
+fascinated her. Partly proud, partly shy, like the bird who shuns the
+snare set for it, only fluttering its wings over the spot for an
+instant, and then flying to a greater distance, Adèle bestirred her
+powers and resolved not to suffer herself to be drawn into the meshes.
+She felt a new, strange influence creeping over her, to which she was
+half afraid, half too haughty to yield without a struggle.
+
+"Mr. Lansdowne, I am happy yo learn you place some value on our
+friendship, as we do on yours. But surely, your own home, such as you
+have described it to me, must be the most attractive spot on earth to
+you".
+
+"Is it possible", said Mr. Lansdowne vehemently, taking her hand and
+holding it fast in his, "that you cannot understand me,--that you do
+not know that I love you infinitely more than father, or mother, or
+any human creature?"
+
+Surprised at the abruptness of this outburst, bewildered and
+distressed by her own conflicting emotions, Adèle knew not what to
+say, and wished only to fly away into solitude that she might collect
+her scattered powers.
+
+"Mr. Lansdowne, I am not prepared for this. Let me go. I must leave
+you", she exclaimed.
+
+Suddenly drawing her hand from his, she fled to her own room, locked
+the door and burst into a passionate flood of tears. Poor child! Her
+lover with his unpractised hand, had opened a new chapter in her life,
+too precipitately. She was not prepared for its revelations, and the
+shock had shaken her a little too rudely.
+
+John remained sitting, white and dumb, as if a thunderbolt had fallen
+upon him.
+
+"Gone! gone!" he exclaimed at length, "she does not love me! And, fool
+that I was, I have frightened her from me forever!"
+
+He bowed his head upon the table and uttered a groan of despair.
+
+Mr. Lansdowne returned to the solitude of his own room, sufficiently
+miserable. He feared he had offended Adèle past healing. Looking over
+the events of the week, he thought he could perceive that she had been
+teased by his attentions, and that she wished to indicate this by the
+coolness of her manner and words to him, during their recent
+interview. And he had recklessly, though unwittingly, put the climax
+to her annoyance by this abrupt disclosure of his love. He berated
+himself unmercifully for his folly. For a full hour, he believed that
+his blundering impetuosity had cost him the loss of Adèle forever.
+
+But it is hard for hope to forsake the young. It can never wholly
+leave any soul, except by a slow process of bitter disappointment.
+John saw that he had made a mistake. The strength and tumult of his
+passion for Adèle had led him thoughtlessly into what probably
+appeared to her, an attempt to storm the citadel of her heart, and in
+her pride, she had repulsed him.
+
+He bethought him that there were gentler modes of reaching that seat
+of life and love. He became a tactician. He resolved he would, by his
+future conduct, perhaps by some chance word, indicate to Adèle that he
+understood her repulse and did not intend to repeat his offence. He
+would not hereafter seek her presence unduly, but when they were
+thrown together, would show himself merely gentle and brotherly. And
+then,--he would trust to time, to circumstances, to his lucky star, to
+bring her to his side.
+
+In the mean time, after her tears had subsided, Adèle found, somewhat
+to her surprise, that this sudden disturbance of her usual equilibrium
+came from the very deep interest she felt for Mr. Lansdowne. And,
+moreover, she was annoyed to find it so, and did not at all like to
+own it to herself. Naturally proud, self-relying, and in the habit of
+choosing her own path, she had an instinctive feeling that this new
+passion might lay upon her a certain thralldom, not congenial to her
+haughty spirit. This consciousness made her distant and reserved, when
+she again met Mr. Lansdowne at the tea-table.
+
+In fact, the manner of each towards the other had wholly changed.
+
+John was calm, respectful, gentle, but made no effort to draw Adèle's
+attention. After tea he asked Mrs. Dubois to play backgammon with him.
+
+Adèle worked on her embroidery, and Mr. Somers sat beside her,
+sketching on paper with his pencil, various bits of ruin and scenery
+in Europe, mixed up with all sorts of grotesque shapes and monsters.
+Mr. Lansdowne appeared, all the evening, so composed, so natural, and
+simply brotherly, that when Adèle went to her room for the night, the
+interview of the afternoon seemed almost like a dream. She thought
+that the peculiar reception she had given to his avowal, might have
+quite disenchanted her lover. And the thought disturbed her. After
+much questioning and surmising, she went to sleep.
+
+The next day and the next, Mr. Lansdowne's manner towards Adèle
+continued the same. She supposed he might renew the subject of their
+last conversation, but he did not, although several opportunities
+presented, when he might have done so. Occasionally, she strove to
+read his emotions by observing his countenance, but his eyes were
+averted to other objects. He no longer glanced towards her. "Ah!
+well", said Adèle to herself, "his affection for me could not be so
+easily repulsed, were it so very profound. I will care nothing for
+him". And yet, somehow, her footstep lagged wearily and her eye
+occasionally gathered mists on its brightness.
+
+It was now the eve of the fifth of October. An unnatural heat
+prevailed, consequent on the long drought, the horizon was skirted
+with a smoky haze and the atmosphere was exceedingly oppressive. Mrs.
+Dubois, who was suffering from a severe headache, sat in the parlor,
+half buried in the cushions of an easy-chair. Adèle stood beside her,
+bathing her head with perfumed water, while Mr. Somers, prostrated by
+the weather, lay, apparently asleep, upon a sofa.
+
+"That will do, Adèle", said Mrs. Dubois, making a slight motion
+towards her daughter. "That will do, _ma chère_, my head is cooler
+now. Go out and watch for your father. He will surely be here
+to-night".
+
+Adèle stepped softly out, through the window upon the balcony.
+
+A few minutes after, Mr. Lansdowne came to the parlor door, looked in,
+inquired for Mrs. Dubois's headache, gazed for a moment, at the serene
+face of the sleeper on the sofa, and then, perceiving Adèle sitting
+outside, impelled by an irresistible impulse, went out and joined her.
+
+She was leaning her head upon her hand, with her arm supported by a
+low, rude balustrade, that ran round the edge of the balcony, and was
+looking earnestly up the road, to catch the first glimpse of her
+father. Her countenance had a subdued, sad expression. She was indeed
+very unhappy. The distance and reserve that had grown up so suddenly
+between herself and Mr. Lansdowne had become painful to her. She would
+have rejoiced to return once more to their former habits of frank and
+vivacious conversation. But she waited for him to renew the
+familiarity of the past.
+
+She turned her head towards him as he approached, and without raising
+her eyes, said, "Good evening, Mr. Lansdowne". He bowed, sat down, and
+they remained several minutes in silence.
+
+"I suppose", said John, at length, making a desperate effort to
+preserve a composure of manner, entirely at variance with the
+tumultuous throbbings of his heart, "you are confident of your
+father's return to-night?"
+
+"O, yes. I look for him every moment. I am quite anxious to hear the
+result of the expedition".
+
+"I am, also. I hope no harm will come to our good friend, Mr. Norton.
+Do you know whether he intends to spend the winter here, Miss Adèle?"
+
+"I think he will return to his family. But we shall endeavor to retain
+him, until we go ourselves".
+
+"_You_ go, Miss Adèle", exclaimed John, unable to conceal his eager
+interest, "do you leave here?"
+
+"We go to France next month".
+
+"To France!" repeated the young man.
+
+"My father and mother are going to visit their early home. I shall
+accompany them". John, aroused by information containing so much of
+importance in regard to Adèle's future, could not restrain himself
+from prolonging the conversation. Adèle was willing to answer his
+inquiries, and in a few minutes they were talking almost as freely and
+frankly as in the days before Mr. Lansdowne's unfortunately rash
+avowal of his passion.
+
+Suddenly a thick cloud of dust appeared in the road, and Mr. Dubois,
+Mr. Norton, and Micah, were soon distinguished turning the heads of
+their horses towards the house.
+
+Adèle uttered an exclamation of joy, and bounded from her seat. As Mr.
+Lansdowne made way for her to reach the window, she glanced for a
+moment at his face, and there beheld again the strange light glowing
+in his eyes. It communicated a great hope to her heart.
+
+She hastened past him to greet her father.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+A MEMORABLE EVENT.
+
+
+The morning of the sixth of October dawned. The heat of the weather
+had increased and become wellnigh intolerable. At breakfast, Mr.
+Dubois and Mr. Norton gave accounts of fires they had seen in various
+parts of the country, some of them not far off, and owing to the
+prevalence of the forest and the extreme dryness of the trees and
+shrubs, expressed fears of great devastation.
+
+They united in thinking it would be dangerous for the two gentlemen to
+undertake their journey home, until a copious rain should have fallen.
+
+During the forenoon, the crackling of the fires and the sound of
+falling-trees in the distant forest could be distinctly heard,
+announcing that the terrible element was at work.
+
+Mr. Dubois, accompanied by Mr. Norton and John, ascended the most
+prominent hills in the neighborhood to watch the direction in which
+the clouds of smoke appeared. These observations only confirmed their
+fears. They warned the people around of the danger, but these paid
+little heed. In the afternoon, the missionary crossed, from the Dubois
+house, on the northern side of the river, to the southern bank, and
+explored the country to a considerable distance around.
+
+In the evening, when the family met in the Madonna room, cheerfulness
+had forsaken the party. The languor produced by the heat and the
+heavily-laden atmosphere, solicitude felt for the dwellers in the
+forest, through which the fire was now sweeping, a hoarse rumbling
+noise like distant thunder, occasionally booming on their ears, and
+gloomy forebodings of impending calamity, all weighed upon the
+dispirited group.
+
+Mr. Norton said it was his firm conviction that God was about to
+display His power in a signal manner to this people in order to arouse
+them to a sense of their guilt.
+
+Before separating for the night, he requested permission to offer up a
+prayer to heaven. The whole circle knelt, while he implored the Great
+Ruler of all, to take them as a family under his protecting love,
+whether life or death awaited them, and that He would, if consistent
+with His great and wise plans, avert His wrath from the people.
+
+The night was a dismal, and for the most of the family, a sleepless
+one. The morning rose once more, but it brought no cheering sound of
+blessed rain-drops. The air was still hot and stifling.
+
+About noon, the missionary came in from a round of observation he had
+been making, and urged Mr. Dubois to take his family immediately to
+the south bank of the river. The fires were advancing towards them
+from the north, and would inevitably be upon them soon. He had not
+been able to discover any appearance of fire upon the southern side
+of the river. It was true the approaching flames might be driven
+across, but the stream being for some distance quite wide, this might
+not take place. In any event, the southern side was the safest, at the
+present moment. He had faith in the instinct of animals, and for
+several hours past he had seen cattle and geese leaving their usual
+places of resort and swimming to the opposite shore.
+
+Mr. Dubois, also convinced that there was no other feasible method of
+escape, hastened to make arrangements for immediate departure.
+
+A mist, tinged with deep purple, now poured in from the wilderness and
+overspread the horizon. A dark cloud wrapped the land in a dismal
+gloom. The heat grew nearly insupportable. Rapid explosions, loud and
+startling noises, filled the air, and the forest thrilled and shook
+with the raging flames. Soon a fiery belt encircled them on the east,
+north, and west, and advancing rapidly, threatened to cover the whole
+area. The river was the only object which, by any possibility, could
+stay its course.
+
+Then followed a scene of wildest confusion. The people, aroused at
+last to their danger, rushed terrified to the river, unmoored their
+boats and fled across. Hosts of women, whose husbands were absent in
+the forest, came with their children, imploring to be taken to the
+other side. The remainder of the day was occupied in this work, and at
+the close of it, most of those living in the Dubois settlement had
+been safely landed on the southern shore; and there they stood huddled
+together in horror-stricken groups, on the highest points they could
+reach, watching the terrible, yet majestic scene.
