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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Peak's Island, by Ford Paul
+
+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: Peak's Island
+       A Romance of Buccaneer Days
+
+Author: Ford Paul
+
+Release Date: August 23, 2008 [EBook #26410]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEAK'S ISLAND ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert Cicconetti, V. L. Simpson and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ PEAK'S ISLAND
+
+
+  A ROMANCE
+  OF
+  BUCCANEER DAYS
+
+
+  BY
+  FORD PAUL
+
+  PORTLAND, MAINE
+  PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR
+  1892
+
+
+  PRESS OF BROWN THURSTON CO., PORTLAND
+
+
+  DEDICATED TO
+  Cora Caroline Clifford
+  AS A SMALL TRIBUTE OF GREAT LOVE
+  BY THE AUTHOR
+
+
+    FORD PAUL
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+    Roll on thou deep and dark blue ocean roll;
+    . . . . . . Upon the watery plain.
+    The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain
+    A shadow of man's ravage, save his own,
+    When for a moment like a drop of rain,
+    He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan,
+    Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown.
+
+
+SEPTEMBER 27, 1607.
+
+Dead bodies everywhere. The ocean, lashed to fury by the gale of
+yesterday, came booming and hissing upon the beach in great breakers
+white with foam; each billow as it dashed upon the jagged and broken
+rocks bore in its terrible embrace still more human victims, or some
+portion of the two unlucky ships that were fast breaking up. One wedged
+in between two rocks with just sufficient play to allow of its heaving
+from side to side, with every wave that struck it. The other and much
+larger vessel, the Queen Elizabeth, a fine British ship, which had
+sailed from England freighted with a cargo of general merchandise for
+the colony of Virginia, went crashing up against the cruel stone teeth
+of the cliff which overhung and projected into the angry sea; dismasted,
+her bulwarks and rigging torn away she floated out into deeper water
+only to be driven back again upon the rocks, by the violence of the wind
+and the rapidly incoming tide.
+
+Another crash and another, the forecastle carried away, the decks
+opening, bales, chests, cordage, stores of all sorts tossed high up on
+the shore, more dead bodies--chiefly of men, for they had some time
+before given up to the few women and children the now capsized and
+shattered boats. All along the shore, as far as eye could see, the beach
+was composed of a heterogeneous mass of enormous fragments of rock
+thrown together and piled up on each other, leaving here and there in
+their midst a separate pool of sea water; in some of these pools was a
+dead body or two, but by far the greater number were lying in every
+imaginable, distorted position among the huge, irregular blocks of
+stone. Many, who had been washed in sufficiently far to escape drowning,
+were killed by the force with which they were dashed on shore: there,
+with broken bones and gnashed and blood-stained bodies, they slept in
+death, like men who had fallen in some great battle. It was noon, but
+not a ray of sunlight glinted across the ghastly scene. Every sound was
+lost in the terrific roar of the great, heaving hills of water, which
+rolled in continuously; huge masses of wet gray cloud hung over all,
+obscuring or transforming every visible object. Far up among the shingle
+lay one human form which still bore signs of life. It was that of a
+young lady, attired in deep mourning, a stream of blood trickled down
+the pale face, and from time to time one hand moved convulsively toward
+a deep cut in her head as if to assuage the pain; presently in
+half-consciousness she whispered "Do not tell my mother I am hurt, it
+would grieve her. She has had too much sorrow already."
+
+The beloved mother, and all others who had made life precious to the
+speaker, had three years previously been tenderly laid to rest in their
+quiet graves thousands of miles away; but at this moment the mind had
+only half awakened. A few minutes later her brain was clear and active,
+and the truth flashed upon her in all its force. The recollection of her
+bereavement and the fact of her being utterly alone in life, were the
+first thoughts that came and the thoughts which dominated. And so it is
+that all who are called upon to endure a great sorrow, acutely realize
+that sorrow again and again with each return of the mind to the
+consciousness of human existence, whether it be after the delerium of
+fever, the stunning from an accident, or the awaking each morning to
+daily life. With the awaking to our senses assuredly comes the old
+heartache; nay, before we awake it is there, and before we are conscious
+of aught else we are conscious of the grief which weighs heaviest on our
+soul. Thus it was with Anna Vyvyan: the awaking to life brought with it
+the pain in all its intensity, although she lay there on the cold
+stones, her clothing drenched through and through, bareheaded, her hair
+matted together with the sea water, bruised and cut and faint from
+exhaustion, still the present physical suffering seemed by comparison
+nothing to her. Everything was buried in the sorrow of the past, the
+sorrow that she had lived through, but had not left behind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+    The stately homes of England
+      How beautiful they stand,
+    Amidst their tall ancestral trees,
+      O'er all the pleasant land!
+    The deer across their greensward bound
+      Through shade and sunny gleam,
+    And the swan glides past them with the sound
+      Of some rejoicing stream.
+
+    The merry homes of England--
+      Around their hearths by night,
+    What gladsome looks of household love
+      Meet in the ruddy light!
+    There women's voice flows forth in song
+      Or childhood's tale is told
+    Or lips move tunefully along
+      Some glorious page of old.
+
+    The blessed homes of England,
+      How softly on their bowers,
+    Is laid the holy quietness
+      That breathes from Sabbath hours
+    Solemn, yet sweet, the church bell's chime
+      Floats through their woods at morn,
+    All other sounds at that still time
+      Of breeze and leaf are born.
+
+
+Miss Vivyan was the daughter of an officer of high rank in the navy of
+Queen Elizabeth, who lost his life in the royal service while his little
+girl Anna was still very young. His valor had gained for him many medals
+and yet more substantial honors in the form of valuable grants of land
+from Her Majesty. This property, added to the family inheritance of
+Anna's mother, who was a lady of old and noble race, left both the widow
+and her child in very affluent circumstances. The young widow, handsome
+and possessed of brilliant talents, attracted many suitors for her hand;
+but her heart lay far down beneath the sea with her dead husband, and
+she resolved to devote her love and her life to the care of her child.
+She accordingly retired to an old manor house on the borders of Wales,
+which had descended to her through many generations. The great stone
+halls and corridors, the long, low rooms and the little diamond-shaped
+window panes, admitting so small an amount of light, might have given to
+some minds a feeling of gloom; but both mother and daughter had their
+occupations, the one in giving, the other in receiving, an education,
+beside the care of all the sick and poor peasants of the neighborhood.
+Indeed they were so happy in their affection for each other and found so
+much to do, that they had neither the time nor the inclination to
+cultivate morbid or gloomy thoughts, which would, they felt, make their
+companionship an infliction on every one whom they approached, and unfit
+them for the duties of their position. So life went on calmly and
+happily with them.
+
+A faithful steward attended to the estates and a good old housekeeper
+managed the servants, always keeping order, discipline and peace in the
+establishment. Twice a year they were allowed to have a dance in the
+servants' hall, one at Christmas and the other on Anna's birthday, on
+which occasions they invited the sons and daughters of the neighboring
+farmers, and the tradespeople who supplied the manor house. The village
+shoemaker, the tailor, and the blacksmith were the musicians, and to the
+strains of two violins and a clarionet, they merrily danced through the
+livelong night, such good old figures as Sir Roger de Coverly, Speed the
+Plough, and the Cushion dance, till the rising sun streamed in at the
+windows and warned them that it was time to blow out the candles, take
+off their holiday garb, and assume their daily work. As for the mistress
+of the mansion, she found her pleasures in the duties of her position
+and the rich companionship of a well stocked library. She had no
+neighbors of her own rank within several miles distance, no one to visit
+or to be visited by, with the exception of the old bachelor clergyman of
+the parish, whose formal calls took place at stated intervals, unless
+some sudden case of want among the poor caused him to ask her aid, for
+he knew very well that her heart and hand went forth on every occasion
+of distress. Hers it was to soothe and cheer and comfort and help, and
+many a thorny path was made smooth and many a heavy burden lifted by her
+brave and generous spirit and the pleasant, cheerful way she had of
+doing such things. In the presence of others she made a duty of
+cultivating cheerfulness of manner. Not that she ever for a moment
+forgot the recollection of her love and her loss; but she considered her
+sorrows too sacred for a subject of conversation on one hand, and on the
+other, that her grief was her own, and that she had no right to intrude
+it upon others, or to weigh down and sadden their lives by what was sent
+for her to bear. Hence her presence was always welcome to the peasants,
+who regarded her with reverence and affection, as she passed,
+accompanied by her little daughter, from cottage to cottage leaving some
+dainty for the sick, or an article of clothing for the needy.
+
+Years went by and Anna had left babyhood far behind her and was now a
+girl of fifteen. Her mother at this period, decided that it was time to
+call in the aid of masters to assist in her daughter's education.
+Accordingly, such were summoned from a distant town. There was a master
+for the minuette and the gavotte, a master for the harpsichord, a master
+for the French and Italian languages, and so on. The days and hours were
+all laid out systematically, giving an abundance of time for physical
+training and out-door life, but with the exception of the masters for
+music and dancing (more especially the former) none of these instructors
+made much impression upon the girl's mind. Her heart and soul were given
+to music. While she was in the house her time was spent between the old
+church organ that stood in the hall, and the harpsichord which adorned
+the long, oak-panelled drawing-room. When out of doors she was forever
+listening to the music of nature, the wind through the trees, the dash
+of the water-fall, the rippling of the brook, all had their charm and
+fascination, for nature never played out of tune. She would try to make
+out what key these sounds were in, whether they varied at different
+seasons, or if change in the weather made them alter,
+
+    Music was her passion, her love, her life.
+
+Just at that time, two new inmates were added to the manor house family.
+Young Cecil Vyvyan, a cousin of Anna's, who was of the same age as
+herself, and his tutor, Dr. Strickland, a grave, middle-aged Scotch
+doctor of philosophy. The boy's parents were in India, which caused the
+widow to suggest to them that he should, for a few years, make his home
+with her, in order that she might watch over his health, which was
+exceedingly delicate.
+
+It was in the twilight of a day late in the autumn that Anna waited in
+the large old-fashioned library to make the first acquaintance of her
+cousin. In the broad stone fireplace, logs of beech and chestnut were
+piled up on the hearth, across brass dogs, where they blazed, and
+glowed, and lighted up the comfortable looking room, with its dark,
+massive, carved oak furniture, its painted glass windows, its rich but
+faded velvet draperies, interspersed here and there with a piece of old
+tapestry, the needlework of the ladies of former generations. A few
+family portraits, and well-filled bookcases of vellum-bound octavos,
+quartos and folios. As the butler threw open the door of the room and
+announced Master Cecil Vyvyan, Anna went forward to greet the latter,
+and almost gave a start of surprise at seeing the real cousin differ so
+much from the ideal one which she had pictured to herself; for she
+expected to find Cecil of the same type as the English boys that she had
+always seen. She thought he would be large of his age, with a fresh rosy
+complexion, bright eyes, an open countenance, crowned with masses of
+rich, curling locks. Strong and healthy, overflowing with buoyant
+spirits, agile and ready for active service either of work or play.
+Instead of which there stood before her one of small stature and thin,
+diminutive figure, with a pale, weary-looking face and tired eyes, which
+apparently did not observe any of the objects by which he was
+surrounded, but concentrated their gaze upon the young girl only, with
+whom he stood face to face, carefully regarding her with that scrutiny
+which we are all wont to use when we first make the acquaintance of a
+new relative.
+
+Anna gave him her hand and welcomed him with a few kind words. As the
+boy and girl stood there, no two cousins could have appeared more
+externally unlike, and yet never were two more alike in their highest
+tastes and deepest feelings. But an ordinary looker-on would only see
+the boy so small, and quiet, and weary, and the girl so tall, and
+active, and healthy, abounding in lively spirits, in the full enjoyment
+of her young life, with the mother she adored, thinking nothing could be
+more beautiful than her picturesque old home and its surroundings of
+hill and valley, and woodland, and broad green meadows, and turning over
+in her mind how she would show Cecil all the favorite haunts. The lily
+pond in the park, the finest view of the Welsh mountains, and the right
+place for a good gallop--then the ponies, and the dogs, and the fish
+pools.
+
+"You must be tired from so long a journey, Cousin Cecil," said she, "let
+me bring this armchair; it is the most restful one in the whole house.
+It has a pedigree, too, the same as you and I have. It belonged to our
+great-grandfather, Sir Vyell Vyvyan, and was made more than a hundred
+years ago from one of the oaks which grew in the north grove in the
+park," so saying she laid one hand on the back of a huge, cumbersome
+piece of furniture, and rolled it across the room up in front of the
+glowing logs.
+
+It was now Cecil's turn to be amazed, how could she move that great,
+clumsy thing, he pondered to himself, I could not. With a gentle thank
+you, and bowing gracefully to her, he sank into their great-grandfather's
+chair, and was almost lost sight of among the ample velvet cushions.
+
+Anna who had seated herself on one side of the fireplace, was watching
+the pale face, and the weary eyes that were looking dreamily at the
+fantastic shapes which from time to time the glowing embers assumed.
+Presently a slight, convulsive shudder passed through the boy's frame
+and a quiet little sigh escaped him.
+
+He is sad, thought Anna, perhaps he is thinking of his home in Calcutta,
+poor fellow, I must do something to amuse him. At the same instant, what
+she considered a very happy thought suggested itself.
+
+"I am so glad you came, Cousin Cecil," said she "they say you will soon
+get well and strong here. I have a little terrier that catches rats, you
+shall take him out in the morning, if you like, and the gardener's boy
+will show you where you can kill plenty."
+
+"I don't kill rats," he replied, still keeping his eyes fixed upon the
+burning logs and striving to follow the outlines of a fairy island with
+palms and tropical plants and ferns as tall as forest trees, which, in
+his imagination, he saw there.
+
+"Do you go with your terrier to kill rats?" he inquired, with the
+slightest tone of sarcasm in his voice.
+
+"Oh, no," replied the girl, "but I thought you would like to. Most boys
+are amused by it, they call it sport, and you know the rats must be
+killed or we should have them running behind the wainscot of all the
+rooms in the house, and the gamekeeper would not be able to rear the
+young pheasants, and we should have no chickens nor pigeons, nor
+anything of the kind."
+
+"Why, Cousin Anna," said the boy, "have you a Scotch governess, and does
+she make you give a reason for every thing, and give you her reason in
+return? That's what Dr. Strickland does with me. It tires me dreadfully,
+and I don't see what use it is, for I always know things without
+reasoning about them; they come to me of themselves."
+
+Anna, in her eagerness to show kindness to the guest of the house, and
+to divert what seemed to her his sad thoughts, did not stop to make any
+reply, but rose and hastily crossed over to one of the bookcases,
+bringing back in her arms a large folio, full of colored illustrations
+of field sports.
+
+"Now, Cousin Cecil," said she, drawing up a chair close by the side of
+his, and laying the folio open upon her lap, "this will please you I am
+sure; this is not about rats, but thorough-bred horses and dogs,
+stag-hounds and fox-hounds. Did you ever hear that our grandfather kept
+a pack of fox-hounds here, that is a hundred dogs you know. I will take
+you to the kennels and the huntman's lodge some day soon."
+
+Cecil did not know that a hundred dogs made a pack, for he had passed
+all his life in India, until a few months previous to his coming to the
+manor house.
+
+"Look at this picture of coursing, here is another of hawking, and now
+see these otter hounds."
+
+"The landscape is beautiful," said the boy. "I like the soft gray light
+on those distant hills in the background, but I do not care about
+pictures of horses and dogs; please take them away. I like to see the
+animals moving in the fields, but I think all this kind of sport is very
+cruel."
+
+This was said in an extremely gentle way, and at the same time with an
+inflection of the voice which made a deep impression upon his listener.
+I wonder what I can do to amuse him, thought Anna; I don't suppose he
+would care to look at my last piece of embroidery, or hear how many
+sonatas I can play; I am afraid he is sorry he came here, perhaps he was
+thinking of the Himalaya mountains, when he said he liked those hills
+in the picture. Most boys like out-door amusements, she again thought to
+herself, and acting upon the idea of the moment.
+
+"Cecil," said she, "we have two capital ponies, we will go out in the
+forenoon to-morrow if you like, for we are to have a holiday from our
+studies all day, in honor of your coming here."
+
+Again a gentle "thank you" from Cecil, his tired eyes still seeking air
+castles among the red and gray embers of the fire. After some minutes
+silence, he turned to look at the tall old clock in the corner, which,
+in addition to the hours and minutes depicted upon its face, was adorned
+with supposed likenesses of the sun and moon and other heavenly bodies,
+beside the terrestrial globe which represented Jerusalem as being
+situated in the very center of the earth's surface.
+
+The same old clock, which had stood in the same corner of the library
+long enough to mark the hours of the births and marriages, the meetings
+and partings, and death, of several generations of the Vyvyans, now
+chimed in slow, subdued tones, through which ran the echo of a wail,
+like the voice of a human being, who has seen much and suffered much.
+
+"Dr. Strickland will expect me to return to him now, Cousin Anna, so I
+must say 'good evening'."
+
+"Before you go, Cecil, tell me at what time you will be ready to ride
+with me to-morrow?"
+
+"I must ask my tutor," he replied.
+
+"Very well, you can let me know at breakfast time. I suppose you can
+find your way to your part of the house, follow straight along the
+corridor till you come to the south wing at the end. Your study and all
+the other rooms for you and Dr. Strickland are there. Good night."
+
+The next day the ponies were brought round to the hall door immediately
+after luncheon, and the boy and girl were mounted. Cecil, whose chief
+mode of locomotion had hitherto been in a palanquin, did not by any
+means enjoy his present situation; but as he made no remark, his cousin
+supposed he was as pleased and jubilant at having an opportunity of
+seeing the beautiful surroundings of the place as she was showing them.
+They rode through the park, down the long avenue of oaks and beeches,
+and out by the keeper's lodge to the lake, and then away over the hill
+among the scattered cottages of the peasants, who touched their hats or
+curtsied as the cousins rode by. Anna always returning their salutations
+with some pleasant word or nod, or an inquiry after their welfare. At
+last they turned their ponies homeward. The boy all the while silent;
+the girl chattering and explaining and repeating anecdotes which had
+been told to her, and laughing merrily at the ludicrous passages in
+them. As they were again entering the park, the boy's riding whip
+slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground. Looking at his cousin
+with a grave expression of face, he said,
+
+"I have dropped my whip, what shall I do?"
+
+"Dismount and pick it up," replied Anna.
+
+"But I cannot," he replied, "I am afraid I could not mount again without
+the groom to help me."
+
+"Very well, then I will get it," so down she sprang, passed up the whip
+to Cecil, and bounding into her saddle again was off at a canter before
+the boy could say a word.
+
+"Come along, Cecil," she cried, looking back, "come along, this is the
+finest stretch of ground in the country for a race."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+    No--that hallowed form is ne'er forgot
+        Which first love traced;
+    Still it lingering haunts the greenest spot
+          On memory's waste.
+          'Twas odor fled
+          As soon as shed:
+    'Twas morning's wingèd dream;
+    'Twas a light that ne'er can shine again
+        On life's dull stream:
+    Oh! 'twas light that ne'er can shine again
+        On life's dull stream.
+
+
+Dr. Strickland and his pupil had been fairly ensconced, and for some
+time past settled in the pretty, sunny rooms in the south wing of the
+manor house. All the windows of the lower suite opened to the ground,
+and overlooked and led into a Dutch flower garden, which, in accordance
+with its name, was laid out in formal walks with high box borders on
+each side, and stiffly-shaped flower beds of poppies, and tulips, and
+marigolds, and clusters of monkshood, and the tall white lilies of
+France, edged round with thyme and sweet basil. In the soft green turf,
+were planted evergreen trees, which were cut and clipped into fantastic
+shapes of peacocks, and pyramids, and cubes, and swans, and other
+devices. Here and there were clumps of holly and yew, from the midst of
+which some fawn or dryad, some Hebe or Flora, in Italian marble, had
+long kept watch. Then there were the old cedars of Lebanon, with seats
+encircling their great trunks, the ends of their long branches lying on
+the grass, offering beneath them, rest and shade at any hour of the day.
+The western side of the garden terminated in what was known as Lady
+Dorothy's walk. A straight, long, gravel walk, bordered on either side
+by a few feet of soft turf, and an avenue of yew trees two centuries
+old. The small closely-growing foliage of these trees was so dense that
+it formed a perpetual green wall, effectually shutting out all the
+world, with the exception of the sun at noonday, and the stars and moon
+at night. At the head of the walk was a sundial, and at the further end
+a fountain. Not a great, noisy, conspicuous construction, suggestive of
+the rush and turmoil of life, drowning in its splash all the sweet
+sounds of bird and bee, and the marvelous music of nature, but a pure,
+gentle, dainty little fountain, the sound of whose crystal drops, so
+full of soothing and tenderness, fell upon the ear like the voice of the
+one we love. Near the fountain was a rustic seat from which one might
+look across the park with its forest trees, its green undulations, and
+its lake, and still further away westward to the purple Welsh mountains.
+In every way this was a beautiful garden, a place to dream of, and live,
+and love, and die in.
+
+Springtime had come, and Cecil and his tutor were sitting in their
+study, looking out at the linnets flitting about the garden, and at the
+primroses and blue violets which grew in front of the windows. The
+lessons of the day were over, and the Doctor was pursuing his favorite
+amusement, namely, drawing mathematical deductions, and coming to
+logical conclusions upon all matters. Although he was a ripe scholar, he
+would frequently forget himself, and break out in his strong Scotch
+accent; but that signified nothing, as Cecil perfectly understood his
+speech, and the family all liked him, for they knew he was a good man
+and greatly interested in the well-doing of his pupil.
+
+"Ye had a lang walk wi' your cousin this morning," said the Doctor. "I
+hope ye understand her better than ye did."
+
+"I am not sure that I do," answered Cecil. "I don't see why she moves so
+quickly and is always well; I don't like people who are always well,
+they cannot feel for others."
+
+"Ye should no say that, Cecil, when ye look at your aunt; she's no
+invalid, but she gi'es up her life for the sak' o' others. Did ye ken
+that these verra rooms are the anes she likes most, the anes she lived
+in till we came, and she gave them up that ye might enjoy the best she
+had to offer?"
+
+"O yes, I know that," said Cecil. "My aunt is very kind, but I was not
+thinking of her when I spoke, I was thinking of Cousin Anna; she runs so
+fast and when she is not singing, she is laughing, and I don't believe
+she has any nerves, for the other day my pony got a stone in his shoe,
+and she was off hers in a moment, seized my pony's fetlock and snatching
+up something in the road, knocked out the stone and mounted in less time
+than I have taken to tell you. Now none of the young ladies in India
+would take a pony's fetlock in their hand, so I think Cousin Anna cannot
+possess nerves."
+
+"In one respect ye are right," said the Doctor, "Such a young leddie as
+ony o' those we used to see in India, would ride on and leave ye, and
+when she got home, she would tell one of the servants to tell some one
+of the other servants to see aboot it, and when they had passed the
+order through half a dozen, in the course of a few hours perhaps one of
+them would be with you, and, in the meantime, she would be lying on the
+sofa, with Shastri standing by, fanning her out of her nervous shock."
+
+"But think of the first day I rode with my cousin, she surprised me so
+when she picked up my whip, I thought then she had no nerves."
+
+"Admitting such a statement to be true," replied the Doctor, "which we
+are by nae means sure of, for the truth has no been logically proved, I
+say, admitting that it be true, is it no' a gude thing for ye that your
+cousin has nae nerrves, if ye are to gang aboot drapping things that ye
+dar' na pick up again. In the sense that ye appear to desire your cousin
+to hae nerrves, I dinna ken mysel' what use they wad be to a young
+leddie wi' a speerit such as she has. I wad no' wish to see a lassie o'
+her years hae nerrves; na, na, she wad no hae ony use for them;
+Providence kens what is guide for us a', and will send her the nerrves
+when she is fit to manage them."
+
+"Still I don't see," said Cecil, "why she is not frightened sometimes.
+Perhaps she may be, but if so she will never say so; I don't think a
+girl ought to be so fearless."
+
+"Perhaps ye dinna ken that young leddies o' her rank in England are all
+educated in that way. The English hae this proverb amang them. 'A
+well-born woman is ever brave.' Your cousin inherits her courage a long
+way back, she is no mongrel born; I wish ye to see for yourself, Cecil,
+that it is a gude thing to be brave. There are mony ways o' showing it
+beside being a soldier or a sailor." And then the Doctor dropped his
+Scotch accent and spoke slowly, "We ought to be brave enough to do our
+duty to others," said he. "And now I will give you six reasons for being
+brave for the sake of those we love. Firstly, brave that we may inspire
+them, with courage when their hearts are weary. Secondly, brave that we
+may be patient and gentle when their nerves demand rest. Thirdly brave
+that we may be kind and diligent and loving when they are sick.
+Fourthly, brave that we may not be morbid and gloomy and thus depress
+them. Fifthly, brave that we may be faithful and true in all things.
+Sixthly, brave that we may endure without murmuring to the end."
+
+Long after the Doctor had left the room, Cecil was still there, leaning
+his head against the side of the window and thinking over this
+conversation. He possessed a generous disposition, and could not bear
+the idea of having misjudged his cousin. But he was of a sensitive
+temperament and not having a robust constitution, the girl's gaiety of
+spirit and great vital energy fatigued him. The cousins continued their
+amusements and their studies steadily together for the next two years,
+and although Cecil still called Anna as wild as a hawk, yet he never got
+into any serious difficulty, but he applied to her to help him out of
+it, whether it was in solving a problem or otherwise; carrying out Dr.
+Strickland's teaching he appeared to feel that his strength lay with her
+and she in her turn was rejoiced to help him.
+
+There are natures which seem made to help others, they find their
+greatest happiness in it; and so it was with Anna, the more he needed
+her help the more she delighted in giving it. Cecil's health was greatly
+improved by the climate of England, and with stronger health came
+stronger nerves. He now no longer thought his cousin without them, but
+he thought she knew how to control them; in fact, they had grown to love
+each other with that certain kind of cousinly affection which one often
+sees, and which is very true and lifelong, but has not the rapture, the
+intensity, nor the anguish, which belong to really falling in love.
+
+It was a day in sweet summer time, all roses and beauty, when the young
+people met as usual in Lady Dorothy's walk; it was their favorite place,
+and here they would ramble up and down, and sit by the fountain, and
+talk, and paint, and read for hours together; and the next day it was
+the same thing, and the next, and the next, for they never grew tired of
+the place, or of each other. They were now pacing the long walk, and
+although they were past the age of eighteen, they still continued their
+studies, but were permitted to select them.
+
+"What a pleasant thing it is, Cecil, to follow out one's own life and
+study what we wish," said Anna. "I am so glad to be free, no more
+construing sentences, no more conjugating verbs, no more solving
+problems; I always hated all of that dry stuff."
+
+"What are you going to do, then," inquired Cecil.
+
+"Firstly, I shall spend more time with my mother, more time in the study
+of my music, and read all the poetry I wish to, and ride on horseback,
+and dance, and, of course, help my mother more in taking care of the
+peasantry."
+
+"Now, Cecil, what shall you do?"
+
+"Firstly, I think I shall paint, and rove about among this beautiful
+scenery," he replied. "I shall paint until I feel sure that I shall take
+the first prize in the grand exhibition; I will not exhibit one stroke
+of my brush until then."
+
+"Well done, Cecil," said Anna, "that is the spirit I like."
+
+For she knew as she looked at him, that he possessed a wealth which no
+money can buy, a soul full of poetry, a mind full of genius, the
+elements of true greatness in any art, and the only wealth that she
+valued.
+
+And Cecil went on with his painting, and progressed, and brought more
+depth of tone and beauty into his pictures with every fresh attempt,
+till the canvas seemed to live under his hand, and his poetic soul and
+gentle nature spoke through his art. When any difficulty presented
+itself, he would always seek Anna and have her near him, not that she
+was an artist, but from some cause he could paint his best when she was
+by; indeed they were together the greater part of the time, for if they
+began the day in their different parts of the house, by some chance they
+either found each other in the library, or Lady Dorothy's walk, long
+before noon. They drifted to the same place, they scarcely knew how, but
+they began to know that the presence of each one to the other, was
+equally essential to their happiness. Cecil was a poet, not a writer of
+rhymes or jingles, but as we have said a true poet in his soul. Anna
+felt this in all her intercourse with him and heard it in the tones of
+his voice when he spoke, a voice that had a ring in it, a resonance, and
+that exquisite power of modulation which says more than the words
+themselves. And so time went swiftly and sweetly by with their walks and
+rides, and occupations, until they were twenty years old. Anna happy in
+the possession of Cecil's love, with life as she wished it, pure, joyous
+life, with music and beauty everywhere. A song ever on her lips, the
+happiest, merriest maiden in all "Merrie England."
+
+Cecil in his gentle way, deriving extreme pleasure from the study and
+exercise of his art, and Anna's companionship. For the cousinly
+affection of two years ago, had in both of them merged into deep intense
+love, which ended only with their lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+    And those were sudden partings such as press
+    The life from out young hearts.
+
+           *     *     *     *     *
+
+    O who wad wear a silken gown
+      Wi' a poor broken heart,
+    And what 's to me a siller crown
+      If from my love I part.
+
+           *     *     *     *     *
+
+    Alone, alone, all, all alone,
+      Alone on a wide, wide sea!
+    And never a saint took pity on
+      My soul in agony.
+
+
+It was springtime again, and the snowdrops were nodding their dainty,
+little white heads, and the linnets were again building their nests in
+the sweet old garden, when Anna's mother summoned her from Cecil's side
+in Lady Dorothy's walk, to the oak-paneled drawing-room.
+
+"My daughter," she began, "I regret that I must interrupt your present
+happiness, but circumstances compel me to separate you and Cecil for the
+present. It is time that you were presented at court, and it is time
+that you passed a season in London. We have hitherto lead so secluded a
+life that your name is not known beyond the limits of our county, and I
+feel I am not doing my duty by you."
+
+"But we are all very happy, mother," said Anna. "Why need we be more
+known?"
+
+"Yes, my daughter, we are happy now but changes must come to all
+sometime. I may be called away from you."
+
+"O my dearest mother do not say that, I cannot, I dare not think of what
+life would be without you; you know I will do anything you wish, or give
+up everything else in life, but I cannot give you up; it would break my
+heart, I should die," cried Anna.
+
+"Broken hearts don't die, my daughter, would to God that they did; few,
+very few die of broken hearts, but many live with them. I have carefully
+considered what is my duty toward you, and my reason and affection
+coincide; now listen, in case I am called away by death, there is Cecil
+to whose care and protection I could resign you, for I knew you loved
+each other long before you knew it yourselves; I am happy that it is so,
+but if Cecil were taken away also, there would be no very near relatives
+to care for you, for the nearest members of your father's family are in
+India, and mine in the colony of Virginia, and as you will inherit the
+landed estates of your late grandfather as well as mine, it would be
+better that you should make trustworthy friends before I leave you, I
+see this pains you, dear daughter, I shall say no more on this subject.
+In three days we shall set out for London as the season has already
+begun, and we shall require some time to get our court dresses made."
+
+The last evening at the manor house was passed by Anna and Cecil under
+the light of the stars, in Lady Dorothy's walk. The next morning saw
+the large, old yellow family coach at the door, drawn by four strong,
+heavy horses, a coachman and groom on the box, a maid and a butler in
+the rumble, and the widow and her daughter inside. Cecil who was
+standing by one of the coach windows looking very pale and thoughtful,
+tried to put on a smile as he said,
+
+"We are to look for you both back again in the early autumn, you said,
+aunt."
+
+"Yes, Cecil, as soon as the first brown leaves fall."
+
+The young people looked good by to each other, but said not a word, and
+the heavy old coach moved away. In three days more the travelers were in
+London, and in due course Anna was presented at court by her mother, who
+had herself been presented on the occasion of her marriage. Then came
+calls and cards and invitations to balls and routs and state dinners,
+and the poor tired mother went through all these ceremonies as a duty
+toward her daughter, and the daughter endured it because she loved her
+mother, and desired to obey her wish. It was necessary that a young
+heiress of her rank should be dressed in accordance with the fashion of
+the day, but the young heiress longed to be released from the thraldom
+of fashion, the fatiguing, heavy brocade dresses, the hoops, the stiff
+ruff and the stomacher, the farthingale and high heeled shoes, and a
+thousand times more than all, did she desire to be released from the
+artificial and to her unsatisfactory life, from the flattery, the
+coquetry, the idle, envious tattle, and to be back again with Cecil, in
+her simple, healthy attire, and to live among honest hearts.
+
+The autumn came, and the dry brown leaves began to fall from the trees.
+Day after day, Cecil opened the harpsichord, and laid a bouquet of the
+rich deep-hued flowers of the season upon it, and then he took his place
+by the fountain, and watched the winding road through the park, so that
+he might get the first sight of the coach when it returned. The autumn
+leaves continued to fall, and Cecil kept his daily vigil until they were
+lying deep on the ground, and the branches overhead were bare. Then came
+a letter saying that Cecil's aunt was ordered by her doctor to pass the
+winter in Italy, in the hope of curing a cough, which had of late
+settled upon her, so that it would be spring before the ladies could
+return to the manor house, hence they traveled to Italy and spent the
+winter among its masterpieces of genius, both in music and art. The soft
+air seemed all that was wanted to restore Anna's mother to health. Every
+day, they found something beautiful that they desired Cecil to see, but
+it was too late now to send for him, for spring was near. With the
+spring, came back the cough, and again the medical order was change of
+climate. This time, a sojourn of some months in Norway was prescribed
+for Mrs. Vyvyan, bracing air, and much out-door life in the pine woods.
+After many weeks of slow journeying, the ladies with two of their
+servants reached Norway, and took up their abode in an old chateau, in
+the midst of a pine forest so-called, but a forest really composed of
+many varieties of fir and spruce, as well as pine. The combined aroma of
+these woods made the air fragrant for many acres around the chateau, and
+for a time, it appeared to have the most beneficial effect upon the
+invalid. But one quiet eve, when the summer days had waned, and the
+faded leaves of another autumn fell, a pang of anguish shot through
+Anna's heart. The dearly loved mother was called away.
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+A short time only had elapsed since that event, and the servants were
+packing, and making preparations for the return to the manor house, when
+a mounted courier arrived at the chateau, with a large package of papers
+addressed in Dr. Strickland's handwriting. Very long, and full of
+feeling, and minute in every detail, was the letter the good man had
+written, if letter so long a dispatch might be called. He told of
+Cecil's conversations, of his watchings from beside the fountain; how
+every day he picked flowers, and put them on the harpsichord, saying
+this is the place she loves best; and how he faded and wasted day by
+day, yet struggled so bravely against the hand of death, that he might
+finish his last and best picture for Anna; and how on the last day of
+his life, he had laid his flowers on the harpsichord as usual, and then
+desired to be carried to the library and lifted into their
+great-grandfather's chair to die,--the chair that Anna had placed for
+him the first time they met.
+
+When Anna had finished reading the final words of Dr. Strickland's
+letter, she rose and moved quietly into the recess of one of the large,
+heavily mullioned windows, and looked down a long vista into the forest,
+to the tall dark pines under which was her mother's grave. Every vestige
+of color had left both cheek and lip, and she stood in the great somber
+room, as cold and white and as still as the statues which adorned its
+walls. The extremes of grief and joy have no speech; she had none. No
+cry of lamentation went forth; no tears of relief fell from her eyes;
+she knew her life was ended, but she also knew that she could not die.
+Three words only escaped her lips. "O God, alone."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+    Has hope like the bird in the story,
+      That flitted from tree to tree
+    With the talisman's glittering glory
+      Has hope been that bird to thee?
+
+    On branch after branch alighting,
+      The gem did she still display,
+    And when nearest and most inviting,
+      Then waft the fair gem away?
+
+
+Among the papers of the late mistress of the manor house, were found two
+letters which from their dates showed that they had been written during
+her stay in Italy. One was addressed to Sir Thomas Richardson, Lord
+Chief Justice of England, the other to her daughter. She appeared to
+have had a foreshadowing of her death, and directed Anna, in case of
+such an event, to have Sir Thomas' letter delivered to him immediately,
+and to abide by whatever decision he might come to. Anna had never seen
+Sir Thomas, but she knew that he was in some way related to her on her
+mother's side of the family, and that he was an old gentleman, who lived
+among his books, in an old-fashioned country house in one of the midland
+counties of England, with no one but his servants about him. And when
+the decision came, which informed Miss Vyvyan that she too was to live
+there, as his ward, she was thankful, for the tie of kindred was strong
+in her nature, and she thought to herself, there is still a link, that
+connects with the memory of my loved mother. Besides he is old and
+alone, perhaps I may be able to do something to make his life less
+lonely. But what could she do, she asked herself, for to her all seemed
+vague and undefined.
+
+Arriving at the quiet old home of Sir Thomas, with its smooth green lawn
+and flat meadows around and in front of the house, she was shown into
+the presence of a tall, stately, white-haired, old gentleman to whom
+nature had indeed been gracious, for he was extremely handsome, and of
+courtly manners. He greeted her kindly but with much dignity, and
+addressed her throughout the conversation as Miss Vyvyan. A shudder
+swept through her frame each time she heard herself so called, by the
+only one left who had the right to address her by her own familiar name
+of Anna, which she had hoped he would do. But although desiring to be in
+every way kind to his ward, his ideas of dignity and courtesy were
+fixed, and to him she was always Miss Vyvyan. Thus without a thought of
+causing her pain, he ever brought before her the deepest sense of her
+bereavement and her isolation. Life in Sir Thomas' home was very
+different from life at the manor house, both in doors and out. The old
+gentleman passed most of his time in his library, and Anna rarely saw
+him until evening, when he would sometimes instruct her in playing
+chess. When she went outside of the house, all seemed strange and dull
+and dreary, plain grass lawns all around, not a flower bed to be seen,
+no long garden walk, no fountain, no hills to ramble over, no purple
+mountains in the distance, but a flat level country on all sides. And
+when she came in doors again, no loved mother, no Cecil to greet her.
+
+Nearly three years had gone by since Anna's arrival as Sir Thomas' ward.
+It was evening, and they had just finished their game of chess, when he
+for the first time addressed her as my dear young lady, and after a
+short pause proceeded.
+
+"This is not a fit place for you; I am too old to be the companion of
+youth; I am doing you injustice in allowing you to remain with me, and
+have decided that you shall have a more suitable home."
+
+"I do not wish to leave you, Sir Thomas," replied Anna, "besides I have
+nowhere to go. I cannot live at the manor house all alone."
+
+"Certainly you cannot," he answered. "I have arranged everything for you
+to the best of my power. You do not really come into property until you
+are twenty-five years of age. Your landed estates and other moneys are
+secured to you in such a way that you need not feel the least
+apprehension about your affairs, everything has been attended to. The
+manor house will be in the charge of a steward for the present. You will
+probably wish to live there again some day. As I have just said, I am
+too old; I may not, I cannot have long to remain here. There is a cousin
+of your mother living in the colony of Virginia, Fairfax by name. He has
+a wife and family, two nephews, whom he has adopted, twins, I think,
+also Fairfaxes. They stand in the degree of a third generation from
+myself. I mean to say these twins are about the same age my grandson
+would be now, had he been spared to my declining years. Therefore, they
+must be a few years older than you are, and more adapted for being
+companionable to you, than I am. I have been in correspondence with your
+Cousin Fairfax, during many months, in regard to your making your home
+with them in Virginia, until you are older, and have ceased so much to
+need protection, or until you have settled in a home of your own. The
+arrangement appears to be very agreeable to them, and I trust you will
+be happy in their society. I cannot part with you without saying that
+your presence in my house has given me much pleasure--the only one now
+left to me, that of recollection. Although you are very quiet, for one
+who has only reached your years, yet the sound of your footstep about
+the house called sweet though sad memories of my only daughter, and I
+thank you for them. If I thought only of myself, I should keep you here
+till the end, but there are times when it is more noble to resign than
+to fulfill the dearest wishes of our heart."