+
+Mr. Somers had been occupied in this way all the afternoon and was
+greatly exhausted. As the darkness of night shut down upon the scene,
+he landed a party of women and children, who rushed up, precipitately,
+to join those who had crossed before. He had handed the last passenger
+over the edge of the boat, when a sudden faintness, produced by the
+excessive heat and fatigue, overpowered him. He tottered backward and
+fell, striking his head violently upon some object in the bottom of
+the boat. It was a deathblow.
+
+There he lay, with face upturned towards the lurid glare that lit up
+the darkness. The boat nestled about in the little cove, rocked upon
+the waves, presenting the pale countenance, now half in shadow, now
+wholly concealed by the overhanging shrubs, and now in full relief,
+but always with a sweet, radiant, immovable calm upon the features, in
+strange contrast to the elemental roar and tumult around him.
+
+In the mean time, the fires drew nearer and nearer the northern bank
+of the river. A strong breeze sprang up and immense columns of smoke
+mounted to the sky. Then came showers of ashes, cinders and burning
+brands. At last, a tornado, terrible in fury, arose to mingle its
+horrors with the fire. Thunderbolt on thunderbolt, crash on crash rent
+the air. At intervals of momentary lull in the storm, the roar of the
+flames was heard. Rapidly advancing, they shot fiery tongues into
+every beast lair of the forest, into every serpent-haunted crevice of
+the rock, sending forth their denizens bellowing and writhing with
+anguish and death; onward still they rushed licking up with hissing
+sound every rivulet and shallow pond, twisting and coiling round the
+glorious pines, that had battled the winds and tempests hundreds of
+years, but now to be snapped and demolished by this new enemy.
+
+With breathless interest, the inhabitants of the settlement watched
+the progress of the flames. The hamlet where they lived was situated
+on a wide point of land, around which the Miramichi made an unusually
+bold sweep. Micah's Grove partly skirted it on the north.
+
+From the Grove to the river, the forest-trees had been cleared,
+leaving the open space dotted with the houses of the settlers. The
+fire pressed steadily on toward the Grove. The destruction of that
+forest fane, consecrated so recently to the worship of God, and the
+burning of their homes and earthly goods seemed inevitable. The
+people, with pale, excited faces, awaited this heart-rending
+spectacle.
+
+Just at this moment, the tornado, coming from the North, with terrific
+fury, drawing flames, trees, and every movable object in its wake,
+whirling forward with gigantic power, suddenly turned in its path,
+veered towards the east, swept past the Grove and past the settlement,
+leaving them wholly untouched, and took its destructive course onward
+to the ocean. The people were dumb with amazement. Ruin had seemed so
+sure that they scarcely trusted the evidence of their senses.
+
+They dared not even think they had been saved from so much misery. For
+a time, not a word was uttered, not a muscle moved.
+
+Mr. Mummychog was the first to-recover his voice.
+
+"'Tis a maracle! and nuthin' else", he exclaimed, "and we've jest got
+to thank Captin' Norton for it. He's been a prayin' ut we might be
+past by, all 'long and 'tis likely the Lord has heerd him. 'Tain't on
+eour own acceounts, my worthy feller-sinners, that we've been spared.
+Mind ye remember _that_".
+
+The people in their joy gathered around the missionary, and united
+with Micah, in acknowledging their belief, that his prayers had
+averted from them this great calamity. For a moment, their attention
+was distracted from the still raging horrors of the scene by the sense
+of relief from threatened danger.
+
+It was during this brief lull of intense anxiety and expectation, that
+our friends first became aware of the absence of Mr. Somers. They had
+supposed, of course, that he was standing somewhere among the groups
+of people, his attention riveted, like their own, upon the scene
+before them. Adèle first woke to the consciousness that he was not
+with them.
+
+She turned her head and explored with earnest gaze the people around.
+She could see distinctly by the intense red light, nearly every
+countenance there, but did not recognize that of Mr. Somers. A painful
+anxiety immediately seized her, which she strove in vain to conceal.
+She approached near where Mr. Lansdowne stood, by the side of her
+mother, gazing after the fire, placed her hand lightly on his arm, and
+asked, "Can you tell me where Mr. Somers is to be found?"
+
+"Mr. Somers! yes,--Ned. Where is he?" he exclaimed, turning, half
+bewildered by her question, and looking in her face.
+
+In an instant, the solicitude her features expressed, passed into his
+own, the same sudden presentiment of evil possessed him.
+
+Drawing Adèle's arm hurriedly into his, he said, "please go with me to
+seek him".
+
+Hastening along, they went from one to another, making inquiries. It
+appeared that Mr. Somers had not been seen for several hours.
+
+Immediately, the whole company took the alarm and the search for him
+commenced.
+
+John and Adèle, after fruitless efforts among the houses, at length
+took their way to the river bank. As they were hastening forward, a
+woman standing upon a rock overhanging the path they pursued, told
+them that Mr. Somers brought herself and children over in the boat,
+just at dark,--that she had not seen him since, and she remembered
+now, that she did not see him come up from the river after he landed
+them.
+
+"Lead us to the spot where you left the boat", said Adèle. "Go on as
+quickly as you can".
+
+The woman descended from her perch upon the rock and plunged before
+them into the path.
+
+"I remember now", she said with sudden compunctions, at her own
+selfish indifference, "that the gentleman looked pale and seemed to be
+dreadful tired like".
+
+Neither John nor Adèle made reply, and the woman hurried on. In a few
+minutes, a sudden turn in the path brought them to the little cove
+where the boat still lay.
+
+The woman first caught sight of the wan face in the bottom of the
+boat, and uttered a scream of horror. The lips of the others were
+frozen into silence by the dread spectacle.
+
+Scarcely a moment seemed to have passed, before John rushed down into
+the water, reached the boat, raised thence the lifeless form, bore it
+to the shore and laid the dripping head into the arms of Adèle, who
+seated herself on the grass to receive it.
+
+"Go quickly", she said to the woman, "go for Dr. Wright. I saw him
+only a moment ago. Find him and bring him here".
+
+John threw himself upon his knees and began chafing Mr. Somers's
+hands. "He is dead! he is dead!" he whispered, in a voice, hoarse and
+unnatural with fear and anxiety.
+
+"Let us hope not", said Adèle in a tone of tenderness. "Perhaps it is
+only a swoon. We will convey him to some shelter and restore him". And
+she wrung the rain from his curls of long brown hair.
+
+John's finger was upon Mr. Somers's wrist. "It will break my mother's
+heart", he said, in the same hoarse whisper. At that moment, Dr.
+Wright's voice was heard. He placed himself, without a word, upon the
+grass, looked at the pale face, unfastened the dripping garments,
+thrust his hand in beneath them, and laid it upon the young man's
+heart.
+
+"He is dead!" said Dr. Wright. "Friends, get a bit of canvas and a
+blanket and take him to some house, till day breaks".
+
+John, stupefied with horror and grief, still knelt by Mr. Somers,
+chafing his hands and wringing the water from his wet garments. At
+length, Mr. Dubois gently roused him from his task, telling him they
+would now remove their friend to a house, where he might be properly
+cared for.
+
+"Let me lift him", said Micah to the young man. But John shook his
+head and stooping, raised Mr. Somers and laid him on the canvas as
+gently as if he were a sleeping infant.
+
+Mr. Dubois, the missionary, John, and Micah conveyed the precious
+charge. The Doctor, with Mrs. Dubois and Adèle followed in melancholy
+silence. The crowd came behind. The terrific events of the night had
+made the people quiet, thoughtful, and sympathetic.
+
+Once, after the prolonged, clinging gaze of each upon the face of the
+sleeper, the eyes of the missionary and John met.
+
+"My dear young man", said Mr. Norton, in a low, emphatic voice, "God
+has taken him in mercy. The dear friend whom we loved, is himself
+satisfied, I doubt not. May the Eternal Father grant us all at the end
+of our course here a like blessed deliverance. Amen".
+
+John looked in the good man's face, as if he but half understood his
+words, and fixed his eyes again upon Mr. Somers.
+
+At length, the party reached a house near the river bank, where they
+deposited the dead.
+
+Mrs. McNab, who had followed close on their footsteps, when they
+reached the door, drew Adèle aside and said,
+
+"Naw, Miss Ady, I want the preevaleege o' trying to resoositate that
+puir gentelman. It wad be like rasin' the dead, but there'll be nae
+harm in tryin', to be sure".
+
+"He is dead. The doctor says so, Aunt Patty". And Adèle turned away
+quickly.
+
+But Mrs. McNab caught her shawl and held it.
+
+"Naw, Miss Ady, dinna turn awa' fram a puir body, that was overtook
+ance or twice with the whiskey, when a was tired and worrit for want
+o' sleep. I wad nae ha' hurt a hair o' the gentelman's head. An' I wad
+like the preevaleege o' wrappin' some blankets round him an' puttin'
+some bottles o' hot water to his feet".
+
+Adèle, who had listened more patiently than she was wont, now turned
+and glancing at Aunt Patty, saw that she really looked humble and
+wishful, and two great tears were in her eyes.
+
+"Well, I will see", said she, struck with this new phase of Mrs.
+McNab's countenance. She went into the apartment, where they had just
+laid Mr. Somers upon a bed.
+
+In a few minutes, she returned.
+
+"The doctor says it will be of no use, Aunt Patty. But Mr. Lansdowne
+would like to make an attempt to restore him. So come, mamma and I
+will help you".
+
+Notwithstanding Mrs. McNab's subdued state of mind and her genuine,
+unselfish wish to do all in her power to bring consciousness to the
+stricken form, she could not avoid, as she made one application after
+another, making also a few indicative observations to Mrs. Dubois.
+
+"Did ye hear what the preacher said to the young mon as we cam' alang?
+He's a mighty quick way o' desmeesin a' bonnie creetur like this out
+o' the warld and sayin' he's satisfied aboot it".
+
+"That was not what the missionary said, Mrs. McNab", replied Mrs.
+Dubois. "He said that Mr. Somers is happy now. He is in Paradise, and
+we must not wish him back. He is satisfied to be with Jesus and the
+angels and his own mother. That is what he meant. And does he not
+_look_ satisfied? See his blissful countenance!"
+
+Mrs. Dubois leaned over him a moment, and thinking of his sister, Mrs.
+Lansdowne, parted his hair with her pale, slender fingers and
+imprinted a kiss on his forehead.
+
+All efforts to restore warmth, or life to that marble form were in
+vain, and at length they covered his face gently, until the day-dawn.
+
+John sat by the bedside, his head buried in his hands, until morning.
+He thought over all his past companionship with this youthful Uncle
+Ned, of his pleasantness, wit and fascination, of his generous spirit,
+of his love for his mother and himself, and wondered at the awful
+strangeness that had thus fallen, in a moment, between them. Then the
+thought of his mother's bitter grief swept over him like a flood and
+nearly unmanned him. Like the drowning man, his brain was stimulated
+to an unwonted activity. He lived over again his whole life, in a few
+minutes of time. This dread Power, who had never crossed his path
+before, shocked him inexpressibly. Who of the young, unstricken by
+sorrow, ever associates death with himself or with those he loves,
+till the Arch Reaper comes some day and cuts down and garners his
+precious treasure?
+
+John had heard of death, but he had heard of it just as he had heard
+of the poisonous Upas-tree, growing on some distant ocean island, or
+of an evil star, under whose baleful influence he might never fall.
+
+The young live as if this life were immortal. So much the more bitter
+their experience, when they wake up from the delusion.