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+It was in the summer of 1607 that Miss Vyvyan, attended by her waiting
+woman, sailed from England, for the colony of Virginia, in the ship
+Queen Elizabeth, from which she had just been wrecked, when we took up
+the narrative of her early life. To that period of time we will now
+return.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+    This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
+    Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight.
+    Stand like Druids of old, with voices sad and prophetic.
+    Stand like harpers hoar with beards that rest on their bosoms.
+    Loud from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced neighboring ocean,
+    Speaks and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+    And thou too who so 'ere thou art
+      That readest this brief psalm
+    As one by one thy hopes depart
+      Be resolute and calm.
+
+    Oh fear not in a world like this,
+      And thou shalt know ere long,
+    Know how sublime a thing it is
+      To suffer and be strong.
+
+
+As the shipwrecked young lady lay on the cold, rough beach, amid the
+dead bodies, with the hoarse roar of the ocean sounding in her ears, and
+the heavy, wet clouds of mist clinging about her, indifferent to life or
+death, the recollection of the ship being pursued by buccaneers and
+driven far out of her course came back to her mind, and then being
+caught in a hurricane and seeing another vessel battling with the
+tempest, and both ships furiously hurried on toward a wild, rocky coast,
+the vessels crashing on shore and rebounding again, and some one
+lifting her into a boat, and then she remembered no more. While these
+recollections were passing through her brain, she raised herself upon
+her elbow and looked around. Death everywhere, the ocean with its
+floating corpses and wreckage lay before her. On either hand a long
+broken beach, with its gloomy rocks and its scattered dead. A scene
+which at any other time in her life would have struck her with awe, she
+now gazed at quietly, and questioned "Why am I the only one left, oh, if
+I too could die." Turning to look behind her through the mist, she
+observed that the land was hilly, and in some places rose to a
+considerable height. The whole surface as far as she could make out was
+covered by a thick growth of lofty pines, mingled with spruce and other
+sorts of fir, among which sprung up an entanglement of various kinds of
+undergrowth, all these trees and shrubs growing nearly down to the sea
+and forming so thick a forest, that it was impossible for sight to
+penetrate it further than a few yards. There was no building of any kind
+to be seen, no sign of human habitation of either savage or civilized
+life. The great abundance of pine trees, and the general appearance of
+the forest, which strongly resembled the forests of Norway, instantly
+called up the question in Anna Vyvyan's mind, can it be possible that
+destiny has sent me back to the land of my mother's grave?
+
+A low wail like the cry of a young child in distress, caused the only
+hearer to start to her feet, and looking on the other side of a broken
+rock close by, she saw stretched out white and still, a young lady by
+the side of whom, in a half-standing position, and bending over her was
+a beautiful golden-haired little girl of between two and three years. In
+another instant Anna was also bending over the young mother, to whom she
+found the child was tied by a crimson silk sash such as were worn by
+military officers. The tearful little one turned up her sweet face,
+without any apparent fear, but with a great deal of sorrow in it, and
+said, in her baby language,
+
+"Mama dorn seep," then she pressed her lips upon the cold white cheek,
+and kissed it and stroked and patted the also beautiful mother, who lay
+so mute and pallid and unconscious of all her little one's gentle love.
+
+Again and again came the cry from the poor forlorn little creature, "Det
+up, mama, det up, mama;" but the dear mamma was beyond the reach of the
+sweet baby voice. Anna's first thought was to see if any sign of life
+remained in the slender form before her, but she could find no pulse,
+and the face and hands were as cold, as the rocks upon which she was
+lying. Miss Vyvyan unfastened the child, and drew away the long sash,
+which had tied her to her mother's waist. As she did so, she observed
+the delicately formed features, which were so regular and proportionate
+that they might have been chiseled in marble, to represent some Greek
+goddess. She saw the masses of soft brown hair, and the long dark
+eyelashes, which dropped upon the cheek like silken fringe. She
+observed, too, the simple traveling habit, made of the finest material,
+but perfectly free from any attempt at vulgar ornament. And as she took
+the child into her arms, and looked down once more on the sweet white
+face, which lay on the stones at her feet, and noted the refinement in
+everything about her, she knew that the little one's mother came of
+gentle blood. The child was willing to go to Anna, but not willing to be
+removed out of sight of its mother. So Miss Vyvyan sat down where they
+were with the little one in her lap, and shook out the silk sash with
+the idea of wrapping it round the shivering child, but that, too, was
+wet, every thing in the shape of clothing was wet, both on Anna and the
+child. All that she could do for the moment to comfort the tiny thing,
+was to fold it in her arms, and try by that means to keep it from
+perishing with cold. It had probably been shielded by some heavy woolen
+wrap, which was torn off by the breakers when they were cast on shore,
+for as Anna shook out the silk sash, there fell from it a strip of thick
+woolen fringe, which had the appearance of having belonged to a shawl.
+
+But now the child was bareheaded, and wore a little white dress of
+exceedingly fine embroidery, which also spoke of the mother's love, for
+none but loving hands ever wrought work so dainty as that. Round its
+neck was clasped a small gold chain of minute links of very fine
+workmanship. So thin and delicately was it made, that it resembled a
+thread of golden silk. Anna examined it carefully to see if she could
+find any letter or name upon it, but none was there, then she spoke to
+the child as it lay nestling its pretty head upon her arm, and still
+talking to its mother, and said,
+
+"Tell me, dear little one, what is your name?"
+
+The child looked up, but evidently could not understand the meaning of
+her words.
+
+Anna tried again by laying one of her fingers on the child's shoulder
+and saying, "Who's dat?"
+
+"Mama's baby," answered the little one in an instant.
+
+"Will Mama's baby tell me where papa is?"
+
+"Dorn seep," replied the child.
+
+"Tell me where dorn seep, sweet child."
+
+"Down dare," answered she, pointing to a mass of human bodies which were
+thrown together on the beach some distance below them, and which were
+constantly kept in motion by the incoming tide.
+
+Anna's desire to die no longer existed; as she held the beautiful little
+creature to her heart and rocked it, all her thoughts concentrated in
+the one question, what could she do to aid this sweet helpless one. The
+ideas rushed through her mind with the rapidity that they come to us in
+fever. It must have warmth and food, or it will perish. I cannot let it
+die, it is so beautiful, and I love it. I must act this moment. Rising
+with the child in her arms, she hastened along as rapidly as she could
+among the wreckage, scrambling between bales and chests of all kinds, in
+the hope of finding something, anything; she could not surmise what it
+might be, but some sustenance must be had for the child. Although
+hundreds of cases and bales were strewed about, they were all so
+securely corded and nailed up, that it was impossible to procure
+anything from them.
+
+At last, far in on the land, she came to a large pile of freight, which
+had struck so violently, that the greater number of the cases and bales,
+had broken in two, or had burst open. The first object that met her
+sight, was a broken chest full of table covers of rich cloth, evidently
+the product of India and Persia, as the silk embroidered borders in
+oriental needlework showed; happily everything was thrown in so far that
+it was dry.
+
+Taking one of the table covers, she wrapped it round the child, who in
+the midst of its discomfort showed its gentle nature by saying,
+
+"Pitty sing, pitty sing," and holding up its sweet face to kiss Anna.
+
+"Yes, mama's baby shall have more pretty things soon," said Miss Vyvyan.
+
+"Dinner," cried the child, "bing dinner, Dinah bing dinner."
+
+"Yes, darling, we must find dinner for mama's baby."
+
+"Dinah bing dinner?" again repeated the poor, hungry little thing, with
+an expressive look of interrogation.
+
+"Yes, dear, yes;" folding the soft woolen cover still more closely round
+the child, Anna placed her in a sheltered spot. "Stay there a moment,
+baby, while I bring dinner."
+
+From the marks on the outside of the boxes it was plain that they had
+come from some Mediterranean port, and contained fruits and other
+edibles. With a heavy stone, Anna soon broke open a small box of candied
+fruit, selecting some, she gave it to the half-starved child. One of the
+baby hands held her fruit, the other one was instantly stretched out
+toward the box.
+
+"Mama, tandy, too," she cried.
+
+"Mama is asleep, darling, she does not want candy."
+
+"Oh mama, tandy, too," she repeated, with an earnestness that sent a
+thrill through Anna's heart.
+
+"Yes; mama's baby shall take some if she wishes to."
+
+The child took a piece of the fruit, "Doe now," she said.
+
+"Go where, baby?"
+
+"Mama," answered the child, struggling among the folds of her wrap, to
+get on to her feet and pointing in the direction of its mother. A nature
+so full of love, shall not be pained or thwarted by me, mused Anna, as
+she carried back the child who had already become precious to her. When
+they reached the place where the cold white mother was lying, and Anna
+was in the act of putting the little one on the ground as it desired, an
+unusually large wave broke so close by, that the spray and foam dashed
+against, and flowed over the sweet pale face. The child uttered a sharp
+cry of distress, and disengaging itself from Anna's arms and darting to
+its mother, threw itself down by her side, and, clasping her neck with
+its tiny arms, covered with kisses the face that was so dear. The next
+wave will carry the mother away, Anna thought. I cannot let the child
+witness such a sight, it would break her loving little heart, and she
+also felt that she, herself, could not give up to the all-devouring
+ocean, the object of so much affection in the babe. Placing the little
+one in safety, she took up the cold, white burden in her arms, and
+carried it far back from the reach of the sea, putting it down on the
+moss, at the root of a large pine. As it lay there so lone and sad and
+beautiful, with the child standing by it, for the little soul had
+followed with its swiftest steps, Anna bent over it and kissed the face.
+Poor dear, she murmured in a whisper, as long as I exist, my love and my
+life shall be devoted to your child. She bent again and kissed the cold
+lips. Could it be possible that breath came lightly through them? It
+was,--it was,--deeper and deeper drawn and more regular each time.
+Merciful God, she lives, and the tears fell fast from eyes that had long
+been dry with grief. A faint sigh, and the partial parting of the long
+silken eyelashes, told that life was coming back still more and more. In
+a few moments she feebly uttered, "My child."
+
+"Your child is safe and with you," replied Anna, lifting the little one
+closer to its mother's side.
+
+"Dudley," she faltered.
+
+"He has not come yet," said Anna, surmising for whom she was inquiring,
+and pitying in her inmost soul the widowed heart that must so soon learn
+to live without him.
+
+When the poor mother opened her eyes, the scene of horror was more than
+her delicate organization could endure, and a violent, fit of trembling
+came upon her.
+
+"Tote on," said the anxious, sensitive child.
+
+The suggestion was acted upon, Anna ran to the pile of dry wreckage, and
+soon returned, with an armful of table covers and a box.
+
+"Tote on mama," cried the child hurriedly, as if it felt there was no
+time to be lost.
+
+"Yes, darling, a coat for mama," said Anna, improvising a pillow with
+one, and wrapping several other warm covers about the shivering mother.
+
+"Take this," said she, holding to her lips some cordial which she had
+poured into a mussel shell, "It is buanaba, a very delicate restorative
+made in Turkey, pray try to take it, it will keep you from shivering
+so."
+
+As we have already said, Anna possessed great vital energy, and with her
+to think was to act. She saw that the delicate, slender young mother and
+the child must both die, unless she could find some means of getting
+them warm. There was an abundance of dead wood close by, if she could
+only start the first spark of fire. Pushing her way a few yards into the
+forest, she brought out a quantity of dead grass and resinous wood, and
+continued striking two stones together until at last the spark came, and
+a good fire soon blazed high, and sent out its glow toward the pine tree
+beneath which they were lying. Some large stones were soon heated in the
+hot embers, and rolled to the feet of the mother. Covering was brought
+and held to the fire, and the lowly bed made so warm that the exhausted
+mother and her little one fell into a natural and refreshing sleep. In
+the meantime Anna was everywhere scrambling and climbing among the
+freight, dragging what she could not carry, searching for anything that
+might be appropriated as a covering against the cold, and looking after
+the cases of eatables with a thought for the poor, starving ones under
+the pine tree. It was late in the afternoon when the sleepers awoke. The
+mist had in a great measure cleared away, and the sunlight was
+straggling through the remaining clouds. A good fire was burning, and a
+tin of water was boiling beside it. A long box cover, supported by
+stones at each end, formed a table, other box lids made seats, and the
+table was spread with food that would at least sustain life. Heaped up
+under another pine tree, was a sufficient supply of both food and
+covering, to provide for the ladies and child for some time to come.
+There was no lack of tins of all shapes, so they were made use of to
+cook in, and for holding food. As soon as the child was thoroughly
+awake, it sat up in its bed, showing its sweet fair face, and smiling
+with happiness at finding its mother awake by its side. Taking up a cup
+of food made from sea moss and sweetened with the candied fruit, Anna
+attempted to feed the child by means of a shell, but it turned its face
+away, and said in tones full of distress, "Mama too, Dinah bing dinner."
+When Anna took hot coffee from the fire and propped up the exhausted
+mother and induced her to drink it, everything went well with the child.
+It was perfectly satisfied, and took its own food, and laughed and
+played with the pebbles and shells that were brought to it.
+
+"I have tried often, very often to speak to you," said the mother,
+addressing Anna for the first time; "I was conscious, but I could not
+speak; I was too weak I suppose, and now my voice has come back to me, I
+have no words, I do not know what I can say to you."
+
+"Will you let me suggest what you shall say," asked Anna? "It is this;
+say what I can do that would most help you and your lovely child; and
+now try to rest while I think how you can be sheltered from the night
+air, for night will be upon us in the course of two hours at furthest."
+
+The fog and mist had now completely disappeared, and given way to the
+sun, which, however, was nearing the horizon, and the trees cast long
+shadows on the grass.
+
+While the mother and child had been asleep in the afternoon, Anna had
+built up a few broken boards and stones between them and the sea, that
+they might not be pained on their first awaking by seeing the terrible
+sight which was so near.
+
+"I am better," said the mother. "I feel stronger. I cannot endure to see
+you doing all. I want to help you. I do not need more rest now. But tell
+me first, pray tell me the truth, whatever it may be. Is there any one
+left alive here besides ourselves. Have you seen an officer in a
+colonel's uniform? My husband was in the service of King James, he wore
+the royal uniform, when he tied my child to my waist with his sash, and
+lifted me into a boat. I cannot remember any more. I think I must have
+been stunned. How long have we been here? I seem to have lost some of
+the time, but I felt you take away my child, and I heard you speak
+tenderly to it. Have we been here too long for my husband to be living?
+Tell me, can it be possible that I may find him?"
+
+Anna could not add to her anguish by repeating what the child had said
+when questioned about its father, for she believed it had spoken truly
+when it answered,
+
+"Dorn seep, down dare."
+
+"I do not think we have been here longer than to-day," she replied. "I
+do not know exactly. It was early in the morning when our ship struck
+the rocks, but it was broad daylight when I came to my senses on the
+shore. The tide was coming in, it was very high, and now it must have
+been going out for nearly four hours, so I think we must have been cast
+on shore this morning."
+
+"Then my husband may still be alive, I must seek him." With those words,
+she rose to her feet, but nearly fainted with the effort.
+
+"Your child is sleeping," said Anna. "Let me support you, if you will
+attempt to walk. Tell me your husband's name, that I may call it aloud;
+these rocks are very rugged and I can send my voice into places among
+them, that it would be impossible to go into."
+
+"Colonel Carleton," she replied.
+
+"Lean on me, Mrs. Carleton. Shall we go down this way?"
+
+The tide had carried out the mass of floating bodies to which the child
+had pointed at noon, but numbers of others still remained in all
+directions. Tottering and staggering among the dead, Mrs. Carleton
+continued her search, until she had looked into every ghastly face that
+lay there.
+
+"Now will you call aloud for me," she said, "for I cannot, my strength
+is gone."
+
+Anna called, but the only sound that came back was the echo of her own
+voice from the forest and the heavy rolling of the sea. They returned in
+silence to the child, who was still asleep. The sun had nearly set, when
+all at once a rich, bright glow from the west rose behind the forest and
+flooded every object with golden light. Looking out to sea eastward,
+they observed only a few miles away many islands, some of them covered
+with forests down to the water's edge.
+
+"Where can we be," they both ejaculated at the same time. There was no
+habitation visible on any of them, nor any smoke rising from them.
+
+"These trees remind me of Norway," said Anna. "Do you think we can be in
+Norway?"
+
+"I am unable to say," replied Mrs. Carleton, "but I am sure we are in a
+northern clime by the growth both of trees and plants."
+
+The ladies seated themselves by the sleeping child, trying to think what
+it was best for them to do. There was no time for delay; it would soon
+be dark, and the little group of three appeared to be the only living
+human beings in the place, wherever that place might be. While they were
+talking together, they had turned their backs to the sea and were
+looking toward the sunset, and watching the varied rays of light which
+here and there penetrated through the forest on the hill before them.
+
+"I did not hear your name, Mrs. Carleton, on board the ship I sailed in
+from England," said Anna.
+
+"I did not come from England," she answered. "My parents settled in the
+colony of Virginia long ago. I was born there, that is my home. My
+husband as well as myself, had many relatives in England, and we were
+going to visit them, and intended to have our child baptized there, that
+its name might be registered among those of its forefathers. Sometime
+after we sailed, we fell in with buccaneers; but our ship, the Sir
+Walter Raleigh, was a fast sailor, and we got away from them; yet I was
+told when the hurricane came on, that they were the cause of our being
+out of our course, hence our calamity."
+
+"We met the same destiny," said Anna, and then she told in a few words
+whence she had sailed, and that her name was Vyvyan.
+
+The hill in front of the ladies, rose too high for them to see the
+actual setting of the sun, but the rich glow of gold and crimson now lit
+up the whole forest, and defined the outline of the rising ground.
+
+"What is that I see?" said Mrs. Carleton, shading her eyes with her
+hands.
+
+"'Tall pines' I think," answered Anna.
+
+"No, it is a tower; look, Miss Vyvyan, in that direction, see on the
+hill; it is a stone tower; look, now the light has changed; there are
+windows, many of them, see on the right the building extends a great
+way, it is very large."
+
+Anna looked through the wood where Mrs. Carleton directed, and saw
+distinctly in the rosy light of the sunset, an immense stone building,
+with a massive tower capable of containing many rooms, and rising to the
+height of two hundred feet. With the exception of the tower, the
+building was very irregular, and gave the impression of having been
+erected at different periods. It combined the characteristics of a
+feudal castle and a fortress. It was old and gray, but by no means a
+ruin, yet it had a gloomy and forbidding appearance. The ladies looked
+at each other and hesitated, they did not speak for a few moments; the
+same idea possessed the mind of each. They thought that good people
+would not live in such a place, amid such wild surroundings, but neither
+one of them would unnerve the other by saying so, for they knew in their
+present situation they required all the courage that they could command,
+in order that they might be ready to meet their uncertain fate.
+
+While they continued looking almost spellbound the child awoke, and
+observing their earnest gaze, added her own scrutiny to theirs. She bent
+her little golden head forward and saw some of the windows upon which
+the reflection of light glinted.
+
+"Home," she exclaimed, smiling with childish glee, "doe home," taking
+hold of her mother's dress to draw her in the direction of the building,
+which was about half-way up the hill, and only a few hundred yards from
+where they now stood.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+    The battled towers the donjon keep,
+      The loop-hole grates where captives weep,
+    The flanking walls that round it sweep,
+      In yellow luster shone.
+
+           *     *     *     *     *
+
+    Act,--act in the living present!
+      Heart within and God o'erhead!
+
+           *     *     *     *     *
+
+    Let us then be up and doing
+      With a heart for any fate
+    Still achieving, still pursuing
+      Learn to labor and to wait.
+
+
+The ladies held a consultation, should they attempt to go to the castle
+and ask for shelter. How could the child, which like themselves had
+hitherto lived in luxury, pass a night on the beach. Beside the forest
+looked as if it was the resort of wolves and bears. It would be unsafe.
+They could not after dark remain where they were, there was no
+alternative, so they decided to go at once to the building. There was no
+path, but they held the branches aside for each other. Taking the child
+with them, they stumbled over the loose stones and among the briers as
+well as their want of strength would permit, for they were much
+exhausted. Mrs. Carleton was so weak that she fell several times and was
+severely hurt, but no murmur escaped her and she rose and struggled on
+again as if nothing had happened, turning, from time to time, with some
+word of kindness or cheer to Miss Vyvyan, who was helping the little one
+along.
+
+Emerging from the woods, they found themselves in a long, open space of
+grass, which was surrounded on all sides by the forest. The great
+building stood full in front of, and overshadowed them. It was a
+veritable feudal castle and, as we have said, grand, gloomy and
+forbidding to look at. The windows were far up from the ground, no
+entrance door was in sight, no walks or drives around it, everywhere
+rank grass, with here and there a tuft of golden-rod, or fall aster
+springing up. No smoke rising from any of the chimneys, no traces of
+footsteps, no sound but the sighing of the wind through the pines, and
+the surging of the ocean. Mrs. Carleton was first to break the silence.
+
+"If I were by myself," said she, "I should imagine I must be dreaming,
+but I feel the reality of our position, this is no dream. We are all
+alone here; this place must have been deserted long ago. Look, there is
+the entrance overgrown with brambles. It is best that we are alone; if
+we can get shelter, we need not fear molestation."
+
+She spoke calmly and cheerfully and tried to wear a smile for the sake
+of the two who were looking at her and listening to her words. Anna had
+entertained grave fears for Mrs. Carleton while they were getting up to
+the castle. She thought the delicate frame must give way altogether, but
+she now saw that her newly-made friend was as brave, as she was gentle
+and loving and faithful, and fear gave place to hope and resolve. As she
+went a few steps to gather some asters, which the child wished for, she
+said to herself, "This fragile, suffering, uncomplaining woman has
+already taught me a great lesson, and I will never seek selfish relief
+by adding to her overburdened life, the weight of my own sorrow. She
+shall always think me cheerful, whatever I may know my self to be, for
+nothing that I can do will be of so much help to her and the sweet
+child."
+
+As Anna returned, the little one stretched out her hands to receive the
+flowers and held up the rosy lips to give a kiss for them, which was her
+usual mode of acknowledging any kindness shown to her.
+
+"Miss Vyvyan," said Mrs. Carleton, "I have been looking on the other
+side while you have been gathering the flowers. I find there is an
+immense pile of ruins there, which looks as if it were the ruins of a
+tower. That small entrance at the north end is the only one that is
+open. Shall we try to get in, we can beat down the brambles."
+
+The doorway was low and arched, the stone work about it coarse and
+massive, the door had fallen from the upper hinge, and lay so far open
+that ingress was very easy. The ladies entered and passed into a broad
+stone passage, which was many yards in length and led to a staircase at
+the foot of the great tower at the south end. As they passed along the
+passage, they saw a number of rooms on either side, which were all in
+semi-darkness, being lighted only by narrow loopholes in the outer
+walls, yet there was sufficient light to show them that they were all
+well filled with what appeared to be chests, boxes and packages, but the
+ladies were too much fatigued to make any examination of them. They
+observed that the walls were all of rough stone, but there was no
+feeling of dampness. On reaching the staircase, Mrs. Carleton discovered
+some inscriptions cut deep into the wall.
+
+"What is this, Miss Vyvyan? I see it is not Greek or Latin or Hebrew. I
+never saw any characters like these."
+
+"They are runic," replied Anna. "I should not know what they are, only
+that I have seen them on old ruins in Norway. Do you think we are in
+Norway? This old castle is very much like buildings I have seen there."
+
+Mrs. Carleton, who was an excellent botanist, again referred to the
+trees and plants which they had seen as they came up from the beach.
+
+"Those fall asters," she said, "and the species of golden-rod are both
+of northern growth, but I cannot in the least feel sure of our
+whereabouts. It scarcely seems probable that we shall find the means of
+getting away from this place very soon, for there is no evidence of any
+commerce here, and as far as I can judge, nothing for merchants or
+traders to come for. I do not say this to dishearten you, Miss Vyvyan,
+but I feel it right that we should speak openly and honestly to each
+other."
+
+"I understand you," replied Anna, "you do not wish to fill my
+imagination with false hopes; it is good, and kind, and sensible, and I
+thank you for speaking as you have done. I feel myself that this is no
+time for dreaming, and I do not any longer care to indulge in it. All I
+care for, is to lead an earnest, true life in whatever position Fate may
+place me. If we are destined to remain together, you shall see."
+
+The ladies had now ascended the winding stone staircase as far as the
+top of the first flight from the ground. From the stairs, they stepped
+into a corridor with a stone floor and bare stone walls, somewhat
+similar to the one below, but wider and well lighted. From this
+corridor, branched off other passages and staircases, leading both above
+and below, and numberless rooms of all kinds, the doors of which were
+chiefly open, showing the most luxurious and costly furniture, and the
+richest hangings, containing chests filled with rich velvets and satins,
+and all other requirements of ladies' dress. Some rooms were evidently
+sleeping apartments, others were furnished as parlors, the walls being
+hung with tapestry, and adorned with rare paintings and mirrors in
+frames of the most exquisite workmanship, in ivory, silver and bronze.
+Rich carpets and rugs covered the floors. The rooms all felt dry. They
+had wide, open fireplaces in which stood fire dogs of brass or iron; in
+some of them still remained half-burned or charred logs, and the dead
+ashes of long years ago. The ladies remarked that, amidst all this
+abundance of wealth, there was a certain incongruity in the arrangement
+of the contents of every room. In one they found silk draperies from
+India, a divan from Turkey, an Italian settee in the finest Florentine
+carving; beside it a massive English table of heart of oak, and the
+light, spider-legged gilt chairs of Paris, with their faded red silk
+cushions, and so on. They rambled through room after room. In many of
+them were firearms of all dates and nations, sabers and cutlasses,
+daggers and swords, with pistols and guns, and powder flasks, and
+spears. Some of these lay upon the tables and chairs, and others hung
+from the walls. In all the sleeping-rooms, were numberless articles of
+men's dress, uniforms and costumes of various kinds, sufficient in
+variety to supply disguises for a whole regiment. With the exception of
+the number of firearms and other instruments of warfare lying about, the
+rooms were all in order. The reflection of the setting sun streamed in
+at the windows, and across the floors at the west side of the castle,
+and lit up the mirrors, and pictures, and beautiful and curious works of
+art, which hung on the walls, or stood on the shelves, or on quaint
+pieces of furniture, and which abounded everywhere and made the interior
+of the building a pleasant contrast to the gloomy-looking outside.
+
+Passing hastily through the rooms which led off the corridors, the
+ladies returned to the great tower at the south end. They found the
+door, which gave entrance to it was closed; but on Mrs. Carleton laying
+her hand upon the lock, it at once gave way, and they went through a
+vestibule, and entered a large and very handsome room. It was octagon in
+form, with a window in every division. The upper part of each window was
+made of antique painted glass, which shed red hues of crimson, gold and
+purple in different parts of the room, ever varying their position with
+the change in the sun's altitude, and giving the apartment at all times
+of the day, a bright, cheerful appearance. This room was furnished still
+more gorgeously than any of the others. The walls were hung with the
+richest kinds of Spanish tapestry; on a ground of dark green silk
+velvet, was embroidered large flowers and arabesques in gold,
+interspersed at intervals with the well-known representations of the
+three castles, which are a part of the arms of Spain. The furniture was
+all of chestnut, carved in the deeply cut and highly raised work, which
+is so rich and elaborate, and peculiar to the Spanish artists. Several
+curiously cut mirrors hung on the walls, and also some exceedingly
+delicate paintings in ivory, and, a number of choice enamels on plaques
+of gold. The mantel piece of stone was high and adorned with beautiful
+vases of Egyptian and Etruscan make, mingled with those of Rome and
+Herculaneum, and the more modern flower-holders of Bohemian and Venetian
+glass. The sofas, as well as the luxurious armchairs, were covered with
+green silk velvet. The window draperies were of the same, ornamented
+with gold fringe.
+
+The floor was made of various kinds, inlaid in mosaic work, as we see
+them in Italy. Soft ruby colored rugs were lying in front of the table,
+and before the fireplace. On one side, was a small carved bookcase
+containing a few volumes of novels, some of poetry and a few sacred
+books of the Roman Catholic creed, all of them in Spanish.
+
+In one or two of the books, the name of "Inez" was written. Across the
+end of one of the sofas lay a guitar of satin-wood, inlaid with
+mother-o'-pearl, with a Spanish lace mantilla by the side of it, and on
+a small table close by was an open music book containing Spanish songs.
+
+Everything gave evidence of having been left untouched for many years,
+the flowers in the vases had dried, and fallen bit by bit, and lay in
+small heaps that looked like chaff. In one corner of the room stood a
+tall Chinese jar, that had once contained sprays of the fragrant fir
+balsam, which was now little else than dust. In the wide, open fireplace
+on the hearth, the wood that had been carefully placed on the dogs ready
+to light, had become so dry, that it had crumbled away, and fallen to
+pieces with its own weight.
+
+The ladies felt the importance of using the remaining daylight in making
+some preparations for the night, so deferred any further examination of
+the castle until the next day. They experienced a certain feeling of
+safety in being alone.
+
+"Mrs. Carleton," said Miss Vyvyan, "you will not mind if I run down to
+the beach, and bring up some of the table covers and some food. I shall
+soon be back again."
+
+"I do not mind being left, but I do mind your doing it without help; I
+want to help you in everything, but I am not strong enough yet. We will
+stand by the window and watch you as far as we can."
+
+The child understood the conversation, and turning with a very earnest
+and inquiring look to her mother, she said,
+
+"Be back."
+
+"Yes, dear, Miss Vyvyan is coming back. That is my little one's way of
+saying she wishes you to return," said Mrs. Carleton. "She always says
+to me, if I am leaving the room, 'be back,' she means come back."
+
+"I like to hear her say it," said Anna; "it sounds so real and so
+pretty, and it is her own way of expressing what she desires. I hope you
+will always allow her to keep that little remnant of babyhood. I ask it
+of you as a favor."
+
+"I am only too glad, Miss Vyvyan, to do anything you wish," replied Mrs.
+Carleton.
+
+As Anna left the room and hastened down the tower stairs, she heard the
+sweet little voice calling after her,
+
+"Be back, be back."
+
+Mrs. Carleton had prepared a pleasant surprise for Anna on her return.
+She had taken a flint from the lock of one of the guns, and had
+succeeded in lighting a cheerful fire, before which the ladies spread
+the table covers, and slept until the light of the morning sun shone in
+upon them through one of the painted windows, and made brilliant hues
+in various parts of the room, which the child called butterflies. The
+little party was rested and refreshed, and awoke to be greeted by a
+beautiful day.
+
+As soon as they had breakfasted, they began a thorough investigation of
+their new abode. They descended to the basement where they had entered,
+and discovered in one of the rooms immense stores of provisions of all
+kinds, many of them in good order, for they were in sealed jars and
+cases. One of the down-stairs rooms was a carpenter's shop, containing
+tools of all sorts, which were of great use to the ladies in opening
+many things that it would have been impossible for them to do otherwise.
+There was a large store of wine, and a kitchen containing strangely
+shaped cooking utensils from different countries. Near the small north
+doorway by which the ladies entered the castle, was a narrow stone
+staircase, leading down under ground, but it was so dimly lighted, that
+they did not attempt to go down it. Ascending again to the tower, they
+discovered several more beautiful rooms in it, all richly furnished. All
+these rooms had apparently been set apart for the use of the lady, with
+the exception of one, a library, containing carved oak shelves, loaded
+with books in many different languages; the heavy furniture was also of
+carved oak, cushioned with old gold embossed leather. A Spanish cloak of
+crimson velvet was thrown across the back of one of the chairs, and upon
+the seat of it lay a sombrero with a plume, also a sword and a pair of
+gauntlets. An arched doorway in one corner of the library, led into a
+small watch tower, the whole size of which was filled up by a winding
+stone staircase.
+
+"Come, Miss Vyvyan," said Mrs. Carleton, "we will go up here, and we
+may, perhaps, see something that will tell us where we are." They
+climbed the stairs to the top, and passed through a low door on to the
+battlements of a great tower, whence they looked down at the pine trees,
+two hundred feet below. They saw at once that they were on an island;
+not by any means a large one, and that the whole of it was covered by
+forest as far as the water's edge, excepting in a few places where a
+bare rock or swamp intervened. They looked to the south and saw only the
+open ocean. The day was clear and calm, and they could see away to the
+horizon. To the east lay many other islands; then to the north the same
+sight met their eyes. Looking to the west still more islands were to be
+seen, and also what appeared to be the mainland, and far away, perhaps
+seventy miles off in the distance, a magnificent range of lofty
+mountains. Nothing could exceed the beauty of the scene. As they walked
+round the top of the tower, looking down upon all these forest-clad
+islands without any sign of habitation, Mrs. Carleton, turning to Anna,
+said, "Let us try to think over all the maps we have studied in our
+geography lessons."
+
+"Just what I have been trying to do," said Anna, "but I can only think
+of a great number of islands in the Pacific ocean, and we know we are
+not there, and we are not in any of the West India islands, for, as you
+say, the trees tell us we are in the north, and now that I see so many
+islands, I know we are not in Norway. But is it not strange that the
+runic characters are in so many places in this castle? See, here are
+more of them, exactly the same as I saw when we were in Norway."
+
+"Yes," replied Mrs. Carleton; "everything tells us we are in the north,
+and also tells us we are alone. We may have to remain here, we know not
+how long, perhaps years; and then, too, we have something else to
+consider. These trees show that the winters in this region are very
+severe, as do also the rents in the rocks that we clambered among on our
+way up to the castle. Those great fissures were all caused by the action
+of intense frosts, by such a degree of cold as you and I have no idea
+of, excepting from what we have read. In a climate like this, we know
+the winter sets in early, so I think, Miss Vyvyan, the only thing we can
+do is to prepare for it immediately as soon as we can."
+
+"I see; everything is exactly as you say," replied Anna, "and now let me
+ask you a favor. I am stronger physically than you are, and I beg you to
+allow me to undertake the heavier share of our occupation. Let me do all
+that requires to be done outside the castle, such as getting wood and
+water, and whatever we may want from the wreckage, and you take charge
+of the inside of our present home, in which you must allow me to help
+you. I understand you already, and I believe you would do everything
+and endure all the fatigue without a murmur, but that is impossible; you
+have not the strength, and you must try to be well for the sake of your
+dear child."
+
+Mrs. Carleton endeavored to remonstrate with Miss Vyvyan about the
+division of the toil, which was so new and strange to each of them, for
+she was born with a great generous heart that was ready and willing to
+do and die for others; but Anna would not listen to her sweet pleadings,
+although in her soul she admired them.
+
+"Bow wow," said the little one, pointing down to the forest.
+
+The ladies looked over the battlements and, to their horror, saw three
+wolves creeping stealthily along under the shadow of the great pines
+below. They thought instantly of the fallen door at the entrance, and
+hastened down the tower stairs as far as the room hung with green velvet
+tapestry, where they had passed the night, and which they decided should
+in future be their sitting-room, so they named it the green parlor. As
+they entered, the glow of the cheerful fire on the hearth, the beautiful
+prospect of forest and sea from the windows, and the child's
+butterflies, glancing here and there, gave a bright and pleasant air to
+the room, but the ladies felt much disturbed by the discovery of wolves
+so near them, and the knowledge of the open door in the passage below.
+
+"Miss Vyvyan," said Mrs. Carleton, "there are other doors of entrance to
+this, castle; I saw them, we will go and see if we can open one of
+them; and then we will close up the door below altogether."
+
+At the end of a passage leading from the tower, and not far from the
+green parlor, they found a massive door, strongly barred and bolted
+inside. They drew the bolts, and on opening it led down on the outside,
+by a long flight of stone stairs to the grass below, and very near to
+the place on which they stood on their arrival from the beach.
+
+"We shall be safe in one respect now," said Mrs. Carleton, "for no
+animal can break this door and we can keep it bolted."
+
+The first thing to be done now was to close up the entrance down stairs.
+The ladies went down and out through the door by which they had entered
+the castle at the north end. Quickly gathering up some of the wood which
+lay round about them, they set fire to it, in order to scare away any
+wolves which might be prowling near, and at once went to work, carrying
+stones from the ruins of the fallen tower, and by their joint strength
+replacing the door. They next piled up such a barrier of great stones
+behind it, that they were sure that no wolves could enter that way. They
+had finished their first attempt at building and were about to go up
+again to the green parlor, when the child with a little laugh and in its
+sprightly way cried out,
+
+"Kitta, kitta, see kitta." At the same instant running as fast as her
+tiny feet could go, after two small white kittens which the next moment
+disappeared down the half-dark stairs, that they had noticed when they
+first arrived, but were too tired to investigate at that time.
+
+They now looked down them and in the dim light, saw only a passage which
+led in the direction of the fallen tower. They satisfied themselves that
+there was no opening from that to the outside of the building, and
+concluded that the immense pile of ruins completely stopped up all means
+of ingress that way, so they decided not to go to the bottom of the
+gloomy staircase for mere curiosity, when time was so precious to them,
+for they felt as Mrs. Carleton had remarked that winter might be upon
+them very soon. They passed all the remainder of the day in bringing up
+from the beach such supplies as they most needed, and decided to devote
+a portion of each day to this occupation as long as the weather
+permitted.
+
+Before sunset they were all safe in the castle again, the child running
+about the room they were arranging, and delighted with the many
+beautiful ornaments. The ladies made up their minds to adapt themselves
+to their circumstances, and be as cheerful as they could, for the
+child's sake. They selected the tower for their residence, as it
+contained the best rooms in the castle, and the view from every one of
+them was beautiful. They could go up the watch tower and look off from
+the battlements, over the islands and forests, to those majestic purple
+mountains, whenever they desired to do so.
+
+A sleeping room next to the green parlor was chosen for Mrs. Carleton.
+It was fitted up with the same degree of luxury as most of the others,
+the furniture being of satin wood and ivory, and the hangings and
+drapings of the bed and windows of pink velvet and white lace. Two
+curiously wrought silver lamps stood on the dressing table, and showed
+that they had burned themselves out. In front of the mirror was a jewel
+casket; it was open, and showed rings and aigrettes of diamonds and
+emeralds. A few ruby ornaments lay on the table, and a string of pearls,
+also a small lace scarf and a pair of lady's gloves, embroidered on the
+backs with gold. The curtains and velvet draperies of the windows were
+completely closed, and the room looked as though some one had dressed in
+it and gone away and left the lamps burning. Everything was a mystery to
+the ladies which they could not unravel.
+
+When the day was over, Mrs. Carleton and Miss Vyvyan sat beside the
+sleeping child, in Mrs. Carleton's room. The fire was burning on the
+hearth, and the full moon poured its beams in at the windows; they had
+no other light.
+
+Mrs. Carleton spoke much of her bereavement, but struggled to be brave,
+and to resign herself to a destiny she could not alter, at the same time
+revealing, quite unawares to herself, a character full of intense
+affection, unselfishness and great courage.
+
+As Anna watched the sweet, pure face so full of emotion and sensibility,
+and the firelight flickered upon and lit up the refined features, her
+whole heart yearned toward her new friend, and her own sorrow was
+buried in those of the forlorn young mother.
+
+"I have been considering," said Miss Vyvyan, "about your child. Do you
+not think we ought to make life as bright and happy as we can for her,
+and we can do a great deal, although we may have to stay in exile for a
+long while. She need never suffer from that idea. All will depend upon
+the way we educate her, and the way we live."
+
+"Exactly so," replied Mrs. Carleton. "We will make our lives as good an
+example as possible; we will bring her up, as far as circumstances will
+admit, the same as we would do if she were in my old home. We cannot
+have the servants we have been accustomed to have, but we can make this
+home a systematic one, and a refined one, and we must make it a cheerful
+one for her sake."
+
+"There is one thing I feel very anxious about," said Mrs. Carleton; "my
+child has not yet been baptized. As I told you, we were going to take
+her to England for that purpose. I should feel happier if I could carry
+out my husband's wish, and be able to call her by the name he so much
+liked."
+
+"I can fully enter into your feelings," said Miss Vyvyan. "Why not
+baptize her yourself? I presume you are familiar with the service, as we
+have baptisms in our church so frequently."
+
+"Yes," replied Mrs. Carleton, "and I cannot see that there would be
+anything wrong in doing so, myself, as there is not any one else to do
+it."
+
+"It can no more be wrong," said Anna, "to repeat the baptismal prayers
+for your child, than it is to offer up your daily prayers for her.
+Indeed to me it seems perfectly right, as we are situated at present."
+
+"I am glad you entertain those feelings on the subject, Miss Vyvyan,"
+replied Mrs. Carleton, "and as we are both of the English church, will
+you be godmother to my little one?"
+
+"You confer great happiness on me," replied Anna, "by making such a
+request. What do you intend to call her?"
+
+"Cora was the name my husband wished her to be called," replied Mrs.
+Carleton. "And I desire to add Caroline to it, as that is the name of my
+dear mother, and is now, alas, the only means I have of showing my
+affection for her, who is perhaps at this moment mourning my absence."
+
+"Will you baptize her to-morrow?" inquired Miss Vyvyan. "If you will, we
+can make a dress for her in the forenoon. There is an abundance of white
+India muslin and cashmere, too, enough I should say to dress her for
+years to come."
+
+"Yes," answered Mrs. Carleton, "I like that idea, and we will keep her
+always dressed in white."
+
+"And as to yourself," said Anna, "I ask you as a favor, to let me
+choose for you in this instance, I wish you always to be beautifully
+dressed in colors, that will look bright and cheerful. I think it will
+have an influence on the child's spirits and thence on her health. I do
+not feel that we need to have any compunction about using the things we
+find here, for we see that this place must have been deserted many
+years ago, and I cannot help thinking that all these costly things are
+the plunder of buccaneers."
+
+"Nothing is so probable," answered Mrs. Carleton. "Indeed, when we
+consider for a moment, everything seems to say so. Many of those cases
+which still remain unopened are such as the merchants bring to the
+colony of Virginia. I have seen similar ones there which came from
+foreign countries. It occurs to me that all these stores are the cargoes
+of ships that have been robbed by those desperate men who have been and
+still are the terror of the sea; but why they left this place so
+suddenly is difficult to divine, unless, perhaps, retribution fell upon
+them when they were out at sea on some of their marauding expeditions.
+Evidently a lady has lived here, too; perhaps they took her with them on
+their last voyage, and she also may have been lost, so I think we may
+feel we are not doing wrong in using such things as are necessary to our
+existence while we are here."
+
+The next morning the ladies were up early busying themselves with their
+preparations for the child's baptism. As they sat by the open window in
+the green parlor, making the little white dress, the sunlight falling
+upon the floor, the soft, warm breeze from the south coming in upon
+them, and the beautiful child playing about the room, prattling to
+herself in her baby language, and trying with her little hands to cover
+the colored shadows--butterflies as she called them,--and to hold them
+in one place, they each of them thought to themselves how much there is
+in life to make us happy; and yet, and yet, who can be happy when there
+is an empty place which nothing here can fill. They neither of them
+expressed what they thought, for they had each made a resolution to help
+the other.
+
+The sea and sky were one beautiful blue; there was just sufficient
+breeze to cause white caps at distant intervals, and to toss the surf
+lightly against the rocks.
+
+The ladies finished their sewing, and with the child went out to gather
+some wild flowers to adorn their parlor for the baptism. In a few
+minutes they saw a narrow path which they followed and found that it
+lead to a well of pure water only a little way off. Below this was a
+swamp surrounded by a luxuriant growth of asters of every hue, and white
+and pink spirea and golden rod, and blue iris, and the delicate,
+rose-colored arethusa, and the blue fringed gentian abounded on every
+hand; also shrubs of the bayberry, wild rose and sweet brier, with many
+beautiful ferns.
+
+By Mrs. Carleton's refined taste the green parlor was soon transformed
+into a fairy bower. The autumn sunshine sent a flood of golden light
+over all, and the child, dressed in its fresh white attire, was
+baptized, and Miss Vyvyan was its godmother. The ceremony was just over
+and the latter lady was still standing with the child in her arms,
+beside a large crystal bowl which was placed on the table and embedded
+in green moss and wreathed round the top with white roses. It contained
+the water from which the child had received the symbol of the Christian
+church.
+
+"Now," said Mrs. Carleton, "I wish to say to you, Miss Vyvyan, that from
+this day Cora belongs to both of us, to you as well as to myself; she
+will henceforth be _our_ child. I want you to have someone you can speak
+of as 'mine.' I am thankful that I never knew what it was to be without
+someone of my own to love, who was near to me, but I can picture to
+myself what a death in life such an existence must be to those who have
+to endure the separation, and I should feel very selfish if I did not
+divide my happiness with you."
+
+"I do not know how to answer you," said Miss Vyvyan. "I cannot say what
+I wish to. Will you grant me one more kindness; that is, let Cora always
+call me by my name, Anna, and you do the same. It is more than three
+years since anyone called me Anna; there is no one left to do so."
+
+"I will," said Mrs. Carleton, "and to you I must be Ada, for so I am
+named. I am glad that you are pleased at having Cora for your godchild.
+I thought you would be; that was a little plan of mine. I wanted to do
+something to make you feel happier."
+
+Gentle, loving Ada, always thinking of the good she could do to others,
+always self-abnegating, always giving up her own happiness that others
+might receive pleasure; even in the midst of grief, bereavement and
+exile, devising means to cheer a life that she saw was more lonely than
+her own--such was her character.
+
+The position in which Miss Vyvyan now stood as Cora's godmother created
+a sincere bond of friendship between the two ladies, which as time went
+on developed into a lifelong affection. They each understood and
+appreciated every thought and feeling of the other. The child, who was
+of an intense and affectionate temperament, loved both of her guardians.
+She confided in Anna and would stay with her for hours together, and she
+always demanded in her baby way that Anna should partake equally with
+her mother and herself of everything that she deemed pleasure and
+enjoyment, and if Miss Vyvyan remained long out of sight, inquiry and
+desire were expressed by Cora in one little sentence, "Anna be back." At
+the same time, with an innate and delicate discrimination, the child
+defined the distinction between her filial love for her mother and that
+given to her friend in so natural a way that neither of the ladies could
+ever feel slighted or wounded in the least degree.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+    He who ascends to mountain tops, shall find
+    The loftiest peak most wrapped in clouds and snow;
+    He who surpasses or subdues mankind,
+    Must look down on the hate of those below.
+    Though high above the sun of glory glow,
+    And far beneath the earth and ocean spread,
+    Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow
+    Contending tempests on his naked head,
+    And thus reward the toils which to those summits led.
+
+
+They had been domiciled in the castle for several days when Miss Vyvyan
+said,
+
+"As I am to take care of the commissariat department out of doors, Ada,
+I think it would be well for me to go down to the beach and bring up all
+the provisions I can, while we have such fine weather, as we think the
+winter may be very long here, so if you consider it a good plan I will
+fill another storeroom."
+
+"We will all go down, Anna," replied Mrs. Carleton. "We have been here
+five days now, and I hope the tide may have removed much that was
+distressing to see there."
+
+When the ladies reached the beach it was as Mrs. Carleton had supposed,
+all the corpses had floated away, but the whole beach and the shore far
+up from the sea was still strewn with wreckage. They worked very
+diligently, making piles of many things that might be useful, little
+Cora trotting about as busily as her companions, and helping as far as
+she knew how. It was scarcely ten o'clock, but the ladies had been out
+in the sun for some time lifting and carrying heavy burdens, an
+occupation which was as fatiguing to them as it was novel. So that they
+might rest a little while, and get all the sea breeze that there was on
+that still day, they went out on to a mass of high rocks, which
+projected into the ocean and formed a cove on each side.
+
+Scarcely had they seated themselves, when they saw a gentleman climbing
+up from one of the coves below and coming toward them. He was a young
+man perhaps twenty-seven years of age. As he approached them, they
+noticed that his appearance was that of a gentleman of rank, his every
+movement was full of grace and high breeding, his figure was slender and
+under the middle size, and his face exceedingly handsome and refined.
+His bright chestnut colored hair was long and fell in waving masses on
+his shoulders. He wore a small beard of the same hue, his dress was very
+rich and elaborate, after the fashion of the time, and when he spoke,
+his voice and courtly manner, told that he was what his appearance
+indicated. As soon as he came near to them, he bowed low, and made a
+gesture with one hand, as if raising his hat, but he was bareheaded.
+
+"Ladies," he began, "pardon me for intruding upon you, but for the love
+of heaven give me a cup of water, it is many days since I moistened my
+lips, I have been shipwrecked on your coast."
+
+The ladies were on their feet in an instant. Mrs. Carleton running to a
+birch tree a few yards back from the beach, and breaking off a piece of
+bark, deftly bent it into a cup, which she handed to Miss Vyvyan to fill
+from the same pond that had supplied them with water the first day they
+were thrown upon the island. Refreshed by the draught the stranger tried
+to thank them, but speech and strength failed him, and tottering a few
+paces toward the land, he fell down insensible beside a fissure in one
+of the rocks. The ladies went to him.
+
+"His hands are as cold as if he were dead, Ada," said Miss Vyvyan. "What
+will it be best to do?"
+
+"What did you do for me, when you first tried to help me?" replied Mrs.
+Carleton.
+
+"I tried to get you warm."
+
+"Well, then, we must do that."
+
+At these words, they simultaneously took off the outside wraps they
+wore, and laid them over him, and hastened about among the wreckage,
+until they had a good supply of warm rugs and coverings.
+
+"Where did you get those hot stones that you placed at my feet," said
+Mrs. Carleton?
+
+"I made a fire and heated them."
+
+Then we will make a fire and do the same thing.
+
+They covered the poor fellow over, and put hot stones to his feet, and
+he seemed to be sleeping. In the meantime they prepared some light food
+for him. They sat in silence near by, waiting to see what they could do,
+should he return to consciousness. They observed the color coming back
+to his face, and a bright pink spot burned on each cheek.
+
+"I fear," said Mrs. Carleton, "fever is setting in. I will make
+something with the fruit we brought down, that will quench his thirst."
+
+The child seemed to echo the thoughts of her companions, seeing them
+anxiously engaged in ministering to the sufferer. She began gathering up
+anything that she thought pretty, and laid it by his side. Presently she
+went to him with a few wild flowers, which she had picked from the
+crevices of the rocks and among the shore grass close by. She observed
+the ladies spoke in low tones to each other and moved about very
+quietly. She knew there was some cause for this, for, young as she was,
+she had already an idea of illness and suffering, and her little heart
+was full of pity for others. She stood looking at him as he lay asleep
+before her, waiting with her wild flowers, until the time should come
+for her to give them to him. "Poorest, poorest," she repeated, at the
+same time stroking his hair with her baby hand. That was her own word,
+and her own way of showing sympathy and pity. The little one's
+vocabulary was, at this period of her life, very limited, but equally
+significant of all that she saw and felt. She possessed no extraneous
+babble. The only words she was capable of uttering came from her heart;
+hence they fell upon her hearers with all the beauty and strength of
+truth. "Poorest, poorest," she again repeated; "dorn seep; papa dorn
+seep, too."
+
+At the child's last sentence, a shudder quivered through Mrs.
+Carleton's frame, and a still whiter shade passed over the already pale
+face. She clasped her little one close to her and bowed down upon its
+head. She did not utter a sound. Her silence said more than any words
+could have done, for hers was a sorrow that had no speech.
+
+After a restful sleep, the young man awoke, and sitting up among the
+many rugs and coverings by which he was surrounded, he looked about in
+every direction, and appeared to be endeavoring to realize his true
+position. He saw the high tower of the castle rising so near to him
+among the trees; he saw the ladies and the child, but he did not feel
+quite sure of the truth of all he saw until Mrs. Carleton put a cup into
+his hand and said,
+
+"This is a fever drink; will you take some? I have just made it from
+fruit, the same as we make it in Virginia."
+
+"Thank you," he said. "I know what it is. I am a Virginian. I sailed
+from that colony in the ship Sir Walter Raleigh. Who has been so kind as
+to bring me all these rugs," he continued.
+
+"We did," replied Mrs. Carleton, looking in the direction of Miss
+Vyvyan, who with the child stood near them.
+
+"What, with your own hands? I regret to have caused you so much trouble;
+although I am grateful to you in the extreme, I would have preferred you
+to have given orders to some of your servants. It is not seemly that
+ladies such you are should wait upon me; it is not consistent with the
+chivalry of a gentleman."
+
+"I understand your feelings on this subject," said Mrs. Carleton, "for
+I, too, am a Virginian; but we have no servants now, and my friend and I
+are glad that we can be useful. It is five days since your ship was
+wrecked, therefore we know that you must have suffered greatly. Pray do
+not be disturbed by seeing us doing what little we can to save you from
+perishing; let me assure you that we are very happy to do our utmost."
+
+The young man bowed, his cheeks still wore the bright flush of fever
+which heightened the intensity of his soft brown eyes, that beamed with
+gratitude.
+
+"Do you say that you are a Virginian?" he inquired, addressing Mrs.
+Carleton.
+
+"Yes," she answered; "we were in the Sir Walter Raleigh, too; that is to
+say, my husband and child with myself, but I never saw any of the
+passengers. I remained in my cabin all the time we were at sea."
+
+"I recollect you, now," he said. "I saw Colonel Carleton lift you and
+your child into a boat when our ship went ashore."
+
+"Were you acquainted with Colonel Carleton?" she inquired. "He was my
+husband."
+
+"We were not acquainted until we met on board, but during the several
+weeks we were at sea we passed all the time together. You say he _was_
+your husband. Is it possible that generous-hearted man is lost?"
+
+Mrs. Carleton made an inclination with her head.
+
+"Forgive me," he said, "my conversation has caused you pain."
+
+"Please continue," she replied, "tell me all you know about him."
+
+"I witnessed many of his acts of kindness during our voyage, and
+received kindness from him at what I suppose was the last moment of his
+life. The boat you were in was full and I urged him to get into another
+one, but he refused, saying, 'I can swim and you cannot.' At the same
+moment he took hold of me and dropped me into the boat as easily as if I
+were a child. You know how tall and powerful he was. The next instant
+your boat was capsized and I saw Colonel Carleton leap into the sea and
+swim toward you. His hand was almost upon your arm, when an enormous
+wave swept him out of sight. The same wave capsized our boat, and the
+next one threw me into the cove below. I might have got away before, but
+part of a broken mast lay across my chest and I was entangled hand and
+foot by the rigging. I could neither move nor call aloud. I heard voices
+more than once, the voices of ladies. I believe it was your voice and
+that of your friend, for I never knew my ear to deceive me. I saw
+corpses lying all around me. The tide took them away and brought them
+back again many times while I was there. All one night a dead hand lay
+across my throat, but I could not disengage my hands to remove it. I had
+no fever; I was conscious of everything. The tide was higher than usual
+this morning. It lifted the mast and I crawled from under it."
+
+He appeared to suffer much from exhaustion and lay down again upon the
+rugs, and closing his eyes remained silent. After a little rest, he
+again sat up and resumed his conversation with Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"I have a great love of music," he began. "I left the colony of Virginia
+with the intention of going to London, to perfect my study of that
+divine art, under the direction of Orlando Gibbons. He is very young to
+be a composer, but he is already of much renown."
+
+For some time he continued to speak fluently on the subject of music, a
+subject of which the ladies perceived he was a complete master. As he
+talked, he became full of enthusiasm, and that wondrous light which
+belongs to genius alone illumined his beautiful, eyes and his whole soul
+spoke through them.
+
+"Ah, my madrigals," said he, "they will yet be sung to His Majesty, King
+James. My symphonies I shall submit to Orlando Gibbons, then I shall
+hear them played by a full orchestra, the world will hear, then justice
+will be accorded to me, the great masters will be my judges, genius such
+as theirs allows them to be generous and true in their opinions of other
+men. They will see me as I am. They will not condemn what they cannot
+understand. They will not call my life useless, because my tastes, my
+talents and my whole being compel me to be different from those among
+whom I live. I cannot help it, and I would not if I could."
+
+An expression of mental pain passed over his face as he thus proceeded.
+"Why did my uncle call my life and my work useless? It is hard to be
+misunderstood. If I can create out of my own brain something that is
+pure and beautiful, that gives happiness, that draws coarse natures away
+from their coarseness, to feelings more elevated, that can bring to some
+an ecstasy of delight, to others a sweet calm. If I follow a pursuit
+which injures no human being, no living creature, why am I to endure
+displeasure? Is it more manly, more noble to hunt the poor, panting deer
+till it falls gasping on the ground, and then to save its life for the
+purpose of chasing it again for sport? Is it more noble to ride races
+till the horses drop down dead? Tell me, do such pursuits elevate or
+brutalize?"
+
+Taking a roll of paper from his breast, he handed it to Mrs. Carleton,
+saying, "I have a symphony here which I composed since I left my home;
+would you like to look at it? I wish my twin brother Ronald could see
+this; he understands me, and he will understand my music, although since
+his accident, his hand can no longer obey his will; yet he will read my
+symphony, aye, more, he will play it in his soul. With it you will find
+a song also, the words and music are both mine; when you have read it,
+will you hand it to your friend?"
+
+Mrs. Carleton took the roll of music into her hand, but observing that
+the writing was almost obliterated from having been so long wet with sea
+water, she passed it to Miss Vyvyan, who sat a little farther off,
+desiring to spare him the pain of seeing that his composition was
+destroyed. The many pages of music were entirely illegible, with the
+exception of part of the refrain of the song, the words of which ran
+thus:--
+
+    Bury me deep,
+    Where the surges sweep,
+    And the heaving billows moan.
+
+At the bottom was the name "Ralph." The following part of the signature
+was destroyed.
+
+As Anna read over the words of the song, she could not help feeling that
+they might be prophetic of what was very near. She folded the paper
+together and returned it to him.
+
+"Is that your signature?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, that is my name," he replied. "Do you like music," he continued.
+
+"I do," she said.
+
+"How much do you like it?"
+
+"I like it to such a degree," she replied, "that I think life is not
+life without music."
+
+"Ah, that is what I think," he said. "But I am exhausted. Ladies, will
+you pardon me if I sleep a little while? I want to get back my strength,
+that I may be able to wait upon you both, and make all the return in my
+power for your great kindness to me."
+
+He soon fell into a restless, broken sleep, constantly murmuring to
+himself incoherently.
+
+"Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "he is very ill, and it is almost sunset,
+and quite impossible for us to take him up to the castle. We must make
+some shelter here for him; the breeze already comes in from the sea
+much cooler, and the night will be cold." The ladies picked up loose
+stones and planks and everything they could move, and formed a low wall
+around him, making a place of shelter as large as a small room. They
+then drew up a portion of a sail and laid it partially across for a
+roof. He still slept, but as they looked at him, they saw the fever was
+rapidly increasing; a still brighter flush was on his cheeks; his lips
+were parched, and his breathing distressingly short and oppressed.
+
+"What can we do?" said Mrs. Carleton. "See there, Anna! The sun has gone
+behind the hill to the west of the castle; it will soon be dark. It
+would be terrible to leave him here to perish, for he needs great care,
+beside the wolves may come, and he is too ill to defend himself. Do tell
+me what you think it best to do?"
+
+"One of us must watch by him to-night, Ada," replied Miss Vyvyan, "and
+if he should be better to-morrow, we may be able to get him up to the
+castle. I must be the one to watch. Little Cora could not pass the night
+without you, and even if she could, you are not well enough yet to be
+out in the night air. Let me go up and get a few things such as he may
+require. I will be back very quickly."
+
+When Miss Vyvyan entered the castle, the sun had set, and a dull gray
+hue had settled upon every room. How dreary for poor Ada, she thought to
+herself, here almost alone, with the death of her husband so recent, and
+so vividly brought before her to-day. She at once thought of kindling a
+fire as the only means she had of taking away some of the gloominess of
+the place. She did so, and then spread a supper table as temptingly as
+she could with the only food they had at command, and hastened back
+again to the beach.
+
+"He still sleeps," said Mrs. Carleton, "but his fever is very high. It
+distresses me to leave you here, Anna, and I would not, but for little
+Cora's sake."
+
+"I understand you," replied Anna; "I shall always understand you. We are
+not mistresses of our own destiny; we have to do what we can, not what
+we wish. I know all that you would do if you could."
+
+As Mrs. Carleton took the child in her arms and turned her steps toward
+the castle, the moon rose slowly from the sea and made a long, golden,
+glimmering path from the horizon to the shore. It was the harvest moon,
+which was almost at the full. The night was light and still, with the
+exception of the sound of the waves, which broke upon the beach below in
+one long, continuous moan.
+
+Anna watched beside her charge, sometimes moistening his parched lips,
+sometimes arranging his improvised pillow, and listening to every sound
+both near and distant, with that quick, discriminating sense of hearing
+which we acquire from watching over those we love, and which she had
+learned during the last illness of her mother. The night was now far
+advanced. Close beside her came the quick, hard breathing, and the
+indistinct murmuring of the sufferer.
+
+From down below, still arose the mournful tones of the heavily rolling
+waves, and from the forest came the howling of the wolves, but she could
+hear they were not near; and resolved if they should approach to scare
+them away, by setting light to a pile of wood which Mrs. Carleton had
+laid together for that purpose.
+
+As she sat there on the ground and realized her situation, a feeling
+almost of terror came over her. During the past few years, she had gone
+through the discipline of a long lifetime. This night, the past and
+present seemed to combine to crush out the remnant of courage that had
+been left to her. She buried her face in her hands and rocked to and
+fro, struggling with her feeling, struggling with destiny, and
+struggling to call back some of her former self; that as her day, so her
+strength might be.
+
+At that moment, Ralph awoke; he turned his face on his pillow, and
+regarding her with great earnestness, he said, "Where is Ronald, my
+brother? I want him here now."
+
+Anna went nearer to him and, looking at the flushed face and the
+brilliant, restless eyes, saw that he was delirious.
+
+"Ronald," he repeated. "Are you there?"
+
+"Perhaps he is near you," said Anna, wishing to solace him.
+
+"That is well," he answered. "I will play my new composition to him."
+
+He immediately began to move his hands over the rugs which covered him,
+as if he were playing the organ.
+
+"Ah," said he, "that is the chord I sought,--thank heaven.--Listen to
+this.--Hark, hear this resolution. Now do you see what that chord leads
+up to?--How is that harmonic progression?--How does this sound?--I shall
+have a double suspension there.--Ah, that is good.--Hark; now can you
+hear the melody running through the minor?--Yes, the violoncellos come
+in there,--so it must be.--More ink; quick, quick,--there is so much to
+write and so little time."
+
+He sank down again, exhausted, and fell into a deep sleep. After an hour
+he again awoke, the flush had left his cheek; he was very calm, and had
+perfectly regained his senses.
+
+"I have been dreaming of my brother Ronald," he said. "I thought he was
+here. Can you tell me what time it is?"
+
+"I think," replied Anna, "by the position of the moon, it must be an
+hour past midnight."
+
+"I have been ill," he said, "but I feel better, much better; almost well
+again. I want to thank you ladies for so much kind care of me; both Mrs.
+Carleton and you, but I do not know what to call you. I did not hear
+your name."
+
+"I do not wish you to thank me now," said Anna, "because you are too
+weak to talk at present, but I will tell you my name. It is Anna
+Vyvyan."
+
+"Vyvyan," he repeated. "I know that name; I will tell you all about it
+to-morrow--I feel faint.--There is a great oppression at my
+heart.--Those timbers crushed my chest.--I cannot breathe.--Raise me
+up."
+
+Anna knelt on the ground beside him and raised him up as he desired.
+
+"Yes," he said, "tired, tired."
+
+The next moment a wonderful far-away look of rapture came over his
+beautiful face, and then a pale shadow such as might be caused by the
+passing flight of a bird;--his head fell upon her shoulder;--he was
+dead. Anna laid his lifeless body gently down and watched beside it
+through the silent hours of the night, gazing from time to time at the
+finely-formed features. They had a fascination for her, and she could
+not dispossess her mind of the thought that she had seen them before.
+
+The first few streaks of dawn came creeping over land and sea, and the
+sun arose and shed a shimmering light on the surrounding islands, the
+forest and the misty mountain tops. With daylight, the howling of the
+wolves ceased, and the only signs of life were the sea gulls that
+floated about near the shore or ran screaming along the beach devouring
+their prey, and a pair of eagles which constantly hovered near and
+swooped down close to where the dead man was lying. Anna covered the
+cold, pale face and went nearer to protect it from any attack.
+
+The sun had not long risen when Mrs. Carleton with little Cora left the
+castle.
+
+Anna heard their voices, and went to meet them. "I must be careful how I
+speak," she said, addressing Mrs. Carleton, "for I feel sure Cora
+understands much more than she can find language to express, but I have
+to tell you that ever since about an hour after midnight I have been all
+alone. He sleeps."
+
+The ladies gave the child some shells to play with, and went to where
+his body lay. They drew the sail over the low wall which they had made
+around him and completely covered in the little room.
+
+"That will keep any eagles or wolves away while daylight lasts," said
+Mrs. Carleton, "but we must bury the poor fellow's body before night.
+The thought of having it devoured or mutilated when it is in our power
+to prevent it, is more than either of us could bear, for in addition to
+the forlorn state that we found him in, his genius and his gentle
+breeding made both of us take an interest in him. Beside, his being a
+Virginian, and the last person to speak with Dudley, gave him a claim on
+my friendship."
+
+They went up to the castle and did not return until just before sunset,
+when they brought with them many beautiful wild flowers, which, as we
+have said, abounded on the island. They also gathered branches of the
+fragrant fir balsam, with which they lined the fissure in the rock on
+which Ralph's body was lying. Folding around the latter a robe of rich
+brocade, they lowered it tenderly into the tomb that nature had wrought.
+As Anna laid the face cloth over the marble features, she started back.
+The resemblance which had attracted and held her attention during the
+night, had come out vividly since the morning. The likeness was to her
+own mother, and was as marked as if Ralph had been her son. They covered
+his silken winding-sheet with flowers until the sepulchre was filled,
+then they laid flat stones across his resting place, and began to build
+a cairn over all. They continued building until the sun went down,
+little Cora bringing stones in her baby hands and placing them with the
+same precision that she saw her mother and Miss Vyvyan were doing.
+
+"We have made everything secure now, Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "but we
+will come again to-morrow and add more stones to the cairn, and every
+time we come to the beach we will do the same. Will you take charge of
+the manuscript? We do not know what the future may bring. He wished his
+brother Ronald to see it, and we may, perhaps, some day have it in our
+power to carry out his wish. Now we will go back to the castle, for I
+see you are in great need of rest."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+    Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes,
+      Misprising what they look on
+    .     .      .       .      .    to her
+      All matter else seems weak; she cannot love,
+    Nor take no shape nor project of affection,
+      She is so self-endeared.
+
+
+The maple leaves had turned from rose and crimson to orange, then to
+pale yellow and to brown, and had fallen to the earth, for it was now
+almost Christmas, but no snow was as yet on the ground. The ladies had
+made all the rooms which they occupied in the tower very comfortable and
+homelike, although they could neither of them bring themselves to speak
+of the place by the name of home, for that was a sacred word to both of
+them. They always spoke of their dwelling-place as the castle. We have
+already said that the views from every room in the tower were of
+exceeding loveliness. Most of the windows overlooked the islands, many
+of which were far away, others perhaps only two or three miles off. At
+one time, their beauty would be softened and half obscured by mist, at
+another they would appear to be lifted up into the sky by the effect of
+the mirage. At times a heavy sea fog hung over the island and obscured
+every distant object, and to the nearer ones gave a weird and spectral
+look.
+
+Just at daylight one morning, when the fog was coming in from the ocean,
+the ladies were awakened by the lowing of cattle. On looking down from
+the tower windows, they saw some cows come out from under the trees and
+pass along close to the walls of the building. They scarcely had time to
+express their surprise to each other, before it was much heightened by
+the appearance of a woman, who followed the animals out of the forest
+and drove them quickly across the grass which had formerly been the
+courtyard of the castle, to a high mound a little way to the north of
+it, there both she and the cattle disappeared in the fog and among a
+thick growth of spruces. The woman's movements were quick and firm, and
+she stepped as one who not only possessed determination, but defiance
+also. She was tall and gaunt and bony, possibly not fifty years old, but
+her hair which hung loose in disheveled entanglement, was as white as if
+she were eighty. She had large black eyes that flashed upon every object
+that she looked at. She wore a red dress, which reached only a little
+below her knees. On her feet she had a pair of heavy, high boots, such
+as are worn by cavalry soldiers. Her head was partially covered by an
+old cotton handkerchief which had once been of many bright colors.
+
+"Did you hear what language she spoke," said Miss Vyvyan?
+
+"I caught the sound of a few words somewhat like Italian, but it was not
+Italian."
+
+"I heard it," replied Mrs. Carleton. "I believe it was Spanish, but she
+passed so quickly I could not hear distinctly, or I should have
+understood her."
+
+All that day the ladies remained in doors. They watched in the direction
+of the mound, but nothing was to be seen which would lead them to
+suppose that any dwelling was near to them; and so the time passed until
+night covered the island with darkness. They had put little Cora to bed,
+and were, according to their usual habit, sitting beside her in Mrs.
+Carleton's room. The night was unusually cold. It seemed as if winter
+had really sent in its heralds in advance, to announce its near
+approach. The wind howled and shrieked through the rooms which
+surrounded them up stairs, and groaned and roared in the many passages
+and apartments down below. Their glowing log fire was so acceptable to
+them, that they were loath to leave it, and so they sat talking together
+until midnight. They had gained a very good idea of time by observing
+the sun and moon, and were also greatly aided by the ebb and flow of the
+tide. They knew exactly the high-water mark, by certain rocks; they knew
+that it took so many hours to ebb and so many to flow, and they had
+become so familiar with the sound of the outgoing and incoming tide,
+that even in the darkness of night, they did not feel at a loss.
+
+"It is past midnight, Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, going to one of the
+windows and leaning out to listen, "The tide has just turned. Come
+here," she continued. "What is that rising above the mound?"
+
+"Sparks of fire and wood smoke," replied Miss Vyvyan. "There must be a
+dwelling of some kind there. That is probably where the woman went to
+with the cows, but it is strange that we have never seen anything of it
+before to-night."
+
+The intense cold of the next day warned the ladies that they must use
+dispatch in finishing their arrangements, in order to be able to meet
+the exigencies that a severe winter night might bring upon them. During
+the two months they had been living in the castle, they had employed
+themselves continually in bringing in supplies of all kinds, until they
+felt they had ample stores to last them for a very long time, but they
+were all in the rooms down stairs; and as the distance from the tower
+was so great, and the weather so severe, they decided to make a
+storeroom up stairs, on the same floor as that on which they lived. They
+had been busy for some time, packing and carrying up their requirements,
+little Cora, as usual, just as active as themselves, taking up her loads
+and returning for more; her tiny feet pattering up and down the long,
+stone staircase, flitting back and forth between her mother and Anna,
+with her own peculiar, light, swift, graceful movement, which was like
+that of a bird.
+
+All at once, they each missed the return of the child; but as the ladies
+were in separate parts of the castle, they each of them thought she had
+remained with the other. After some time had elapsed, they began to
+feel anxious, and each sought the other.
+
+Meeting on the stairs, the question "Where is Cora?" came from the lips
+of each of them at the same moment; then a hurried explanation, and a
+terrible feeling of horror. They ran in every direction, calling her
+name. They separated and went different ways; they met again and went in
+search of her together. Could it be possible that she had gone up the
+watch tower, and fallen from the battlements. They flew up the tower
+stairs and looked over. They rushed down again and out into the court
+yard; no sound, no sign of the child. In the agony of their distress,
+they went into every room and opened every great chest, every large
+piece of furniture.
+
+"Oh Anna," cried Mrs. Carleton, "that woman we saw, do you think she has
+stolen my child; perhaps put her to death. We must go to the mound where
+we saw her go."
+
+They followed the tracks of the cattle, and pushed their way through the
+trees for a short distance, till they came to the almost bare mound; it
+was high and long; near the base was an opening of irregular shape,
+which was evidently the entrance, but it was partly closed by an old,
+broken door. They had gone within a few feet of it, when the door was
+violently thrown down, and the gaunt woman in the same strange dress
+stood in the doorway, brandishing a rusty sword at them, and speaking
+rapidly in a peculiarly harsh and high pitched voice. She spoke in
+Spanish, which Mrs. Carleton perfectly understood, and which she, also,
+spoke fluently.
+
+"Go hence," said the woman. "What seek you here? I am Louisita, and all
+that you see here is mine; my land, my trees, my seashore; hence I say,
+away with you, or this sword pierces the heart of both."
+
+"Pray, hear me one moment," pleaded Mrs. Carleton, "I am in the greatest
+distress."
+
+"What care I for your distress, have I not enough of my own without
+listening to yours? Off with you."
+
+"Only a few words," again entreated Mrs. Carleton. "I want to--"
+
+"You may want, I heed that not. I want myself; I have nothing to give
+you. I would not give you anything, if I had it. You are intruders on
+this island. I saw you arrive, and the men you brought with you. Ha! ha!
+You meant them to land here. Where are they now? I saw it all, ha! ha!
+ha! You may wait for their return; they have made a long voyage, so long
+that they will never come back; glad, glad, I hate the accursed sex,
+they caused all my suffering; twenty years entombed here, through their
+state of mad intoxication. If only one of that great band of pirates had
+remained sober, I might have got away."
+
+"Do let me ask you, have you seen my child?" said Mrs. Carleton. "I
+entreat you to tell me."
+
+"See your child. I saw you take food to one of the accursed sex. I saw
+you try to make him live. I despise you for it. Why should he live to
+drink, drink, and bring misery on me and all women? I tell you again I
+hate them for their love of drink. I hold them in contempt for their
+weakness. The ocean did well to swallow them down, just as their
+brothers swallowed down the fiery drink on that fearful night when the
+great tower fell and crushed a hundred of them."
+
+"Do, I implore you, say if my child strayed anywhere in your sight?"
+cried Mrs. Carleton, overcome with anguish. "We have lost her."
+
+"Lost her; lost her; seen her;" echoed Louisita very slowly, and making
+a long pause as if to collect her thoughts, she added, "The child was
+young and the wolf was hungry."
+
+As Mrs. Carleton translated the last sentence to Miss Vyvyan, she fell
+fainting into Anna's arms.
+
+"Do not heed what she says, dear Ada; let us believe the best until we
+know the worst. Cora may have fallen asleep in some of the nooks in the
+building, and so did not hear us call her."
+
+The ladies returned to the castle. Miss Vyvyan was also under the most
+intense apprehension, but she concealed her feelings from Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"Which room were you in, Ada, when you missed Cora? She may, as I said,
+be asleep, and perhaps she is among some of the bales in one of the
+storerooms."
+
+"I was down at the end of the passage," replied Mrs. Carleton, "in the
+largest room. We will go there first."
+
+They went down and searched the room, but could not find Cora. As they
+came out of it they heard a sound which seemed to come from under
+ground. They ran to the half-dark stairway which they had seen when they
+blocked up the north door. The sound was more distinct; it was Cora's
+voice in conversation. Who could have taken her down to that
+subterranean place? They did not hesitate an instant, but descended the
+stairs as quickly as the darkness would admit, and found themselves in a
+dungeon where there was just sufficient light to see that an uncovered
+well was close beside the path which they were following. The talking
+had ceased. The silence was profound and added still greater gloom to
+the place. They both stood bending over the well and looking down into
+the depth of water which was black and silent. They each looked at the
+other. They read the thoughts which passed through each other's mind.
+They neither of them spoke. They did not dare to. While they still stood
+bending over the well, straining both eyes and ears to the utmost,
+little Cora's voice came again. It seemed close to them; they could not
+distinguish any words, but the tones were those of her usual pretty baby
+prattle. Was that voice from the spirit land? They could see nothing but
+the gray stone walls of the dungeon, the dark, open well and some large,
+loose stones, which had heavy iron chains with rings attached to them,
+and which had in former years been fastened to the ankles of the
+prisoners and worn by them till death relieved them of their burden.
+Just in the same way as many of the poor victims of imperial tyranny are
+to-day doomed to drag their chains and weights while they labor in the
+mines of Siberia. Again came Cora's voice as if from the further corner
+of the dungeon. The ladies stumbled among the loose stones in the
+semi-darkness, Anna, who was more robust and the taller of the two,
+folding her arms around Mrs. Carleton to support her, and both of them
+feeling their way lest they should fall into any other well or
+excavation. Arrived at the corner they saw a gleam of light, which came
+in a slanting direction through a large hole in the wall. They still
+heard the little voice and determined to follow it. The hole would only
+admit of their crawling in on their hands and knees. This they did for
+several yards, until everything was in complete darkness, and they found
+they were against a wall straight in front of them, and could go no
+further. The passage was too narrow for them to turn round and come out,
+the top of it was so low it nearly touched their heads as they crawled
+along. The air was oppressive, and suffocation almost overpowered them,
+but they could still hear the voice which seemed nearer. Feeling the
+walls carefully with their hands, they found that a sharp turn to the
+right, led along in a direct line toward the sound. This passage was
+also dark, and as narrow almost as a coffin. They continued crawling for
+several yards more, sometime cutting their arms with the broken stones
+which covered the bottom, and sometimes placing one of their hands upon
+some cold substance which moved and felt as if it might be a lizard or a
+sleeping snake. They neither called nor spoke, for they feared someone
+might have the child, who would run away with her, if warned of their
+approach, so they determined to come upon them suddenly. They were
+greatly exhausted, but they struggled on.
+
+At length daylight appeared at the end of the subterranean passage, and
+in another moment they emerged from it and stood in a large stone hall,
+amply lighted from above by open iron gratings and loopholes in the
+walls; through one of the latter, a bright gleam of light fell like a
+halo upon the sweet, fair face and the golden head of the child, who was
+sitting on the floor, with a portion of her little white dress folded
+around a kitten, which she was rocking in her arms and talking to. Happy
+as was her wont and all unconscious of the flight of time and the
+anxiety that she had caused, she seemed to have made some little
+exploration of her own since she had been there and wanted to show her
+discovery, just the same as Mrs. Carleton and Miss Vyvyan were always
+doing to one another.
+
+"Come," said she, getting up from the floor and taking her mother's
+hand, "funny sing down dare; Anna too," she continued, and stretching
+out her other hand, she caught hold of the folds of Miss Vyvyan's dress,
+and drew her along also, leading them both across the hall to a large
+gate of iron bars. It was locked, and closed the entrance to a broad
+stone passage.