+
+The others of the party were gathered in an adjoining room, gazing
+silently at the scene without. It was fearful, yet sublime. The whole
+northern side of the Miramichi river, for over one hundred miles, had
+become involved in one mighty sheet of flame, which was sweeping on in
+swift destruction to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The river boiled with
+the fierce heat and tossed its foaming waters, filled with its now
+lifeless inhabitants, to the shore. The fire was fed by six thousand
+square miles of primeval forest,--a dense growth of resinous
+trees,--by houses and barns filled with crops, and by thriving towns
+upon the river's bank.
+
+Above all, the people could not put aside the horrible truth, that
+hundreds of men, women, and children,--their friends and their
+acquaintances,--were perishing by the all-consuming element. They
+could not exclude from fancy, the agonized and dying shrieks of those
+dear to them, and the demoniac light shone on countenances, expressing
+emotions of pity, grief, horror, and despair.
+
+While the missionary sat there waiting for the day, he recalled with
+startling distinctness the wild dream he dreamed, on that first night
+he spent at the Dubois House. Of course, his belief in foregleams of
+future events was confirmed by the scenes transpiring around him.
+
+Mrs. Dubois sat near him, her countenance expressing profound grief.
+
+"The dear young man!" she said. "How sad and awful thus to die!"
+
+"My dear madam", said Mr. Norton, "let us not mourn as those who have
+no hope. Our beloved friend, brilliant and susceptible, aspiring and
+tender, was illy fitted for the rude struggle of life. It is true he
+might have fought his way through, girt with the armor of Christian
+faith and prayer, as many others, like him, have done. But the fight
+would have been a hard one. So he has been kindly taken home. Sad and
+awful thus to die? Say rather, infinitely blest the God-protected
+soul, thus snatched away from this terrific uproar of natural elements
+into the sphere of majestic harmonies, of stupendous yet peaceful
+powers".
+
+At daybreak the little community took to their boats, crossed the
+river and re-entered once more the dwellings they had but a few hours
+before left, never expecting to return to them again. Some went home
+and gathered their families in unbroken numbers around them. Others,
+whose husbands and sons had been absent in the forest at the time of
+the breaking out of the fire, over whose fate remained a terrible
+uncertainty, gathered in silence around lonely hearths. The terrors of
+the past night were, to such, supplemented by days and even weeks of
+heartbreaking anxiety and suspense, closed at last by the knowledge of
+certain bereavement.
+
+All had been deeply impressed with the horror of the scene, and
+sobered into thoughtfulness. A few felt truly grateful to the Most
+High for their wonderful preservation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+THE SEPARATION.
+
+
+With the morning light and the return to the settlement, Mr. Lansdowne
+awoke to a consciousness of the duty immediately before him, that of
+making arrangements for the safe conveyance home of the precious form
+now consigned to his care.
+
+His friends at the Dubois house manifested the deepest sympathy in his
+affliction, and aided him in every possible way. In making his journey
+he concluded to take a boat conveyance to Chatham, and a trading
+vessel thence to his native city.
+
+The missionary, who since the early spring had been laboring up and
+down the rivers St. John and Miramichi, now concluded to return to his
+family for the coming winter. Such had been his intention and his
+promise to Mrs. Norton, when he left home. He was induced to go at
+this particular time partly by the hope of rendering some service to
+Mr. Lansdowne during his journey, and partly in order to see Mrs.
+Lansdowne and impart to her the particulars of her brother's residence
+and illness at Miramichi. A scheme of mercy on the part of the good
+man.
+
+On the return of Mr. Dubois to his house, he found a package of
+letters, which, in the confusion and anxiety of the previous day, had
+remained unopened. There was one from the Count de Rossillon,
+announcing the death of the Countess. He wrote as if deeply depressed
+in mind, speaking of the infirmities of age weighing heavily upon him,
+and of his loneliness, and imploring Mr. Dubois to come, make his
+abode at the chateau and take charge of the estate, which, at his
+death, he added, would pass into the possession of Mrs. Dubois and
+Adèle.
+
+Mrs. Dubois's heart beat with delight and her eyes swam with tears of
+pleasure, at the prospect of once more returning to her beloved
+Picardy. Yet her joy was severely chastened by the loss of the
+Countess, whom she had fondly loved.
+
+Adèle felt a satisfaction in the anticipation of being restored to the
+dignities of Rossillon, which she was too proud to manifest.
+
+Mr. Dubois alone hesitated in entertaining the idea of a return. His
+innate love of independence, together with a remembrance of the early
+antipathy the Count had shown to the marriage with his niece, made the
+thought repellant to him. A calmer consideration, however, changed his
+view of the case. He recollected that the Count had at last consented
+to his union with Mrs. Dubois, and reflected that the infirmities and
+loneliness of the Count laid on them obligations they should not
+neglect. He found, also, that his own love of home and country, now
+that it could at last with propriety be gratified, welled up and
+overflowed like a newly sprung fountain.
+
+The tornado had spent itself, the fire had rushed on to the ocean, the
+atmosphere had became comparatively clear and the weather cool and
+bracing.
+
+On the evening before the departure of Mr. Norton and Mr. Lansdowne,
+the family met, as on many previous occasions, in the Madonna room. In
+itself, the apartment was as cheerful and attractive as ever, but each
+one present felt a sense of vacancy, a shrinking of the heart. The
+sunny changeful glow of one bright face was no longer there, and the
+shadows of approaching separation cast a gloom over the scene.
+
+These people, so strangely thrown together in this wild, obscure
+region of Miramichi, drawn hither by such differing objects of
+pursuit, bound by such various ties in life, occupying such divergent
+positions in the social scale, had grown by contact and sympathy into
+a warm friendship toward each other. Their daily intercourse was now
+to be broken up, the moment of adieu drew nigh, and the prospect of
+future meeting was, to say the least, precarious. Was it strange that
+some sharp pangs of regret filled their hearts?
+
+Mr. Lansdowne, who had up to this time been wholly occupied with his
+preparations for departure, was sitting, in an attitude betokening
+weariness and despondency, leaning his arms upon a table, shading his
+face with his hand. A few days of grief and anxiety had greatly
+changed him. He looked pale and languid, but Adèle thought, as she
+occasionally glanced at him from the sofa opposite, that she had never
+seen his countenance so clothed with spiritual beauty.
+
+Mr. Dubois, who had not yet spoken to his friends of his intention to
+remove to France, now broke the heavy silence, by announcing his
+purpose to leave, in the course of a week, and return with his family
+to Picardy.
+
+Mr. Lansdowne started suddenly and uttered a slight exclamation. Adèle
+looked at him involuntarily. He was gazing at her intently. The
+strange light again glowed in his eyes. Her own fell slowly. She could
+not keep her lids lifted beneath his gaze.
+
+After the plans of Mr. Dubois had been discussed, mutual inquiries and
+communications respecting future prospects were made, until the
+evening hours were gone.
+
+"If my life is spared, I shall come here and spend another season, as
+I have spent the one just closing", said Mr. Norton.
+
+Thus they parted for the night.
+
+In the morning there was time for nothing, but a few hasty words.
+
+Adèle's face was very pale. Mr. Lansdowne, looking as if he had not
+slept for many hours, took her hand, bent over it silently for a
+moment, then walked slowly to the boat without turning his head.
+
+During days and weeks of tranquil pleasure in each other's
+companionship, these two young beings had unconsciously become lovers.
+No sooner had they awakened to a knowledge of this fact, than a great
+danger and an unlooked for sorrow, while deepening the current of
+their existence, had also deepened their affection. Was that formal,
+restrained adieu to be the end of all this?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+CHATEAU DE ROSSILLON.
+
+
+In the year 1828, three years after the occurrences related in the
+last chapter, Adèle Dubois, grown into a superb beauty, stood near the
+Aphrodite fountain, in front of the chateau de Rossillon, feeding from
+her hand a beautiful white fawn. It was a warm, sunny afternoon in
+June. Majestic trees shaded the green lawn, and the dark brown hue of
+the old chateau formed a fitting background for the charming tableau.
+Adèle was enveloped in a cloud of white gauzy drapery, a black velvet
+girdle encircling her waist, fastened by a clasp of gold and pearls.
+Her hair was laid in smooth bands over her brow, then drawn into one
+mass of heavy braids upon the back of the head, and secured by a
+golden arrow shot through it.
+
+One who by chance had seen Adèle in the wilds of Miramichi, at the age
+of sixteen, would at once recognize the lady feeding the fawn as the
+same. At a second glance, the hair would be seen to have grown a shade
+darker and a gleam more shining, the large sloe-colored eyes more
+thoughtful and dreamy, the complexion of a more transparent
+whiteness, and the figure to have ripened into a fuller and richer
+symmetry.
+
+Nothing could surpass the exquisite moulding and fairness of the arm
+extended alternately to feed and caress the pet animal before her. No
+wonder the little creature looked up at her with its soft, almost
+human eyes, and gazed in her face, as if half bewildered by her
+beauty.
+
+With a proud and stately grace, she moved over the sward, up the
+marble steps and passed through the great saloon of the chateau. Was
+there not a slight air of indifference and _ennui_ in her face and
+movements? Possibly. It has been noticed that people who are loved,
+petted, and admired, who have plenty of gold and jewels, who sit at
+feasts made for princes, and have the grand shine of splendor always
+gleaming round them, are more likely to carry that weary aspect, than
+others. Queens even do not look pleased and happy more than half the
+time. The fact was, that Adèle of Miramichi, having spent much time in
+Paris, during the last three years, where she had been greatly
+admired, now that the novelty was over, had become tired of playing a
+part in the pageantry of courtly life and longed for something more
+substantial.
+
+As she crossed the saloon, a page informed her that Mrs. Dubois wished
+her presence in the library. She immediately obeyed the summons.
+
+This apartment, one of the pleasantest in the chateau, was a favorite
+with the Count; and as age and infirmity crept upon him, he grew more
+and more attached to it, and was accustomed to spend there the greater
+part of his time, amused and soothed by the attentions of Mrs. Dubois
+and Adèle. It was a lofty, but not very large apartment, the walls
+nearly covered with bookcases of oak, carved in quaint old patterns
+and filled with choice books in various languages. Several finely
+executed statues were placed in niches, and one large picture, by
+Rubens, gathered a stream of sunshine upon its gorgeous canvas.
+
+The Count was sitting, buried in the purple cushions of an easy-chair,
+fast asleep, and as Adèle entered the room, her mother held up her
+finger, warningly.
+
+"_Ma chère_", said Mrs. Dubois, in a low tone, "here is a packet of
+letters for you, from Paris".
+
+Adèle took them from her mother's hand, indifferently. She read and
+crushed together a note bearing the impression of a coat of arms.
+
+"Count D'Orsay and sister wish to come here next week", she said, with
+a half sigh.
+
+"_Eh, bien! ma chère_, they are agreeable people. I shall be glad to
+see them".
+
+"Yes", replied Adèle, "Gabrielle is very lovely.
+Nevertheless, I regret they are coming".
+
+"Do you know, Adèle, how highly your father esteems the young Count?"
+
+"Yes, mamma, and that is one reason why I do not wish him to come now
+to Rossillon. You know he loves me, and my father approves. I can
+never marry him. But I esteem and respect him so much, that it will
+give me infinite pain to say nay".
+
+Mrs. Dubois looked at Adèle very tenderly, yet gravely, and said,
+"_Ma fille_, do not throw away a true, devoted affection, for the sake
+of a phantom one. I fear that, while you are dreaming and waiting,
+happiness will slip out of your path".
+
+"Dreaming and waiting", repeated Adèle, a slight red color kindling on
+her cheek, "_am_ I dreaming and waiting?"
+
+"It seems to me you are, _ma chère_; I fear it will at last spoil your
+peace. I do not see how the Count D'Orsay can fail to win your heart.
+Do not decide hastily, Adèle".
+
+"I have considered the affair a long time already. I have looked into
+my heart and find nothing there, for Count D'Orsay, but simple
+respect, esteem, and friendship. It would be a wrong to him, should I
+consent to marry him, without a warmer, deeper sentiment. It is of no
+use thinking about it longer. The subject must be closed. I know I
+shall not change, and his affection is too true and pure to be
+tampered with. I shall tell him all frankly next week".
+
+"_Eh, bien_!" said Mrs. Dubois, with a sigh, and returned to her
+letters.
+
+Adèle, who felt quite unhappy to disappoint her mother's hopes in the
+case, looked thoughtful. They were both silent for several minutes.
+
+"Here is a letter from the good missionary", suddenly whispered Mrs.
+Dubois, holding up to her daughter several sheets of large paper, well
+covered. "See what a nice long one. Now we shall hear the news from
+our old home".
+
+She began to read the missive in a low tone, looking occasionally to
+see if her voice disturbed the sleeper, and Adèle, whose countenance
+had instantly brightened upon the mention of the letter, drew her seat
+nearer to her mother and listened intently.
+
+
+   MIRAMICHI RIVER, APRIL, 1828.
+
+   DEAR FRIENDS--
+
+
+I am again on the memorable spot. You can scarcely imagine my interest
+in retracing the scene of my brief mission here, in the summer and
+autumn of 1825, or the deep emotion with which I revisit your former
+residence, the house under whose roof you so kindly sheltered and
+entertained one, then exiled, like yourselves, from home. I shall ever
+rejoice that Providence threw me into your society, and bestowed upon
+me the precious gift of your friendship.
+
+Three years have passed since those eventful weeks we spent together,
+on the banks of this beautiful river, and you will be interested to
+know what changes have taken place here during that time.
+
+Traces are still distinctly visible of the awful fire, but Time, the
+great healer of wounds, and Nature, who is ever striving to cover up
+the desolations of earth, are both at work, silently but diligently
+overlaying the hideous black disfigurement with greenness and beauty.
+The Miramichi and its picturesque precincts are now more alive than
+ever, with a hardy and active population. New villages are springing
+up on the banks of the river, and business, especially in the branches
+of lumbering and fishing, is greatly increasing. There is also a
+marvellous change in the moral aspect of the country. It is ascribed
+in a great degree to the deep impression made upon the minds of the
+people by the conflagration, and doubtless this is the fact. It must
+be that God had a retributory end in view in that great event. It was
+a judgment upon the community for its exceeding wickedness. Nothing
+short of a grand, widespread illumination like that, could have
+penetrated the gross darkness that hung over the land.
+
+The way has been thus prepared for the reception of the truth; and
+whereas formerly the people, if they came at all to hear the preaching
+of God's word, were only drawn by motives of vain curiosity, or the
+desire of novelty, they now come in great numbers and with a sincere
+desire, as I believe, to be instructed in the way of salvation. Last
+year, I came to this region early in the spring and labored until late
+in the autumn, preaching up and down the river, from house to house
+and from grove to grove, and found the people, almost everywhere,
+ready to hear. Many were baptized in the flowing waters of the
+Miramichi, made a profession of their faith in Christ, and have since
+exhibited in their daily lives, good and in some cases shining
+evidence of their sincerity.
+
+You may perhaps be interested to know that yesterday, which was the
+Sabbath, I discoursed, as in days gone by, in Micah's Grove. The
+people came in from a great distance around, and it was estimated that
+there were not less than eight hundred present.
+
+My soul was completely filled with a sense of God's unbounded love to
+the human family, and my heart was enlarged to speak of the wonderful
+things belonging to His goodness and mercy towards us, as a race. I
+was like a bottle filled with new wine, my heart overflowing with the
+remembrance of God's love. Conviction was carried in a most signal
+manner to the souls of many present. The whole assembly seemed for a
+time to be overshadowed by the immediate Divine presence.
+
+It is remarkable, that though the people do at the present time seem
+to be under profound religious impressions, yet there are scarcely any
+traces of the delusion and wildfire usually accompanying such seasons,
+among a somewhat uncultivated and undisciplined population. That great
+fire sobered them, perhaps.
+
+But, my dear friends, I know you are impatient to hear some details
+respecting the state of affairs at the "Dubois Settlement", so called
+from the grateful attachment felt by the inhabitants for a
+distinguished family once residing there. The new people who have
+established themselves here of late, are acquainted with the family
+just alluded to, of course only by tradition, but so deep has been the
+impression made upon the minds of the new comers, by Mrs. McNab, Micah
+Mummychog, and others, of the worth, benevolence, power, and present
+grandeur of said family, that these persons are more than willing,
+they feel honored in retaining the name of Dubois in this parish. The
+above is written, to elucidate to your minds the fact, obvious enough
+here, that you are not forgotten.
+
+Now, you will wish to hear what has befallen some of the queer
+notabilities of the Settlement. By courtesy, I begin with Mrs. McNab.
+You will remember her, as the general oracle and adviser of a certain
+portion of the female population in the neighborhood, and as greatly
+opposed to some of the "doctreenes", as she called my instructions to
+the people. Well, she remains in her entireness and individuality, her
+costume as grotesque and her speech as Scotch as ever.
+
+You will be surprised, however, to learn that she has a far more
+favorable opinion of your humble servant than formerly. I have had
+some difficulty in accounting for this change in her disposition. It
+seems, however, that she had early taken a prejudice against Yankees,
+and had got an idea, in the beginning, that I had some wily and
+sinister intentions toward the people, connected with my labors here.
+No developments of that kind having been made, she began to look more
+complacently upon my efforts, and she thinks now that the way in which
+I have endeavored to lead the community, is not so bad after all.
+
+"The warst thing I had agen ye, was this", she said to me not long
+since. "My meenister o' the Kirk at Dumfries used to preach that a
+pusson, might repent o' his sins, an' pray and pray a' his life lang,
+but wad nae ken, in this warld, whether or nae he was to be saved.
+Whereas, ye ken ye told the people that ef they repented o' their sins
+and believed in Christ and gave the evidence o' gude warks they might
+settle right doon, and ken they'd be saved, anyhow. I ca' that a
+peskalent doctreen, an a loose ane to promoolgate. Though I must
+confess, ye hae na dune the meeschief I luked for".
+
+I did not think it best to go into a discussion of our theological
+differences, lest it should stir up the waters of strife, and
+therefore waived the subject.
+
+Mrs. McNab occupies two comfortable rooms at Mrs. Campbell's house,
+from whence she issues forth, whenever occasion calls, to perform the
+duties of nurse, counsellor, and supervisor-general of the domestic
+affairs of the community. The tea-drinkings in her parlor seem to be
+occasions of great social enjoyment to the fortunate neighbors
+invited. After the regular gossip of the day has been discussed, she
+entertains her company with the same old stories of her former life in
+Scotland, among its grand families, and to these she has added, for
+the benefit of those who have more recently come into the Settlement,
+accounts of the "Doobyce" family, characterizing its members by
+remarking, that "Mr. Doobyce was a braw, princely mon, his wife a
+sweet, fair spoken leddy, an' Miss Ady was a born queen, ef there ever
+was ane. She had her ane way wi' everybody, an' e'en I mysel' hae gien
+up to her, whiles".
+
+Micah Mummychog, alias Jones, Miss Adèle's special devotee, never a
+bad-hearted person, has now become one of the influential men of the
+neighborhood, and sustains here every good word and work. About a year
+after the great fire, he had a long and dangerous illness, brought on
+by great exposure to cold while lumbering in the woods.
+
+Mrs. McNab voluntarily went to his house and took care of him most
+assiduously, for many weeks, until his recovery. Micah said, that "it
+looked remarkable kind in the old soul to come of her own accord and
+take keer of him, when he'd allers plagued her so unmascifully".
+
+He felt very grateful to her and paid her handsomely for her services.
+Nevertheless, he teases her yet occasionally and says "he dont know
+neow, which skeered him most, the great fire, or comin' to his senses
+one night when he was sick, and seein' Aunt McNab with her head
+wropped up in its cotton night gear".
+
+Subsequent to Micah's recovery, he went to the Kennebec River and
+visited his friends. After his return, he commenced trading, and is
+now doing quite an extensive business. He has entirely broken off from
+his old habits of swearing and gambling, and discountenances them
+among the people. He attends religious worship constantly, and sets a
+worthy example in keeping the Sabbath day.
+
+He is also getting his ideas up on the subject of education. Not long
+since, he told me it was his opinion that "there warn't half school
+larnin' enuf among the people, and there'd oughter to be longer
+schools. There's Jinny Campbell, there, a bright leetle imp as ever
+was, and ef she'd had a chance would a taken to her books, like a
+chicken to a dough dish. And there's others, most as smart as she is,
+all reound, that need schoolin'. I feel the want of it myself, neow
+its tew late to git it".
+
+A few days ago, Micah told me he expected to build a new house for
+himself soon.
+
+"Ah! Micah", said I, "have you got tired of that comfortable old house
+of yours, where we have had so many nice suppers and cosey times
+together?"
+
+"Well, no, Captin'; I hain't, and I'm afeerd I shall never like
+another place as I dew that. But ye see, ef a feller is a goin' to git
+merried, he's got to stir reound and dew what suits other folks as
+well as hisself".
+
+"Married! Micah", I said, in complete astonishment, "are you going to
+be married?"
+
+"That's jest the way I expected yeou'd look", said he, "when I told ye
+abeout it, because ye knew I used to talk agin it, like fury. But ye
+see, Captin'; I aint just as I used to be, abeout some things. I'll
+tell ye heow it came reound, any heow, so as to sahtisfy ye I ain't
+crazy. Well, when I was a beginnin' to git better o' that terable
+sickness, the fust and only one I ever had in my life, Miss Campbell,
+she used to send Jinny up, with bits o' briled chicken, nice broth and
+sech, to kinder tempt my appetite like. The little critter used to
+bring 'em in and be so pitiful to me and say, do Micah try to eat
+this, so that you may git well; and she seemed so pooty, sincere and
+nateral like in all her ways, that I took to her mightily, specially
+as I hadn't Miss Adèle to look arter and chore reound for, any more.
+Once or twice, when she came to bring suthin, Ant McNab kinder advised
+her to do this and that, and the way the leetle critter spunked up and
+had her own way, made me think o' Miss Adèle and pleased me some, I
+tell ye.
+
+"Well, arter I got well, she seemed to be just as chipper and pleasant
+as ever, and was allers glad when I went to the heouse, and so it went
+on (I won't bother abeout the rest on't) till six months ago. As I was
+a walkin' hum from a meetin' at the Grove with her, she sed, 'what a
+pooty Grove that is, of yours, Micah;' Witheout a considerin' a half a
+minit, I sed, right away, 'Jinny, I'd give yeou that Grove and all I
+have beside, upon one condition.' I looked at her, arter I'd sed it,
+as skeered as I could be, fur fear she'd fly right at me, fur sayin'
+sech a thing. But she didn't. She only colored up awfully and sed, in
+a fluttered kinder way, 'what condition, Micah?' 'Pon condition that
+you'd merry me, Jinny.' You may believe that arter I sed that, my
+heart stood still, better'n a minit. She didn't say a word at fust,
+seemed ruther took by surprise, and then, all of a sudding, she turned
+her head and looked up inter my face as sarcy as ye ever see anything,
+and says she, 'Do yeou think I'd ever merry a man with sech a horrid
+name as Mummychog?' 'Is that all the objection you hev, Jinny?' ses I.