+
+"Down dare, funny sing," she went on, pointing to a skeleton, which lay
+just inside, and so near to the gate that one hand had been thrust out
+between the bars and the bones of it were lying close to their feet. A
+great quantity of long black hair still remained about the skull, in the
+midst of which was a Mexican ear-ring of elaborate workmanship.
+Everything told them that the skeleton was that of a woman. Glancing
+round the hall, the ladies could not see any door. How did Cora get
+there? Before they had time to inquire, little Cora saw something inside
+the gate, and with her usual quick movement, she swiftly passed her tiny
+hand between the closely placed iron bars and from a small heap of
+débris of finger bones, drew out a richly chased gold ring, inscribed
+with the name of "Inez;" set in it was a large ruby in the form of a
+heart.
+
+The child who possessed as part of her inheritance a fine, sensitive
+instinct, looking at her mother, observed that her long silken eyelashes
+were wet with tears, and that traces of recent mental agony lingered on
+her face. In an instant, the dear little soul strove to comfort and
+cheer, after the manner so often employed by each of her guardians
+toward herself. Holding up the ring in one hand, and clinging round her
+mother with the other, she said,
+
+"See, mama, Cora dot pitty sing for mama. Don't ky, don't ky, Cora loves
+mama."
+
+"Sweet child," exclaimed Anna, taking her up into her arms and holding
+her to her heart. "Sweet child, more precious to us every day, for each
+one reveals some new beauty of character, some still more lovable
+trait. Come, dear Ada, come away," she continued. "I will carry Cora.
+How did my little godchild come here?" she said, addressing the little
+one in her arms.
+
+"Kitta doe," answered Cora.
+
+"Yes darling, where did kitta go?"
+
+"By dare," said the child, pointing to a massive column, one side of
+which was built close to the wall and had the appearance of being placed
+there as a support, but was in reality to conceal a doorway which led to
+a flight of stairs between two walls.
+
+The ladies went up, Miss Vyvyan carrying Cora. They soon found
+themselves in one of the rooms which was nearly filled with firearms and
+other implements of warfare. The entrance to it at the top of the stairs
+was concealed in the same manner as the doorway below, and but for Cora
+following the little white kitten, the ladies might have lived many
+years in the castle and never have seen it. The subterranean passage
+into which they accidentally crawled, had been made for a place of
+concealment in case of a sudden attack upon the castle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+    Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
+    That host with their banners at sunset was seen:
+    Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
+    That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
+
+    For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
+    And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
+    And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
+    And their hearts but once heaved and forever grew still.
+
+           *     *     *     *     *
+
+    And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
+    And the might of the Gentile unsmote by the sword,
+    Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!
+
+
+Christmas had come and gone, and the snow was lying deep on the ground.
+They had seen nothing of Louisita since the day Cora was lost.
+
+"I wonder," said Mrs. Carleton, "how that poor woman, Louisita, exists?
+for I think from what I saw the day we went to her, that she is all
+alone, and if you recollect, she said something to that effect. I fear
+she suffers in this cold weather. You saw, of course, that it was no
+kind of a house that she came out of."
+
+"Yes," replied Miss Vyvyan, "it appeared to be only a mound of earth."
+
+"I want to take her some food," continued Mrs. Carleton. "Do you think
+we can get there through the snow?"
+
+"I can carry Cora," replied Miss Vyvyan, "if you can take the food."
+
+Mrs. Carleton filled a box with both food and fruit, and the ladies,
+with little Cora, went forth to visit Louisita.
+
+She met them in the same manner as before, not allowing them to come
+very near to the opening, and brandishing the old sword.
+
+"If that child were one of the accursed sex," she said, with a malicious
+look, "I would sever its head from its body."
+
+The child could not, of course, understand her language, but she read
+the look, and clasping her arms closely around Anna's neck, she buried
+her face on her shoulder.
+
+"Will you accept of this?" said Mrs. Carleton, speaking very gently, and
+at the same time lifting the lid of the box.
+
+Louisita sprang at the contents as a famished tigress might have sprung
+upon some long-sought prey. Jerking the box out of Mrs. Carleton's
+hands, she put it on the ground, and again raised her sword. "Hence,"
+she cried, "all of you; no one enters here. Ha, what do I see; stop,
+stop," she screamed. "Donna Inez, my lady, Donna Inez. Where did you get
+that ring," she continued, pointing to Mrs. Carleton's finger, on which
+she wore the ring that Cora had found. "That is the ring Donna Inez wore
+the night they murdered her. Yes, the accursed sex murdered her, the
+night they drank out of the skulls till they were all mad, mad, and the
+great tower fell upon them; ha, ha, ha. Who will drink out of their
+skulls when they find them? More of the accursed sex, they who make laws
+to command women, and who cannot command themselves. Away with you. I
+tell you to go, you are intruders."
+
+"I fear your dress is not warm enough," said Mrs. Carleton. "You must
+suffer from the cold."
+
+"Suffer," shrieked Louisita, "I have known nothing else than suffering
+for twenty winters and summers, and they the accursed sex caused it all
+by their passion for the fiery cup; it soddened their brains; it
+poisoned every good feeling in their hearts. It buried my husband under
+the ruins of the tower; it bereft me of my home; it caused my two babes
+to die of cold and hunger in this tomb."
+
+"Poor Louisita," said Mrs. Carleton, "if you will come back with us to
+the castle I will find some warm dresses and other comforts for you."
+
+"Never," she replied; "it is haunted. I have not been into it since I
+came away with my babes the morning after the tower fell."
+
+"Why do you think it is haunted?" asked Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"I know it is because I hear them shrieking in the night, and I hear
+Donna Inez calling, 'Open the gate'."
+
+"I will not ask you to come inside, Louisita, but if you will only come
+up the outside steps to the door I will get you anything you wish for."
+
+"I want food; I want warm clothes; I want something to cover my bed."
+
+"You shall have it," said Mrs. Carleton. "I feel very sorry for you; I
+wish to make you happy."
+
+"Ha! ha! happy," she repeated. Then looking toward Miss Vyvyan she
+continued, "Make her take that child out of my sight. She brings it here
+to mock me. I will run my sword through her heart if ever she brings
+that child here again."
+
+"She does not bring my child here to mock you, Louisita. She is my
+friend, and loves my child, and we could not leave it alone. My friend
+always goes where I go, for fear anything might befall me. She cannot
+speak Spanish or she would explain all to you."
+
+"Go away with you," said Louisita; "go get the things for me. I will
+come for them when I am ready, but I will not put my foot over the door
+sill."
+
+"All things considered, Ada," said Miss Vyvyan, "I think it is well that
+Louisita is afraid to go into the castle, for she appears to be of a
+spiteful nature, and might try to do Cora some harm, but we will never
+again let the child be out of sight."
+
+Mrs. Carleton prepared for Louisita's arrival by placing a number of
+things of all kinds in the hall near to the entrance which the ladies
+used. In a little while she came, still in the same short red gown and
+cavalry boots, bearing the old sword in her hand.
+
+"Where are my things?" she demanded of Mrs. Carleton, speaking in the
+same defiant tone as usual. "Bring them here to the door. I told you I
+would not enter. That belonged to Donna Inez," she said, taking up a
+dress, "and that was Don Alphonzo's," seizing hold of the red velvet
+cloak which the ladies had found in the library.
+
+"Wrap the cloak about your shoulders, Louisita," said Mrs. Carleton; "it
+will keep you warm."
+
+"I will not," she answered, fiercely; "it belonged to one of the
+accursed sex; he died through drinking of the fiery cup; he caused the
+death of many through the same thing."
+
+"Perhaps you will wear this, Louisita," said Mrs. Carleton, offering her
+one of the best and warmest table covers that she and Miss Vyvyan had
+brought from the wreck.
+
+"Yes," said she, "I will; give me another for my bed."
+
+"Let me go, Ada," said Miss Vyvyan, who had hitherto been standing far
+back in the hall with Cora. "I know where we put one that will please
+her, for I see that she likes red," and taking Cora up in her arms she
+disappeared.
+
+"Why does she take that child everywhere," asked Louisita.
+
+"I told you just now," replied Mrs. Carleton, "that my friend loves my
+child, and they are always happy together."
+
+"Does she think she is happy?" said Louisita, "what a fool she must be;
+she is not happy, you are not happy, I am not happy. Oh, the fool, she
+has not sense enough to know that she is not happy."
+
+Just at this junction Miss Vyvyan returned with Cora on one arm, and
+the other one loaded with warm, bright-colored articles, such as she
+felt sure Louisita would like. As she approached the door, where the
+woman stood, and passed the things to Mrs. Carleton, the child again
+clung tightly as before to Anna, who hastily went back to the end of the
+hall.
+
+"Tell the fool to go away out of my sight with that child," said
+Louisita, "and I will tell you about this place. I will not tell her
+because she mocks me by bringing the child to remind me of my dead
+babes--my babes who were famished to death."
+
+Miss Vyvyan went to the green parlor with little Cora, and Louisita
+began her narrative.
+
+"I was born in Spain. When I was a young woman, Donna Inez was married
+to Don Alphonzo in Madrid. She engaged me for her waiting woman. I was
+married directly after to one of Don Alphonzo's sailors. We came to this
+island in one of the Don's ships. The castle was most gorgeously
+furnished with the spoils of almost every country in the world. I
+thought Don Alphonzo was a great noble, so did my husband, for he was so
+called in Spain, but soon my husband told me that the Don and all his
+men were buccaneers. Donna Inez did not know the truth until after we
+came here. We tried to get away, but that was impossible. The Don
+brought the richest dresses and jewels to make the Donna like her home,
+but he could not succeed. Many wrecks I have seen in just the same place
+you were wrecked in; Don Alphonzo and his crew burned false signals at
+night, they hoisted false colors by day, they drew the unfortunate ships
+to their doom; the Don had a hundred men in this castle, ready to obey
+his commands at any moment. They had uniforms and flags of many nations,
+which they used as disguises and decoys. They robbed the vessels which
+fell into their hands, they killed some of their crews, some they sold
+into slavery, and others who refused to commit murder, they chained to
+great stones down in the middle dungeon. That was called the 'dungeon of
+death,' for they kept the men there until they died of starvation, and
+when they died, they threw their bodies into the well. My husband, Juan,
+was put into that dungeon, because he would not kill a Spanish boy who
+was taken prisoner, but Donna Inez made the Don release him, for we
+thought Juan would help us to get away. The Donna had promised to give
+him half of her jewels, if he would find some way to get us back to
+Spain, but he made himself powerless, he soddened his brain, he murdered
+his manly feelings; he was once good and brave and I loved him with all
+the intensity and devotion of a true woman, but he learned to value
+strong drink more than my affection, he killed my love, he drowned it in
+the fiery cup, and I grew to despise and loath him. Don Alphonzo was
+worse than Juan, for he had so much learning and so much power and he
+turned it all to a bad use. He blasted other lives by his own evil
+example. Out of his wickedness grew the curse which fell upon me, but
+he has met with retribution."
+
+"Poor Louisita," said Mrs. Carleton, speaking very gently, "What can I
+do for you?"
+
+"Nothing," she replied. "Let me tell you the rest. One night the Don and
+his crew came back with the greatest prize they ever seized. The men
+were summoned to unload the ship. They made immense fires from the
+castle to the beach, and by their glare they robbed the merchants of
+their valuable cargo. It was near midnight before their rapacity was
+satisfied. Don Alphonzo ordered the vessel to remain where she laid
+until daybreak, when he intended to set her adrift, with all her crew on
+board, that he might see them dashed on to those rocks which you see
+down yonder. The Don then commanded a feast to be set in the banqueting
+hall, in the base of the north tower. He ordered every man in the castle
+to attend the revel, that they might rejoice over their great prize.
+They all went; the wine flowed like water; they went down to the
+banqueting hall by a secret stairway; they passed along a stone passage,
+which was closed by an iron gate. The banqueting hall had no windows;
+they always held their revels there, that they might not be surprised by
+any enemy, for no light could be seen outside, and no one could tell
+that they were carousing. I listened on the secret stairs until their
+loud shouting had ceased, and I knew that the strong drink had soddened
+their brains, and paralyzed their arms. I ran to Donna Inez; I dressed
+her in the richest brocade; I covered her neck and arms with jewels of
+fabulous worth, for I knew the effect of costly attire upon the accursed
+sex whose help we needed. I made ready some caskets of jewels to take
+with us. I told the Donna all that I had heard of the ship lying there
+till morning, and we resolved to let the captain know that the Don and
+all his men were powerless, and to offer him the Donna's jewels if he
+would take us away. We knew he would be glad to escape; we knew he would
+be glad of the jewels, for they would make him very rich. We were ready
+to leave the castle. My babes were very young; they were asleep in a
+large basket; I could easily carry them to the beach. We heard a sound
+like a moan; it seemed far off, then a distant rumble, but nearer than
+the first sound; next a terrific roar; another and a fearful crash,
+crash. For a moment the whole castle trembled; a flash of light lit up
+the place; the north tower was wrecked from top to bottom; the walls
+fell inward; they fell as you see them lying now, for no hand has
+touched them since. We knew an earthquake had occurred. My babes awoke
+and screamed; I tried to quiet them, and to hold Donna Inez back, but
+she tore herself away; she was panic stricken; she did not know what she
+did; she said something to me as she ran out of her room about seeking
+protection; she rushed down the stairs in the direction of the
+banqueting hall; she never came up them again. As soon as I had hushed
+my babes I followed her. She was inside the iron gate; it had closed
+upon her as she passed through. It could only be opened by those who
+understood the secret spring. There was no one who could come to show us
+how to open it. We could not break the gate; that was impossible. We saw
+that the further end of the castle was stopped, all filled up with
+immense blocks of stone which had crashed in when the tower fell. Don
+Alphonzo and more than a hundred men lay under the ruins; they shrieked
+and groaned there all through the night. Donna Inez became frantic. She
+dashed herself against the iron bars like some newly caged bird. In the
+morning when the sun came up from the sea she was dead. I looked for the
+ship; it had sailed. I had almost lost the power of moving, but the
+cries of my babes called me back to activity. I gathered some covering
+and some other things and took them to the Vikings' tomb. I tore away
+the earth to make an entrance. We lived there till cold and hunger
+killed my babes. I have lived there ever since. Nothing could induce me
+ever to enter the castle again."
+
+"Why do you call it the Vikings' tomb, Louisita?" asked Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"That was what Don Alphonzo called it. I think he knew for he was a man
+of much learning, although he had no sense. He said the Vikings built
+the castle very long ago, and lived here for two hundred years till a
+great pestilence prevailed among them, and so many died of it that the
+remaining ones deserted the place. He said the Indians cast a spell over
+the Vikings and bewitched them, because the Indians used to live here
+in wigwams before the Vikings came and drove them away from their own
+land, and would not allow them to bury their dead among their
+forefathers, for they have a burial place on this island. It is down
+there just below the swamp where I saw you gathering flowers one day
+soon after you came here. There is a large elm tree down there, the only
+one near. The Indians are buried there all round it. They always had an
+elm tree in that place. They have a secret charm by which they keep it
+there. The Vikings cut down their elm many times, but it sprung up again
+in the night, and was as tall and large as ever the next day. When we
+came here Don Alphonzo had their tree cut down every day, but it always
+came up again just the same. At last he was afraid the Indian spirits
+would cast a spell over him, too, so he let their elm alone. The Indians
+still bury their dead under it, but no one ever sees them arrive. They
+come in the night. An elm will always grow there till the two thousand
+years for which they have their charm has expired. After that time there
+will never be another."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+    A fool, a fool!--I met a fool i' the forest.
+
+
+The first winter which the ladies and little Cora passed on the island,
+was unusually severe, but they had expected and prepared for it; and the
+winter scene was so novel to them, and fraught with so much beauty, that
+they never wearied of it. Besides the constant occupation in their
+housekeeping and attending to Cora, and also caring for Louisita, and
+providing her with all the comforts they had in their power to take to
+her, for she still insisted in living in the Vikings' tomb, which she
+never permitted them to enter.
+
+Spring came at last, and with it returned to the island the robins, the
+song thrushes, the beautiful golden orioles, and the humming birds, all
+of which had gone southward at the beginning of winter. The wood violets
+and the trailing arbutus blossomed among the grass. The spruces and
+pines put forth their young buds, and the whole island wore a garb of
+beauty.
+
+The little family of three, spent much time out of doors, and visited
+the beach almost daily, for they all loved the sea, especially little
+Cora; and to enhance her happiness was the first desire of both of the
+ladies. They frequently wandered around Ralph's grave, and never omitted
+adding a stone to the cairn, which they had raised to his memory.
+Little Cora with her tiny hands, always placing her own mite to the
+pile. As the child grew stronger, they took longer walks, and taught her
+from the book of nature as they went along, for Nature's lessons in
+geology, and botany, and natural history, lay all around them.
+
+They had by this, brought their lives into the same degree of system and
+order, as that in which they had each of them been educated in their
+respective homes; the want of which during the first part of their
+residence on the island they greatly missed. They now divided their
+days, and had regular hours for certain occupations, and they made a
+compact, that they would always be cheerful in the presence of the
+child, and meet their destiny bravely, that they might not give a somber
+tinge to her young life. Everything went well with them as far as might
+be, excepting that Louisita, who had the control over three cows, would
+never let them have a drop of milk for Cora. The child had for a long
+while after their coming, constantly repeated at every meal "Dinah, bing
+milk." She seemed to think her negress nurse was somewhere near her, and
+was able to bring anything she wished for, as formerly.
+
+Her demands for milk, had ceased for a week or two, when one morning she
+again begged for it, and when told she could not have any, a look of
+extreme repression of feeling came over her features. She did not cry,
+or in any way show temper. The food was distasteful to the poor little
+thing; and the look of forced endurance, one may say that forced
+resignation and endurance combined, which we sometimes see in older
+faces and which is utterly discordant with their reasoning faculties,
+was distressing to behold in one so young. The child could not
+understand why she was not to have milk; but the brave spirit of her
+mother was her birthright, and like her mother, she endured
+disappointment without a murmur.
+
+"This must not be any longer, Ada," said Miss Vyvyan. "It is too much
+for you to witness, and for Cora to suffer. That dear child shall have
+some milk. I will learn how, and I will milk one of those cows, whether
+Louisita's sword kills me or not."
+
+"Dear Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "I pray you do not expose yourself to
+danger; do not be rash. Why what has come to you? I never heard you
+speak like that before."
+
+"I know it, Ada, but you never saw me so placed else you would have. I
+detest selfishness, and you have been so kind to Louisita, and she is
+aware how precious Cora is to us. You know we shall not be depriving her
+of anything, because she told us she threw most of the milk away; but
+she encourages the cows to come here in order to keep them tame. You
+recollect that she told you the rest of the herd which stay on the other
+side of the island have become wild."
+
+"I, of course, know that we should not be depriving Louisita," said Mrs.
+Carleton; "but I fear so much that she may hurt you."
+
+"Only teach me a few words of Spanish, Ada," said Miss Vyvyan, "and I
+will put that out of her power. Teach me to say I am a spirit, you
+cannot harm me."
+
+"I am afraid, Anna; for your own sake I would not have you go."
+
+"I am not in the least afraid of her," replied Miss Vyvyan. "I have
+always done my best to help her, and I certainly intend to continue to
+be kind to her, because she needs help; but I never submit to injustice
+being done either to my friends or to myself. I consider it unjust to
+throw away the milk which Cora so much requires."
+
+With those words Miss Vyvyan left the room. In a few minutes she
+returned.
+
+"Ada," said she, addressing Mrs. Carleton, "my good old guardian, Sir
+Thomas, used to say 'All is fair in love and in war.' Now I am going to
+unite both love and war, for as I love you and Cora I must in all honor
+defend you both, just as some gallant knight would do if he were here.
+Put your hand on my shoulder and feel what is there."
+
+Mrs. Carleton did so.
+
+"Why, what have you under your dress?" said she.
+
+"A whole suit of chain armor, Ada, that's all, and a helmet of the same
+under this lace scarf on my head. Louisita won't have the pleasure of
+piercing my heart this time, and when she finds that she cannot, she
+will think the spirits are round me, or that I am like the Indians and
+have a charm. I am going now; the cows are in sight. I saw how Louisita
+milked, and I think I can do it. Look down from the window, Ada, and see
+the fun."
+
+"Anna be back," said the child, looking up with a face more full of
+anxious desire than inquiry.
+
+"Yes, precious one," replied Miss Vyvyan, "Anna will come back."
+
+No sooner had Miss Vyvyan approached the cow and was endeavoring to
+imitate as well as she could Louisita's way of milking, than the latter
+came striding out of the mound wearing her cavalry boots and flourishing
+her sword, exclaiming, as usual:
+
+"Hence; away, away; all here is mine. Touch not that cow. I will pierce
+your heart."
+
+Miss Vyvyan who heard it all did not take any notice of her, but went on
+with apparent indifference, pursuing her lacteal occupation. Louisita
+stood over her and went through all the sword exercises that she was
+mistress of. Still Miss Vyvyan continued her endeavor to milk, unharmed
+either by cut or thrust. Presently, turning to Louisita, she repeated
+her Spanish lesson as well as she could in the midst of her laughter.
+
+"It is the fool who is laughing," said Louisita, looking up at Mrs.
+Carleton, who was leaning out of one of the tower windows. "It is the
+fool, who has not sense enough to know that she is not happy. I shall
+never interfere with her again; she can have all the milk she wishes
+for; she has a charmed life."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+    The quality of mercy is not strained;
+    It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,
+    Upon the place beneath. It is twice bless'd.
+    It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
+    'Tis mightiest in the mightiest.
+
+
+Summers and winters went by; five years had passed since the family had
+been cast on the island; they had watched from the tower almost daily
+for a white sail, but none had ever appeared, and yet they always
+continued to hope that the day would come, and they struggled within
+themselves to be patient and cheerful. Sometimes the thought would take
+possession of the mind of each of the ladies, that one or other of them
+might die, and how terrible it would be for the one who was left, and
+worse still a thousand times, both of them might die and leave Cora; but
+neither of them would ever breathe a word which could convey such an
+idea to the other; and when such thoughts and feelings oppressed them,
+they took the best method of dispelling their anxiety by engaging
+themselves in some active occupation. They made a pretty garden for
+summer enjoyment out of doors, and another for winter in one of the
+large rooms, by filling boxes and chests with earth. They always had
+beautiful flowers in their parlor, which was a great source of delight
+to Cora, as well as to her guardians. The two guitars which they had
+found in the castle, they strung with wire, and managed to have some
+music every evening in the twilight; then they had a time set apart,
+also in the early part of the evening, which they called Cora's hour.
+For that period, they devoted themselves wholly to the recital of such
+subjects as were suitable and pleasant to her, and which they varied
+every day in the week, weaving each recital into a little story,
+sometimes telling from history; at another time, Mrs. Carleton would
+compose a story about Virginian life, and Miss Vyvyan would tell one
+about foreign countries; but the hour Cora liked best, was the one
+devoted to poetry and fairy tales. She was now in her eighth year, and
+could read very well; but there were no fairy tales among the numerous
+books in the library, so the ladies repeated them from memory. When the
+friends had put Cora to bed, they always remained together during the
+rest of the evening, working, and reading aloud to each other, making
+new dresses for Cora, who grew very fast, or planning some pleasant
+surprise for her, and as far as their present position allowed, always
+considering the child's future, and in what manner it was their duty to
+educate her, so that she might be best prepared to encounter any of the
+reverses or changes of condition, which fate brings into the lives of so
+many of us.
+
+Louisita had taught the ladies how to poison some of the provisions with
+a plant which grew in the woods, and by so doing, and laying the
+poisoned food about the ground, they had destroyed nearly all the
+wolves, and now wandered about the island where they desired, making
+expeditions in search of flowers, or having little picnics for Cora in
+the woods, and visiting Ralph's cairn without their former fear. They
+had all been spending a long summer afternoon on the beach, the ladies
+seated on the rocks between Ralph's cairn and the sea, Mrs. Carleton
+working on a dress, that she was making for Louisita, Miss Vyvyan
+reading aloud, and Cora filling in the small open spaces in the cairn,
+with little stones of her own selecting. The sun had gone behind the
+hill on the western side of the castle, when the little party left
+Ralph's cairn and strolled along the shore, as they returned homeward,
+gathering the beautiful sea-pea blossoms on their way.
+
+"Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "we have not seen Louisita to-day; shall we
+go to the mound and tell her that her dress will be finished in the
+morning, perhaps that would please her?"
+
+"I am ready," replied Miss Vyvyan, "to go anywhere you please, Ada; you
+always know the right thing to do."
+
+"May I stay a little way off with Anna," said Cora, "not far; I am
+afraid of Louisita, but I want to be near you mama, to take care of you.
+Don't you think, Anna, that Louisita is very cross," said the child.
+
+"Not now, dear, she has been very gentle and quiet for the last year."
+
+"I remember," the child continued, "a long time ago when I was little
+and you were trying to get some milk for me, and she hit you with her
+sword, she frightened me so; I was afraid she would kill you."
+
+"She does not carry her sword any longer," said Miss Vyvyan, "and she
+does not scold us any more; she would not hurt any one now, your mama
+has been so kind to her, and set her such an example of goodness that
+she has made her good, too."
+
+They had reached the entrance to the mound; Cora shrank back and clasped
+Miss Vyvyan's hand, who led her a few steps on one side.
+
+"What is this," said the child holding in her hand a gold ornament set
+with garnets that she had just picked up from a heap of rubbish which
+appeared to be sweepings from Louisita's abode.
+
+"That is a fibula, Cora, such as I saw in a museum in Norway."
+
+"Look, Anna, look at these," she continued, gathering up several antique
+beads of glass mosaic and a few chess men of amber from the same place.
+"Tell me what they are?"
+
+"They all came from Norway," replied Miss Vyvyan, explaining their use
+to her.
+
+Mrs. Carleton meanwhile knocked on the broken planks which served for a
+floor, and as Louisita did not appear she entered the mound, but soon
+came out again, and whispered something to Miss Vyvyan who passed in,
+leaving Mrs. Carleton with Cora. On first entering, it was difficult to
+distinguish the interior of the place, or any of the numerous objects
+that it contained, as the only light came in through the shattered door,
+and a small hole on one side of the mound, which evidently served as a
+chimney and a window also. After a few seconds, when Miss Vyvyan's eyes
+became accustomed to the extremely subdued light, she saw that she was
+in a place that was four or five hundred feet in circumference and about
+twenty-four feet high. Advancing toward the side on which the hole was
+broken, she observed Louisita. A gleam of light fell upon her. She was
+kneeling in front of a small structure which formed a table. Her hands
+were clasped in the attitude of prayer, and her fixed and glassy eyes
+seemed to look up in the direction of a small silver crucifix, which
+hung on the wall before her. Her features were set and rigid. The rich
+brown Spanish tint had left her face. When Miss Vyvyan looked upon her
+she knew that she was dead, and, on laying her hand upon her cold brow,
+she concluded that death had taken place many hours previously; perhaps
+the night before. She summoned Mrs. Carleton, and bidding Cora sit down
+where they could see her from the inside of the mound, the ladies
+proceeded to lay Louisita to rest in the same tomb that had so long been
+her dwelling. They lifted her on to her bed; they folded the poor, tired
+hands of the weary woman, whose life had lingered on through those
+lonely, loveless years. They took the silver crucifix from the wall and
+laid it upon her breast; for although they were not of her creed, they
+respected her devotion. They felt thankful that in her lifetime they
+had done all they could to lighten her burden. They felt still more
+thankful for her own sake, that her pilgrimage was ended, and that she
+had gone to join the babes who were so dear to her mother's heart.
+
+Not finding sufficient boards to close up the entrance securely, the
+ladies went to the further end of the place to get some which they saw
+there. The pile was very high, and as soon as they took hold of one,
+several other boards fell in broken pieces at their feet, revealing the
+ribs of an old Norwegian ship, inside of which lay the skeleton of a man
+which had been there so long, that it began to crumble to ashes the
+moment it was exposed to the air. They turned to leave the ship when
+another and much larger fall of boards exposed the skeleton of a horse.
+They paused a moment and looked round; they saw that Louisita was not in
+error when she had told them that the Norsemen were at one time on the
+island, for there was every evidence of the mound being the tomb of a
+Viking. Among the bones of the horse lay the remains of a bridle and
+saddle of leather and wood, the mountings of which were in bronze and
+silver. Near that of the man lay some ring-armor, a shield-buckle, two
+stones of a hand-mill for grinding corn, bits for bridles, stirrups,
+some gold finger rings and a fibula of the same metal. The ladies passed
+quietly out of the tomb, and built up the entrance as well as they could
+with stones and earth, across which they drew the vines and brambles
+that grew among the spruces close by, so that at the end of the
+following summer there was not any trace left of an entrance ever having
+been there.
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+Mrs. Carleton had missed Miss Vyvyan for a longer period of time than
+usual one day, and in going in search of her to a part of the castle
+which they rarely went into, she found her engaged in making a little
+gift to surprise Cora with, and singing in a low tone the following
+song:--
+
+    WHY?
+
+    Oh weary years why come and go
+      With endless sorrow rife;
+    And hope's dead dreams why come ye back
+      To mock my empty life?
+
+    Oh destiny, oh bitter fate,
+      Oh burning tears that start,
+    Why must the hearts that love the most
+      Forever dwell apart?
+
+Mrs. Carleton entered the room so gently that Miss Vyvyan was not aware
+of her presence until the former was close beside her.
+
+"You look sad, dear Anna; what can I do to cheer you?"
+
+"This is a sad anniversary for me," replied Miss Vyvyan; "but I did not
+intend you to know it."
+
+"Let us hope, Anna, that time will give us back some of our former
+happiness," said Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"The grave is unrelenting, Ada; it never gives back what it has taken
+from us. I will tell you all some day. I cannot talk about the past now;
+it would unfit me for being of use to others who have suffered; it
+would make me no companion for you and dear Cora; it would be selfish to
+intrude my life upon you."
+
+"No, Anna, pray tell me why I sometimes see so sad an expression on your
+face which you change the instant you find I am looking at you. You know
+you have never alluded to any event in your life prior to our being
+shipwrecked. You have told me of your childhood, certainly, but that was
+so bright and happy that the recollection of it must be an endless
+source of thankfulness. Now I again pray of you, tell me all."
+
+"As you so much wish it, Ada," replied Miss Vyvyan, "I will tell you
+that the sunlight went out of my life too soon. At the time I first met
+you the world was all darkness to me; all my days and years were winter,
+and my only wish was to die."
+
+"Oh Anna, do not say that," said Mrs. Carleton; "but go on and tell me
+why."
+
+"Forgive me, I fear I was rebellious, but I only thought of the present.
+I could not look forward; it seemed as if there were no future for me
+here. I was alone; the only lips which had the right to breathe my name
+were sealed in death, and the stately dignity or cold respect with which
+I was always addressed reminded me hourly of my isolated existence. I
+have no words that can express to you the utter desolation I felt in
+having no one to call me by name. I often sought the whispering of the
+wind through the trees, the leaves and the long, waving grass in the
+hope that it might emit a sound which my fancy could fashion into the
+once familiar name, but all in vain; the trees and the leaves and the
+grass, even the rocks and hills, whispered and murmured and talked of
+many things, but the sound I most longed to hear came never."
+
+Anna noticed that Mrs. Carleton looked sorrowful. She ceased speaking.
+
+"Why did you stop, Anna; go on."
+
+"I am distressing you, I see," answered Miss Vyvyan; "I ought not to
+pain you."
+
+"Please go on, Anna."
+
+"I cannot expect you to comprehend my exceeding loneliness at that time,
+because your life has never been empty, and you have now your beautiful
+child. When first I met you I had nothing. When I say nothing, I do not
+mean to infer that I was destitute of worldly means. I had an ample
+fortune which I inherited from my mother, besides the manor house and
+the landed estates of my grandfather; but I was destitute in the deepest
+sense; I had nothing of my own to love; I was alone. Do you know what
+that word alone means, 'when hope and the dreams of hope lie dead?' No,
+Ada, you cannot, God grant you never may. At length there dawned that
+rich, golden autumn day, when you named Cora, and gave me the right to
+say 'My.' The surprise was so great to me that I scarcely knew whether I
+was moving about in a dream, for my existence had been so long void of
+interest that I deemed happiness for me dead. But when I took Cora in
+my arms, and looked into the wondrous eyes, and saw the love, the
+purity and the delicate sensibility of the being to whom I could always
+in the future say 'My,' a new world and a new existence seemed before
+me, and I thought angel voices thus whispered and said, 'We have brought
+this beautiful child into your life to dwell forever as a sweet, fair
+flower in the garden of your heart.' And as the child grew and talked
+and called me by my name, the music of its voice and footstep gladdened
+my soul and sent a thrill of joy through my whole being. Ever since the
+day of our shipwreck, when you were lying on the beach so near death
+that I did not dare to allow myself to believe that you could live, (and
+may I say it, Ada, without seeming vain), when I was made the instrument
+to call you back to life. Ever since that day until this, you and Cora
+have seemed to belong to me; to be mine to love and live for. So you see
+you have brought back the sunshine into my life. I have finished; I
+shall never again talk in this way. My study shall be to brighten, not
+to sadden, the path which lies before you in the future."
+
+Anna Vyvyan kept her promise to the end.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+    The heart that has been mourning
+    O'er vanished dreams of love,
+    Shall see them all returning,
+    Like Noah's faithful dove.
+    And hope shall launch her blessed bark
+    On sorrow's darkening sea.
+
+           *     *     *     *     *
+
+    I have had joy and sorrow; I have proved
+    What lips could give; have loved and been beloved;
+        I am sick and heart-sore,
+        And weary, let me sleep;
+        But deep, deep,
+        Never to awaken more!
+
+
+It was September again, and the golden rod and fall asters, that had for
+seven seasons been Cora's delight, were once more in their yellow and
+purple glory. The day was sunny, and the rich autumnal glow spread
+itself over the walls of the old castle, the forest, the rocks, and the
+sea, and the island and its surroundings seemed to the little family to
+be more beautiful than ever.
+
+Mrs. Carleton was engaged in decorating the green parlor with flowers
+and trailing plants, which Miss Vyvyan and Cora had gathered for that
+purpose. The two latter had gone down among the trees near the beach to
+get the last basketful of moss to complete the work of adornment.
+
+"Quick, Trefethen, quick, hand me my gun; see those birds, what an
+immense flight of them," shouted a strong masculine voice within a few
+yards of the trees which concealed them from view, and which also
+prevented them from seeing from whom the voice came.
+
+"Don't fire," cried Miss Vyvyan, instantly catching up Cora in her arms
+as she used to do in the child's baby days.
+
+"Don't fire," she repeated, "there are people here who are coming out of
+the woods on that side," at the same time, forcing her way among the
+trees, in the direction from which the voice came; and taking the
+advantage of making an inspection without being seen herself.
+
+Cora caught sight of two figures standing on the open ground between the
+forest and the sea.
+
+She clasped Miss Vyvyan's neck more tightly and whispered softly, "Look,
+Anna, there are two papas."
+
+Miss Vyvyan paused, and looking between the branches she saw a tall,
+finely grown gentleman in the full military uniform of a colonel of the
+British army. By his side stood a man of smaller stature who wore the
+blue coat of a sea captain of that period. As the sunlight fell upon the
+bright scarlet uniform, the gold laced hat, the gold epaulets and the
+handsome scabbard which contained the colonel's sword, the child gazed
+in great amazement, not unmixed with admiration.
+
+As we have already said, Cora was born brave, and like her mother
+struggled to keep up a calm courage through any emergency; but the poor
+little heart trembled a little when she said,
+
+"Anna, I think he is a very pretty papa, but why does he wear that
+sword? Louisita used to wear a sword," she added.
+
+"We are safe, Cora; he will not hurt us. He wears the uniform of our
+king. He would help us if we wanted him to."
+
+"Shall we go to him?" said the child.
+
+"Yes; we must so that we can tell your mama what sort of persons are on
+the island."
+
+A few more steps took them out of the wood. Miss Vyvyan put the child
+out of her arms and led her. The gentleman in uniform advanced to meet
+them, and raising his hat said,
+
+"Pray pardon me if I caused you any alarm. I did not know that this
+island was inhabited, and I saw so much wild fowl that the temptation to
+shoot was very strong."
+
+"I can quite understand that," replied Miss Vyvyan. "We need no
+apology," she added, "as we were aware that most gentlemen enjoy sport,
+and your bearing and the uniform that you wear assure us that there is
+no cause for alarm."
+
+The officer bowed low, but made no reply.
+
+Cora, who was still holding Miss Vyvyan's hand, looked up at her and
+said again, "What a pretty papa, and more papas coming from the ship;
+but I like this one best."
+
+The child's excitement was so great that her whisper was very audible to
+the officer.
+
+"What does she mean?" he asked.
+
+"That is her own way of expressing herself," Miss Vyvyan answered. "She
+calls all pictures of men papas. We think she has some recollection of
+her father, although she was little else than a babe when he was drowned
+here, which is seven years ago to-day. She appears in some mysterious
+way to realize that there was such a relationship, for she delights in
+looking at pictures of papas as she calls them, more especially such as
+are represented as wearing military uniform. And when she was very young
+I have often seen her press her cheek against that of a small statuette
+which we have of a soldier and kiss it and call it papa."
+
+While Miss Vyvyan and the officer were still speaking Cora was examining
+the handsome uniform, and the gentleman was looking intently at the gold
+chain that the child wore round her throat. After a little conversation
+the officer addressing Miss Vyvyan said,
+
+"I hope you will not think me too inquisitive if I ask whether this fair
+sea flower has a mother living."
+
+"Oh yes," cried the child before Miss Vyvyan had time to reply, "I have
+the dearest mama in the world and we do love her so, don't we Anna?"
+
+Cora in her enthusiasm let go Miss Vyvyan's hand, and taking hold of the
+officer's,
+
+"Come," she said, "come with us and see her, and then you will love her,
+too."
+
+Miss Vyvyan was about to suggest that probably the strange gentleman
+would prefer not to accept Cora's invitation until he had received one
+from her mother, when he interposed by asking Cora what her mother's
+name was.
+
+"Why, it is mama," she replied.
+
+"Yes, fair one; but she has another name."
+
+"Oh, you mean Ada, that is what Anna calls her."
+
+"She is Mrs. Carleton," said Miss Vyvyan.
+
+"Great Heaven! my prayer is answered," exclaimed the officer. Turning
+quickly away for a few paces he covered his face with his hands, and his
+stalwart frame trembled with emotion.
+
+"What is the matter," said Cora, "are you unhappy; never mind, do not be
+sorry, papa."
+
+"Yes, my beloved child, I am indeed your own papa who has come back to
+you and mama; take me to her; I must go to her this moment, show me the
+nearest way."
+
+Cora again clasped her hand round one of his fingers and as she lead him
+along she said, "Mama will be so happy for she thought you could never
+come back to us, and she often told me that if we were good we should go
+to you some day; poorest mama, big tears come into her eyes when she
+tells me about my papa."
+
+Arriving at the end of the corridor leading to the green parlor Cora ran
+swiftly in advance of Miss Vyvyan and Colonel Carleton calling as she
+went,
+
+"Mama, mama, we have found a real papa, not a picture, but my own papa."
+
+Then came the meeting of the long-parted hearts and the recounting of
+events, which had taken place since the day on which destiny had torn
+the husband and wife from each other. Cora full of fresh young life
+joined in the conversation every instant, telling her father how they
+used to get the eggs of the sea birds and the honey from the wild bees'
+nest, and how they caught the sea perch from off the rocks, and how she
+found a jar of gold coins near the Vikings' tomb, which her mama said
+were pesos, and all about the fibula which she found there, also.