+Ses she, ''Tis the greatest, I know of.' Then ses I, 'There ain't no
+diffikilty, for my name aint Mummychog, and never was. When I came
+deown to this kentry, I was a wild, reckless kind of a critter, and I
+thought I'd take some outlandish name, jest for the joke on it. I took
+Mummychog, and they allers called me so. But my real name is Jones.'
+'Well, Mr. Jones,' ses she, lookin' sarcier than ever, 'I shall expect
+yeou to hev a sign painted with your real name on it and put up on
+your store, and yeou must build a new heouse before I merry yeou.'
+That sobered me deown a leetle. I sed, 'But Jinny, I don't want ye to
+merry me, unless ye like me. I'll build a heouse and gin it tew ye, ef
+that's what ye want. But ye needn't merry me unless ye like me--neow
+remember.' She looked at me, jest as soon as I sed that, and caught up
+my big hand inter her little one, and ses she, 'O law, Micah, I'd
+merry ye ef yer name _was_ Mummychog, and ye needn't build a heouse,
+nor nuthin'. I ken go right to the old place jest as well. I'd merry
+ye ef ye hadn't a cent, for I like ye better'n anybody else in the
+world, Micah.' And then she began to cry, and I hushed her up. And so,
+neow it's all settled".
+
+"Well Micah", said I, after hearing this account of his courtship of
+Jenny Campbell, "I congratulate you on your choice; Jenny is a good
+girl and a pretty one. But isn't she rather young?"
+
+"Well, yis. I thought yeou'd be speakin' o' that. I'm forty year old
+and she's abeout eighteen, or so. Consid'able difference in eour ages.
+I told her abeout that t'other day, and she sed, well she didn't see
+but I 'peared abeout as young as she did. She didn't see much
+difference. So ef she's sahtisfied, I'd oughter be. But Captin,' I'll
+tell ye, she's a curus leetle critter as ever ye see. She has spells
+of playin' off all kinds o' tricks on me and hectorin' me every way
+she ken, but the minit she sees me look sober, as ef I felt any way
+bad, she leaves right off, and comes up and kisses me, and ses she
+didn't mean anything by it, and is as good as a kitten".
+
+Alas! poor Micah! You see, Miss Adèle, he is in the meshes, and there
+we must leave him for the present. I have taken pains to give you the
+above in his own language, as it is so much more graphic than any I
+could employ.
+
+My letter of Miramichi gossip has, swollen, unconsciously, to an
+enormous size, and I fear I am getting tedious. Be patient a few
+minutes longer, dear friends, while I tell you of Mr. John Lansdowne.
+
+I happened in the city of P---- last winter, on business, and just
+before leaving town I went to call on Mr. Lansdowne. Aunt Esther, Mr.
+John's nurse, an aged negro woman who has been a member of the
+household many years, answered my ring at the door. Finding that none
+of the family were at home, I was turning to leave when Aunt Esther
+begged me to come in, saying she reckoned they would soon be back, as
+they had already been several hours absent, adding, good soul, that
+"they'd all be dreffully disapinted not to see me."
+
+I knew that several months prior to this, Mr. Lansdowne had been
+admitted to the practice of law and had become junior partner in
+business, to the distinguished Mr. Eldon of P. And I now gathered from
+Aunt Esther, that the Supreme Court was in session, and that a great
+criminal case was being tried before the jury. Mr. Eldon had been
+taken ill, just before the trial came on, and had urged Mr. Lansdowne
+to take his place in Court, saying, he could argue the case as well as
+himself. Mr. John, as Aunt Esther informed me, did it with great
+reluctance, though she didn't see why. "He always does everything he
+sets out to do, 'markable nice. But Massa and Missus felt kind of
+anxious, and they v'e gone into Court, with other gemmen and ladies,
+to hear how't goes. I feel no concern about it. I know he'll make a
+splen'id talk, anyhow, cos he always does".
+
+After waiting half an hour, I was obliged to leave messages of regret
+with Aunt Esther and hasten home.
+
+I observed in "The Eastern Gazette" of the following week, a notice of
+Mr. Lansdowne's plea before the jury, in the great case of "The
+Commonwealth _vs_ Jenkins," in which he was eulogized in the highest
+terms. He was said to have displayed "great acumen, extensive legal
+acquirements, and magnificent powers of oratory." So, Aunt Esther's
+confidence, about the "splen'id talk," was not without a reasonable
+basis.
+
+I was highly gratified, myself, in reading the flattering paragraphs.
+You know we all greatly admired the young gentleman at Miramichi. He
+has a brilliant earthly future before him, should his life and
+faculties be spared.
+
+Micah was much charmed with the intelligence I brought him of his old
+favorite.
+
+"I ain't a mite surprised at what you v'e sed abeout the young man.
+Ever sence I took that trip inter the woods with him, I know'd he'd
+the genooine ring o' trew metal tew him. When he gits to be President
+o' the United States, I shall sell eout here and go hum to the
+Kennebec".
+
+Please let me hear from you soon, my dear friends. It seems long since
+I have had tidings from you.
+
+With an abiding gratitude for past kindness, shown by you to a weary
+wanderer from home, and with the warmest respect and friendship, I
+remain as ever,
+
+
+   Yours truly,
+
+   SAMUEL J. NORTON.
+
+
+Mrs. Dubois not having but one pair of eyes, and those being fully
+occupied with the contents of the above letter, and the Count de
+Rossillon remaining asleep during the entire reading, of course it
+could not be expected that they observed the changes that took place
+on Adèle's countenance. But an author, as is well known, has ways and
+means of observation not common to others, and here it may be
+remarked, that that young lady's face, had exhibited, during the last
+fifteen minutes, or more, quite a variety of emotions. It had at
+first, been thoughtful and interested, then lighted with smiles, then
+radiant with enjoyment of the good missionary's sketches of Mrs. McNab
+and Micah. But the moment her mother read the name of John Lansdowne,
+her face was suffused with a deep crimson, and she listened almost
+breathlessly, and with glistening eyes, to the close.
+
+"Oh! the good noble man!" said Mrs. Dubois, as she folded up the
+sheets. "It will please your father to read this, where is he, Adèle?"
+
+"He rode away with Pierre, not long ago. Please let me take the
+letter. I must read it again", said Adèle, having conquered her
+emotion, without her mother perceiving it.
+
+She took it away to her own boudoir, and as she read the pages, the
+flowing tears fell fast. Why should she weep over such a cheerful
+letter as that? Why?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE LAST SLEEP.
+
+
+Adèle had long since discovered that the events of greatest interest
+in her life had transpired before she entered the walls of Rossillon,
+or mingled in the festivities of the Court at Paris.
+
+The scenes that occurred at Miramichi, during Mr. Lansdowne's
+accidental residence there, were fraught with a power over her heart,
+continually deepening with the flight of time. Those golden days, when
+their lives flowed side by side, had been filled with the strange,
+sweet agitations, the aerial dreams, the bewitching glamour, the
+intoxicating happiness of a first and youthful love. Those days were
+imprinted yet more deeply in her memory by a consciousness that there
+was somewhat with which to reproach herself connected with them. Just
+when she had reached the top of bliss, her pride had sprung up, and
+like a dark stormcloud, had shadowed the scene. She could not forget
+that cold, sad parting from her lover.
+
+And now, though the ocean rolled between them, and the spheres in
+which each moved were so widely separated and the years had come and
+gone, she was yet calculating and balancing the probabilities, that
+they might meet again and the wrong of the past be cancelled.
+
+Mr. Lansdowne had been plodding among musty law books and threading
+legal intricacies, with occasional interruptions, caused by fits of
+impatience and disgust at the detail and tedium of study, until he had
+at length fought his way through and placed himself in the front rank
+of his profession. His brilliant achievement in the famous Jenkins
+case, in the outset of his career, had at once won for him a position
+at the bar which most young men have to toil years to obtain. His
+family was wealthy and influential. It was not strange that with these
+advantages, united to the possession of remarkable personal beauty, he
+should be the centre of a numerous group of friends and admirers. He
+was the object of pride among the older barristers and gentlemen of
+the bench, the cynosure of the young men, and the one among a thousand
+whom elegant mammas and smiling maidens wooed with their selectest
+influences.
+
+Yet one great element of earthly happiness was wanting to his life. He
+could not forget the enchantment of those days spent in the far-off
+wilds of Miramichi. He turned continually to those scenes, as the most
+prominent of his existence. There he had stepped from boyhood into
+manhood. There he had seen life in new and before untried forms. He
+had there witnessed a wonderful display of God's power through the
+terrible agency of the all-devouring flame, and there, for the first
+time, he had confronted death and sorrow. There, he had loved once and
+as he believed, forever. He recalled Adèle, as she first appeared
+before him,--an unexpected vision of beauty, in all her careless grace
+and sweet, confiding frankness; in her moments of stately pride, when
+she chilled him from her side and kept him afar off; and in her
+moments of affectionate kindness, and generous enthusiasm. In short,
+in all her changeful moods she was daily flitting before him and he
+confessed to himself, that he had never met a being so rich in nature
+and varied in powers, so noble in impulse and purpose, so peerlessly
+beautiful in person.
+
+Thus he lived on from day to day, remembering and yearning and
+dreaming,--the ocean yawning between him and his love. Concealed in
+the depths of his soul, there was, however, a hope fondly cherished,
+and a purpose half formed.
+
+A few weeks after the reception of Mr. Norton's letter, the Count de
+Rossillon died. Sitting, as usual, in his great purple-cushioned
+arm-chair, taking his afternoon nap, he expired so gently that Mrs.
+Dubois, who was reading by the window, did not know, or even suspect,
+when the parting between spirit and body occurred. Kindly, genial, and
+peaceful had been his last years, and his life went out calmly as the
+light of day goes out amid the mellow tints of a pleasant autumn
+sunset.
+
+When Mrs. Dubois went to arouse him from what seemed an unusually long
+slumber, she found a volume of Fénélon spread open upon his knee, and
+turning it, her eye ran over passages full of lofty and devout
+aspiration. These, probably expressed the latest thoughts and desires
+of the good chevalier, for as she looked from the pages to his face,
+turned upward toward the ceiling, a smile of assent and satisfaction
+was still lingering there, although his breath had departed and his
+pulse was still.
+
+Mrs. Dubois stooped to kiss the forehead of her uncle, but started
+back with a sudden thrill of fear. She gazed searchingly at him for a
+moment, and then she knew that Death, the conqueror, stood there with
+her, looking upon his completed work.
+
+After the first shock of surprise was over, she remained gazing upon
+the spectacle in perfect silence. A truly devout Catholic, in her
+grief she leaned with all a woman's trust and confidingness upon the
+love and power of Christ, and something of the divine calmness which
+we associate with the character of the mother of our Lord, and which
+has been so wonderfully depicted to the eye by some of the older
+painters, pervaded her spirit.
+
+As she thus stood, spellbound, entranced, her eyes fixed upon the
+noble features irradiated with a smile of content and peace, the long
+silvery locks parted away from the forehead and flowing around the
+head, like a halo, she thought it the countenance of a saint, and her
+poetic fancy created at once a vision of the Saviour, with an aspect
+grand, glorious, yet gracious and benign, placing with His right hand
+a golden jewelled crown upon her uncle's head. A cloud swept up over
+the gorgeous earthliness of the great Rubens picture, and from out its
+folds shone sweet and smiling angel faces, looking down upon the
+scene.