+
+Then Colonel Carleton explained how he tried to rescue his wife and
+child, just as Ralph had told them a few days after they were wrecked;
+and how he was picked up by a young man from Wales who came out in the
+English ship, and was lashed to a floating mast by that brave young
+fellow, and by him kept from drowning until they fell in with a slave
+ship that was bound for the coast of Africa, but was also out of its
+course as well as their own unfortunate vessels; and how they were taken
+on board and kept toiling under an African sun for nearly seven years,
+when good fortune smiled upon them and they were sold as slaves and sent
+to the colony of Virginia.
+
+"The same young Welshman," continued Colonel Carleton, "has always been
+with me. He has a very remarkable talent for navigation, and is now the
+captain of my ship. If he had not been I do not think I should ever have
+been able to find you, for I did not know that it was an island upon
+which we were shipwrecked; but he did, and under Providence, I have
+everything to thank him for."
+
+"Beg pardon," said a voice at this part of Colonel Carleton's narrative,
+and turning their eyes in the direction of the door they saw standing
+there the muscular, well-knit figure, the pleasant face and bright eyes
+of Captain Trefethen.
+
+"Beg pardon," he repeated, "but I heard what the Colonel said about me,
+and I want to say, that if he had not cut off the leather belt he wore
+and let all his gold fall into the ocean, that I might have the leather
+to chew when I was famishing with hunger on the mast, I must have died;
+and I feel that under Providence I have everything to thank him for. I
+made up my mind then never to leave the Colonel till I saw him moored in
+a safe harbor. In a few days," Captain Trefethen continued, "everything
+will be ready for the good ship 'Ada' to sail for Virginia, and as I do
+not suppose the Colonel will want to take another voyage of discovery, I
+will leave you all there, as I intended to come back to these parts
+myself and settle on an island about forty miles down this bay. It has a
+queer Indian name, 'Monhegan' they call it. Captain John Smith, who is
+now ranging this coast, told me about it. He seems to have a fancy for
+Indian names. I shall never forget how he sung the praises of an Indian
+girl the night before he set out on his present voyage. 'Pocahontas,' he
+called her. Here is some fruit and a few little things for the ladies,"
+he continued, placing a box upon one of the tables and leaving the room.
+
+When Colonel Carleton was again left with his wife and child and Miss
+Vyvyan, he resumed his conversation, and answered all the anxious and
+rapid inquiries of Mrs. Carleton. "Yes," he said, "I assure you again
+that I left all the family in Virginia perfectly well. Your father
+attended to my estates during my absence, and by his wisdom in managing
+them, he has increased their value sevenfold. Your sister Julia was
+married two years ago, and she has an excellent husband."
+
+"Excellent husband," echoed Cora, "What kind of thing is that? Mama and
+Anna never told me about the excellent. Where do you find it, is it a
+bird; can it sing; may I have one?"
+
+Cora was about to propound further questions regarding an excellent
+husband when the merry peals of laughter from the two ladies and the
+Colonel, put an end to her interrogations. She did not understand why
+they all laughed, and like many of her elders under similar
+circumstances she felt sensitive on that account; but with her usual
+quickness of thought, she said, "I know why you are so merry, papa; it
+is because you are so glad to be with us all in this parlor, that mama
+has made so pretty with these bouquets and wreaths of flowers. Mama
+makes all our rooms pretty; you ought to see them when the days are dark
+and foggy, so that we cannot see anything outside; then mama gets so
+many branches of the fragrant fir and green moss and red berries, and
+makes the most beautiful things."
+
+"Why does mama select the foggy days to adorn the rooms most, my
+darling?" said the Colonel.
+
+"Why, don't you know? she does it to make Anna and me happy. Sunshine
+within, mama calls it, and Anna made a song about that; shall I sing it
+to you?"
+
+Without waiting for a reply, the child sung the song all through,
+keeping time on her father's arm, which encircled her as she sat on his
+knee.
+
+When the refrain "our sunshine is within" ended, Colonel Carleton bent
+down and pressed his lips upon the golden head of his little daughter.
+
+There was a mist before his eyes as he said, "Yes, my darling, our
+sunshine is within our own hearts, and it is in mine to-day for which I
+thank God."
+
+Cora continued talking, telling her father all about the beautiful
+flowers on the island, and the picnics on the sea beach and in the
+woods.
+
+"And one day, papa," said she, "we went for a long walk to the north end
+of this island, mama said it was, and we saw such a pretty little island
+all covered with trees, and the eagles were up on the tall pines. It was
+so close to our island that we could almost jump on to it, and mama said
+I could think of a name for it, so I named it "Fairy island." I think
+our island that we live on is very pretty, too, but I am glad we are
+going to Virginia to live near grandpa and grandma and Aunt Julia and my
+uncles, and I want to see grandpa's dog Franco. Do you know, papa, I
+never saw a dog. And Anna must come, too, and live with us."
+
+"Of course she will," said Colonel and Mrs. Carleton, both speaking at
+the same time; "and perhaps," added Cora, "when it is summer, we will
+go to England and visit Anna in her old home at the manor house."
+
+"That is right, Cora," said Miss Vyvyan; "the way in which you have
+arranged for the happiness of all of us is admirable."
+
+"Yes," said Colonel Carleton, "Cora has made a very pleasant sounding
+plan, but I am not as sure as my little daughter appears to be, that we
+shall be able to carry out the whole of it, for when we land in
+Virginia, Miss Vyvyan, your cousin, Ronald Fairfax, may have something
+to say in the matter. From what Ada has already told me, you seem to
+have felt great interest in poor Ralph, and he and Ronald so much
+resembled each other in all respects that it was almost impossible to
+distinguish them. Pardon me, if I say that I sincerely hope you may take
+an interest in Ronald; besides the affection that existed between these
+two brothers was so profound that Ronald will desire to show his
+gratitude to you for your kind care of one so dear to him. How is he to
+do it? I only see one way."
+
+The next few days passed by very quickly, as every one was busily
+engaged in making their preparations for the voyage. Full of autumn
+beauty, the last day arrived, and the boat with its crew waited on the
+beach for the family from the castle.
+
+"Oh dear," said Cora, who was standing in the green parlor all ready to
+start, with her arms full of her favorite golden rod and fall asters,
+"how could I forget to pick up some of those shells which I like so
+much; I wanted to take some to give to all of them at home, I am so
+sorry."
+
+"There will still be time enough to get some before we embark, Cora; you
+shall have some, dear," said Miss Vyvyan.
+
+"Why Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "you are surely not going down to the
+breakers to-day; I fear you will wear your life out for Cora's sake."
+
+"Never mind me, Ada," replied Miss Vyvyan. "If I die in a labor of love
+it will be the death I most desire."
+
+So saying she took a little basket and left the room. As she passed
+through the door Cora threw her a kiss and said, "Anna be back."
+
+As we have said previously, the ladies liked Cora to keep some of her
+baby language, and that was one of her own modes of expression which
+they never corrected. It reminded them of her infancy and of their own
+mutual attachment, which first met in the love they each of them bore
+toward the child.
+
+"Are you all ready?" said Colonel Carleton, as he came along the
+corridor to the green parlor. "Where is Miss Vyvyan?" he added, on
+entering the room.
+
+"She has gone down to the breakers to get some shells that Cora wishes
+to take to Virginia," replied Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"We will all join her there," said the Colonel, "and then we can walk
+back along the shore to our boat."
+
+On arriving at the long ledge of rocks that ran straight out into the
+ocean, and which they called the "Whale's Back," they entered the little
+cove that was situated on the side nearest to the castle. There was Miss
+Vyvyan's basket half filled with the shells that Cora so much desired;
+but where was she?
+
+In another moment, Cora with her quick step was springing up to the
+highest part of the rocks. A shriek of anguish from the child, and the
+cry in her former baby language, "Anna be back, Anna be back," brought
+her parents instantly to her side. Looking from the high wall that
+nature had formed, and across the larger cove on the other side, they
+saw far out toward the open sea Miss Vyvyan's upturned face. She was
+floating on an enormous wave which was bearing her rapidly toward the
+shore.
+
+"Oh Anna, poor Anna; save her Dudley," cried Mrs. Carleton, believing
+anything possible to the brave and kind-hearted man, who had dared and
+surmounted all obstacles for her own sake.
+
+"Yes, dearest; yes, trust me. I will do my utmost," replied the Colonel,
+quickly scaling the outer side of the cliff, and dashing over and among
+the broken masses of rock that laid between him and the sea. Throwing
+off his hat and heavy uniform coat, he stood with extended arms at the
+water's edge, exactly at the spot where he knew the wave would strike.
+Miss Vyvyan was being swiftly borne toward him and was within a few feet
+distance.
+
+"Keep calm," he called to her, "for heaven's sake, keep calm, and I can
+save you."
+
+The great wave bearing its living burden, broke upon the beach with
+unusual violence. Colonel Carleton was struck and thrown far up toward
+the shore by its mighty force. In another instant, he was on his feet
+again, rushing forward after the receding water, which was carrying Miss
+Vyvyan out. She still floated on the crest of the wave. Raising one hand
+and unclasping it, she threw upon the beach a small white shell, saying
+as she did so, "for dear Cora." She saw the friendly outstretched arm of
+the brave man; she looked up to the rocks; she saw the pure, classic
+features of gentle, loving Ada, paralyzed with distress, white as
+marble, pallid and death-like, as on the day that she had kissed them
+back to life seven years before. She saw the beautiful child, who was so
+precious to her; she noted the terror, pain and love in its fair, young
+face. She heard the sweet voice calling "Anna be back." She saw no more,
+the waters covered her; the same ocean which had brought her to the
+island, claimed her for its own and bore her away forever.
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+Many summers and winters have come and gone, and long years have passed
+away since the ladies and their dear little one lived on the island. The
+flowers have faded and the trees of the forest have died with time, but
+neither time nor death has power to kill the love of a true heart; that
+lives on forever and ever and, phoenix-like, exists on its own ashes.
+So it is that the solitary student wandering in the twilight along the
+shore, and the young lovers, who are whispering the old, yet always
+sweet story in the little cove close by, hear ever and anon, coming up
+from the sea, the echo of Anna Vyvyan's last words, "For dear Cora."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Peak's Island, by Ford Paul
+
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+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Peak's Island, by Ford Paul.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Peak's Island, by Ford Paul
+
+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: Peak's Island
+       A Romance of Buccaneer Days
+
+Author: Ford Paul
+
+Release Date: August 23, 2008 [EBook #26410]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEAK'S ISLAND ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert Cicconetti, V. L. Simpson and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<h1><span class="smcap">Peak's Island</span></h1>
+
+<div class='subtitle font-large center'>A ROMANCE<br />
+OF<br />
+BUCCANEER DAYS</div>
+
+<div class="byline center font-large">
+BY<br />
+FORD PAUL
+</div>
+
+<div class="center copyright">PORTLAND, MAINE<br />
+PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR<br />
+1892</div>
+
+<div class="center publisher">PRESS OF BROWN THURSTON CO., PORTLAND</div>
+
+<div class="dedication center">DEDICATED TO<br />
+Cora Caroline Clifford<br />
+AS A SMALL TRIBUTE OF GREAT LOVE<br />
+BY THE AUTHOR
+
+<p class="ralign">FORD PAUL</p>
+</div>
+
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Roll on thou deep and dark blue ocean roll;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">. . . . . . Upon the watery plain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A shadow of man's ravage, save his own,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When for a moment like a drop of rain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">September</span> 27, 1607.</p>
+
+<p>Dead bodies everywhere. The ocean, lashed
+to fury by the gale of yesterday, came
+booming and hissing upon the beach in
+great breakers white with foam; each billow
+as it dashed upon the jagged and broken rocks
+bore in its terrible embrace still more human victims,
+or some portion of the two unlucky ships that
+were fast breaking up. One wedged in between
+two rocks with just sufficient play to allow of its
+heaving from side to side, with every wave that
+struck it. The other and much larger vessel, the
+Queen Elizabeth, a fine British ship, which had
+sailed from England freighted with a cargo of general
+merchandise for the colony of Virginia, went
+crashing up against the cruel stone teeth of the
+cliff which overhung and projected into the angry
+sea; dismasted, her bulwarks and rigging torn away
+she floated out into deeper water only to be driven
+back again upon the rocks, by the violence of the
+wind and the rapidly incoming tide.</p>
+
+<p>Another crash and another, the forecastle carried
+away, the decks opening, bales, chests, cordage,
+stores of all sorts tossed high up on the
+shore, more dead bodies&mdash;chiefly of men, for they
+had some time before given up to the few women
+and children the now capsized and shattered boats.
+All along the shore, as far as eye could see, the
+beach was composed of a heterogeneous mass of
+enormous fragments of rock thrown together and
+piled up on each other, leaving here and there in
+their midst a separate pool of sea water; in some
+of these pools was a dead body or two, but by far
+the greater number were lying in every imaginable,
+distorted position among the huge, irregular blocks
+of stone. Many, who had been washed in sufficiently
+far to escape drowning, were killed by the
+force with which they were dashed on shore: there,
+with broken bones and gnashed and blood-stained
+bodies, they slept in death, like men who had fallen
+in some great battle. It was noon, but not a
+ray of sunlight glinted across the ghastly scene.
+Every sound was lost in the terrific roar of the
+great, heaving hills of water, which rolled in continuously;
+huge masses of wet gray cloud hung
+over all, obscuring or transforming every visible object.
+Far up among the shingle lay one human
+form which still bore signs of life. It was that of
+a young lady, attired in deep mourning, a stream
+of blood trickled down the pale face, and from time
+to time one hand moved convulsively toward a
+deep cut in her head as if to assuage the pain; presently
+in half-consciousness she whispered "Do not
+tell my mother I am hurt, it would grieve her.
+She has had too much sorrow already."</p>
+
+<p>The beloved mother, and all others who had made
+life precious to the speaker, had three years previously
+been tenderly laid to rest in their quiet
+graves thousands of miles away; but at this moment
+the mind had only half awakened. A few
+minutes later her brain was clear and active, and
+the truth flashed upon her in all its force. The
+recollection of her bereavement and the fact of her
+being utterly alone in life, were the first thoughts
+that came and the thoughts which dominated. And
+so it is that all who are called upon to endure a
+great sorrow, acutely realize that sorrow again and
+again with each return of the mind to the consciousness
+of human existence, whether it be after
+the delerium of fever, the stunning from an accident,
+or the awaking each morning to daily life.
+With the awaking to our senses assuredly comes
+the old heartache; nay, before we awake it is there,
+and before we are conscious of aught else we are
+conscious of the grief which weighs heaviest on
+our soul. Thus it was with Anna Vyvyan: the
+awaking to life brought with it the pain in all its
+intensity, although she lay there on the cold
+stones, her clothing drenched through and through,
+bareheaded, her hair matted together with the sea
+water, bruised and cut and faint from exhaustion,
+still the present physical suffering seemed by comparison
+nothing to her. Everything was buried in
+the sorrow of the past, the sorrow that she had
+lived through, but had not left behind.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The stately homes of England<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How beautiful they stand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Amidst their tall ancestral trees,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O'er all the pleasant land!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The deer across their greensward bound<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through shade and sunny gleam,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the swan glides past them with the sound<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of some rejoicing stream.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The merry homes of England&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Around their hearths by night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What gladsome looks of household love<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Meet in the ruddy light!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There women's voice flows forth in song<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or childhood's tale is told<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or lips move tunefully along<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Some glorious page of old.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The blessed homes of England,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How softly on their bowers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is laid the holy quietness<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That breathes from Sabbath hours<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Solemn, yet sweet, the church bell's chime<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Floats through their woods at morn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All other sounds at that still time<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of breeze and leaf are born.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>Miss Vivyan was the daughter of an
+officer of high rank in the navy of Queen
+Elizabeth, who lost his life in the royal
+service while his little girl Anna was still
+very young. His valor had gained for him many
+medals and yet more substantial honors in the form of
+valuable grants of land from Her Majesty. This
+property, added to the family inheritance of Anna's
+mother, who was a lady of old and noble race, left
+both the widow and her child in very affluent circumstances.
+The young widow, handsome and
+possessed of brilliant talents, attracted many suitors
+for her hand; but her heart lay far down beneath the
+sea with her dead husband, and she resolved to devote
+her love and her life to the care of her child.
+She accordingly retired to an old manor house on
+the borders of Wales, which had descended to her
+through many generations. The great stone halls
+and corridors, the long, low rooms and the little diamond-shaped
+window panes, admitting so small an
+amount of light, might have given to some minds a
+feeling of gloom; but both mother and daughter had
+their occupations, the one in giving, the other in receiving,
+an education, beside the care of all the sick
+and poor peasants of the neighborhood. Indeed
+they were so happy in their affection for each other
+and found so much to do, that they had neither the
+time nor the inclination to cultivate morbid or
+gloomy thoughts, which would, they felt, make their
+companionship an infliction on every one whom
+they approached, and unfit them for the duties of
+their position. So life went on calmly and happily
+with them.</p>
+
+<p>A faithful steward attended to the estates and a
+good old housekeeper managed the servants, always
+keeping order, discipline and peace in the establishment.
+Twice a year they were allowed to have
+a dance in the servants' hall, one at Christmas and
+the other on Anna's birthday, on which occasions
+they invited the sons and daughters of the neighboring
+farmers, and the tradespeople who supplied
+the manor house. The village shoemaker, the
+tailor, and the blacksmith were the musicians, and
+to the strains of two violins and a clarionet, they
+merrily danced through the livelong night, such
+good old figures as Sir Roger de Coverly, Speed
+the Plough, and the Cushion dance, till the rising
+sun streamed in at the windows and warned them
+that it was time to blow out the candles, take off
+their holiday garb, and assume their daily work.
+As for the mistress of the mansion, she found her
+pleasures in the duties of her position and the rich
+companionship of a well stocked library. She had
+no neighbors of her own rank within several miles
+distance, no one to visit or to be visited by, with
+the exception of the old bachelor clergyman of the
+parish, whose formal calls took place at stated intervals,
+unless some sudden case of want among
+the poor caused him to ask her aid, for he knew
+very well that her heart and hand went forth on
+every occasion of distress. Hers it was to soothe
+and cheer and comfort and help, and many a thorny
+path was made smooth and many a heavy burden
+lifted by her brave and generous spirit and the pleasant,
+cheerful way she had of doing such things. In
+the presence of others she made a duty of cultivating
+cheerfulness of manner. Not that she ever
+for a moment forgot the recollection of her love
+and her loss; but she considered her sorrows too
+sacred for a subject of conversation on one hand,
+and on the other, that her grief was her own, and
+that she had no right to intrude it upon others, or
+to weigh down and sadden their lives by what was
+sent for her to bear. Hence her presence was
+always welcome to the peasants, who regarded her
+with reverence and affection, as she passed, accompanied
+by her little daughter, from cottage to cottage
+leaving some dainty for the sick, or an article
+of clothing for the needy.</p>
+
+<p>Years went by and Anna had left babyhood far
+behind her and was now a girl of fifteen. Her
+mother at this period, decided that it was time to
+call in the aid of masters to assist in her daughter's
+education. Accordingly, such were summoned
+from a distant town. There was a master for the
+minuette and the gavotte, a master for the harpsichord,
+a master for the French and Italian languages,
+and so on. The days and hours were all
+laid out systematically, giving an abundance of
+time for physical training and out-door life, but
+with the exception of the masters for music and
+dancing (more especially the former) none of these
+instructors made much impression upon the girl's
+mind. Her heart and soul were given to music.
+While she was in the house her time was spent
+between the old church organ that stood in the
+hall, and the harpsichord which adorned the long,
+oak-panelled drawing-room. When out of doors
+she was forever listening to the music of nature,
+the wind through the trees, the dash of the water-fall,
+the rippling of the brook, all had their charm
+and fascination, for nature never played out of
+tune. She would try to make out what key these
+sounds were in, whether they varied at different
+seasons, or if change in the weather made them
+alter,</p>
+
+<p class="center">Music was her passion, her love, her life.</p>
+
+<p>Just at that time, two new inmates were added
+to the manor house family. Young Cecil Vyvyan,
+a cousin of Anna's, who was of the same age as
+herself, and his tutor, Dr. Strickland, a grave, middle-aged
+Scotch doctor of philosophy. The boy's
+parents were in India, which caused the widow to
+suggest to them that he should, for a few years,
+make his home with her, in order that she might
+watch over his health, which was exceedingly delicate.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the twilight of a day late in the autumn
+that Anna waited in the large old-fashioned
+library to make the first acquaintance of her
+cousin. In the broad stone fireplace, logs of beech
+and chestnut were piled up on the hearth, across
+brass dogs, where they blazed, and glowed, and
+lighted up the comfortable looking room, with its
+dark, massive, carved oak furniture, its painted
+glass windows, its rich but faded velvet draperies,
+interspersed here and there with a piece of old tapestry,
+the needlework of the ladies of former generations.
+A few family portraits, and well-filled
+bookcases of vellum-bound octavos, quartos and
+folios. As the butler threw open the door of the
+room and announced Master Cecil Vyvyan, Anna
+went forward to greet the latter, and almost gave a
+start of surprise at seeing the real cousin differ so
+much from the ideal one which she had pictured to
+herself; for she expected to find Cecil of the same
+type as the English boys that she had always seen.
+She thought he would be large of his age, with a
+fresh rosy complexion, bright eyes, an open countenance,
+crowned with masses of rich, curling
+locks. Strong and healthy, overflowing with buoyant
+spirits, agile and ready for active service either
+of work or play. Instead of which there stood before
+her one of small stature and thin, diminutive
+figure, with a pale, weary-looking face and tired
+eyes, which apparently did not observe any of the
+objects by which he was surrounded, but concentrated
+their gaze upon the young girl only, with
+whom he stood face to face, carefully regarding her
+with that scrutiny which we are all wont to use
+when we first make the acquaintance of a new relative.</p>
+
+<p>Anna gave him her hand and welcomed him
+with a few kind words. As the boy and girl stood
+there, no two cousins could have appeared more
+externally unlike, and yet never were two more
+alike in their highest tastes and deepest feelings.
+But an ordinary looker-on would only see the boy
+so small, and quiet, and weary, and the girl so tall,
+and active, and healthy, abounding in lively spirits,
+in the full enjoyment of her young life, with the
+mother she adored, thinking nothing could be more
+beautiful than her picturesque old home and its
+surroundings of hill and valley, and woodland, and
+broad green meadows, and turning over in her
+mind how she would show Cecil all the favorite
+haunts. The lily pond in the park, the finest view
+of the Welsh mountains, and the right place for a
+good gallop&mdash;then the ponies, and the dogs, and
+the fish pools.</p>
+
+<p>"You must be tired from so long a journey,
+Cousin Cecil," said she, "let me bring this armchair;
+it is the most restful one in the whole house.
+It has a pedigree, too, the same as you and I have.
+It belonged to our great-grandfather, Sir Vyell
+Vyvyan, and was made more than a hundred years
+ago from one of the oaks which grew in the north
+grove in the park," so saying she laid one hand on
+the back of a huge, cumbersome piece of furniture,
+and rolled it across the room up in front of the
+glowing logs.</p>
+
+<p>It was now Cecil's turn to be amazed, how could
+she move that great, clumsy thing, he pondered to
+himself, I could not. With a gentle thank you,
+and bowing gracefully to her, he sank into their
+great-grandfather's chair, and was almost lost sight
+of among the ample velvet cushions.</p>
+
+<p>Anna who had seated herself on one side of the
+fireplace, was watching the pale face, and the
+weary eyes that were looking dreamily at the fantastic
+shapes which from time to time the glowing
+embers assumed. Presently a slight, convulsive
+shudder passed through the boy's frame and a quiet
+little sigh escaped him.</p>
+
+<p>He is sad, thought Anna, perhaps he is thinking
+of his home in Calcutta, poor fellow, I must do
+something to amuse him. At the same instant,
+what she considered a very happy thought suggested
+itself.</p>
+
+<p>"I am so glad you came, Cousin Cecil," said she
+"they say you will soon get well and strong here.
+I have a little terrier that catches rats, you shall
+take him out in the morning, if you like, and the
+gardener's boy will show you where you can kill
+plenty."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't kill rats," he replied, still keeping his
+eyes fixed upon the burning logs and striving to
+follow the outlines of a fairy island with palms and
+tropical plants and ferns as tall as forest trees,
+which, in his imagination, he saw there.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you go with your terrier to kill rats?" he
+inquired, with the slightest tone of sarcasm in his
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no," replied the girl, "but I thought you
+would like to. Most boys are amused by it, they
+call it sport, and you know the rats must be killed
+or we should have them running behind the wainscot
+of all the rooms in the house, and the gamekeeper
+would not be able to rear the young pheasants,
+and we should have no chickens nor pigeons,
+nor anything of the kind."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Cousin Anna," said the boy, "have you
+a Scotch governess, and does she make you give a
+reason for every thing, and give you her reason in
+return? That's what Dr. Strickland does with me.
+It tires me dreadfully, and I don't see what use it
+is, for I always know things without reasoning
+about them; they come to me of themselves."</p>
+
+<p>Anna, in her eagerness to show kindness to the
+guest of the house, and to divert what seemed to
+her his sad thoughts, did not stop to make any
+reply, but rose and hastily crossed over to one of
+the bookcases, bringing back in her arms a large
+folio, full of colored illustrations of field sports.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Cousin Cecil," said she, drawing up a
+chair close by the side of his, and laying the folio
+open upon her lap, "this will please you I am sure;
+this is not about rats, but thorough-bred horses
+and dogs, stag-hounds and fox-hounds. Did you
+ever hear that our grandfather kept a pack of fox-hounds
+here, that is a hundred dogs you know. I
+will take you to the kennels and the huntman's
+lodge some day soon."</p>
+
+<p>Cecil did not know that a hundred dogs made a
+pack, for he had passed all his life in India, until a
+few months previous to his coming to the manor
+house.</p>
+
+<p>"Look at this picture of coursing, here is another
+of hawking, and now see these otter hounds."</p>
+
+<p>"The landscape is beautiful," said the boy. "I
+like the soft gray light on those distant hills in the
+background, but I do not care about pictures of
+horses and dogs; please take them away. I like
+to see the animals moving in the fields, but I think
+all this kind of sport is very cruel."</p>
+
+<p>This was said in an extremely gentle way, and at
+the same time with an inflection of the voice which
+made a deep impression upon his listener. I wonder
+what I can do to amuse him, thought Anna; I
+don't suppose he would care to look at my last
+piece of embroidery, or hear how many sonatas I
+can play; I am afraid he is sorry he came here,
+perhaps he was thinking of the Himalaya mountains,
+when he said he liked those hills in the
+picture. Most boys like out-door amusements, she
+again thought to herself, and acting upon the idea
+of the moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Cecil," said she, "we have two capital ponies,
+we will go out in the forenoon to-morrow if you
+like, for we are to have a holiday from our studies
+all day, in honor of your coming here."</p>
+
+<p>Again a gentle "thank you" from Cecil, his tired
+eyes still seeking air castles among the red and
+gray embers of the fire. After some minutes
+silence, he turned to look at the tall old clock in the
+corner, which, in addition to the hours and minutes
+depicted upon its face, was adorned with supposed
+likenesses of the sun and moon and other heavenly
+bodies, beside the terrestrial globe which represented
+Jerusalem as being situated in the very
+center of the earth's surface.</p>
+
+<p>The same old clock, which had stood in the same
+corner of the library long enough to mark the
+hours of the births and marriages, the meetings
+and partings, and death, of several generations of
+the Vyvyans, now chimed in slow, subdued tones,
+through which ran the echo of a wail, like the
+voice of a human being, who has seen much and
+suffered much.</p>
+
+<p>"Dr. Strickland will expect me to return to him
+now, Cousin Anna, so I must say 'good evening.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Before you go, Cecil, tell me at what time you
+will be ready to ride with me to-morrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"I must ask my tutor," he replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, you can let me know at breakfast
+time. I suppose you can find your way to your
+part of the house, follow straight along the corridor
+till you come to the south wing at the end. Your
+study and all the other rooms for you and Dr.
+Strickland are there. Good night."</p>
+
+<p>The next day the ponies were brought round to
+the hall door immediately after luncheon, and the
+boy and girl were mounted. Cecil, whose chief
+mode of locomotion had hitherto been in a palanquin,
+did not by any means enjoy his present situation;
+but as he made no remark, his cousin supposed
+he was as pleased and jubilant at having an opportunity
+of seeing the beautiful surroundings of the
+place as she was showing them. They rode through
+the park, down the long avenue of oaks and beeches,
+and out by the keeper's lodge to the lake, and then
+away over the hill among the scattered cottages
+of the peasants, who touched their hats or curtsied
+as the cousins rode by. Anna always returning
+their salutations with some pleasant word
+or nod, or an inquiry after their welfare. At last
+they turned their ponies homeward. The boy all
+the while silent; the girl chattering and explaining
+and repeating anecdotes which had been told to
+her, and laughing merrily at the ludicrous passages
+in them. As they were again entering the park,
+the boy's riding whip slipped out of his hand and
+fell to the ground. Looking at his cousin with a
+grave expression of face, he said,</p>
+
+<p>"I have dropped my whip, what shall I do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Dismount and pick it up," replied Anna.</p>
+
+<p>"But I cannot," he replied, "I am afraid I could
+not mount again without the groom to help me."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, then I will get it," so down she
+sprang, passed up the whip to Cecil, and bounding
+into her saddle again was off at a canter before
+the boy could say a word.</p>
+
+<p>"Come along, Cecil," she cried, looking back,
+"come along, this is the finest stretch of ground
+in the country for a race."</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">No&mdash;that hallowed form is ne'er forgot<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which first love traced;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Still it lingering haunts the greenest spot<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">On memory's waste.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">'Twas odor fled<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As soon as shed:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Twas morning's wing&egrave;d dream;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Twas a light that ne'er can shine again<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On life's dull stream:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh! 'twas light that ne'er can shine again<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On life's dull stream.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>Dr. Strickland and his pupil had been fairly
+ensconced, and for some time past settled
+in the pretty, sunny rooms in the south
+wing of the manor house. All the windows
+of the lower suite opened to the ground, and
+overlooked and led into a Dutch flower garden,
+which, in accordance with its name, was laid out
+in formal walks with high box borders on each side,
+and stiffly-shaped flower beds of poppies, and tulips,
+and marigolds, and clusters of monkshood, and
+the tall white lilies of France, edged round with
+thyme and sweet basil. In the soft green turf,
+were planted evergreen trees, which were cut and
+clipped into fantastic shapes of peacocks, and pyramids,
+and cubes, and swans, and other devices.
+Here and there were clumps of holly and yew,
+from the midst of which some fawn or dryad,
+some Hebe or Flora, in Italian marble, had long
+kept watch. Then there were the old cedars of
+Lebanon, with seats encircling their great trunks,
+the ends of their long branches lying on the grass,
+offering beneath them, rest and shade at any hour
+of the day. The western side of the garden terminated
+in what was known as Lady Dorothy's
+walk. A straight, long, gravel walk, bordered on
+either side by a few feet of soft turf, and an avenue
+of yew trees two centuries old. The small
+closely-growing foliage of these trees was so dense
+that it formed a perpetual green wall, effectually
+shutting out all the world, with the exception of
+the sun at noonday, and the stars and moon at
+night. At the head of the walk was a sundial,
+and at the further end a fountain. Not a great,
+noisy, conspicuous construction, suggestive of the
+rush and turmoil of life, drowning in its splash all
+the sweet sounds of bird and bee, and the marvelous
+music of nature, but a pure, gentle, dainty
+little fountain, the sound of whose crystal drops, so
+full of soothing and tenderness, fell upon the ear
+like the voice of the one we love. Near the fountain
+was a rustic seat from which one might look
+across the park with its forest trees, its green undulations,
+and its lake, and still further away westward
+to the purple Welsh mountains. In every
+way this was a beautiful garden, a place to dream
+of, and live, and love, and die in.</p>
+
+<p>Springtime had come, and Cecil and his tutor
+were sitting in their study, looking out at the linnets
+flitting about the garden, and at the primroses
+and blue violets which grew in front of the
+windows. The lessons of the day were over, and
+the Doctor was pursuing his favorite amusement,
+namely, drawing mathematical deductions, and
+coming to logical conclusions upon all matters.
+Although he was a ripe scholar, he would frequently
+forget himself, and break out in his strong Scotch
+accent; but that signified nothing, as Cecil perfectly
+understood his speech, and the family all liked him,
+for they knew he was a good man and greatly interested
+in the well-doing of his pupil.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye had a lang walk wi' your cousin this morning,"
+said the Doctor. "I hope ye understand her
+better than ye did."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not sure that I do," answered Cecil. "I
+don't see why she moves so quickly and is always
+well; I don't like people who are always well, they
+cannot feel for others."</p>
+
+<p>"Ye should no say that, Cecil, when ye look at
+your aunt; she's no invalid, but she gi'es up her life
+for the sak' o' others. Did ye ken that these verra
+rooms are the anes she likes most, the anes she
+lived in till we came, and she gave them up that
+ye might enjoy the best she had to offer?"</p>
+
+<p>"O yes, I know that," said Cecil. "My aunt is
+very kind, but I was not thinking of her when I
+spoke, I was thinking of Cousin Anna; she runs
+so fast and when she is not singing, she is laughing,
+and I don't believe she has any nerves, for the
+other day my pony got a stone in his shoe, and she
+was off hers in a moment, seized my pony's fetlock
+and snatching up something in the road, knocked
+out the stone and mounted in less time than I have
+taken to tell you. Now none of the young ladies
+in India would take a pony's fetlock in their hand,
+so I think Cousin Anna cannot possess nerves."</p>
+
+<p>"In one respect ye are right," said the Doctor,
+"Such a young leddie as ony o' those we used to
+see in India, would ride on and leave ye, and when
+she got home, she would tell one of the servants
+to tell some one of the other servants to see aboot
+it, and when they had passed the order through
+half a dozen, in the course of a few hours perhaps
+one of them would be with you, and, in the meantime,
+she would be lying on the sofa, with Shastri
+standing by, fanning her out of her nervous shock."</p>
+
+<p>"But think of the first day I rode with my
+cousin, she surprised me so when she picked up
+my whip, I thought then she had no nerves."</p>
+
+<p>"Admitting such a statement to be true," replied
+the Doctor, "which we are by nae means
+sure of, for the truth has no been logically proved,
+I say, admitting that it be true, is it no' a gude
+thing for ye that your cousin has nae nerrves, if ye
+are to gang aboot drapping things that ye dar' na
+pick up again. In the sense that ye appear to desire
+your cousin to hae nerrves, I dinna ken mysel' what
+use they wad be to a young leddie wi' a speerit such
+as she has. I wad no' wish to see a lassie o' her
+years hae nerrves; na, na, she wad no hae ony use
+for them; Providence kens what is guide for us a',
+and will send her the nerrves when she is fit to
+manage them."</p>
+
+<p>"Still I don't see," said Cecil, "why she is not
+frightened sometimes. Perhaps she may be, but
+if so she will never say so; I don't think a girl
+ought to be so fearless."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps ye dinna ken that young leddies o'
+her rank in England are all educated in that way.
+The English hae this proverb amang them. 'A well-born
+woman is ever brave.' Your cousin inherits
+her courage a long way back, she is no mongrel
+born; I wish ye to see for yourself, Cecil, that it is
+a gude thing to be brave. There are mony ways
+o' showing it beside being a soldier or a sailor."
+And then the Doctor dropped his Scotch accent
+and spoke slowly, "We ought to be brave enough
+to do our duty to others," said he. "And now I
+will give you six reasons for being brave for the
+sake of those we love. Firstly, brave that we may
+inspire them, with courage when their hearts are
+weary. Secondly, brave that we may be patient
+and gentle when their nerves demand rest. Thirdly
+brave that we may be kind and diligent and
+loving when they are sick. Fourthly, brave that
+we may not be morbid and gloomy and thus depress
+them. Fifthly, brave that we may be faithful
+and true in all things. Sixthly, brave that we
+may endure without murmuring to the end."</p>
+
+<p>Long after the Doctor had left the room, Cecil
+was still there, leaning his head against the side of
+the window and thinking over this conversation.
+He possessed a generous disposition, and could not
+bear the idea of having misjudged his cousin. But
+he was of a sensitive temperament and not having
+a robust constitution, the girl's gaiety of spirit and
+great vital energy fatigued him. The cousins continued
+their amusements and their studies steadily
+together for the next two years, and although
+Cecil still called Anna as wild as a hawk, yet he
+never got into any serious difficulty, but he
+applied to her to help him out of it, whether it was
+in solving a problem or otherwise; carrying out
+Dr. Strickland's teaching he appeared to feel that
+his strength lay with her and she in her turn was
+rejoiced to help him.</p>
+
+<p>There are natures which seem made to help
+others, they find their greatest happiness in it; and
+so it was with Anna, the more he needed her help
+the more she delighted in giving it. Cecil's health
+was greatly improved by the climate of England,
+and with stronger health came stronger nerves.
+He now no longer thought his cousin without them,
+but he thought she knew how to control them; in
+fact, they had grown to love each other with that
+certain kind of cousinly affection which one often
+sees, and which is very true and lifelong, but has
+not the rapture, the intensity, nor the anguish,
+which belong to really falling in love.</p>
+
+<p>It was a day in sweet summer time, all roses
+and beauty, when the young people met as usual
+in Lady Dorothy's walk; it was their favorite place,
+and here they would ramble up and down, and sit
+by the fountain, and talk, and paint, and read for
+hours together; and the next day it was the same
+thing, and the next, and the next, for they never
+grew tired of the place, or of each other. They
+were now pacing the long walk, and although they
+were past the age of eighteen, they still continued
+their studies, but were permitted to select them.</p>
+
+<p>"What a pleasant thing it is, Cecil, to follow out
+one's own life and study what we wish," said
+Anna. "I am so glad to be free, no more construing
+sentences, no more conjugating verbs, no
+more solving problems; I always hated all of that
+dry stuff."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do, then," inquired
+Cecil.</p>
+
+<p>"Firstly, I shall spend more time with my
+mother, more time in the study of my music, and
+read all the poetry I wish to, and ride on horseback,
+and dance, and, of course, help my mother
+more in taking care of the peasantry."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Cecil, what shall you do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Firstly, I think I shall paint, and rove about
+among this beautiful scenery," he replied. "I
+shall paint until I feel sure that I shall take the
+first prize in the grand exhibition; I will not exhibit
+one stroke of my brush until then."</p>
+
+<p>"Well done, Cecil," said Anna, "that is the
+spirit I like."</p>
+
+<p>For she knew as she looked at him, that he
+possessed a wealth which no money can buy, a
+soul full of poetry, a mind full of genius, the elements
+of true greatness in any art, and the only
+wealth that she valued.</p>
+
+<p>And Cecil went on with his painting, and progressed,
+and brought more depth of tone and
+beauty into his pictures with every fresh attempt,
+till the canvas seemed to live under his hand, and
+his poetic soul and gentle nature spoke through
+his art. When any difficulty presented itself, he
+would always seek Anna and have her near
+him, not that she was an artist, but from some
+cause he could paint his best when she was by;
+indeed they were together the greater part of the
+time, for if they began the day in their different
+parts of the house, by some chance they either
+found each other in the library, or Lady Dorothy's
+walk, long before noon. They drifted to the same
+place, they scarcely knew how, but they began to
+know that the presence of each one to the other,
+was equally essential to their happiness. Cecil
+was a poet, not a writer of rhymes or jingles, but
+as we have said a true poet in his soul. Anna felt
+this in all her intercourse with him and heard it in
+the tones of his voice when he spoke, a voice that
+had a ring in it, a resonance, and that exquisite
+power of modulation which says more than the
+words themselves. And so time went swiftly and
+sweetly by with their walks and rides, and occupations,
+until they were twenty years old. Anna
+happy in the possession of Cecil's love, with life as
+she wished it, pure, joyous life, with music and
+beauty everywhere. A song ever on her lips, the
+happiest, merriest maiden in all "Merrie England."</p>
+
+<p>Cecil in his gentle way, deriving extreme pleasure
+from the study and exercise of his art, and
+Anna's companionship. For the cousinly affection
+of two years ago, had in both of them merged
+into deep intense love, which ended only with
+their lives.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And those were sudden partings such as press<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The life from out young hearts.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">O who wad wear a silken gown<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wi' a poor broken heart,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And what 's to me a siller crown<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If from my love I part.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Alone, alone, all, all alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Alone on a wide, wide sea!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And never a saint took pity on<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My soul in agony.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>It was springtime again, and the snowdrops
+were nodding their dainty, little white
+heads, and the linnets were again building
+their nests in the sweet old garden, when
+Anna's mother summoned her from Cecil's side in
+Lady Dorothy's walk, to the oak-paneled drawing-room.</p>
+
+<p>"My daughter," she began, "I regret that I must
+interrupt your present happiness, but circumstances
+compel me to separate you and Cecil for the
+present. It is time that you were presented at court,
+and it is time that you passed a season in London.
+We have hitherto lead so secluded a life that your
+name is not known beyond the limits of our county,
+and I feel I am not doing my duty by you."</p>
+
+<p>"But we are all very happy, mother," said Anna.
+"Why need we be more known?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my daughter, we are happy now but
+changes must come to all sometime. I may be
+called away from you."</p>
+
+<p>"O my dearest mother do not say that, I cannot,
+I dare not think of what life would be without you;
+you know I will do anything you wish, or give up
+everything else in life, but I cannot give you up; it
+would break my heart, I should die," cried Anna.</p>
+
+<p>"Broken hearts don't die, my daughter, would to
+God that they did; few, very few die of broken
+hearts, but many live with them. I have carefully
+considered what is my duty toward you, and my
+reason and affection coincide; now listen, in case I
+am called away by death, there is Cecil to whose
+care and protection I could resign you, for I knew
+you loved each other long before you knew it yourselves;
+I am happy that it is so, but if Cecil were
+taken away also, there would be no very near relatives
+to care for you, for the nearest members of
+your father's family are in India, and mine in the
+colony of Virginia, and as you will inherit the
+landed estates of your late grandfather as well as
+mine, it would be better that you should make
+trustworthy friends before I leave you, I see this
+pains you, dear daughter, I shall say no more on
+this subject. In three days we shall set out for
+London as the season has already begun, and we
+shall require some time to get our court dresses
+made."</p>
+
+<p>The last evening at the manor house was passed
+by Anna and Cecil under the light of the stars, in
+Lady Dorothy's walk. The next morning saw the
+large, old yellow family coach at the door, drawn by
+four strong, heavy horses, a coachman and groom
+on the box, a maid and a butler in the rumble, and
+the widow and her daughter inside. Cecil who was
+standing by one of the coach windows looking very
+pale and thoughtful, tried to put on a smile as he
+said,</p>
+
+<p>"We are to look for you both back again in the
+early autumn, you said, aunt."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Cecil, as soon as the first brown leaves
+fall."</p>
+
+<p>The young people looked good by to each other,
+but said not a word, and the heavy old coach
+moved away. In three days more the travelers
+were in London, and in due course Anna was presented
+at court by her mother, who had herself been
+presented on the occasion of her marriage. Then
+came calls and cards and invitations to balls and
+routs and state dinners, and the poor tired mother
+went through all these ceremonies as a duty
+toward her daughter, and the daughter endured it
+because she loved her mother, and desired to obey
+her wish. It was necessary that a young heiress
+of her rank should be dressed in accordance with
+the fashion of the day, but the young heiress
+longed to be released from the thraldom of fashion,
+the fatiguing, heavy brocade dresses, the hoops, the
+stiff ruff and the stomacher, the farthingale and high
+heeled shoes, and a thousand times more than all,
+did she desire to be released from the artificial and
+to her unsatisfactory life, from the flattery, the
+coquetry, the idle, envious tattle, and to be back
+again with Cecil, in her simple, healthy attire, and
+to live among honest hearts.</p>
+
+<p>The autumn came, and the dry brown leaves
+began to fall from the trees. Day after day, Cecil
+opened the harpsichord, and laid a bouquet of the
+rich deep-hued flowers of the season upon it, and
+then he took his place by the fountain, and watched
+the winding road through the park, so that he
+might get the first sight of the coach when it returned.
+The autumn leaves continued to fall, and
+Cecil kept his daily vigil until they were lying
+deep on the ground, and the branches overhead
+were bare. Then came a letter saying that Cecil's
+aunt was ordered by her doctor to pass the winter
+in Italy, in the hope of curing a cough, which had
+of late settled upon her, so that it would be spring
+before the ladies could return to the manor house,
+hence they traveled to Italy and spent the winter
+among its masterpieces of genius, both in music
+and art. The soft air seemed all that was wanted
+to restore Anna's mother to health. Every day,
+they found something beautiful that they desired
+Cecil to see, but it was too late now to send for
+him, for spring was near. With the spring, came
+back the cough, and again the medical order was
+change of climate. This time, a sojourn of some
+months in Norway was prescribed for Mrs. Vyvyan,
+bracing air, and much out-door life in the pine
+woods. After many weeks of slow journeying, the
+ladies with two of their servants reached Norway,
+and took up their abode in an old chateau, in the
+midst of a pine forest so-called, but a forest really
+composed of many varieties of fir and spruce, as
+well as pine. The combined aroma of these woods
+made the air fragrant for many acres around the
+chateau, and for a time, it appeared to have the
+most beneficial effect upon the invalid. But one
+quiet eve, when the summer days had waned, and
+the faded leaves of another autumn fell, a pang of
+anguish shot through Anna's heart. The dearly
+loved mother was called away.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>A short time only had elapsed since that event,
+and the servants were packing, and making preparations
+for the return to the manor house, when a
+mounted courier arrived at the chateau, with a
+large package of papers addressed in Dr. Strickland's
+handwriting. Very long, and full of feeling,
+and minute in every detail, was the letter the good
+man had written, if letter so long a dispatch might
+be called. He told of Cecil's conversations, of his
+watchings from beside the fountain; how every
+day he picked flowers, and put them on the harpsichord,
+saying this is the place she loves best; and
+how he faded and wasted day by day, yet struggled
+so bravely against the hand of death, that he
+might finish his last and best picture for Anna;
+and how on the last day of his life, he had laid his
+flowers on the harpsichord as usual, and then desired
+to be carried to the library and lifted into their
+great-grandfather's chair to die,&mdash;the chair that
+Anna had placed for him the first time they met.</p>
+
+<p>When Anna had finished reading the final words
+of Dr. Strickland's letter, she rose and moved
+quietly into the recess of one of the large, heavily
+mullioned windows, and looked down a long vista
+into the forest, to the tall dark pines under which
+was her mother's grave. Every vestige of color
+had left both cheek and lip, and she stood in the
+great somber room, as cold and white and as still as
+the statues which adorned its walls. The extremes
+of grief and joy have no speech; she had none.
+No cry of lamentation went forth; no tears of
+relief fell from her eyes; she knew her life was
+ended, but she also knew that she could not die.
+Three words only escaped her lips. "O God,
+alone."</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Has hope like the bird in the story,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That flitted from tree to tree<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With the talisman's glittering glory<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Has hope been that bird to thee?<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">On branch after branch alighting,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The gem did she still display,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And when nearest and most inviting,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then waft the fair gem away?<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>Among the papers of the late mistress of
+the manor house, were found two letters
+which from their dates showed that they
+had been written during her stay in Italy.
+One was addressed to Sir Thomas Richardson,
+Lord Chief Justice of England, the other to her
+daughter. She appeared to have had a foreshadowing
+of her death, and directed Anna, in case of
+such an event, to have Sir Thomas' letter delivered
+to him immediately, and to abide by whatever
+decision he might come to. Anna had never seen
+Sir Thomas, but she knew that he was in some way
+related to her on her mother's side of the family,
+and that he was an old gentleman, who lived among
+his books, in an old-fashioned country house in
+one of the midland counties of England, with no
+one but his servants about him. And when the
+decision came, which informed Miss Vyvyan that
+she too was to live there, as his ward, she was
+thankful, for the tie of kindred was strong in her
+nature, and she thought to herself, there is still a
+link, that connects with the memory of my loved
+mother. Besides he is old and alone, perhaps I
+may be able to do something to make his life less
+lonely. But what could she do, she asked herself,
+for to her all seemed vague and undefined.</p>
+
+<p>Arriving at the quiet old home of Sir Thomas,
+with its smooth green lawn and flat meadows
+around and in front of the house, she was shown
+into the presence of a tall, stately, white-haired,
+old gentleman to whom nature had indeed been
+gracious, for he was extremely handsome, and of
+courtly manners. He greeted her kindly but with
+much dignity, and addressed her throughout the
+conversation as Miss Vyvyan. A shudder swept
+through her frame each time she heard herself so
+called, by the only one left who had the right to
+address her by her own familiar name of Anna,
+which she had hoped he would do. But although
+desiring to be in every way kind to his ward, his
+ideas of dignity and courtesy were fixed, and to
+him she was always Miss Vyvyan. Thus without
+a thought of causing her pain, he ever brought
+before her the deepest sense of her bereavement
+and her isolation. Life in Sir Thomas' home was
+very different from life at the manor house, both
+in doors and out. The old gentleman passed most
+of his time in his library, and Anna rarely saw him
+until evening, when he would sometimes instruct
+her in playing chess. When she went outside
+of the house, all seemed strange and dull and
+dreary, plain grass lawns all around, not a flower
+bed to be seen, no long garden walk, no fountain,
+no hills to ramble over, no purple mountains in
+the distance, but a flat level country on all sides.
+And when she came in doors again, no loved
+mother, no Cecil to greet her.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly three years had gone by since Anna's
+arrival as Sir Thomas' ward. It was evening, and
+they had just finished their game of chess, when
+he for the first time addressed her as my dear
+young lady, and after a short pause proceeded.</p>
+
+<p>"This is not a fit place for you; I am too old to
+be the companion of youth; I am doing you injustice
+in allowing you to remain with me, and have
+decided that you shall have a more suitable home."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not wish to leave you, Sir Thomas,"
+replied Anna, "besides I have nowhere to go. I
+cannot live at the manor house all alone."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly you cannot," he answered. "I have
+arranged everything for you to the best of my
+power. You do not really come into property until
+you are twenty-five years of age. Your landed
+estates and other moneys are secured to you in
+such a way that you need not feel the least apprehension
+about your affairs, everything has been attended
+to. The manor house will be in the charge
+of a steward for the present. You will probably
+wish to live there again some day. As I have just
+said, I am too old; I may not, I cannot have long
+to remain here. There is a cousin of your mother
+living in the colony of Virginia, Fairfax by
+name. He has a wife and family, two nephews,
+whom he has adopted, twins, I think, also Fairfaxes.
+They stand in the degree of a third generation
+from myself. I mean to say these twins are about
+the same age my grandson would be now, had he
+been spared to my declining years. Therefore,
+they must be a few years older than you are, and
+more adapted for being companionable to you,
+than I am. I have been in correspondence with
+your Cousin Fairfax, during many months, in
+regard to your making your home with them in
+Virginia, until you are older, and have ceased so
+much to need protection, or until you have settled
+in a home of your own. The arrangement appears
+to be very agreeable to them, and I trust you will
+be happy in their society. I cannot part with you
+without saying that your presence in my house
+has given me much pleasure&mdash;the only one now left
+to me, that of recollection. Although you are very
+quiet, for one who has only reached your years, yet
+the sound of your footstep about the house called
+sweet though sad memories of my only daughter,
+and I thank you for them. If I thought only of
+myself, I should keep you here till the end, but
+there are times when it is more noble to resign
+than to fulfill the dearest wishes of our heart."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>It was in the summer of 1607 that Miss Vyvyan,
+attended by her waiting woman, sailed from England,
+for the colony of Virginia, in the ship Queen
+Elizabeth, from which she had just been wrecked,
+when we took up the narrative of her early life.
+To that period of time we will now return.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stand like Druids of old, with voices sad and prophetic.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stand like harpers hoar with beards that rest on their bosoms.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Loud from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced neighboring ocean,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Speaks and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And thou too who so 'ere thou art<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That readest this brief psalm<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As one by one thy hopes depart<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Be resolute and calm.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Oh fear not in a world like this,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And thou shalt know ere long,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Know how sublime a thing it is<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To suffer and be strong.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>As the shipwrecked young lady lay on the
+cold, rough beach, amid the dead bodies,
+with the hoarse roar of the ocean sounding
+in her ears, and the heavy, wet clouds
+of mist clinging about her, indifferent to life or
+death, the recollection of the ship being pursued
+by buccaneers and driven far out of her course
+came back to her mind, and then being caught in
+a hurricane and seeing another vessel battling with
+the tempest, and both ships furiously hurried on
+toward a wild, rocky coast, the vessels crashing on
+shore and rebounding again, and some one lifting
+her into a boat, and then she remembered no more.
+While these recollections were passing through
+her brain, she raised herself upon her elbow and
+looked around. Death everywhere, the ocean with
+its floating corpses and wreckage lay before her.
+On either hand a long broken beach, with its
+gloomy rocks and its scattered dead. A scene
+which at any other time in her life would have
+struck her with awe, she now gazed at quietly, and
+questioned "Why am I the only one left, oh, if I
+too could die." Turning to look behind her
+through the mist, she observed that the land was
+hilly, and in some places rose to a considerable
+height. The whole surface as far as she could
+make out was covered by a thick growth of lofty
+pines, mingled with spruce and other sorts of fir,
+among which sprung up an entanglement of various
+kinds of undergrowth, all these trees and shrubs
+growing nearly down to the sea and forming so
+thick a forest, that it was impossible for sight to
+penetrate it further than a few yards. There was
+no building of any kind to be seen, no sign of
+human habitation of either savage or civilized life.
+The great abundance of pine trees, and the general
+appearance of the forest, which strongly resembled
+the forests of Norway, instantly called up the question
+in Anna Vyvyan's mind, can it be possible
+that destiny has sent me back to the land of my
+mother's grave?</p>
+
+<p>A low wail like the cry of a young child in
+distress, caused the only hearer to start to her
+feet, and looking on the other side of a broken
+rock close by, she saw stretched out white
+and still, a young lady by the side of whom, in a
+half-standing position, and bending over her was a
+beautiful golden-haired little girl of between two
+and three years. In another instant Anna was
+also bending over the young mother, to whom she
+found the child was tied by a crimson silk sash
+such as were worn by military officers. The tearful
+little one turned up her sweet face, without any
+apparent fear, but with a great deal of sorrow in
+it, and said, in her baby language,</p>
+
+<p>"Mama dorn seep," then she pressed her lips
+upon the cold white cheek, and kissed it and
+stroked and patted the also beautiful mother, who
+lay so mute and pallid and unconscious of all her
+little one's gentle love.</p>
+
+<p>Again and again came the cry from the poor
+forlorn little creature, "Det up, mama, det up,
+mama;" but the dear mamma was beyond the reach
+of the sweet baby voice. Anna's first thought
+was to see if any sign of life remained in the slender
+form before her, but she could find no pulse,
+and the face and hands were as cold, as the rocks
+upon which she was lying. Miss Vyvyan unfastened
+the child, and drew away the long sash,
+which had tied her to her mother's waist. As she
+did so, she observed the delicately formed features,
+which were so regular and proportionate that they
+might have been chiseled in marble, to represent
+some Greek goddess. She saw the masses of soft
+brown hair, and the long dark eyelashes, which
+dropped upon the cheek like silken fringe. She
+observed, too, the simple traveling habit, made of the
+finest material, but perfectly free from any attempt
+at vulgar ornament. And as she took the child
+into her arms, and looked down once more on the
+sweet white face, which lay on the stones at her
+feet, and noted the refinement in everything about
+her, she knew that the little one's mother came of
+gentle blood. The child was willing to go to
+Anna, but not willing to be removed out of sight
+of its mother. So Miss Vyvyan sat down where
+they were with the little one in her lap, and shook
+out the silk sash with the idea of wrapping it
+round the shivering child, but that, too, was wet,
+every thing in the shape of clothing was wet, both
+on Anna and the child. All that she could do for
+the moment to comfort the tiny thing, was to fold
+it in her arms, and try by that means to keep it
+from perishing with cold. It had probably been
+shielded by some heavy woolen wrap, which was
+torn off by the breakers when they were cast on
+shore, for as Anna shook out the silk sash, there
+fell from it a strip of thick woolen fringe, which
+had the appearance of having belonged to a shawl.</p>
+
+<p>But now the child was bareheaded, and wore a
+little white dress of exceedingly fine embroidery,
+which also spoke of the mother's love, for none
+but loving hands ever wrought work so dainty as
+that. Round its neck was clasped a small gold
+chain of minute links of very fine workmanship. So
+thin and delicately was it made, that it resembled a
+thread of golden silk. Anna examined it carefully
+to see if she could find any letter or name upon it,
+but none was there, then she spoke to the child as
+it lay nestling its pretty head upon her arm, and
+still talking to its mother, and said,</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, dear little one, what is your name?"</p>
+
+<p>The child looked up, but evidently could not
+understand the meaning of her words.</p>
+
+<p>Anna tried again by laying one of her fingers on
+the child's shoulder and saying, "Who's dat?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mama's baby," answered the little one in an
+instant.</p>
+
+<p>"Will Mama's baby tell me where papa is?"</p>
+
+<p>"Dorn seep," replied the child.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me where dorn seep, sweet child."</p>
+
+<p>"Down dare," answered she, pointing to a mass
+of human bodies which were thrown together on
+the beach some distance below them, and which
+were constantly kept in motion by the incoming
+tide.</p>
+
+<p>Anna's desire to die no longer existed; as she
+held the beautiful little creature to her heart and
+rocked it, all her thoughts concentrated in the one
+question, what could she do to aid this sweet helpless
+one. The ideas rushed through her mind
+with the rapidity that they come to us in fever. It
+must have warmth and food, or it will perish. I
+cannot let it die, it is so beautiful, and I love it. I
+must act this moment. Rising with the child in
+her arms, she hastened along as rapidly as she
+could among the wreckage, scrambling between
+bales and chests of all kinds, in the hope of finding
+something, anything; she could not surmise
+what it might be, but some sustenance must be
+had for the child. Although hundreds of cases
+and bales were strewed about, they were all so securely
+corded and nailed up, that it was impossible
+to procure anything from them.</p>
+
+<p>At last, far in on the land, she came to a large
+pile of freight, which had struck so violently, that
+the greater number of the cases and bales, had
+broken in two, or had burst open. The first object
+that met her sight, was a broken chest full of
+table covers of rich cloth, evidently the product
+of India and Persia, as the silk embroidered borders
+in oriental needlework showed; happily everything
+was thrown in so far that it was dry.</p>
+
+<p>Taking one of the table covers, she wrapped it
+round the child, who in the midst of its discomfort
+showed its gentle nature by saying,</p>
+
+<p>"Pitty sing, pitty sing," and holding up its sweet
+face to kiss Anna.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, mama's baby shall have more pretty
+things soon," said Miss Vyvyan.</p>
+
+<p>"Dinner," cried the child, "bing dinner, Dinah
+bing dinner."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, darling, we must find dinner for mama's
+baby."</p>
+
+<p>"Dinah bing dinner?" again repeated the poor,
+hungry little thing, with an expressive look of
+interrogation.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, dear, yes;" folding the soft woolen cover
+still more closely round the child, Anna placed her
+in a sheltered spot. "Stay there a moment, baby,
+while I bring dinner."</p>
+
+<p>From the marks on the outside of the boxes it
+was plain that they had come from some Mediterranean
+port, and contained fruits and other edibles.
+With a heavy stone, Anna soon broke open a small
+box of candied fruit, selecting some, she gave it to
+the half-starved child. One of the baby hands
+held her fruit, the other one was instantly stretched
+out toward the box.</p>
+
+<p>"Mama, tandy, too," she cried.</p>
+
+<p>"Mama is asleep, darling, she does not want
+candy."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh mama, tandy, too," she repeated, with an
+earnestness that sent a thrill through Anna's heart.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; mama's baby shall take some if she wishes
+to."</p>
+
+<p>The child took a piece of the fruit, "Doe now,"
+she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Go where, baby?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mama," answered the child, struggling among
+the folds of her wrap, to get on to her feet and
+pointing in the direction of its mother. A nature
+so full of love, shall not be pained or thwarted by
+me, mused Anna, as she carried back the child
+who had already become precious to her. When
+they reached the place where the cold white mother
+was lying, and Anna was in the act of putting the
+little one on the ground as it desired, an unusually
+large wave broke so close by, that the spray and
+foam dashed against, and flowed over the sweet
+pale face. The child uttered a sharp cry of distress,
+and disengaging itself from Anna's arms and
+darting to its mother, threw itself down by her
+side, and, clasping her neck with its tiny arms,
+covered with kisses the face that was so dear.
+The next wave will carry the mother away, Anna
+thought. I cannot let the child witness such a
+sight, it would break her loving little heart, and
+she also felt that she, herself, could not give up to
+the all-devouring ocean, the object of so much
+affection in the babe. Placing the little one in
+safety, she took up the cold, white burden in
+her arms, and carried it far back from the reach of
+the sea, putting it down on the moss, at the root of
+a large pine. As it lay there so lone and sad and
+beautiful, with the child standing by it, for the
+little soul had followed with its swiftest steps,
+Anna bent over it and kissed the face. Poor dear,
+she murmured in a whisper, as long as I exist, my
+love and my life shall be devoted to your child.
+She bent again and kissed the cold lips. Could it
+be possible that breath came lightly through them?
+It was,&mdash;it was,&mdash;deeper and deeper drawn and
+more regular each time. Merciful God, she lives,
+and the tears fell fast from eyes that had long been
+dry with grief. A faint sigh, and the partial parting
+of the long silken eyelashes, told that life was
+coming back still more and more. In a few
+moments she feebly uttered, "My child."</p>
+
+<p>"Your child is safe and with you," replied Anna,
+lifting the little one closer to its mother's side.</p>
+
+<p>"Dudley," she faltered.</p>
+
+<p>"He has not come yet," said Anna, surmising
+for whom she was inquiring, and pitying in her
+inmost soul the widowed heart that must so soon
+learn to live without him.</p>
+
+<p>When the poor mother opened her eyes, the
+scene of horror was more than her delicate organization
+could endure, and a violent, fit of trembling
+came upon her.</p>
+
+<p>"Tote on," said the anxious, sensitive child.</p>
+
+<p>The suggestion was acted upon, Anna ran to
+the pile of dry wreckage, and soon returned, with
+an armful of table covers and a box.</p>
+
+<p>"Tote on mama," cried the child hurriedly, as if
+it felt there was no time to be lost.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, darling, a coat for mama," said Anna, improvising
+a pillow with one, and wrapping several
+other warm covers about the shivering mother.</p>
+
+<p>"Take this," said she, holding to her lips some
+cordial which she had poured into a mussel shell,
+"It is buanaba, a very delicate restorative made
+in Turkey, pray try to take it, it will keep you
+from shivering so."</p>
+
+<p>As we have already said, Anna possessed great
+vital energy, and with her to think was to act.
+She saw that the delicate, slender young mother
+and the child must both die, unless she could find
+some means of getting them warm. There was
+an abundance of dead wood close by, if she could
+only start the first spark of fire. Pushing her way
+a few yards into the forest, she brought out a quantity
+of dead grass and resinous wood, and continued
+striking two stones together until at last
+the spark came, and a good fire soon blazed high,
+and sent out its glow toward the pine tree beneath
+which they were lying. Some large stones were
+soon heated in the hot embers, and rolled to the
+feet of the mother. Covering was brought and
+held to the fire, and the lowly bed made so warm
+that the exhausted mother and her little one fell
+into a natural and refreshing sleep. In the meantime
+Anna was everywhere scrambling and
+climbing among the freight, dragging what she
+could not carry, searching for anything that
+might be appropriated as a covering against the
+cold, and looking after the cases of eatables with a
+thought for the poor, starving ones under the pine
+tree. It was late in the afternoon when the sleepers
+awoke. The mist had in a great measure
+cleared away, and the sunlight was straggling
+through the remaining clouds. A good fire was
+burning, and a tin of water was boiling beside it.
+A long box cover, supported by stones at each end,
+formed a table, other box lids made seats, and the
+table was spread with food that would at least sustain
+life. Heaped up under another pine tree, was
+a sufficient supply of both food and covering, to
+provide for the ladies and child for some time to
+come. There was no lack of tins of all shapes, so
+they were made use of to cook in, and for holding
+food. As soon as the child was thoroughly awake,
+it sat up in its bed, showing its sweet fair face, and
+smiling with happiness at finding its mother awake
+by its side. Taking up a cup of food made from
+sea moss and sweetened with the candied fruit,
+Anna attempted to feed the child by means of a
+shell, but it turned its face away, and said in tones
+full of distress, "Mama too, Dinah bing dinner."
+When Anna took hot coffee from the fire and
+propped up the exhausted mother and induced her
+to drink it, everything went well with the child.
+It was perfectly satisfied, and took its own food,
+and laughed and played with the pebbles and
+shells that were brought to it.</p>
+
+<p>"I have tried often, very often to speak to you,"
+said the mother, addressing Anna for the first time;
+"I was conscious, but I could not speak; I was too
+weak I suppose, and now my voice has come back
+to me, I have no words, I do not know what I
+can say to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you let me suggest what you shall say,"
+asked Anna? "It is this; say what I can do that
+would most help you and your lovely child; and
+now try to rest while I think how you can be sheltered
+from the night air, for night will be upon us
+in the course of two hours at furthest."</p>
+
+<p>The fog and mist had now completely disappeared,
+and given way to the sun, which, however,
+was nearing the horizon, and the trees cast long
+shadows on the grass.</p>
+
+<p>While the mother and child had been asleep in
+the afternoon, Anna had built up a few broken
+boards and stones between them and the sea, that
+they might not be pained on their first awaking by
+seeing the terrible sight which was so near.</p>
+
+<p>"I am better," said the mother. "I feel stronger.
+I cannot endure to see you doing all. I want to
+help you. I do not need more rest now. But tell
+me first, pray tell me the truth, whatever it may
+be. Is there any one left alive here besides ourselves.
+Have you seen an officer in a colonel's
+uniform? My husband was in the service of King
+James, he wore the royal uniform, when he tied my
+child to my waist with his sash, and lifted me into
+a boat. I cannot remember any more. I think I
+must have been stunned. How long have we been
+here? I seem to have lost some of the time, but I
+felt you take away my child, and I heard you speak
+tenderly to it. Have we been here too long for
+my husband to be living? Tell me, can it be possible
+that I may find him?"</p>
+
+<p>Anna could not add to her anguish by repeating
+what the child had said when questioned about its
+father, for she believed it had spoken truly when
+it answered,</p>
+
+<p>"Dorn seep, down dare."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not think we have been here longer than
+to-day," she replied. "I do not know exactly. It
+was early in the morning when our ship struck the
+rocks, but it was broad daylight when I came to
+my senses on the shore. The tide was coming in,
+it was very high, and now it must have been going
+out for nearly four hours, so I think we must have
+been cast on shore this morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Then my husband may still be alive, I must
+seek him." With those words, she rose to her
+feet, but nearly fainted with the effort.</p>
+
+<p>"Your child is sleeping," said Anna. "Let me
+support you, if you will attempt to walk. Tell me
+your husband's name, that I may call it aloud;
+these rocks are very rugged and I can send my
+voice into places among them, that it would be impossible
+to go into."</p>
+
+<p>"Colonel Carleton," she replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Lean on me, Mrs. Carleton. Shall we go
+down this way?"</p>
+
+<p>The tide had carried out the mass of floating
+bodies to which the child had pointed at noon, but
+numbers of others still remained in all directions.
+Tottering and staggering among the dead, Mrs.
+Carleton continued her search, until she had
+looked into every ghastly face that lay there.</p>
+
+<p>"Now will you call aloud for me," she said, "for
+I cannot, my strength is gone."</p>
+
+<p>Anna called, but the only sound that came back
+was the echo of her own voice from the forest and
+the heavy rolling of the sea. They returned in
+silence to the child, who was still asleep. The sun
+had nearly set, when all at once a rich, bright glow
+from the west rose behind the forest and flooded
+every object with golden light. Looking out to
+sea eastward, they observed only a few miles away
+many islands, some of them covered with forests
+down to the water's edge.</p>
+
+<p>"Where can we be," they both ejaculated at the
+same time. There was no habitation visible on
+any of them, nor any smoke rising from them.</p>
+
+<p>"These trees remind me of Norway," said Anna.
+"Do you think we can be in Norway?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am unable to say," replied Mrs. Carleton,
+"but I am sure we are in a northern clime by the
+growth both of trees and plants."</p>
+
+<p>The ladies seated themselves by the sleeping
+child, trying to think what it was best for them to
+do. There was no time for delay; it would soon
+be dark, and the little group of three appeared to
+be the only living human beings in the place,
+wherever that place might be. While they were
+talking together, they had turned their backs to
+the sea and were looking toward the sunset, and
+watching the varied rays of light which here and
+there penetrated through the forest on the hill
+before them.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not hear your name, Mrs. Carleton, on
+board the ship I sailed in from England," said
+Anna.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not come from England," she answered.
+"My parents settled in the colony of Virginia
+long ago. I was born there, that is my home. My
+husband as well as myself, had many relatives in
+England, and we were going to visit them, and intended
+to have our child baptized there, that its
+name might be registered among those of its forefathers.
+Sometime after we sailed, we fell in with
+buccaneers; but our ship, the Sir Walter Raleigh,
+was a fast sailor, and we got away from them; yet
+I was told when the hurricane came on, that they
+were the cause of our being out of our course,
+hence our calamity."</p>
+
+<p>"We met the same destiny," said Anna, and
+then she told in a few words whence she had
+sailed, and that her name was Vyvyan.</p>
+
+<p>The hill in front of the ladies, rose too high for
+them to see the actual setting of the sun, but the
+rich glow of gold and crimson now lit up the
+whole forest, and defined the outline of the rising
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>"What is that I see?" said Mrs. Carleton, shading
+her eyes with her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"'Tall pines' I think," answered Anna.</p>
+
+<p>"No, it is a tower; look, Miss Vyvyan, in that direction,
+see on the hill; it is a stone tower; look,
+now the light has changed; there are windows,
+many of them, see on the right the building extends
+a great way, it is very large."</p>
+
+<p>Anna looked through the wood where Mrs.
+Carleton directed, and saw distinctly in the rosy
+light of the sunset, an immense stone building,
+with a massive tower capable of containing many
+rooms, and rising to the height of two hundred
+feet. With the exception of the tower, the building
+was very irregular, and gave the impression of
+having been erected at different periods. It combined
+the characteristics of a feudal castle and a
+fortress. It was old and gray, but by no means a
+ruin, yet it had a gloomy and forbidding appearance.
+The ladies looked at each other and hesitated,
+they did not speak for a few moments; the
+same idea possessed the mind of each. They
+thought that good people would not live in such a
+place, amid such wild surroundings, but neither
+one of them would unnerve the other by saying
+so, for they knew in their present situation they
+required all the courage that they could command,
+in order that they might be ready to meet their
+uncertain fate.</p>
+
+<p>While they continued looking almost spellbound
+the child awoke, and observing their earnest gaze,
+added her own scrutiny to theirs. She bent her
+little golden head forward and saw some of the
+windows upon which the reflection of light glinted.</p>
+
+<p>"Home," she exclaimed, smiling with childish
+glee, "doe home," taking hold of her mother's
+dress to draw her in the direction of the building,
+which was about half-way up the hill, and only a
+few hundred yards from where they now stood.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The battled towers the donjon keep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The loop-hole grates where captives weep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The flanking walls that round it sweep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In yellow luster shone.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Act,&mdash;act in the living present!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Heart within and God o'erhead!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Let us then be up and doing<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With a heart for any fate<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Still achieving, still pursuing<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Learn to labor and to wait.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>The ladies held a consultation, should they
+attempt to go to the castle and ask for
+shelter. How could the child, which like
+themselves had hitherto lived in luxury,
+pass a night on the beach. Beside the forest
+looked as if it was the resort of wolves and bears.
+It would be unsafe. They could not after dark
+remain where they were, there was no alternative,
+so they decided to go at once to the building.
+There was no path, but they held the branches
+aside for each other. Taking the child with them,
+they stumbled over the loose stones and among
+the briers as well as their want of strength would
+permit, for they were much exhausted. Mrs.
+Carleton was so weak that she fell several times
+and was severely hurt, but no murmur escaped her
+and she rose and struggled on again as if nothing
+had happened, turning, from time to time, with
+some word of kindness or cheer to Miss Vyvyan,
+who was helping the little one along.</p>
+
+<p>Emerging from the woods, they found themselves
+in a long, open space of grass, which was
+surrounded on all sides by the forest. The great
+building stood full in front of, and overshadowed
+them. It was a veritable feudal castle and, as we
+have said, grand, gloomy and forbidding to look at.
+The windows were far up from the ground, no
+entrance door was in sight, no walks or drives
+around it, everywhere rank grass, with here and
+there a tuft of golden-rod, or fall aster springing
+up. No smoke rising from any of the chimneys,
+no traces of footsteps, no sound but the sighing of
+the wind through the pines, and the surging of the
+ocean. Mrs. Carleton was first to break the
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>"If I were by myself," said she, "I should
+imagine I must be dreaming, but I feel the reality
+of our position, this is no dream. We are all alone
+here; this place must have been deserted long ago.
+Look, there is the entrance overgrown with
+brambles. It is best that we are alone; if we can
+get shelter, we need not fear molestation."</p>
+
+<p>She spoke calmly and cheerfully and tried to
+wear a smile for the sake of the two who were
+looking at her and listening to her words. Anna
+had entertained grave fears for Mrs. Carleton while
+they were getting up to the castle. She thought
+the delicate frame must give way altogether, but
+she now saw that her newly-made friend was as
+brave, as she was gentle and loving and faithful,
+and fear gave place to hope and resolve. As she
+went a few steps to gather some asters, which the
+child wished for, she said to herself, "This fragile,
+suffering, uncomplaining woman has already taught
+me a great lesson, and I will never seek selfish
+relief by adding to her overburdened life, the
+weight of my own sorrow. She shall always think
+me cheerful, whatever I may know my self to be,
+for nothing that I can do will be of so much help
+to her and the sweet child."</p>
+
+<p>As Anna returned, the little one stretched out
+her hands to receive the flowers and held up the
+rosy lips to give a kiss for them, which was her
+usual mode of acknowledging any kindness shown
+to her.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Vyvyan," said Mrs. Carleton, "I have
+been looking on the other side while you have
+been gathering the flowers. I find there is an
+immense pile of ruins there, which looks as if it
+were the ruins of a tower. That small entrance
+at the north end is the only one that is open.
+Shall we try to get in, we can beat down the
+brambles."</p>
+
+<p>The doorway was low and arched, the stone
+work about it coarse and massive, the door had
+fallen from the upper hinge, and lay so far open
+that ingress was very easy. The ladies entered
+and passed into a broad stone passage, which was
+many yards in length and led to a staircase at the
+foot of the great tower at the south end. As they
+passed along the passage, they saw a number of
+rooms on either side, which were all in semi-darkness,
+being lighted only by narrow loopholes in the
+outer walls, yet there was sufficient light to show
+them that they were all well filled with what
+appeared to be chests, boxes and packages, but the
+ladies were too much fatigued to make any examination
+of them. They observed that the walls
+were all of rough stone, but there was no feeling
+of dampness. On reaching the staircase, Mrs.
+Carleton discovered some inscriptions cut deep
+into the wall.</p>
+
+<p>"What is this, Miss Vyvyan? I see it is not
+Greek or Latin or Hebrew. I never saw any
+characters like these."</p>
+
+<p>"They are runic," replied Anna. "I should
+not know what they are, only that I have seen them
+on old ruins in Norway. Do you think we are in
+Norway? This old castle is very much like buildings
+I have seen there."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carleton, who was an excellent botanist,
+again referred to the trees and plants which they
+had seen as they came up from the beach.</p>
+
+<p>"Those fall asters," she said, "and the species
+of golden-rod are both of northern growth, but I
+cannot in the least feel sure of our whereabouts.
+It scarcely seems probable that we shall find the
+means of getting away from this place very soon,
+for there is no evidence of any commerce here,
+and as far as I can judge, nothing for merchants or
+traders to come for. I do not say this to dishearten
+you, Miss Vyvyan, but I feel it right that we
+should speak openly and honestly to each other."</p>
+
+<p>"I understand you," replied Anna, "you do not
+wish to fill my imagination with false hopes; it is
+good, and kind, and sensible, and I thank you for
+speaking as you have done. I feel myself that
+this is no time for dreaming, and I do not any
+longer care to indulge in it. All I care for, is to
+lead an earnest, true life in whatever position Fate
+may place me. If we are destined to remain together,
+you shall see."</p>
+
+<p>The ladies had now ascended the winding stone
+staircase as far as the top of the first flight from
+the ground. From the stairs, they stepped into a
+corridor with a stone floor and bare stone walls,
+somewhat similar to the one below, but wider and
+well lighted. From this corridor, branched off
+other passages and staircases, leading both above
+and below, and numberless rooms of all kinds, the
+doors of which were chiefly open, showing the
+most luxurious and costly furniture, and the richest
+hangings, containing chests filled with rich velvets
+and satins, and all other requirements of
+ladies' dress. Some rooms were evidently sleeping
+apartments, others were furnished as parlors, the
+walls being hung with tapestry, and adorned with
+rare paintings and mirrors in frames of the most
+exquisite workmanship, in ivory, silver and bronze.
+Rich carpets and rugs covered the floors. The
+rooms all felt dry. They had wide, open fireplaces
+in which stood fire dogs of brass or iron; in some
+of them still remained half-burned or charred logs,
+and the dead ashes of long years ago. The
+ladies remarked that, amidst all this abundance of
+wealth, there was a certain incongruity in the arrangement
+of the contents of every room. In one
+they found silk draperies from India, a divan from
+Turkey, an Italian settee in the finest Florentine
+carving; beside it a massive English table of heart
+of oak, and the light, spider-legged gilt chairs of
+Paris, with their faded red silk cushions, and so on.
+They rambled through room after room. In many
+of them were firearms of all dates and nations,
+sabers and cutlasses, daggers and swords, with pistols
+and guns, and powder flasks, and spears.
+Some of these lay upon the tables and chairs, and
+others hung from the walls. In all the sleeping-rooms,
+were numberless articles of men's dress,
+uniforms and costumes of various kinds, sufficient
+in variety to supply disguises for a whole regiment.
+With the exception of the number of firearms
+and other instruments of warfare lying about, the
+rooms were all in order. The reflection of the setting
+sun streamed in at the windows, and across
+the floors at the west side of the castle, and lit up
+the mirrors, and pictures, and beautiful and curious
+works of art, which hung on the walls, or stood on
+the shelves, or on quaint pieces of furniture, and
+which abounded everywhere and made the interior
+of the building a pleasant contrast to the gloomy-looking
+outside.</p>
+
+<p>Passing hastily through the rooms which led off
+the corridors, the ladies returned to the great
+tower at the south end. They found the door,
+which gave entrance to it was closed; but on Mrs.