+
+Mrs. Dubois never knew how long she remained thus absorbed. She was
+first aroused by hearing a voice saying, in tones of fervor, "How
+blessed it is to die!" And Adèle, who had entered the room a little
+time before, and had uttered these words, stepped forward and
+imprinted a kiss upon the pale uplifted brow of the sleeper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+POMPEII.
+
+
+About this period, Mrs. Lansdowne, whose health had been declining for
+nearly a year, was urgently advised by her physician to seek a milder
+climate. John immediately offered himself as her _compagnon de
+voyage_, and manifested great alacrity in the preparations for their
+departure for Italy.
+
+After a favorable sea passage, they landed at Civita Vecchia, and,
+with brief delays at Rome and Naples, went to Sorrento, intending to
+remain there several months.
+
+This place combines the most striking peculiarities of Italian
+scenery. It stands on a wide and beautiful plain, shut in by the
+mountains and the sea. The fertile soil produces oranges, lemons,
+grapes, and figs of the richest quality and in great abundance. The
+coast line, a wall of volcanic rock, is broken into varied forms, by
+the constant action of the waters. Here, they spent day after day,
+rambling about the old town, making excursions into the neighboring
+mountains, or crossing the bay to different points of interest. They
+delighted particularly in sailing under the shadow of the cliffs,
+watching the varying colors, blue, purple, and green, presented by the
+glassy surface, peering into the arched caverns, worn into the rock
+by the waves, and looking upward at the gay profusion of wild flowers,
+which, growing in every crevice, adorned its face with beauty. From
+the balcony of the house they occupied, they looked upon gardens,
+invisible from the street, so closely were they walled in from the
+view of the passer by, and beheld orange and lemon trees, with rounded
+tops of dark green foliage, golden fruit, and snowy blossoms. The soft
+air permitted them to sit during the evenings and listen to the
+whisper of the sea on the beach, to watch the sails of the fishing
+vessels gleaming in the moonlight, and gaze at the dark form of
+Vesuvius, with his lighted torch, brooding at a distance, over the
+scene.
+
+A month had thus passed away. A marked improvement had taken place in
+Mrs. Lansdowne's health, and John proposed that they should go to
+Naples and make an excursion thence to Pompeii.
+
+One morning, they drove out from the swarming city toward those famous
+ruins, revealing to the curious so much of the old Roman civilization.
+After a drive of twelve miles past fields of lava and ashes, the
+accumulations from recent irruptions of Vesuvius, they arrived at the
+street of tombs, a fitting entrance to the desolated city. Here, the
+beautifully sculptured monuments, memorials of a departed generation,
+awoke in their hearts a peculiar interest. Through these they entered
+at once into the inner life of joys and sorrows of an extinct race.
+
+"How terrible death must have been to these people, whose ideas of the
+future world were so vague and unsatisfying, and who had really no
+knowledge of immortality!" said Mrs. Lansdowne.
+
+"Yes", replied John. "And with nothing brighter or more glorious to
+look forward to in the beyond, how reluctant they must have felt to
+leave these glowing skies, this delicious air, these scenes of beauty
+and art, for the darkness of the grave. I fancy it must have been
+harder for them than if they had been surrounded with the sombre
+tints, the chilling atmosphere, and the more subdued forms of life in
+our own clime".
+
+Leaving the cemetery, they passed on through the narrow streets, paved
+with blocks of lava, on which were the traces of carriage wheels worn
+into the material more than eighteen hundred years ago. They went into
+the Pompeian houses, walked over the marble mosaic floors, looked at
+the paintings on the walls, examined the bronzes, the statues, the
+domestic utensils, the shop of the oil merchant, with his name on it
+still legible, until, in imagination, they began to people the
+solitude,--bringing back the gay, luxurious, beauty-loving Pompeians
+again to live and revel in their former haunts.
+
+At length, quite exhausted, Mrs. Lansdowne sank down on a seat in one
+of the porticoes, and John, placing himself by her side, tempted her
+to partake of a lunch he had provided for the occasion.
+
+Soon, the pensive influences of the scene stole over them, and they
+sat for some time in perfect silence.
+
+Mrs. Lansdowne first interrupted it, by exclaiming, "John, what are
+you thinking of?"
+
+"Thinking of! why I was thinking just then how those Pompeians used to
+sit in these porticoes and talk of the deeds of Cæsar and of the
+eloquence of Cicero, while those renowned men were yet living, and how
+they discussed the great combats in the amphitheatres of Rome. And
+what were you cogitating, my dear mother?" said he, smiling.
+
+"Oh! I was thinking woman's thoughts. How slowly they excavate here! I
+have an extreme curiosity to know what there is, yet uncovered to the
+light of day, beyond that dead wall of ashes".
+
+"If I were a magician, I would apply to your eyes some unguent, which
+should unveil what is there concealed", said John, smiling. "Will you
+go now to the theatre?"
+
+He drew his mother's arm within his, and they moved on. That portion
+of the city appeared as if it had been partially destroyed by a
+conflagration.
+
+Looking towards Vesuvius, he said, "I can easily imagine the
+sensations of those who gazed at the volcano on that terrible day and
+saw for the first time its flames bursting out, and throwing their
+horrid glare on the snow-capped mountains around. Fire is a
+tremendous element".
+
+As he uttered the words, the scene of the great conflagration at
+Miramichi rose to his view.
+
+"_Salve! Salve!_" exclaimed a rich, musical voice near him, just at
+that moment.
+
+The word and the tone in which it was uttered, thrilled him, like an
+electric shock. He looked, with a bewildered air, in the direction
+from whence the voice proceeded, and saw, standing before the
+threshold of one of the Pompeian houses, a tall, elegant female
+figure, habited in mourning.
+
+Her eyes were fixed upon the word of salutation, written on the
+threshold, at the entrance. After contemplating it a moment, she
+turned her head involuntarily towards Mr. Lansdowne, who stood
+transfixed to the spot. Their eyes met in instant recognition. Neither
+moved--they were both paralyzed with sudden emotion.
+
+Mrs. Lansdowne looked up in surprise.
+
+"What is it, John?"
+
+"It is", said he, recovering himself, "it is, that I am astonished to
+meet here, so unexpectedly, a friend whom I supposed to be in
+France--certainly not here".
+
+He led his mother forward a few steps and presented her to
+Mademoiselle Dubois.
+
+M. and Mdme. Dubois, who were standing a little apart, examining some
+objects of interest, while this scene of recognition transpired, now
+joined the group and were presented to Mrs. Lansdowne. During the
+remainder of the day, the two families formed one party.
+
+They visited the ruined theatre, the Forum, the temples of Isis and
+Hercules, but the spell of Pompeii no longer bound the souls of John
+and Adèle. It is true, they walked on, sometimes side by side,
+sometimes with other forms between, absorbed, entranced; but a spirit
+more potent than any inhabiting the walls of the old Roman city had
+touched the powers of their being and woven its sorceries around them.
+The living present had suddenly shut out the past.
+
+So, after three years, they had met. Such meetings are critical. In
+the lapse of time, what changes may occur! There is so much in life to
+mar the loveliest and noblest! In regard to character, of course no
+one can stand still. There is either a process of deterioration going
+on, or a work of intellectual and spiritual advancement. Memory and
+imagination glorify the absent and the dead. The lovers had been
+constantly exercising, respecting each other, their faculty of
+idealization. When they parted, they were young, with limited
+experiences of life, with slight knowledge of their own hearts. It was
+a dangerous moment when they thus met.
+
+But there was no disappointment. Mr. Lansdowne gazed upon Adèle, with
+emotions of surprise and astonishment at the change a few years had
+wrought in her and marvelled at the perfection of her beauty and
+manner.
+
+Adèle, albeit she was not used to the reverential mood, experienced an
+emotion almost verging into awe, mingled with her admiration of the
+noble form, the dignity and stately grace of him who had so charmed
+her girlish days.
+
+Thus the acquaintance, broken off, in that cold, restrained morning
+adieu, on the banks of the Miramichi, was renewed under the sunny,
+joyous sky of Italy. Their communion with one another was now no
+longer marred by youthful waywardness and caprice. During those long
+years of separation, they had learned so thoroughly the miseries
+attending the alienation of truly loving hearts, that there was no
+inclination on the part of either, to trifle now. Day by day, the
+hours they spent together became sweeter, dearer, more full of love's
+enchantment.
+
+"Mademoiselle Dubois", said Mr. Lansdowne, a few weeks after their
+recognition at Pompeii, "I think I did not quite do justice to that
+famous excavated city, when I visited it. I was so occupied with the
+pleasure of meeting old friends that I really did not examine objects
+with the attention they deserve. To-morrow I intend to revisit the
+spot and make amends for my neglect. Will you give me the pleasure of
+your company?"
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Lansdowne, I shall be happy to go with you. A week
+spent there, could not exhaust the interest of the place".
+
+The two families were still at Naples and from that city Mr. Lansdowne
+and Adèle started again to visit Pompeii.
+
+No evidence, as to the amount of antiquarian lore acquired on that day
+by our two lovers has yet transpired, but it is certain that, while
+wandering among the ruins, they came before the threshold of the door,
+where Adèle was standing, when first recognized, by Mr. Lansdowne.
+There, he gently detained her, and explained, how that ancient salute
+of welcome to the guest and the stranger, when uttered by her lips,
+had thrilled his heart; how it had been treasured there as an omen of
+good for the future, and how the memory of it now emboldened him to
+speak the words he was about to utter. There, within sight of Vesuvius
+and with the fiery memories of Miramichi hanging upon the hour, he
+renewed the avowal of his love, first made in the haste and
+effervescence of youthful passion.
+
+And now, Adèle did not, as then, fly from his presence. She simply put
+her hand in his, and pronounced in sweet and almost solemn accents,
+the irrevocable promise.
+
+In the meantime, Mrs. Lansdowne had been cultivating the friendship of
+M. and Mdme. Dubois. She was gratified to have an opportunity of
+thanking them in person, for their hospitality and kindness to her son
+and brother in Miramichi. Her profound gratitude for attentions to
+those so dear to her, would have proved a bond of sufficient strength
+to unite her to these new acquaintances. But she was attracted to them
+also by traits of mind and character unfolded in their daily
+intercourse.
+
+The discovery of John's attachment to Adèle explained many things in
+his conduct, during the last few years, that had appeared enigmatical.
+With this fact made clear to her mind, it may well be supposed that
+she observed the young lady with keen scrutiny. At the end of a week,
+John confessed his intention to win Adèle if possible for his wife.
+His mother had no objection to such an alliance, and only wished him
+success in his efforts.
+
+Having spent six weeks together at Naples and Sorrento, the party
+pursued their travels leisurely, for several months, through Italy and
+Germany, until at length they reached France. After a visit at Paris,
+they located themselves quietly at the chateau de Rossillon, where
+preparations were soon commenced for the marriage.
+
+It was observed, that the lovers, supposed to be the parties most
+particularly interested, were remarkably indifferent in regard to
+these affairs. When needed for consultation on important arrangements,
+they were reported to be off, riding or driving or wandering in some
+remote part of the park, and when at last, an opportunity occurred to
+present some point for their consideration, they seemed to have no
+particular opinions on the subject.
+
+With a very decided taste of her own, in matters of dress, not less
+than in other things, Adèle could not be made to attend to the details
+of the _trousseau_, and at last the two older ladies took it into
+their own hands.
+
+In the mean time, the lovers were leading a rapturous life in the
+past, the present, the future. In the past they remembered the morning
+glories of Miramichi; in the present they saw, daily, in each other's
+eyes, unfathomed depths of love; as to the future it shone out before
+them, resplendent with the light of an earthly Paradise.
+
+At last, the wedding day came, and the parting between Adèle and her
+parents. It was a great sacrifice on the part of M. and Mdme. Dubois.
+But, remembering their own early trials, they made no opposition to
+Adèle's choice. They sought only her happiness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+On a dark, stormy day, in the winter of 1845, at ten o'clock,
+afternoon, a tall, stout, elderly man, muffled in fur, rang at the
+door of Mr. Lansdowne.
+
+The house was large, of brown stone, and situated on H---- Street, in
+the city of P----.
+
+As the servant opened the door, the hall light fell upon a face of
+strongly marked features, irradiated by an expression of almost
+youthful cheerfulness. To the inquiry, if Mr. and Mrs. Lansdowne were
+at home, the servant replied, that they were absent, but would return
+shortly.
+
+"Miss Adèle is in the drawing-room sir", he added, immediately
+throwing open the door of that apartment, to its widest extent, as if
+to insure the entrance of Mr. Norton, for it was no other than the
+good missionary of Miramichi. He was still the warmly cherished and
+highly revered friend of the entire family.
+
+Adèle, a young lady of sixteen, was sitting on a low seat in the
+drawing-room, beneath a blaze of waxen candles, intently occupied with
+a new book. She gave a start, on being recalled so suddenly from the
+fancy land in which she was roaming, but after a moment of
+bewilderment, flung aside her book, came quickly forward, put her arms
+around the neck of Mr. Norton, who bent down to receive them, and
+welcomed him with a cordial kiss.
+
+"Every day more and more like your mother, Miss Adèle", said he, as,
+after returning her salutation, he held her at arm's length and
+surveyed her from head to foot.
+
+"Papa and mamma will be home soon", said Adèle. "They went to dine at
+Mr. Holbrook's. It is time for their return".
+
+"All right, my dear. And how are you all?"
+
+The young lady led him to a large, cushioned arm-chair.
+
+"How did you leave mamma Norton, Jenny, and Fanny?"
+
+"All quite well. And they sent love;" replied the missionary.
+
+"How is Gray Eagle?"
+
+"Ah! Gray Eagle is good for many a trot round the parish yet".
+
+"I have not forgotten how he shot over the hills with me, last summer.
+He began his scamper, the moment I was fairly seated on his back. I
+hope he has sobered down a little since then", said Adèle.
+
+"Yes, I remember. Gray Eagle knew well enough that the little sprite
+he carried, liked a scamper as well as himself. The animal is quite
+well, I thank you, and is on good behavior. So are your other
+acquaintances, Cherry, the cow, and Hodge, the cat".
+
+"I am glad to hear it. I had a charming visit at Rockdale last
+summer. Johnny and Gabrielle are wild to go there. But mamma and I,
+and all of us, were so disappointed because you would not consent to
+Fanny and Jenny coming to spend the winter with us. Mamma says she
+does not quite understand yet why you objected".
+
+"Ah! well, my dear, I'll make it all right with your mamma. The fact
+is, I wish to get a few rational ideas into the heads of those
+precious little ladies before they are launched out into city life.
+Just a little ballast to keep them from capsizing in a gale".
+
+"Mamma says they are both very much like you", said Adèle, archly.
+
+"True, my dear. That makes it all the more necessary to look after
+them carefully".
+
+After a few moments of chat, Adèle left the room to give orders for
+hastening supper.
+
+During her absence, Mr. Norton, with his eyes fixed upon the glowing
+grate, fell into a fit of musing. Look at him a moment, while he sits
+thus, occupied with the memories of the past. Twenty years have passed
+since he was introduced to the attention of the reader, a missionary
+to a remote and benighted region. He is now sixty years old, and very
+few have passed through greater toil and hardships than he has
+endured, in asserting the claims of the Redeemer to the gratitude and
+love of the race. Yet his health and vigor of mind are scarcely
+impaired, and his zeal continues unabated.
+
+Beginning his journey early each spring and returning to his family
+late every autumn, he had spent sixteen successive summers in
+Miramichi, engaged in self-imposed labors. Each winter, he wrought at
+his anvil, and thus helped to maintain an honest independence.
+
+Four years previous, a parish having become vacant, in the town where
+he resided, it was urged upon his acceptance, by the unanimous voice
+of the people. By his efforts, a great change had been wrought in the
+field of his past labors and a supply of suitable religious teachers
+having been provided there, he accepted the invitation as a call of
+Divine Providence, and had ministered to the spiritual wants of the
+people of Rockdale since.
+
+Business called him occasionally to the city of P. His visits there
+were always regarded by the Lansdownes as especial favors. The two
+families had frequently interchanged visits and had grown into habits
+of the closest intimacy.
+
+Having been in the city several hours and dispatched the affairs which
+drew him thither, he had now come to look in upon his friends for the
+night, expecting to hasten away at day dawn.
+
+There was something in his situation this evening, thus housed in
+warmth, light, and comfort, protected from the darkness and the storm
+without, and ministered unto by a lovely young maiden, that reminded
+him of a like scene, that had occurred, twenty years ago. He vividly
+recalled the evening, when, after a day of toil and travel on the
+banks of the distant Miramichi, he reached the house of Dubois, and
+how while the tempest raged without he was cheered by the light and
+warmth within, and was ministered unto by another youthful maiden, in
+form and feature so like her, who had just left him, that he could
+almost imagine them the same. A glance around the apartment, however,
+dispelled the momentary fancy. Its rich and beautiful adornments
+afforded a striking contrast to the appointments of that humble room.
+
+He was roused from his meditations by the ringing of the street bell,
+and in a moment Mr. and Mrs. Lansdowne came forward to welcome their
+early and long-tried friend.
+
+The good man, who loved them with an affection akin to that which he
+felt for his own family, had preserved a watchful care over their
+earthly and spiritual welfare. Sometimes he feared that their wealth
+and fame might draw away their hearts from the highest good and impair
+the simplicity of their religious faith.
+
+After the first cordial greetings, in accordance with his habit on
+occasions like this, he indulged in a careful scrutiny of his two
+friends.
+
+Time had in no wise impaired the charms of Mrs. Lansdowne. Experience
+of life, maternal cares, and religious duties had added a softer light
+to her once proud beauty, and her old friend might well be pardoned a
+thrill of admiration as he gazed and thought within his heart, that
+Mrs. Lansdowne, robed in black velvet, Mechlin lace, and the diamonds
+of the house of Rossillon, surpassed in loveliness, the radiant Adèle
+Dubois, arrayed in the aerial garments of girlhood.
+
+When also his keen eye had wandered over the face and figure of John
+Lansdowne, it returned from its explorations satisfied. No habits of
+excess had impaired the muscular strength and vigor of his form. Nor
+had ungoverned passion, avarice, political craft, or disappointed
+ambition drawn deep defacing lives, to mar the noble beauty of his
+countenance.
+
+"It is well with them still", ejaculated the good man mentally, "and
+may God bless them forever".
+
+THE END.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+
+Loring's Railway Library.
+
+ADELE DUBOIS:
+
+A STORY OF
+
+The Lovely Miramichi Valley,
+
+IN NEW BRUNSWICK.
+
+LORING, Publisher:
+
+BOSTON.
+
+
+
+Loring's Publications.
+
+
+   CHOICE FICTION.
+
+   THE GAYWORTHYS. By the Author of
+                  'Faith Gartney's Girlhood.'   8th Edition.  $2.00
+
+   INTO THE LIGHT: or, THE JEWESS.                             1.75
+
+   PIQUE: A Tale of the English Aristocracy.        15th Ed.   1.50
+
+   SIMPLICITY AND FASCINATION: A Tale of the
+                               English Gentry.        3d Ed.   1.50
+
+   MAINSTONE'S HOUSEKEEPER: A Tale of the
+                            Manufacturing Districts. 9th Ed.   1.50
+
+   THE QUEEN OF THE COUNTY.                          4th Ed.   1.50
+
+   BROKEN TO HARNESS. By EDMUND YATES                4th Ed.   1.50
+
+   RUNNING THE GAUNTLET.   "     "                    3d Ed.   1.50
+
+   MOODS. By LOUISA M. ALCOTT.                        3d Ed.   1.25
+
+   A LOST LOVE. By ASHFORD OWEN.                     4th Ed.   1.25
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+   For Young Ladies
+
+   FAITH GARTNEY'S GIRLHOOD.                        16th Ed.   1.75
+
+   JUDGE NOT: or, HESTER POWERS' GIRLHOOD.            2d Ed.   1.50
+
+   MARGARET AND HER BRIDESMAIDS.                     4th Ed.   1.50
+
+   MILLY: or, THE HIDDEN CROSS. A Romance of School
+   Life                                               3d Ed.   1.50
+
+   HELEN FORD. A Romance of New York City Life. By
+   HORATIO ALGER. jr.                                          1.50
+
+   COUNTESS KATE. By MISS YONGE.                      3d Ed.   1.25
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+   For Young Gentlemen.
+
+   MARK ROWLAND. A Romance of the Sea. By HAUSER
+   MARTINGALE.                                                 1.50
+
+   THE BOYS AT CHEQUASSET.  By the Author of 'Faith
+   Gartney's Girlhood.'                                        1.25
+
+   FRANK'S CAMPAIGN. By HORATIO ALGER, jr.                     1.25
+
+   PAUL PRESCOTT'S CHARGE.  "     "                            1.25
+
+   CHARLIE CODMAN'S CRUISE. "     "                            1.25
+
+   RAGGED DICK: A Story of New York Boot Blacks and
+   News Boys.                                                  1.25
+
+   TIMOTHY CRUMP'S WARD--and What Came of It.                  1.00
+
+   THE LITTLE GENTLEMAN IN GREEN: A Fairy Story
+   for Boys and Girls                                            75
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+   _Mrs. Warren's Popular Home Manuals_.
+
+   HOW I MANAGED MY HOUSE ON £200 A YEAR.                        60
+
+   COMFORT FOR SMALL INCOMES.                                    50
+
+   HOW I MANAGED MY CHILDREN from Infancy to Marriage.           50
+
+   HOW TO FURNISH A HOUSE WITH SMALL MEANS.                      50
+
+
+Loring's New Books.
+
+
+   A Week in a French Country House.     _Cls_              25
+   By Mrs. Adelaide (Kemble,) Sartoris.
+
+   Leslie Tyrrell.  By Georgiana M. Craik                        30
+
+   The American Colony in Paris, 1867; What they do--how they
+   appear to a Frenchman                                         10
+
+   No Throughfare: An Amusing Burlesque of Charles Dickens's
+   Christmas Story.  By Bellamy Brownjohn                        10
+
+   Miss Thackeray's exquisite "Fairy Stories for Grown Folks".   80
+
+   Louisa M. Alcott's Proverb Stories,--("great favorites",)     25
+
+   Was it a Ghost?  _The Murders in Bussey's Wood_   75
+   (An extraordinary Narrative.)
+
+   Rugged Dick: or, Street Life in New York with the
+                Boot-Black                                     1.25
+
+   Florence Marryat's New Novel. "Nellie Brooke",                75
+
+   Lucy: or, Married from Pique.  A story of real life.  From
+   the German                                                    30
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+   NEARLY READY:
+
+   Medusa and other Stories. By the author of "A Week in a
+   French Country House".
+
+   Kate Field's Pen Photographs of Charles Dickens's Readings,
+   revised and greatly enlarged by several amusing chapters.
+
+   Doctor Leo--Baron von Oberg: A story of Love Unspoken.