+Carleton laying her hand upon the lock, it at once
+gave way, and they went through a vestibule, and
+entered a large and very handsome room. It was
+octagon in form, with a window in every division.
+The upper part of each window was made
+of antique painted glass, which shed red hues of
+crimson, gold and purple in different parts of the
+room, ever varying their position with the change
+in the sun's altitude, and giving the apartment at
+all times of the day, a bright, cheerful appearance.
+This room was furnished still more gorgeously
+than any of the others. The walls were hung
+with the richest kinds of Spanish tapestry; on
+a ground of dark green silk velvet, was embroidered
+large flowers and arabesques in gold, interspersed
+at intervals with the well-known representations
+of the three castles, which are a part of the
+arms of Spain. The furniture was all of chestnut,
+carved in the deeply cut and highly raised work,
+which is so rich and elaborate, and peculiar to the
+Spanish artists. Several curiously cut mirrors
+hung on the walls, and also some exceedingly delicate
+paintings in ivory, and, a number of choice
+enamels on plaques of gold. The mantel piece of
+stone was high and adorned with beautiful vases
+of Egyptian and Etruscan make, mingled with
+those of Rome and Herculaneum, and the more
+modern flower-holders of Bohemian and Venetian
+glass. The sofas, as well as the luxurious armchairs,
+were covered with green silk velvet. The
+window draperies were of the same, ornamented
+with gold fringe.</p>
+
+<p>The floor was made of various kinds, inlaid in
+mosaic work, as we see them in Italy. Soft ruby
+colored rugs were lying in front of the table, and
+before the fireplace. On one side, was a small
+carved bookcase containing a few volumes of novels,
+some of poetry and a few sacred books of the
+Roman Catholic creed, all of them in Spanish.</p>
+
+<p>In one or two of the books, the name of "Inez"
+was written. Across the end of one of the sofas
+lay a guitar of satin-wood, inlaid with mother-o'-pearl,
+with a Spanish lace mantilla by the side of
+it, and on a small table close by was an open music
+book containing Spanish songs.</p>
+
+<p>Everything gave evidence of having been left
+untouched for many years, the flowers in the vases
+had dried, and fallen bit by bit, and lay in small
+heaps that looked like chaff. In one corner of
+the room stood a tall Chinese jar, that had once
+contained sprays of the fragrant fir balsam, which
+was now little else than dust. In the wide, open
+fireplace on the hearth, the wood that had been
+carefully placed on the dogs ready to light, had
+become so dry, that it had crumbled away, and
+fallen to pieces with its own weight.</p>
+
+<p>The ladies felt the importance of using the
+remaining daylight in making some preparations
+for the night, so deferred any further examination
+of the castle until the next day. They experienced
+a certain feeling of safety in being alone.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Carleton," said Miss Vyvyan, "you will
+not mind if I run down to the beach, and bring
+up some of the table covers and some food. I
+shall soon be back again."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not mind being left, but I do mind your
+doing it without help; I want to help you in everything,
+but I am not strong enough yet. We will
+stand by the window and watch you as far as we
+can."</p>
+
+<p>The child understood the conversation, and
+turning with a very earnest and inquiring look to
+her mother, she said,</p>
+
+<p>"Be back."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, dear, Miss Vyvyan is coming back. That
+is my little one's way of saying she wishes you to
+return," said Mrs. Carleton. "She always says to
+me, if I am leaving the room, 'be back,' she means
+come back."</p>
+
+<p>"I like to hear her say it," said Anna; "it sounds
+so real and so pretty, and it is her own way of
+expressing what she desires. I hope you will
+always allow her to keep that little remnant of
+babyhood. I ask it of you as a favor."</p>
+
+<p>"I am only too glad, Miss Vyvyan, to do anything
+you wish," replied Mrs. Carleton.</p>
+
+<p>As Anna left the room and hastened down the
+tower stairs, she heard the sweet little voice calling
+after her,</p>
+
+<p>"Be back, be back."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carleton had prepared a pleasant surprise
+for Anna on her return. She had taken a flint
+from the lock of one of the guns, and had succeeded
+in lighting a cheerful fire, before which the
+ladies spread the table covers, and slept until the
+light of the morning sun shone in upon them
+through one of the painted windows, and made
+brilliant hues in various parts of the room, which
+the child called butterflies. The little party was
+rested and refreshed, and awoke to be greeted by
+a beautiful day.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as they had breakfasted, they began a
+thorough investigation of their new abode. They
+descended to the basement where they had entered,
+and discovered in one of the rooms immense
+stores of provisions of all kinds, many of them in
+good order, for they were in sealed jars and cases.
+One of the down-stairs rooms was a carpenter's
+shop, containing tools of all sorts, which were of
+great use to the ladies in opening many things
+that it would have been impossible for them to do
+otherwise. There was a large store of wine, and
+a kitchen containing strangely shaped cooking
+utensils from different countries. Near the small
+north doorway by which the ladies entered the
+castle, was a narrow stone staircase, leading down
+under ground, but it was so dimly lighted, that
+they did not attempt to go down it. Ascending
+again to the tower, they discovered several more
+beautiful rooms in it, all richly furnished. All
+these rooms had apparently been set apart for the
+use of the lady, with the exception of one, a
+library, containing carved oak shelves, loaded with
+books in many different languages; the heavy
+furniture was also of carved oak, cushioned with
+old gold embossed leather. A Spanish cloak of
+crimson velvet was thrown across the back of one
+of the chairs, and upon the seat of it lay a sombrero
+with a plume, also a sword and a pair of
+gauntlets. An arched doorway in one corner of
+the library, led into a small watch tower, the whole
+size of which was filled up by a winding stone
+staircase.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, Miss Vyvyan," said Mrs. Carleton, "we
+will go up here, and we may, perhaps, see something
+that will tell us where we are." They
+climbed the stairs to the top, and passed through a
+low door on to the battlements of a great tower,
+whence they looked down at the pine trees, two
+hundred feet below. They saw at once that they
+were on an island; not by any means a large one,
+and that the whole of it was covered by forest as
+far as the water's edge, excepting in a few places
+where a bare rock or swamp intervened. They
+looked to the south and saw only the open ocean.
+The day was clear and calm, and they could see
+away to the horizon. To the east lay many other
+islands; then to the north the same sight met
+their eyes. Looking to the west still more islands
+were to be seen, and also what appeared to be the
+mainland, and far away, perhaps seventy miles off
+in the distance, a magnificent range of lofty mountains.
+Nothing could exceed the beauty of the
+scene. As they walked round the top of the
+tower, looking down upon all these forest-clad
+islands without any sign of habitation, Mrs. Carleton,
+turning to Anna, said, "Let us try to think
+over all the maps we have studied in our geography
+lessons."</p>
+
+<p>"Just what I have been trying to do," said Anna,
+"but I can only think of a great number of islands
+in the Pacific ocean, and we know we are not
+there, and we are not in any of the West India
+islands, for, as you say, the trees tell us we are in
+the north, and now that I see so many islands, I
+know we are not in Norway. But is it not strange
+that the runic characters are in so many places in
+this castle? See, here are more of them, exactly
+the same as I saw when we were in Norway."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," replied Mrs. Carleton; "everything tells
+us we are in the north, and also tells us we are
+alone. We may have to remain here, we know
+not how long, perhaps years; and then, too, we
+have something else to consider. These trees
+show that the winters in this region are very
+severe, as do also the rents in the rocks that we
+clambered among on our way up to the castle.
+Those great fissures were all caused by the action
+of intense frosts, by such a degree of cold as you
+and I have no idea of, excepting from what we have
+read. In a climate like this, we know the winter
+sets in early, so I think, Miss Vyvyan, the only
+thing we can do is to prepare for it immediately
+as soon as we can."</p>
+
+<p>"I see; everything is exactly as you say," replied
+Anna, "and now let me ask you a favor. I am
+stronger physically than you are, and I beg you to
+allow me to undertake the heavier share of our
+occupation. Let me do all that requires to be done
+outside the castle, such as getting wood and water,
+and whatever we may want from the wreckage,
+and you take charge of the inside of our present
+home, in which you must allow me to help you. I
+understand you already, and I believe you would
+do everything and endure all the fatigue without a
+murmur, but that is impossible; you have not the
+strength, and you must try to be well for the sake
+of your dear child."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carleton endeavored to remonstrate with
+Miss Vyvyan about the division of the toil, which
+was so new and strange to each of them, for she was
+born with a great generous heart that was ready
+and willing to do and die for others; but Anna
+would not listen to her sweet pleadings, although
+in her soul she admired them.</p>
+
+<p>"Bow wow," said the little one, pointing down
+to the forest.</p>
+
+<p>The ladies looked over the battlements and, to
+their horror, saw three wolves creeping stealthily
+along under the shadow of the great pines below.
+They thought instantly of the fallen door at
+the entrance, and hastened down the tower stairs
+as far as the room hung with green velvet tapestry,
+where they had passed the night, and which they
+decided should in future be their sitting-room, so
+they named it the green parlor. As they entered,
+the glow of the cheerful fire on the hearth, the
+beautiful prospect of forest and sea from the
+windows, and the child's butterflies, glancing here
+and there, gave a bright and pleasant air to the
+room, but the ladies felt much disturbed by the
+discovery of wolves so near them, and the knowledge
+of the open door in the passage below.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Vyvyan," said Mrs. Carleton, "there are
+other doors of entrance to this, castle; I saw
+them, we will go and see if we can open one of
+them; and then we will close up the door below
+altogether."</p>
+
+<p>At the end of a passage leading from the tower,
+and not far from the green parlor, they found a
+massive door, strongly barred and bolted inside.
+They drew the bolts, and on opening it led down
+on the outside, by a long flight of stone stairs to
+the grass below, and very near to the place on
+which they stood on their arrival from the beach.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be safe in one respect now," said
+Mrs. Carleton, "for no animal can break this door
+and we can keep it bolted."</p>
+
+<p>The first thing to be done now was to close up
+the entrance down stairs. The ladies went down
+and out through the door by which they had
+entered the castle at the north end. Quickly
+gathering up some of the wood which lay round
+about them, they set fire to it, in order to scare
+away any wolves which might be prowling near,
+and at once went to work, carrying stones from
+the ruins of the fallen tower, and by their joint
+strength replacing the door. They next piled up
+such a barrier of great stones behind it, that they
+were sure that no wolves could enter that way.
+They had finished their first attempt at building and
+were about to go up again to the green parlor,
+when the child with a little laugh and in its sprightly
+way cried out,</p>
+
+<p>"Kitta, kitta, see kitta." At the same instant
+running as fast as her tiny feet could go, after two
+small white kittens which the next moment disappeared
+down the half-dark stairs, that they had
+noticed when they first arrived, but were too tired
+to investigate at that time.</p>
+
+<p>They now looked down them and in the dim
+light, saw only a passage which led in the direction
+of the fallen tower. They satisfied themselves
+that there was no opening from that to the outside
+of the building, and concluded that the immense
+pile of ruins completely stopped up all means of
+ingress that way, so they decided not to go to the
+bottom of the gloomy staircase for mere curiosity,
+when time was so precious to them, for they felt
+as Mrs. Carleton had remarked that winter might
+be upon them very soon. They passed all the
+remainder of the day in bringing up from the
+beach such supplies as they most needed, and decided
+to devote a portion of each day to this occupation
+as long as the weather permitted.</p>
+
+<p>Before sunset they were all safe in the castle
+again, the child running about the room they were
+arranging, and delighted with the many beautiful
+ornaments. The ladies made up their minds to
+adapt themselves to their circumstances, and be as
+cheerful as they could, for the child's sake. They
+selected the tower for their residence, as it contained
+the best rooms in the castle, and the view
+from every one of them was beautiful. They
+could go up the watch tower and look off from the
+battlements, over the islands and forests, to those
+majestic purple mountains, whenever they desired
+to do so.</p>
+
+<p>A sleeping room next to the green parlor was
+chosen for Mrs. Carleton. It was fitted up with
+the same degree of luxury as most of the others,
+the furniture being of satin wood and ivory, and
+the hangings and drapings of the bed and windows
+of pink velvet and white lace. Two curiously
+wrought silver lamps stood on the dressing table,
+and showed that they had burned themselves out.
+In front of the mirror was a jewel casket; it was
+open, and showed rings and aigrettes of diamonds
+and emeralds. A few ruby ornaments lay on the
+table, and a string of pearls, also a small lace scarf
+and a pair of lady's gloves, embroidered on the
+backs with gold. The curtains and velvet draperies
+of the windows were completely closed, and
+the room looked as though some one had dressed
+in it and gone away and left the lamps burning.
+Everything was a mystery to the ladies which they
+could not unravel.</p>
+
+<p>When the day was over, Mrs. Carleton and Miss
+Vyvyan sat beside the sleeping child, in Mrs.
+Carleton's room. The fire was burning on the
+hearth, and the full moon poured its beams in at
+the windows; they had no other light.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carleton spoke much of her bereavement,
+but struggled to be brave, and to resign herself to
+a destiny she could not alter, at the same time
+revealing, quite unawares to herself, a character
+full of intense affection, unselfishness and great
+courage.</p>
+
+<p>As Anna watched the sweet, pure face so full
+of emotion and sensibility, and the firelight flickered
+upon and lit up the refined features, her whole
+heart yearned toward her new friend, and her own
+sorrow was buried in those of the forlorn young
+mother.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been considering," said Miss Vyvyan,
+"about your child. Do you not think we ought to
+make life as bright and happy as we can for her,
+and we can do a great deal, although we may have
+to stay in exile for a long while. She need never
+suffer from that idea. All will depend upon the
+way we educate her, and the way we live."</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly so," replied Mrs. Carleton. "We will
+make our lives as good an example as possible;
+we will bring her up, as far as circumstances will
+admit, the same as we would do if she were in
+my old home. We cannot have the servants we
+have been accustomed to have, but we can make
+this home a systematic one, and a refined one, and
+we must make it a cheerful one for her sake."</p>
+
+<p>"There is one thing I feel very anxious about," said
+Mrs. Carleton; "my child has not yet been baptized.
+As I told you, we were going to take her
+to England for that purpose. I should feel happier
+if I could carry out my husband's wish, and be
+able to call her by the name he so much liked."</p>
+
+<p>"I can fully enter into your feelings," said Miss
+Vyvyan. "Why not baptize her yourself? I
+presume you are familiar with the service, as we
+have baptisms in our church so frequently."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," replied Mrs. Carleton, "and I cannot
+see that there would be anything wrong in doing
+so, myself, as there is not any one else to do it."</p>
+
+<p>"It can no more be wrong," said Anna, "to
+repeat the baptismal prayers for your child, than it
+is to offer up your daily prayers for her. Indeed to
+me it seems perfectly right, as we are situated at
+present."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad you entertain those feelings on the
+subject, Miss Vyvyan," replied Mrs. Carleton,
+"and as we are both of the English church, will
+you be godmother to my little one?"</p>
+
+<p>"You confer great happiness on me," replied
+Anna, "by making such a request. What do you
+intend to call her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Cora was the name my husband wished her to
+be called," replied Mrs. Carleton. "And I desire to
+add Caroline to it, as that is the name of my dear
+mother, and is now, alas, the only means I have of
+showing my affection for her, who is perhaps at
+this moment mourning my absence."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you baptize her to-morrow?" inquired
+Miss Vyvyan. "If you will, we can make a dress
+for her in the forenoon. There is an abundance of
+white India muslin and cashmere, too, enough I
+should say to dress her for years to come."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," answered Mrs. Carleton, "I like that
+idea, and we will keep her always dressed in white."</p>
+
+<p>"And as to yourself," said Anna, "I ask you as
+a favor, to let me choose for you in this instance,
+I wish you always to be beautifully dressed in
+colors, that will look bright and cheerful. I think
+it will have an influence on the child's spirits and
+thence on her health. I do not feel that we need
+to have any compunction about using the things
+we find here, for we see that this place must have
+been deserted many years ago, and I cannot help
+thinking that all these costly things are the plunder
+of buccaneers."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing is so probable," answered Mrs. Carleton.
+"Indeed, when we consider for a moment,
+everything seems to say so. Many of those cases
+which still remain unopened are such as the merchants
+bring to the colony of Virginia. I have
+seen similar ones there which came from foreign
+countries. It occurs to me that all these stores
+are the cargoes of ships that have been robbed by
+those desperate men who have been and still are
+the terror of the sea; but why they left this place
+so suddenly is difficult to divine, unless, perhaps,
+retribution fell upon them when they were out
+at sea on some of their marauding expeditions.
+Evidently a lady has lived here, too; perhaps they
+took her with them on their last voyage, and she
+also may have been lost, so I think we may feel
+we are not doing wrong in using such things as are
+necessary to our existence while we are here."</p>
+
+<p>The next morning the ladies were up early
+busying themselves with their preparations for the
+child's baptism. As they sat by the open window
+in the green parlor, making the little white dress,
+the sunlight falling upon the floor, the soft, warm
+breeze from the south coming in upon them, and
+the beautiful child playing about the room, prattling
+to herself in her baby language, and trying
+with her little hands to cover the colored shadows&mdash;butterflies
+as she called them,&mdash;and to hold them in
+one place, they each of them thought to themselves
+how much there is in life to make us happy;
+and yet, and yet, who can be happy when there is
+an empty place which nothing here can fill. They
+neither of them expressed what they thought, for
+they had each made a resolution to help the other.</p>
+
+<p>The sea and sky were one beautiful blue; there
+was just sufficient breeze to cause white caps at
+distant intervals, and to toss the surf lightly
+against the rocks.</p>
+
+<p>The ladies finished their sewing, and with the
+child went out to gather some wild flowers to
+adorn their parlor for the baptism. In a few
+minutes they saw a narrow path which they followed
+and found that it lead to a well of pure
+water only a little way off. Below this was a
+swamp surrounded by a luxuriant growth of asters
+of every hue, and white and pink spirea and golden
+rod, and blue iris, and the delicate, rose-colored
+arethusa, and the blue fringed gentian abounded
+on every hand; also shrubs of the bayberry,
+wild rose and sweet brier, with many beautiful
+ferns.</p>
+
+<p>By Mrs. Carleton's refined taste the green parlor
+was soon transformed into a fairy bower. The
+autumn sunshine sent a flood of golden light over
+all, and the child, dressed in its fresh white attire,
+was baptized, and Miss Vyvyan was its godmother.
+The ceremony was just over and the latter lady
+was still standing with the child in her arms, beside
+a large crystal bowl which was placed on the table
+and embedded in green moss and wreathed round
+the top with white roses. It contained the water
+from which the child had received the symbol of
+the Christian church.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said Mrs. Carleton, "I wish to say to
+you, Miss Vyvyan, that from this day Cora belongs
+to both of us, to you as well as to myself; she will
+henceforth be <i>our</i> child. I want you to have someone
+you can speak of as 'mine.' I am thankful
+that I never knew what it was to be without someone
+of my own to love, who was near to me, but I
+can picture to myself what a death in life such an
+existence must be to those who have to endure the
+separation, and I should feel very selfish if I did
+not divide my happiness with you."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know how to answer you," said Miss
+Vyvyan. "I cannot say what I wish to. Will you
+grant me one more kindness; that is, let Cora
+always call me by my name, Anna, and you do the
+same. It is more than three years since anyone
+called me Anna; there is no one left to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"I will," said Mrs. Carleton, "and to you I must
+be Ada, for so I am named. I am glad that you
+are pleased at having Cora for your godchild. I
+thought you would be; that was a little plan of
+mine. I wanted to do something to make you feel
+happier."</p>
+
+<p>Gentle, loving Ada, always thinking of the good
+she could do to others, always self-abnegating, always
+giving up her own happiness that others
+might receive pleasure; even in the midst of grief,
+bereavement and exile, devising means to cheer a
+life that she saw was more lonely than her own&mdash;such
+was her character.</p>
+
+<p>The position in which Miss Vyvyan now stood
+as Cora's godmother created a sincere bond of
+friendship between the two ladies, which as time
+went on developed into a lifelong affection. They
+each understood and appreciated every thought
+and feeling of the other. The child, who was of an
+intense and affectionate temperament, loved both
+of her guardians. She confided in Anna and
+would stay with her for hours together, and she
+always demanded in her baby way that Anna
+should partake equally with her mother and herself
+of everything that she deemed pleasure and
+enjoyment, and if Miss Vyvyan remained long out
+of sight, inquiry and desire were expressed by
+Cora in one little sentence, "Anna be back." At
+the same time, with an innate and delicate discrimination,
+the child defined the distinction between
+her filial love for her mother and that given
+to her friend in so natural a way that neither of
+the ladies could ever feel slighted or wounded in
+the least degree.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">He who ascends to mountain tops, shall find<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The loftiest peak most wrapped in clouds and snow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He who surpasses or subdues mankind,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Must look down on the hate of those below.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Though high above the sun of glory glow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And far beneath the earth and ocean spread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Contending tempests on his naked head,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And thus reward the toils which to those summits led.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>They had been domiciled in the castle for
+several days when Miss Vyvyan said,</p>
+
+<p>"As I am to take care of the commissariat
+department out of doors, Ada, I
+think it would be well for me to go down to the
+beach and bring up all the provisions I can, while
+we have such fine weather, as we think the winter
+may be very long here, so if you consider it a good
+plan I will fill another storeroom."</p>
+
+<p>"We will all go down, Anna," replied Mrs.
+Carleton. "We have been here five days now, and
+I hope the tide may have removed much that
+was distressing to see there."</p>
+
+<p>When the ladies reached the beach it was as Mrs.
+Carleton had supposed, all the corpses had floated
+away, but the whole beach and the shore far up
+from the sea was still strewn with wreckage. They
+worked very diligently, making piles of many
+things that might be useful, little Cora trotting
+about as busily as her companions, and helping as
+far as she knew how. It was scarcely ten o'clock,
+but the ladies had been out in the sun for some
+time lifting and carrying heavy burdens, an occupation
+which was as fatiguing to them as it was
+novel. So that they might rest a little while, and
+get all the sea breeze that there was on that still
+day, they went out on to a mass of high rocks,
+which projected into the ocean and formed a cove
+on each side.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had they seated themselves, when they
+saw a gentleman climbing up from one of the
+coves below and coming toward them. He was a
+young man perhaps twenty-seven years of age.
+As he approached them, they noticed that his
+appearance was that of a gentleman of rank, his
+every movement was full of grace and high breeding,
+his figure was slender and under the middle
+size, and his face exceedingly handsome and refined.
+His bright chestnut colored hair was long
+and fell in waving masses on his shoulders. He
+wore a small beard of the same hue, his dress was
+very rich and elaborate, after the fashion of the
+time, and when he spoke, his voice and courtly
+manner, told that he was what his appearance
+indicated. As soon as he came near to them, he
+bowed low, and made a gesture with one hand, as
+if raising his hat, but he was bareheaded.</p>
+
+<p>"Ladies," he began, "pardon me for intruding
+upon you, but for the love of heaven give me a
+cup of water, it is many days since I moistened
+my lips, I have been shipwrecked on your coast."</p>
+
+<p>The ladies were on their feet in an instant. Mrs.
+Carleton running to a birch tree a few yards back
+from the beach, and breaking off a piece of bark,
+deftly bent it into a cup, which she handed to Miss
+Vyvyan to fill from the same pond that had supplied
+them with water the first day they were
+thrown upon the island. Refreshed by the draught
+the stranger tried to thank them, but speech and
+strength failed him, and tottering a few paces
+toward the land, he fell down insensible beside a
+fissure in one of the rocks. The ladies went to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"His hands are as cold as if he were dead,
+Ada," said Miss Vyvyan. "What will it be best
+to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"What did you do for me, when you first tried
+to help me?" replied Mrs. Carleton.</p>
+
+<p>"I tried to get you warm."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, we must do that."</p>
+
+<p>At these words, they simultaneously took off the
+outside wraps they wore, and laid them over him,
+and hastened about among the wreckage, until
+they had a good supply of warm rugs and coverings.</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you get those hot stones that you
+placed at my feet," said Mrs. Carleton?</p>
+
+<p>"I made a fire and heated them."</p>
+
+<p>Then we will make a fire and do the same thing.</p>
+
+<p>They covered the poor fellow over, and put hot
+stones to his feet, and he seemed to be sleeping.
+In the meantime they prepared some light food
+for him. They sat in silence near by, waiting to
+see what they could do, should he return to consciousness.
+They observed the color coming back
+to his face, and a bright pink spot burned on each
+cheek.</p>
+
+<p>"I fear," said Mrs. Carleton, "fever is setting in.
+I will make something with the fruit we brought
+down, that will quench his thirst."</p>
+
+<p>The child seemed to echo the thoughts of her
+companions, seeing them anxiously engaged in
+ministering to the sufferer. She began gathering
+up anything that she thought pretty, and laid it by
+his side. Presently she went to him with a few
+wild flowers, which she had picked from the crevices
+of the rocks and among the shore grass close
+by. She observed the ladies spoke in low tones to
+each other and moved about very quietly. She knew
+there was some cause for this, for, young as she
+was, she had already an idea of illness and suffering,
+and her little heart was full of pity for others.
+She stood looking at him as he lay asleep before
+her, waiting with her wild flowers, until the time
+should come for her to give them to him. "Poorest,
+poorest," she repeated, at the same time
+stroking his hair with her baby hand. That was
+her own word, and her own way of showing sympathy
+and pity. The little one's vocabulary was,
+at this period of her life, very limited, but equally
+significant of all that she saw and felt. She
+possessed no extraneous babble. The only words
+she was capable of uttering came from her heart;
+hence they fell upon her hearers with all the beauty
+and strength of truth. "Poorest, poorest," she
+again repeated; "dorn seep; papa dorn seep, too."</p>
+
+<p>At the child's last sentence, a shudder quivered
+through Mrs. Carleton's frame, and a still whiter
+shade passed over the already pale face. She
+clasped her little one close to her and bowed down
+upon its head. She did not utter a sound. Her
+silence said more than any words could have done,
+for hers was a sorrow that had no speech.</p>
+
+<p>After a restful sleep, the young man awoke, and
+sitting up among the many rugs and coverings by
+which he was surrounded, he looked about in every
+direction, and appeared to be endeavoring to realize
+his true position. He saw the high tower of
+the castle rising so near to him among the trees;
+he saw the ladies and the child, but he did not feel
+quite sure of the truth of all he saw until Mrs.
+Carleton put a cup into his hand and said,</p>
+
+<p>"This is a fever drink; will you take some? I
+have just made it from fruit, the same as we make
+it in Virginia."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," he said. "I know what it is. I
+am a Virginian. I sailed from that colony in the
+ship Sir Walter Raleigh. Who has been so kind
+as to bring me all these rugs," he continued.</p>
+
+<p>"We did," replied Mrs. Carleton, looking in the
+direction of Miss Vyvyan, who with the child
+stood near them.</p>
+
+<p>"What, with your own hands? I regret to
+have caused you so much trouble; although I am
+grateful to you in the extreme, I would have preferred
+you to have given orders to some of your
+servants. It is not seemly that ladies such you are
+should wait upon me; it is not consistent with the
+chivalry of a gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>"I understand your feelings on this subject,"
+said Mrs. Carleton, "for I, too, am a Virginian; but
+we have no servants now, and my friend and I are
+glad that we can be useful. It is five days since
+your ship was wrecked, therefore we know that
+you must have suffered greatly. Pray do not be
+disturbed by seeing us doing what little we can to
+save you from perishing; let me assure you that
+we are very happy to do our utmost."</p>
+
+<p>The young man bowed, his cheeks still wore the
+bright flush of fever which heightened the intensity
+of his soft brown eyes, that beamed with gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you say that you are a Virginian?" he inquired,
+addressing Mrs. Carleton.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she answered; "we were in the Sir
+Walter Raleigh, too; that is to say, my husband
+and child with myself, but I never saw any of the
+passengers. I remained in my cabin all the time
+we were at sea."</p>
+
+<p>"I recollect you, now," he said. "I saw Colonel
+Carleton lift you and your child into a boat when
+our ship went ashore."</p>
+
+<p>"Were you acquainted with Colonel Carleton?"
+she inquired. "He was my husband."</p>
+
+<p>"We were not acquainted until we met on board,
+but during the several weeks we were at sea we
+passed all the time together. You say he <i>was</i> your
+husband. Is it possible that generous-hearted man
+is lost?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carleton made an inclination with her
+head.</p>
+
+<p>"Forgive me," he said, "my conversation has
+caused you pain."</p>
+
+<p>"Please continue," she replied, "tell me all you
+know about him."</p>
+
+<p>"I witnessed many of his acts of kindness during
+our voyage, and received kindness from him at
+what I suppose was the last moment of his life.
+The boat you were in was full and I urged him to
+get into another one, but he refused, saying, 'I
+can swim and you cannot.' At the same moment
+he took hold of me and dropped me into the boat
+as easily as if I were a child. You know how
+tall and powerful he was. The next instant your
+boat was capsized and I saw Colonel Carleton leap
+into the sea and swim toward you. His hand
+was almost upon your arm, when an enormous
+wave swept him out of sight. The same wave
+capsized our boat, and the next one threw me into
+the cove below. I might have got away before,
+but part of a broken mast lay across my chest and
+I was entangled hand and foot by the rigging. I
+could neither move nor call aloud. I heard voices
+more than once, the voices of ladies. I believe it
+was your voice and that of your friend, for I never
+knew my ear to deceive me. I saw corpses lying
+all around me. The tide took them away and
+brought them back again many times while I was
+there. All one night a dead hand lay across my
+throat, but I could not disengage my hands to remove
+it. I had no fever; I was conscious of everything.
+The tide was higher than usual this morning.
+It lifted the mast and I crawled from under it."</p>
+
+<p>He appeared to suffer much from exhaustion
+and lay down again upon the rugs, and closing his
+eyes remained silent. After a little rest, he again
+sat up and resumed his conversation with Mrs.
+Carleton.</p>
+
+<p>"I have a great love of music," he began. "I
+left the colony of Virginia with the intention of
+going to London, to perfect my study of that
+divine art, under the direction of Orlando Gibbons.
+He is very young to be a composer, but he is
+already of much renown."</p>
+
+<p>For some time he continued to speak fluently on
+the subject of music, a subject of which the ladies
+perceived he was a complete master. As he talked,
+he became full of enthusiasm, and that wondrous
+light which belongs to genius alone illumined his
+beautiful, eyes and his whole soul spoke through
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, my madrigals," said he, "they will yet be
+sung to His Majesty, King James. My symphonies
+I shall submit to Orlando Gibbons, then I shall
+hear them played by a full orchestra, the world will
+hear, then justice will be accorded to me, the great
+masters will be my judges, genius such as theirs
+allows them to be generous and true in their
+opinions of other men. They will see me as I am.
+They will not condemn what they cannot understand.
+They will not call my life useless, because
+my tastes, my talents and my whole being compel
+me to be different from those among whom I live.
+I cannot help it, and I would not if I could."</p>
+
+<p>An expression of mental pain passed over his
+face as he thus proceeded. "Why did my uncle
+call my life and my work useless? It is hard to
+be misunderstood. If I can create out of my own
+brain something that is pure and beautiful, that
+gives happiness, that draws coarse natures away
+from their coarseness, to feelings more elevated,
+that can bring to some an ecstasy of delight, to
+others a sweet calm. If I follow a pursuit which
+injures no human being, no living creature, why
+am I to endure displeasure? Is it more manly,
+more noble to hunt the poor, panting deer till it
+falls gasping on the ground, and then to save its
+life for the purpose of chasing it again for sport?
+Is it more noble to ride races till the horses drop
+down dead? Tell me, do such pursuits elevate or
+brutalize?"</p>
+
+<p>Taking a roll of paper from his breast, he handed
+it to Mrs. Carleton, saying, "I have a symphony
+here which I composed since I left my home;
+would you like to look at it? I wish my twin
+brother Ronald could see this; he understands me,
+and he will understand my music, although since
+his accident, his hand can no longer obey his will;
+yet he will read my symphony, aye, more, he will
+play it in his soul. With it you will find a song
+also, the words and music are both mine; when
+you have read it, will you hand it to your friend?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carleton took the roll of music into her
+hand, but observing that the writing was almost
+obliterated from having been so long wet with sea
+water, she passed it to Miss Vyvyan, who sat a
+little farther off, desiring to spare him the pain of
+seeing that his composition was destroyed. The
+many pages of music were entirely illegible, with
+the exception of part of the refrain of the song,
+the words of which ran thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Bury me deep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where the surges sweep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the heaving billows moan.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>At the bottom was the name "Ralph." The following
+part of the signature was destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>As Anna read over the words of the song, she
+could not help feeling that they might be prophetic
+of what was very near. She folded the paper
+together and returned it to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Is that your signature?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that is my name," he replied. "Do you
+like music," he continued.</p>
+
+<p>"I do," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"How much do you like it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I like it to such a degree," she replied, "that I
+think life is not life without music."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, that is what I think," he said. "But I am
+exhausted. Ladies, will you pardon me if I sleep
+a little while? I want to get back my strength,
+that I may be able to wait upon you both, and
+make all the return in my power for your great
+kindness to me."</p>
+
+<p>He soon fell into a restless, broken sleep, constantly
+murmuring to himself incoherently.</p>
+
+<p>"Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "he is very ill,
+and it is almost sunset, and quite impossible for us
+to take him up to the castle. We must make some
+shelter here for him; the breeze already comes in
+from the sea much cooler, and the night will be
+cold." The ladies picked up loose stones and
+planks and everything they could move, and formed
+a low wall around him, making a place of shelter
+as large as a small room. They then drew up a
+portion of a sail and laid it partially across for a
+roof. He still slept, but as they looked at him,
+they saw the fever was rapidly increasing; a still
+brighter flush was on his cheeks; his lips were
+parched, and his breathing distressingly short and
+oppressed.</p>
+
+<p>"What can we do?" said Mrs. Carleton. "See
+there, Anna! The sun has gone behind the hill
+to the west of the castle; it will soon be dark. It
+would be terrible to leave him here to perish, for
+he needs great care, beside the wolves may come,
+and he is too ill to defend himself. Do tell me
+what you think it best to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"One of us must watch by him to-night, Ada,"
+replied Miss Vyvyan, "and if he should be better
+to-morrow, we may be able to get him up to the
+castle. I must be the one to watch. Little Cora
+could not pass the night without you, and even if she
+could, you are not well enough yet to be out in the
+night air. Let me go up and get a few things such
+as he may require. I will be back very quickly."</p>
+
+<p>When Miss Vyvyan entered the castle, the sun
+had set, and a dull gray hue had settled upon
+every room. How dreary for poor Ada, she
+thought to herself, here almost alone, with the
+death of her husband so recent, and so vividly
+brought before her to-day. She at once thought
+of kindling a fire as the only means she had of
+taking away some of the gloominess of the place.
+She did so, and then spread a supper table as temptingly
+as she could with the only food they had at
+command, and hastened back again to the beach.</p>
+
+<p>"He still sleeps," said Mrs. Carleton, "but his
+fever is very high. It distresses me to leave you
+here, Anna, and I would not, but for little Cora's
+sake."</p>
+
+<p>"I understand you," replied Anna; "I shall always
+understand you. We are not mistresses of
+our own destiny; we have to do what we can, not
+what we wish. I know all that you would do if
+you could."</p>
+
+<p>As Mrs. Carleton took the child in her arms and
+turned her steps toward the castle, the moon rose
+slowly from the sea and made a long, golden, glimmering
+path from the horizon to the shore. It was
+the harvest moon, which was almost at the full.
+The night was light and still, with the exception of
+the sound of the waves, which broke upon the
+beach below in one long, continuous moan.</p>
+
+<p>Anna watched beside her charge, sometimes
+moistening his parched lips, sometimes arranging
+his improvised pillow, and listening to every sound
+both near and distant, with that quick, discriminating
+sense of hearing which we acquire from
+watching over those we love, and which she had
+learned during the last illness of her mother. The
+night was now far advanced. Close beside her
+came the quick, hard breathing, and the indistinct
+murmuring of the sufferer.</p>
+
+<p>From down below, still arose the mournful tones
+of the heavily rolling waves, and from the forest
+came the howling of the wolves, but she could hear
+they were not near; and resolved if they should
+approach to scare them away, by setting light to
+a pile of wood which Mrs. Carleton had laid together
+for that purpose.</p>
+
+<p>As she sat there on the ground and realized her
+situation, a feeling almost of terror came over her.
+During the past few years, she had gone through
+the discipline of a long lifetime. This night, the
+past and present seemed to combine to crush out
+the remnant of courage that had been left to her.
+She buried her face in her hands and rocked to and
+fro, struggling with her feeling, struggling with destiny,
+and struggling to call back some of her former
+self; that as her day, so her strength might be.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment, Ralph awoke; he turned his
+face on his pillow, and regarding her with great
+earnestness, he said, "Where is Ronald, my brother?
+I want him here now."</p>
+
+<p>Anna went nearer to him and, looking at the
+flushed face and the brilliant, restless eyes, saw
+that he was delirious.</p>
+
+<p>"Ronald," he repeated. "Are you there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he is near you," said Anna, wishing
+to solace him.</p>
+
+<p>"That is well," he answered. "I will play my
+new composition to him."</p>
+
+<p>He immediately began to move his hands over
+the rugs which covered him, as if he were playing
+the organ.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said he, "that is the chord I sought,&mdash;thank
+heaven.&mdash;Listen to this.&mdash;Hark, hear this
+resolution. Now do you see what that chord leads
+up to?&mdash;How is that harmonic progression?&mdash;How
+does this sound?&mdash;I shall have a double suspension
+there.&mdash;Ah, that is good.&mdash;Hark; now can
+you hear the melody running through the minor?&mdash;Yes,
+the violoncellos come in there,&mdash;so it must
+be.&mdash;More ink; quick, quick,&mdash;there is so much
+to write and so little time."</p>
+
+<p>He sank down again, exhausted, and fell into a
+deep sleep. After an hour he again awoke, the
+flush had left his cheek; he was very calm, and
+had perfectly regained his senses.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been dreaming of my brother Ronald,"
+he said. "I thought he was here. Can you tell
+me what time it is?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think," replied Anna, "by the position of
+the moon, it must be an hour past midnight."</p>
+
+<p>"I have been ill," he said, "but I feel better,
+much better; almost well again. I want to thank
+you ladies for so much kind care of me; both Mrs.
+Carleton and you, but I do not know what to call
+you. I did not hear your name."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not wish you to thank me now," said
+Anna, "because you are too weak to talk at present,
+but I will tell you my name. It is Anna
+Vyvyan."</p>
+
+<p>"Vyvyan," he repeated. "I know that name;
+I will tell you all about it to-morrow&mdash;I feel faint.&mdash;There
+is a great oppression at my heart.&mdash;Those
+timbers crushed my chest.&mdash;I cannot breathe.&mdash;Raise
+me up."</p>
+
+<p>Anna knelt on the ground beside him and raised
+him up as he desired.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," he said, "tired, tired."</p>
+
+<p>The next moment a wonderful far-away look of
+rapture came over his beautiful face, and then a
+pale shadow such as might be caused by the passing
+flight of a bird;&mdash;his head fell upon her shoulder;&mdash;he
+was dead. Anna laid his lifeless body
+gently down and watched beside it through the
+silent hours of the night, gazing from time to time
+at the finely-formed features. They had a fascination
+for her, and she could not dispossess her mind
+of the thought that she had seen them before.</p>
+
+<p>The first few streaks of dawn came creeping
+over land and sea, and the sun arose and shed a
+shimmering light on the surrounding islands, the
+forest and the misty mountain tops. With daylight,
+the howling of the wolves ceased, and the
+only signs of life were the sea gulls that floated
+about near the shore or ran screaming along the
+beach devouring their prey, and a pair of eagles
+which constantly hovered near and swooped down
+close to where the dead man was lying. Anna
+covered the cold, pale face and went nearer to
+protect it from any attack.</p>
+
+<p>The sun had not long risen when Mrs. Carleton
+with little Cora left the castle.</p>
+
+<p>Anna heard their voices, and went to meet them.