+   From the German.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+   _Sold by all Booksellers and Newsdealers throughout
+   the Country--by the Book Messengers on the Railroad Trains_,
+   Or sent by Mail, free of Postage, on receipt of the advertised price.
+
+
+
+   LORING'S PUBLICATIONS.
+
+   LORING'S RAILWAY NOVELS.
+
+   THE ROUA PASS: or, Englishmen in the Highlands.            $0.75
+   TWICE LOST: A story of Remarkable Power.                      75
+   LINNET'S TRIAL. By the Author of 'Twice Lost.'                75
+     _Florence Marryat's successful Novels_.
+   LOVE'S CONFLICT.                                              75
+   TOO GOOD FOR HIM.                                             75
+   WOMAN AGAINST WOMAN.                                          75
+   FOR EVER AND EVER.                                            75
+   THE CONFESSIONS OF GERALD ESTCOURT.                           75
+   NELLY BROOKE: A Homely story.                                 75
+
+   LORDS AND LADIES. By Author of 'Queen of the County.'         75
+   HUNTED TO DEATH: A Story of Love and Adventure.               75
+   BAFFLED SCHEMES. A Sensation Novel.                           75
+   THE FORLORN HOPE.  By EDMUND YATES.                           75
+   BROKEN TO HARNESS.      "      "                              75
+   RUNNING THE GAUNTLET.   "      "                              75
+   MOODS. By LOUISA M. ALCOTT.                                   75
+   A LOST LOVE. By ASHFORD OWEN.                                 75
+   PIQUE: A Tale of the English Aristocracy.                     75
+   SIMPLICITY AND FASCINATION.                                   75
+   MEDUSA AND OTHER STORIES
+   ADELE DUBOIS: A Story of the lovely Miramichi Valley.         75
+   MAINSTONE'S HOUSEKEEPER.                                      75
+   LUCY: Or, MARRIED FROM PIQUE.                                 30
+   LESLIE TYRRELL. By GEORGIANA M. CRAIK.                        30
+   A WEEK IN A FRENCH COUNTRY HOUSE. MAD. SARTORIS.              25
+   PROVERB STORIES. BY LOUISA M. ALCOTT.                         25
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+   WAS IT A GHOST?
+
+   The Murders in Bussey's Wood, is not a "sensational" story, as many
+   suppose. It is a simple recital of all the facts that are or can be
+   known in connection with this fearful tragedy, by one who lived in the
+   immediate vicinity. The spiritual apparition was to him a reality.
+
+   A dual murder, so unaccountable, should not be allowed to die out
+   till Justice is satisfied.
+
+   In this sense this book has a mission.
+
+
+
+
+   PIQUE:
+
+   A Tale of the English Aristocracy.
+
+   11th edition. 1 vol. 12mo. Price $2.00.
+
+
+   Three thousand eight hundred and seventy-six new books were
+   published in England this last year, which is about the average
+   number of past years.
+
+   Thirteen years ago PIQUE was first published in London, and
+   up to the present time, notwithstanding the enormous number
+   of new books that have been issued, the effect of which is to
+   crowd the old ones out of sight, this remarkable novel has continued
+   to have a large sale.
+
+   This is the strongest praise that can be bestowed on any book.
+
+   It is not in the least "sensational", but relies solely on its rare
+   beauty of style and truthfulness to nature for its popularity.
+
+   It has the merit of being amusing, pleasantly written, and
+   engrossing.
+
+   The characters being high-bred men and women, are charming
+   companions for an hour's solitude, and one puts the book aside
+   regretfully, even as one closes the eyes on a delicious vision.
+   The American edition has taken everyone by surprise, that so
+   remarkably good a novel should have so long escaped attention.
+
+   Everybody is charmed with it, and its sale is immense, and
+   will endure for years to come.
+
+
+   FAITH GARTNEY'S GIRLHOOD.
+
+   By the Author of "Boys at Chequasset".
+
+   11th edition. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth. Price $1.75.
+
+
+   This charming story fills a void long felt for something for a
+   young girl, growing into womanhood, to read.
+
+   It depicts that bewitching period in life, lying between FOURTEEN
+   and TWENTY, with its noble aspirations, and fresh enthusiasm.
+   It is written by a very accomplished lady, whose previous
+   book was universally pronounced to be "the best Boys' book
+   written".
+
+   A lady of rare culture, and wide experience, says,--
+
+
+  "'Faith Gartney's Girlhood,' is a noble, good work, that could only
+   have been accomplished by an elevated mind united to a chaste, tender
+   heart. From the first page to the last, the impression is received of
+   a life which has been lived; the characters are genuine, well drawn,
+   skilfully presented; they are received at once with kind, friendly
+   greeting, and followed with interest, till the last page compels a
+   reluctant farewell.
+
+   "'The book is written for girls, growing as they grow to womanhood.'
+   The story has an interest, far beyond that found in modern romances of
+   the day, conveyed in pure, refined language; suggestive, pleasing
+   thoughts are unfolded on every page; the reflective and descriptive
+   passages are natural, simple, and exquisitely finished.
+
+   "In these days, when the tendency of society is to educate girls for
+   heartless, aimless, factitious life, a book like this is to be
+   welcomed and gratefully received. Wherever it is read, it will be
+   retained as a thoughtful, suggestive--if silent--friend".
+
+
+   _Parents, give it a wide circulation_.
+
+
+
+   Margaret and her Bridesmaids.
+
+   BY THE AUTHOR OF
+
+   "The Lady of Glynne", "Mr. and Mrs. Ashton", "Valley of a Hundred
+   Fires", "The Ladies of Lovel Leigh", "The Challenge", "The Queen of
+   the County".
+
+   3d edition. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth. Price $2.00.
+
+
+   This talented authoress ranks first among the successful female novel
+   writers of England. Her books are immensely popular there; edition
+   after edition of each has been called for, and the announcement of a
+   new one from her pen creates a new demand, and increases the
+   popularity of what has been published. By an arrangement with her and
+   her English publishers, all her books are to be brought before the
+   American public, where she is almost wholly unknown, except to the
+   readers at LORING'S CIRCULATING LIBRARY, and they are enthusiastic
+   over them.
+
+   "Margaret and Her Bridesmaids" is the one chosen to introduce her
+   with, as this, she writes me, has enjoyed the greatest popularity in
+   England. This will be followed by "THE QUEEN OF THE COUNTY", and the
+   others, as fast as compatible.
+
+   It is the history of four school-girls.
+
+   The _London Athenæum_, the highest literary authority, says of it:
+   "We may save ourselves the trouble of giving any lengthened review of
+   this book, for we recommend all who are in search of a fascinating
+   novel, to read it for themselves. They will find it well worth their
+   while. There is a freshness and originality about it quite charming,
+   and there is a certain nobleness in the treatment, both of sentiment
+   and incident, which is not often found. We imagine that few can read
+   it without deriving some comfort or profit from the quiet good sense
+   and unobtrusive words of counsel with which it abounds".
+
+   The story is very interesting. It is the history of four
+   school-fellows. Margaret, the heroine, is, of course, a woman in the
+   highest state of perfection. But Lotty--the little, wilful, wild,
+   fascinating, brave Lotty--is the gem of the book, and, as far as our
+   experience in novel reading goes, is an entirely original character--a
+   creation--and a very charming one. No story that occurs to our memory
+   contains more interest than this for novel readers, particularly those
+   of the tender sex, to whom it will be a dear favorite.
+
+   We hope the authoress will give us some more novels, as good as
+   "Margaret and her Bridesmaids".
+
+
+   TWICE LOST.
+
+   A NOVEL.
+
+   By S.M., Author of "Linnet's Trial".
+
+
+   Read the Opinions of the English Press.
+
+
+   Another first-rate novel by a woman! The plot well conceived and
+   worked out, the characters individualized and clear-cut, and the story
+   so admirably told that you are hurried along for two hours and a half
+   with a smile often breaking out at the humor, a tear ready to start at
+   the pathos, and with unflagging interest, till the heroine's release
+   from all trouble is announced at the end. *** We heartily recommend
+   the book to all readers. It is more full of character than any book we
+   remember since Charles Reade's "Christie Johnstone".--_Reader_.
+
+   "Twice Lost" is an entertaining novel; the struggle between the
+   high-spirited, generous, half-savage heroine, and her specious,
+   handsome, unprincipled, _soi-disant_ father, is exciting; and the
+   sympathy of the reader is cleverly enlisted for the heroine, Lucia,
+   from the first moment. The personages have all of them a certain look
+   of reality, and there is a notion of likeness which insures the
+   reader's interest. We can recommend "Twice Lost" as a novel worth
+   reading.--_Athenæum_.
+
+   By far the cleverest book on our list is "Twice Lost".... This is bold
+   and skilful drawing, and it is a fair sample of the earlier half of
+   the volume. The combined vigor, ease, and perspicuity of the writing
+   is unusual.--_Guardian_.
+
+   Nothing can be better of its kind than the first portion of "Twice
+   Lost".... The caustic humor and strong common sense which mark the
+   sketches of character in this book, betray a keenness of observation
+   and aptitude for producing a telling likeness with a few strokes,
+   which need only a wider cultivation to secure a more complete success
+   than has been attained in "Twice Lost".--_Westminster Review_.
+
+   It is quite clear that the author has given a good deal of thought to
+   the construction of the story, with a view to producing strong
+   interest without the use of the common sensational expedients. To say
+   that "Twice Lost" is very well written, and very interesting, would
+   not be doing it justice.--_Morning Herald_.
+
+   There can be no doubt of the author's power. She holds her characters
+   and incidents well in hand, writes firmly, and often very happily, and
+   there are many passages which indicate power much above
+   mediocrity.--_London Review_.
+
+   Not very often do we meet with a novel so thoroughly good as "Twice
+   Lost". If, as may be assumed from both subject and style, its author
+   is a woman, she may at once be classed with the Brontë sisters and
+   George Eliot. She has the firm conception and distinct touch of the
+   first-class artist. Her characters are real and individual.--_Press_.
+
+   This is a well-written romantic tale, in which we find many pleasing
+   incidents and some successful portraiture of character. The character
+   of Miss Derwent, the companion and governess of the heroine, Miss
+   Langley, is very well developed in the course of the narrative. The
+   moral tone of the book is very good, and so far as religious matters
+   are touched upon, they are treated with propriety and reverence.--
+   _English Churchman_.
+
+   The characters are well drawn--the situations are new, the sentiments
+   are unsentimental, and the incidental remarks those of a clever woman
+   who is reasonable and tolerant.--_Globe_.
+
+   The plot of this tale is an original one, and well worked out.... We
+   can sincerely recommend this tale; it is quite out of the general run
+   of books, and is sure to prove an interesting one.--_Observer_.
+
+   We notice this story because its authoress will one day, we believe,
+   produce a powerful novel.--_Spectator_.
+
+   The reader is carried along with unflagging and exciting interest, and
+   the book is full of characters finely sketched, and of passages
+   powerfully written.--_Patriot_.
+
+   That the author of "Twice Lost" can write well, the book itself
+   furnishes sufficient evidence.--_Nation_.
+
+   This is a striking story. It has a freshness and originality about it
+   which are very pleasant.--_Morning Advertiser_.
+
+   Without being a sensation novel this is a most exciting and attractive
+   story.--_Daily News_.
+
+   A most romantic story, the interest being well sustained throughout,
+   and everything coming right at the end. Any one must be entertained
+   by it.--_John Bull_.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Adèle Dubois, by Mrs. William T. Savage
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADÈLE DUBOIS ***
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