+"I must be careful how I speak," she said, addressing
+Mrs. Carleton, "for I feel sure Cora understands
+much more than she can find language to
+express, but I have to tell you that ever since
+about an hour after midnight I have been all alone.
+He sleeps."</p>
+
+<p>The ladies gave the child some shells to play
+with, and went to where his body lay. They drew
+the sail over the low wall which they had made
+around him and completely covered in the little
+room.</p>
+
+<p>"That will keep any eagles or wolves away while
+daylight lasts," said Mrs. Carleton, "but we must
+bury the poor fellow's body before night. The
+thought of having it devoured or mutilated when
+it is in our power to prevent it, is more than either
+of us could bear, for in addition to the forlorn
+state that we found him in, his genius and his gentle
+breeding made both of us take an interest in
+him. Beside, his being a Virginian, and the last
+person to speak with Dudley, gave him a claim on
+my friendship."</p>
+
+<p>They went up to the castle and did not return
+until just before sunset, when they brought with
+them many beautiful wild flowers, which, as we
+have said, abounded on the island. They also
+gathered branches of the fragrant fir balsam, with
+which they lined the fissure in the rock on which
+Ralph's body was lying. Folding around the
+latter a robe of rich brocade, they lowered it tenderly
+into the tomb that nature had wrought. As
+Anna laid the face cloth over the marble features,
+she started back. The resemblance which had attracted
+and held her attention during the night,
+had come out vividly since the morning. The
+likeness was to her own mother, and was as marked
+as if Ralph had been her son. They covered his
+silken winding-sheet with flowers until the sepulchre
+was filled, then they laid flat stones across
+his resting place, and began to build a cairn over
+all. They continued building until the sun went
+down, little Cora bringing stones in her baby
+hands and placing them with the same precision
+that she saw her mother and Miss Vyvyan were
+doing.</p>
+
+<p>"We have made everything secure now, Anna,"
+said Mrs. Carleton, "but we will come again to-morrow
+and add more stones to the cairn, and
+every time we come to the beach we will do the
+same. Will you take charge of the manuscript?
+We do not know what the future may bring. He
+wished his brother Ronald to see it, and we may,
+perhaps, some day have it in our power to carry
+out his wish. Now we will go back to the castle,
+for I see you are in great need of rest."</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Misprising what they look on<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">.     .      .       .      .    to her<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All matter else seems weak; she cannot love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor take no shape nor project of affection,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She is so self-endeared.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>The maple leaves had turned from rose and
+crimson to orange, then to pale yellow and
+to brown, and had fallen to the earth, for
+it was now almost Christmas, but no snow
+was as yet on the ground. The ladies had made
+all the rooms which they occupied in the tower
+very comfortable and homelike, although they could
+neither of them bring themselves to speak of the
+place by the name of home, for that was a sacred
+word to both of them. They always spoke of
+their dwelling-place as the castle. We have
+already said that the views from every room in the
+tower were of exceeding loveliness. Most of the
+windows overlooked the islands, many of which
+were far away, others perhaps only two or three
+miles off. At one time, their beauty would be
+softened and half obscured by mist, at another
+they would appear to be lifted up into the sky by
+the effect of the mirage. At times a heavy sea
+fog hung over the island and obscured every distant
+object, and to the nearer ones gave a weird
+and spectral look.</p>
+
+<p>Just at daylight one morning, when the fog was
+coming in from the ocean, the ladies were awakened
+by the lowing of cattle. On looking down from
+the tower windows, they saw some cows come out
+from under the trees and pass along close to the
+walls of the building. They scarcely had time to
+express their surprise to each other, before it was
+much heightened by the appearance of a woman,
+who followed the animals out of the forest and
+drove them quickly across the grass which had
+formerly been the courtyard of the castle, to a
+high mound a little way to the north of it, there
+both she and the cattle disappeared in the fog and
+among a thick growth of spruces. The woman's
+movements were quick and firm, and she stepped
+as one who not only possessed determination, but
+defiance also. She was tall and gaunt and bony,
+possibly not fifty years old, but her hair which hung
+loose in disheveled entanglement, was as white as
+if she were eighty. She had large black eyes
+that flashed upon every object that she looked at.
+She wore a red dress, which reached only a little
+below her knees. On her feet she had a pair of
+heavy, high boots, such as are worn by cavalry
+soldiers. Her head was partially covered by an
+old cotton handkerchief which had once been of
+many bright colors.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you hear what language she spoke," said
+Miss Vyvyan?</p>
+
+<p>"I caught the sound of a few words somewhat
+like Italian, but it was not Italian."</p>
+
+<p>"I heard it," replied Mrs. Carleton. "I believe
+it was Spanish, but she passed so quickly I could
+not hear distinctly, or I should have understood
+her."</p>
+
+<p>All that day the ladies remained in doors. They
+watched in the direction of the mound, but nothing
+was to be seen which would lead them to suppose
+that any dwelling was near to them; and so the
+time passed until night covered the island with
+darkness. They had put little Cora to bed, and
+were, according to their usual habit, sitting beside
+her in Mrs. Carleton's room. The night was unusually
+cold. It seemed as if winter had really
+sent in its heralds in advance, to announce its near
+approach. The wind howled and shrieked through
+the rooms which surrounded them up stairs, and
+groaned and roared in the many passages and
+apartments down below. Their glowing log fire
+was so acceptable to them, that they were loath to
+leave it, and so they sat talking together until
+midnight. They had gained a very good idea of
+time by observing the sun and moon, and were
+also greatly aided by the ebb and flow of the tide.
+They knew exactly the high-water mark, by certain
+rocks; they knew that it took so many hours to
+ebb and so many to flow, and they had become so
+familiar with the sound of the outgoing and incoming
+tide, that even in the darkness of night,
+they did not feel at a loss.</p>
+
+<p>"It is past midnight, Anna," said Mrs. Carleton,
+going to one of the windows and leaning out to
+listen, "The tide has just turned. Come here,"
+she continued. "What is that rising above the
+mound?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sparks of fire and wood smoke," replied Miss
+Vyvyan. "There must be a dwelling of some
+kind there. That is probably where the woman
+went to with the cows, but it is strange that we
+have never seen anything of it before to-night."</p>
+
+<p>The intense cold of the next day warned the
+ladies that they must use dispatch in finishing
+their arrangements, in order to be able to meet the
+exigencies that a severe winter night might bring
+upon them. During the two months they had
+been living in the castle, they had employed themselves
+continually in bringing in supplies of all
+kinds, until they felt they had ample stores to last
+them for a very long time, but they were all in the
+rooms down stairs; and as the distance from the
+tower was so great, and the weather so severe,
+they decided to make a storeroom up stairs, on the
+same floor as that on which they lived. They had
+been busy for some time, packing and carrying up
+their requirements, little Cora, as usual, just as
+active as themselves, taking up her loads and
+returning for more; her tiny feet pattering up and
+down the long, stone staircase, flitting back and
+forth between her mother and Anna, with her own
+peculiar, light, swift, graceful movement, which
+was like that of a bird.</p>
+
+<p>All at once, they each missed the return of the
+child; but as the ladies were in separate parts of
+the castle, they each of them thought she had remained
+with the other. After some time had
+elapsed, they began to feel anxious, and each
+sought the other.</p>
+
+<p>Meeting on the stairs, the question "Where is
+Cora?" came from the lips of each of them at the
+same moment; then a hurried explanation, and a
+terrible feeling of horror. They ran in every direction,
+calling her name. They separated and
+went different ways; they met again and went in
+search of her together. Could it be possible that
+she had gone up the watch tower, and fallen from
+the battlements. They flew up the tower stairs
+and looked over. They rushed down again and
+out into the court yard; no sound, no sign of the
+child. In the agony of their distress, they went
+into every room and opened every great chest,
+every large piece of furniture.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh Anna," cried Mrs. Carleton, "that woman
+we saw, do you think she has stolen my child; perhaps
+put her to death. We must go to the mound
+where we saw her go."</p>
+
+<p>They followed the tracks of the cattle, and
+pushed their way through the trees for a short distance,
+till they came to the almost bare mound; it
+was high and long; near the base was an opening
+of irregular shape, which was evidently the entrance,
+but it was partly closed by an old, broken
+door. They had gone within a few feet of it,
+when the door was violently thrown down, and the
+gaunt woman in the same strange dress stood in
+the doorway, brandishing a rusty sword at them,
+and speaking rapidly in a peculiarly harsh and high
+pitched voice. She spoke in Spanish, which Mrs.
+Carleton perfectly understood, and which she, also,
+spoke fluently.</p>
+
+<p>"Go hence," said the woman. "What seek you
+here? I am Louisita, and all that you see here is
+mine; my land, my trees, my seashore; hence I
+say, away with you, or this sword pierces the heart
+of both."</p>
+
+<p>"Pray, hear me one moment," pleaded Mrs.
+Carleton, "I am in the greatest distress."</p>
+
+<p>"What care I for your distress, have I not enough
+of my own without listening to yours? Off with
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Only a few words," again entreated Mrs. Carleton.
+"I want to&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You may want, I heed that not. I want myself;
+I have nothing to give you. I would not give
+you anything, if I had it. You are intruders on
+this island. I saw you arrive, and the men you
+brought with you. Ha! ha! You meant them
+to land here. Where are they now? I saw it all,
+ha! ha! ha! You may wait for their return; they
+have made a long voyage, so long that they will
+never come back; glad, glad, I hate the accursed
+sex, they caused all my suffering; twenty years
+entombed here, through their state of mad intoxication.
+If only one of that great band of pirates
+had remained sober, I might have got away."</p>
+
+<p>"Do let me ask you, have you seen my child?"
+said Mrs. Carleton. "I entreat you to tell me."</p>
+
+<p>"See your child. I saw you take food to one of
+the accursed sex. I saw you try to make him live.
+I despise you for it. Why should he live to drink,
+drink, and bring misery on me and all women? I
+tell you again I hate them for their love of drink.
+I hold them in contempt for their weakness. The
+ocean did well to swallow them down, just as their
+brothers swallowed down the fiery drink on that
+fearful night when the great tower fell and crushed a
+hundred of them."</p>
+
+<p>"Do, I implore you, say if my child strayed anywhere
+in your sight?" cried Mrs. Carleton, overcome
+with anguish. "We have lost her."</p>
+
+<p>"Lost her; lost her; seen her;" echoed Louisita
+very slowly, and making a long pause as if to collect
+her thoughts, she added, "The child was
+young and the wolf was hungry."</p>
+
+<p>As Mrs. Carleton translated the last sentence to
+Miss Vyvyan, she fell fainting into Anna's arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not heed what she says, dear Ada; let us
+believe the best until we know the worst. Cora
+may have fallen asleep in some of the nooks in
+the building, and so did not hear us call her."</p>
+
+<p>The ladies returned to the castle. Miss Vyvyan
+was also under the most intense apprehension, but
+she concealed her feelings from Mrs. Carleton.</p>
+
+<p>"Which room were you in, Ada, when you
+missed Cora? She may, as I said, be asleep, and
+perhaps she is among some of the bales in one of
+the storerooms."</p>
+
+<p>"I was down at the end of the passage," replied
+Mrs. Carleton, "in the largest room. We will go
+there first."</p>
+
+<p>They went down and searched the room, but
+could not find Cora. As they came out of it they
+heard a sound which seemed to come from under
+ground. They ran to the half-dark stairway which
+they had seen when they blocked up the north
+door. The sound was more distinct; it was Cora's
+voice in conversation. Who could have taken her
+down to that subterranean place? They did not
+hesitate an instant, but descended the stairs as
+quickly as the darkness would admit, and found
+themselves in a dungeon where there was just sufficient
+light to see that an uncovered well was
+close beside the path which they were following.
+The talking had ceased. The silence was profound
+and added still greater gloom to the place.
+They both stood bending over the well and looking
+down into the depth of water which was black and
+silent. They each looked at the other. They read
+the thoughts which passed through each other's
+mind. They neither of them spoke. They did
+not dare to. While they still stood bending over
+the well, straining both eyes and ears to the utmost,
+little Cora's voice came again. It seemed
+close to them; they could not distinguish any
+words, but the tones were those of her usual pretty
+baby prattle. Was that voice from the spirit land?
+They could see nothing but the gray stone walls
+of the dungeon, the dark, open well and some large,
+loose stones, which had heavy iron chains with
+rings attached to them, and which had in former
+years been fastened to the ankles of the prisoners
+and worn by them till death relieved them of their
+burden. Just in the same way as many of the poor
+victims of imperial tyranny are to-day doomed to
+drag their chains and weights while they labor in
+the mines of Siberia. Again came Cora's voice
+as if from the further corner of the dungeon.
+The ladies stumbled among the loose stones in the
+semi-darkness, Anna, who was more robust and
+the taller of the two, folding her arms around Mrs.
+Carleton to support her, and both of them feeling
+their way lest they should fall into any other well
+or excavation. Arrived at the corner they saw a
+gleam of light, which came in a slanting direction
+through a large hole in the wall. They still heard
+the little voice and determined to follow it. The
+hole would only admit of their crawling in on their
+hands and knees. This they did for several yards,
+until everything was in complete darkness, and
+they found they were against a wall straight in
+front of them, and could go no further. The
+passage was too narrow for them to turn round
+and come out, the top of it was so low it nearly
+touched their heads as they crawled along. The
+air was oppressive, and suffocation almost overpowered
+them, but they could still hear the voice
+which seemed nearer. Feeling the walls carefully
+with their hands, they found that a sharp turn to
+the right, led along in a direct line toward the
+sound. This passage was also dark, and as narrow
+almost as a coffin. They continued crawling for
+several yards more, sometime cutting their arms
+with the broken stones which covered the bottom,
+and sometimes placing one of their hands upon
+some cold substance which moved and felt as if it
+might be a lizard or a sleeping snake. They
+neither called nor spoke, for they feared someone
+might have the child, who would run away with
+her, if warned of their approach, so they determined
+to come upon them suddenly. They were
+greatly exhausted, but they struggled on.</p>
+
+<p>At length daylight appeared at the end of the
+subterranean passage, and in another moment they
+emerged from it and stood in a large stone hall,
+amply lighted from above by open iron gratings
+and loopholes in the walls; through one of the
+latter, a bright gleam of light fell like a halo upon
+the sweet, fair face and the golden head of the
+child, who was sitting on the floor, with a portion
+of her little white dress folded around a kitten,
+which she was rocking in her arms and talking to.
+Happy as was her wont and all unconscious of the
+flight of time and the anxiety that she had caused,
+she seemed to have made some little exploration
+of her own since she had been there and wanted
+to show her discovery, just the same as Mrs.
+Carleton and Miss Vyvyan were always doing to
+one another.</p>
+
+<p>"Come," said she, getting up from the floor and
+taking her mother's hand, "funny sing down dare;
+Anna too," she continued, and stretching out her
+other hand, she caught hold of the folds of Miss
+Vyvyan's dress, and drew her along also, leading
+them both across the hall to a large gate of iron
+bars. It was locked, and closed the entrance to a
+broad stone passage.</p>
+
+<p>"Down dare, funny sing," she went on, pointing
+to a skeleton, which lay just inside, and so near to
+the gate that one hand had been thrust out between
+the bars and the bones of it were lying close to
+their feet. A great quantity of long black hair
+still remained about the skull, in the midst of
+which was a Mexican ear-ring of elaborate workmanship.
+Everything told them that the skeleton
+was that of a woman. Glancing round the hall,
+the ladies could not see any door. How did Cora
+get there? Before they had time to inquire, little
+Cora saw something inside the gate, and with her
+usual quick movement, she swiftly passed her tiny
+hand between the closely placed iron bars and from
+a small heap of d&eacute;bris of finger bones, drew out a
+richly chased gold ring, inscribed with the name
+of "Inez;" set in it was a large ruby in the form
+of a heart.</p>
+
+<p>The child who possessed as part of her inheritance
+a fine, sensitive instinct, looking at her
+mother, observed that her long silken eyelashes
+were wet with tears, and that traces of recent
+mental agony lingered on her face. In an instant,
+the dear little soul strove to comfort and cheer,
+after the manner so often employed by each of her
+guardians toward herself. Holding up the ring
+in one hand, and clinging round her mother with
+the other, she said,</p>
+
+<p>"See, mama, Cora dot pitty sing for mama.
+Don't ky, don't ky, Cora loves mama."</p>
+
+<p>"Sweet child," exclaimed Anna, taking her up
+into her arms and holding her to her heart. "Sweet
+child, more precious to us every day, for each one
+reveals some new beauty of character, some still
+more lovable trait. Come, dear Ada, come away,"
+she continued. "I will carry Cora. How did my
+little godchild come here?" she said, addressing
+the little one in her arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Kitta doe," answered Cora.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes darling, where did kitta go?"</p>
+
+<p>"By dare," said the child, pointing to a massive
+column, one side of which was built close to the
+wall and had the appearance of being placed there
+as a support, but was in reality to conceal a doorway
+which led to a flight of stairs between two
+walls.</p>
+
+<p>The ladies went up, Miss Vyvyan carrying Cora.
+They soon found themselves in one of the rooms
+which was nearly filled with firearms and other
+implements of warfare. The entrance to it at the
+top of the stairs was concealed in the same manner
+as the doorway below, and but for Cora following
+the little white kitten, the ladies might have
+lived many years in the castle and never have seen
+it. The subterranean passage into which they
+accidentally crawled, had been made for a place of
+concealment in case of a sudden attack upon the
+castle.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That host with their banners at sunset was seen:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And their hearts but once heaved and forever grew still.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the might of the Gentile unsmote by the sword,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>Christmas had come and gone, and the
+snow was lying deep on the ground.
+They had seen nothing of Louisita since
+the day Cora was lost.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder," said Mrs. Carleton, "how that poor
+woman, Louisita, exists? for I think from what I
+saw the day we went to her, that she is all alone,
+and if you recollect, she said something to that
+effect. I fear she suffers in this cold weather.
+You saw, of course, that it was no kind of a house
+that she came out of."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," replied Miss Vyvyan, "it appeared to be
+only a mound of earth."</p>
+
+<p>"I want to take her some food," continued Mrs.
+Carleton. "Do you think we can get there
+through the snow?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can carry Cora," replied Miss Vyvyan, "if
+you can take the food."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carleton filled a box with both food and
+fruit, and the ladies, with little Cora, went forth to
+visit Louisita.</p>
+
+<p>She met them in the same manner as before,
+not allowing them to come very near to the opening,
+and brandishing the old sword.</p>
+
+<p>"If that child were one of the accursed sex,"
+she said, with a malicious look, "I would sever its
+head from its body."</p>
+
+<p>The child could not, of course, understand her
+language, but she read the look, and clasping her
+arms closely around Anna's neck, she buried her
+face on her shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you accept of this?" said Mrs. Carleton,
+speaking very gently, and at the same time lifting
+the lid of the box.</p>
+
+<p>Louisita sprang at the contents as a famished
+tigress might have sprung upon some long-sought
+prey. Jerking the box out of Mrs. Carleton's
+hands, she put it on the ground, and again raised
+her sword. "Hence," she cried, "all of you; no
+one enters here. Ha, what do I see; stop, stop,"
+she screamed. "Donna Inez, my lady, Donna
+Inez. Where did you get that ring," she continued,
+pointing to Mrs. Carleton's finger, on which
+she wore the ring that Cora had found. "That is
+the ring Donna Inez wore the night they murdered
+her. Yes, the accursed sex murdered her,
+the night they drank out of the skulls till they
+were all mad, mad, and the great tower fell upon
+them; ha, ha, ha. Who will drink out of their
+skulls when they find them? More of the accursed
+sex, they who make laws to command women, and
+who cannot command themselves. Away with
+you. I tell you to go, you are intruders."</p>
+
+<p>"I fear your dress is not warm enough," said
+Mrs. Carleton. "You must suffer from the cold."</p>
+
+<p>"Suffer," shrieked Louisita, "I have known
+nothing else than suffering for twenty winters and
+summers, and they the accursed sex caused it all
+by their passion for the fiery cup; it soddened
+their brains; it poisoned every good feeling in
+their hearts. It buried my husband under the
+ruins of the tower; it bereft me of my home; it
+caused my two babes to die of cold and hunger in
+this tomb."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Louisita," said Mrs. Carleton, "if you
+will come back with us to the castle I will find
+some warm dresses and other comforts for you."</p>
+
+<p>"Never," she replied; "it is haunted. I have
+not been into it since I came away with my babes
+the morning after the tower fell."</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you think it is haunted?" asked Mrs.
+Carleton.</p>
+
+<p>"I know it is because I hear them shrieking in
+the night, and I hear Donna Inez calling, 'Open
+the gate.'"</p>
+
+<p>"I will not ask you to come inside, Louisita,
+but if you will only come up the outside steps to
+the door I will get you anything you wish for."</p>
+
+<p>"I want food; I want warm clothes; I want
+something to cover my bed."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall have it," said Mrs. Carleton. "I
+feel very sorry for you; I wish to make you
+happy."</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! ha! happy," she repeated. Then looking
+toward Miss Vyvyan she continued, "Make her
+take that child out of my sight. She brings it
+here to mock me. I will run my sword through her
+heart if ever she brings that child here again."</p>
+
+<p>"She does not bring my child here to mock
+you, Louisita. She is my friend, and loves my
+child, and we could not leave it alone. My friend
+always goes where I go, for fear anything might
+befall me. She cannot speak Spanish or she
+would explain all to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Go away with you," said Louisita; "go get
+the things for me. I will come for them when I
+am ready, but I will not put my foot over the door
+sill."</p>
+
+<p>"All things considered, Ada," said Miss Vyvyan,
+"I think it is well that Louisita is afraid to go into
+the castle, for she appears to be of a spiteful nature,
+and might try to do Cora some harm, but we will
+never again let the child be out of sight."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carleton prepared for Louisita's arrival by
+placing a number of things of all kinds in the hall
+near to the entrance which the ladies used. In
+a little while she came, still in the same short red
+gown and cavalry boots, bearing the old sword in
+her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are my things?" she demanded of Mrs.
+Carleton, speaking in the same defiant tone as
+usual. "Bring them here to the door. I told you
+I would not enter. That belonged to Donna Inez,"
+she said, taking up a dress, "and that was Don
+Alphonzo's," seizing hold of the red velvet cloak
+which the ladies had found in the library.</p>
+
+<p>"Wrap the cloak about your shoulders, Louisita,"
+said Mrs. Carleton; "it will keep you warm."</p>
+
+<p>"I will not," she answered, fiercely; "it belonged
+to one of the accursed sex; he died through drinking
+of the fiery cup; he caused the death of many
+through the same thing."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you will wear this, Louisita," said Mrs.
+Carleton, offering her one of the best and warmest
+table covers that she and Miss Vyvyan had brought
+from the wreck.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said she, "I will; give me another for
+my bed."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me go, Ada," said Miss Vyvyan, who had
+hitherto been standing far back in the hall with
+Cora. "I know where we put one that will please
+her, for I see that she likes red," and taking Cora
+up in her arms she disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>"Why does she take that child everywhere,"
+asked Louisita.</p>
+
+<p>"I told you just now," replied Mrs. Carleton,
+"that my friend loves my child, and they are
+always happy together."</p>
+
+<p>"Does she think she is happy?" said Louisita,
+"what a fool she must be; she is not happy, you
+are not happy, I am not happy. Oh, the fool, she
+has not sense enough to know that she is not
+happy."</p>
+
+<p>Just at this junction Miss Vyvyan returned with
+Cora on one arm, and the other one loaded with
+warm, bright-colored articles, such as she felt sure
+Louisita would like. As she approached the door,
+where the woman stood, and passed the things to
+Mrs. Carleton, the child again clung tightly as
+before to Anna, who hastily went back to the end
+of the hall.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell the fool to go away out of my sight with
+that child," said Louisita, "and I will tell you
+about this place. I will not tell her because she
+mocks me by bringing the child to remind me of
+my dead babes&mdash;my babes who were famished to
+death."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Vyvyan went to the green parlor with
+little Cora, and Louisita began her narrative.</p>
+
+<p>"I was born in Spain. When I was a young
+woman, Donna Inez was married to Don Alphonzo
+in Madrid. She engaged me for her waiting
+woman. I was married directly after to one of
+Don Alphonzo's sailors. We came to this island
+in one of the Don's ships. The castle was most
+gorgeously furnished with the spoils of almost
+every country in the world. I thought Don
+Alphonzo was a great noble, so did my husband,
+for he was so called in Spain, but soon my husband
+told me that the Don and all his men were buccaneers.
+Donna Inez did not know the truth until
+after we came here. We tried to get away, but
+that was impossible. The Don brought the richest
+dresses and jewels to make the Donna like her
+home, but he could not succeed. Many wrecks I
+have seen in just the same place you were wrecked
+in; Don Alphonzo and his crew burned false signals
+at night, they hoisted false colors by day, they
+drew the unfortunate ships to their doom; the Don
+had a hundred men in this castle, ready to obey
+his commands at any moment. They had uniforms
+and flags of many nations, which they used as
+disguises and decoys. They robbed the vessels
+which fell into their hands, they killed some of
+their crews, some they sold into slavery, and others
+who refused to commit murder, they chained to
+great stones down in the middle dungeon. That
+was called the 'dungeon of death,' for they kept
+the men there until they died of starvation, and
+when they died, they threw their bodies into the
+well. My husband, Juan, was put into that
+dungeon, because he would not kill a Spanish boy
+who was taken prisoner, but Donna Inez made the
+Don release him, for we thought Juan would help
+us to get away. The Donna had promised to give
+him half of her jewels, if he would find some way
+to get us back to Spain, but he made himself powerless,
+he soddened his brain, he murdered his
+manly feelings; he was once good and brave and I
+loved him with all the intensity and devotion of a
+true woman, but he learned to value strong drink
+more than my affection, he killed my love, he
+drowned it in the fiery cup, and I grew to despise
+and loath him. Don Alphonzo was worse than
+Juan, for he had so much learning and so much
+power and he turned it all to a bad use. He
+blasted other lives by his own evil example. Out
+of his wickedness grew the curse which fell upon
+me, but he has met with retribution."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Louisita," said Mrs. Carleton, speaking
+very gently, "What can I do for you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing," she replied. "Let me tell you the
+rest. One night the Don and his crew came back
+with the greatest prize they ever seized. The
+men were summoned to unload the ship. They
+made immense fires from the castle to the beach,
+and by their glare they robbed the merchants of
+their valuable cargo. It was near midnight before
+their rapacity was satisfied. Don Alphonzo ordered
+the vessel to remain where she laid until daybreak,
+when he intended to set her adrift, with all her
+crew on board, that he might see them dashed on
+to those rocks which you see down yonder. The
+Don then commanded a feast to be set in the banqueting
+hall, in the base of the north tower. He
+ordered every man in the castle to attend the revel,
+that they might rejoice over their great prize.
+They all went; the wine flowed like water; they
+went down to the banqueting hall by a secret stairway;
+they passed along a stone passage, which
+was closed by an iron gate. The banqueting hall
+had no windows; they always held their revels
+there, that they might not be surprised by any
+enemy, for no light could be seen outside, and no
+one could tell that they were carousing. I listened
+on the secret stairs until their loud shouting had
+ceased, and I knew that the strong drink had soddened
+their brains, and paralyzed their arms. I
+ran to Donna Inez; I dressed her in the richest
+brocade; I covered her neck and arms with jewels
+of fabulous worth, for I knew the effect of costly
+attire upon the accursed sex whose help we needed.
+I made ready some caskets of jewels to take with
+us. I told the Donna all that I had heard of the
+ship lying there till morning, and we resolved to
+let the captain know that the Don and all his men
+were powerless, and to offer him the Donna's jewels
+if he would take us away. We knew he would
+be glad to escape; we knew he would be glad of
+the jewels, for they would make him very rich.
+We were ready to leave the castle. My babes
+were very young; they were asleep in a large
+basket; I could easily carry them to the beach.
+We heard a sound like a moan; it seemed far off,
+then a distant rumble, but nearer than the first
+sound; next a terrific roar; another and a fearful
+crash, crash. For a moment the whole castle
+trembled; a flash of light lit up the place; the
+north tower was wrecked from top to bottom;
+the walls fell inward; they fell as you see them
+lying now, for no hand has touched them since.
+We knew an earthquake had occurred. My babes
+awoke and screamed; I tried to quiet them, and to
+hold Donna Inez back, but she tore herself away;
+she was panic stricken; she did not know what
+she did; she said something to me as she ran out
+of her room about seeking protection; she rushed
+down the stairs in the direction of the banqueting
+hall; she never came up them again. As soon as
+I had hushed my babes I followed her. She was
+inside the iron gate; it had closed upon her as she
+passed through. It could only be opened by those
+who understood the secret spring. There was no
+one who could come to show us how to open it.
+We could not break the gate; that was impossible.
+We saw that the further end of the castle was
+stopped, all filled up with immense blocks of stone
+which had crashed in when the tower fell. Don
+Alphonzo and more than a hundred men lay under
+the ruins; they shrieked and groaned there all
+through the night. Donna Inez became frantic.
+She dashed herself against the iron bars like some
+newly caged bird. In the morning when the sun
+came up from the sea she was dead. I looked for
+the ship; it had sailed. I had almost lost the
+power of moving, but the cries of my babes called
+me back to activity. I gathered some covering
+and some other things and took them to the Vikings'
+tomb. I tore away the earth to make an
+entrance. We lived there till cold and hunger
+killed my babes. I have lived there ever since.
+Nothing could induce me ever to enter the castle
+again."</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you call it the Vikings' tomb, Louisita?"
+asked Mrs. Carleton.</p>
+
+<p>"That was what Don Alphonzo called it. I
+think he knew for he was a man of much learning,
+although he had no sense. He said the Vikings
+built the castle very long ago, and lived here for
+two hundred years till a great pestilence prevailed
+among them, and so many died of it that the remaining
+ones deserted the place. He said the
+Indians cast a spell over the Vikings and bewitched
+them, because the Indians used to live here in
+wigwams before the Vikings came and drove them
+away from their own land, and would not allow
+them to bury their dead among their forefathers,
+for they have a burial place on this island. It is
+down there just below the swamp where I saw you
+gathering flowers one day soon after you came
+here. There is a large elm tree down there, the
+only one near. The Indians are buried there all
+round it. They always had an elm tree in that
+place. They have a secret charm by which they
+keep it there. The Vikings cut down their elm
+many times, but it sprung up again in the night,
+and was as tall and large as ever the next day.
+When we came here Don Alphonzo had their tree
+cut down every day, but it always came up again just
+the same. At last he was afraid the Indian spirits
+would cast a spell over him, too, so he let their elm
+alone. The Indians still bury their dead under it,
+but no one ever sees them arrive. They come in
+the night. An elm will always grow there till the
+two thousand years for which they have their
+charm has expired. After that time there will
+never be another."</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">A fool, a fool!&mdash;I met a fool i' the forest.</p>
+
+
+<p>The first winter which the ladies and little
+Cora passed on the island, was unusually
+severe, but they had expected and prepared
+for it; and the winter scene was so
+novel to them, and fraught with so much beauty,
+that they never wearied of it. Besides the constant
+occupation in their housekeeping and attending
+to Cora, and also caring for Louisita, and
+providing her with all the comforts they had in
+their power to take to her, for she still insisted in
+living in the Vikings' tomb, which she never permitted
+them to enter.</p>
+
+<p>Spring came at last, and with it returned to the
+island the robins, the song thrushes, the beautiful
+golden orioles, and the humming birds, all of
+which had gone southward at the beginning of
+winter. The wood violets and the trailing arbutus
+blossomed among the grass. The spruces and
+pines put forth their young buds, and the whole
+island wore a garb of beauty.</p>
+
+<p>The little family of three, spent much time out
+of doors, and visited the beach almost daily, for
+they all loved the sea, especially little Cora; and
+to enhance her happiness was the first desire
+of both of the ladies. They frequently wandered
+around Ralph's grave, and never omitted adding a
+stone to the cairn, which they had raised to his
+memory. Little Cora with her tiny hands, always
+placing her own mite to the pile. As the child
+grew stronger, they took longer walks, and taught
+her from the book of nature as they went along,
+for Nature's lessons in geology, and botany, and
+natural history, lay all around them.</p>
+
+<p>They had by this, brought their lives into the
+same degree of system and order, as that in which
+they had each of them been educated in their respective
+homes; the want of which during the
+first part of their residence on the island they
+greatly missed. They now divided their days, and
+had regular hours for certain occupations, and they
+made a compact, that they would always be cheerful
+in the presence of the child, and meet their
+destiny bravely, that they might not give a somber
+tinge to her young life. Everything went well
+with them as far as might be, excepting that Louisita,
+who had the control over three cows, would
+never let them have a drop of milk for Cora. The
+child had for a long while after their coming, constantly
+repeated at every meal "Dinah, bing milk."
+She seemed to think her negress nurse was somewhere
+near her, and was able to bring anything
+she wished for, as formerly.</p>
+
+<p>Her demands for milk, had ceased for a week or
+two, when one morning she again begged for it,
+and when told she could not have any, a look of
+extreme repression of feeling came over her features.
+She did not cry, or in any way show temper.
+The food was distasteful to the poor little
+thing; and the look of forced endurance, one may
+say that forced resignation and endurance combined,
+which we sometimes see in older faces
+and which is utterly discordant with their reasoning
+faculties, was distressing to behold in one so
+young. The child could not understand why she
+was not to have milk; but the brave spirit of her
+mother was her birthright, and like her mother,
+she endured disappointment without a murmur.</p>
+
+<p>"This must not be any longer, Ada," said Miss
+Vyvyan. "It is too much for you to witness, and
+for Cora to suffer. That dear child shall have
+some milk. I will learn how, and I will milk one
+of those cows, whether Louisita's sword kills me
+or not."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "I pray you
+do not expose yourself to danger; do not be rash.
+Why what has come to you? I never heard you
+speak like that before."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it, Ada, but you never saw me so placed
+else you would have. I detest selfishness, and you
+have been so kind to Louisita, and she is aware
+how precious Cora is to us. You know we shall
+not be depriving her of anything, because she told
+us she threw most of the milk away; but she encourages
+the cows to come here in order to keep
+them tame. You recollect that she told you the
+rest of the herd which stay on the other side of
+the island have become wild."</p>
+
+<p>"I, of course, know that we should not be depriving
+Louisita," said Mrs. Carleton; "but I fear
+so much that she may hurt you."</p>
+
+<p>"Only teach me a few words of Spanish, Ada,"
+said Miss Vyvyan, "and I will put that out of her
+power. Teach me to say I am a spirit, you cannot
+harm me."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid, Anna; for your own sake I would
+not have you go."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not in the least afraid of her," replied
+Miss Vyvyan. "I have always done my best to
+help her, and I certainly intend to continue to be
+kind to her, because she needs help; but I never
+submit to injustice being done either to my friends
+or to myself. I consider it unjust to throw away
+the milk which Cora so much requires."</p>
+
+<p>With those words Miss Vyvyan left the room.
+In a few minutes she returned.</p>
+
+<p>"Ada," said she, addressing Mrs. Carleton, "my
+good old guardian, Sir Thomas, used to say 'All is
+fair in love and in war.' Now I am going to unite
+both love and war, for as I love you and Cora I
+must in all honor defend you both, just as some
+gallant knight would do if he were here. Put
+your hand on my shoulder and feel what is there."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carleton did so.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, what have you under your dress?" said
+she.</p>
+
+<p>"A whole suit of chain armor, Ada, that's all,
+and a helmet of the same under this lace scarf on
+my head. Louisita won't have the pleasure of
+piercing my heart this time, and when she finds
+that she cannot, she will think the spirits are
+round me, or that I am like the Indians and have
+a charm. I am going now; the cows are in sight.
+I saw how Louisita milked, and I think I can do it.
+Look down from the window, Ada, and see the
+fun."</p>
+
+<p>"Anna be back," said the child, looking up with
+a face more full of anxious desire than inquiry.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, precious one," replied Miss Vyvyan,
+"Anna will come back."</p>
+
+<p>No sooner had Miss Vyvyan approached the
+cow and was endeavoring to imitate as well as she
+could Louisita's way of milking, than the latter
+came striding out of the mound wearing her cavalry
+boots and flourishing her sword, exclaiming,
+as usual:</p>
+
+<p>"Hence; away, away; all here is mine. Touch
+not that cow. I will pierce your heart."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Vyvyan who heard it all did not take any
+notice of her, but went on with apparent indifference,
+pursuing her lacteal occupation. Louisita
+stood over her and went through all the sword
+exercises that she was mistress of. Still Miss
+Vyvyan continued her endeavor to milk, unharmed
+either by cut or thrust. Presently, turning to
+Louisita, she repeated her Spanish lesson as well
+as she could in the midst of her laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"It is the fool who is laughing," said Louisita,
+looking up at Mrs. Carleton, who was leaning out
+of one of the tower windows. "It is the fool, who
+has not sense enough to know that she is not
+happy. I shall never interfere with her again; she
+can have all the milk she wishes for; she has a
+charmed life."</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The quality of mercy is not strained;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Upon the place beneath. It is twice bless'd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Tis mightiest in the mightiest.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>Summers and winters went by; five years
+had passed since the family had been cast
+on the island; they had watched from the
+tower almost daily for a white sail, but
+none had ever appeared, and yet they always continued
+to hope that the day would come, and they
+struggled within themselves to be patient and
+cheerful. Sometimes the thought would take possession
+of the mind of each of the ladies, that one
+or other of them might die, and how terrible it
+would be for the one who was left, and worse still
+a thousand times, both of them might die and
+leave Cora; but neither of them would ever breathe
+a word which could convey such an idea to the
+other; and when such thoughts and feelings oppressed
+them, they took the best method of dispelling
+their anxiety by engaging themselves in some
+active occupation. They made a pretty garden
+for summer enjoyment out of doors, and another
+for winter in one of the large rooms, by filling
+boxes and chests with earth. They always had
+beautiful flowers in their parlor, which was a
+great source of delight to Cora, as well as to
+her guardians. The two guitars which they had
+found in the castle, they strung with wire, and
+managed to have some music every evening in
+the twilight; then they had a time set apart,
+also in the early part of the evening, which they
+called Cora's hour. For that period, they devoted
+themselves wholly to the recital of such subjects
+as were suitable and pleasant to her, and which
+they varied every day in the week, weaving
+each recital into a little story, sometimes telling
+from history; at another time, Mrs. Carleton
+would compose a story about Virginian life,
+and Miss Vyvyan would tell one about foreign
+countries; but the hour Cora liked best, was the
+one devoted to poetry and fairy tales. She was
+now in her eighth year, and could read very well;
+but there were no fairy tales among the numerous
+books in the library, so the ladies repeated them
+from memory. When the friends had put Cora to
+bed, they always remained together during the
+rest of the evening, working, and reading aloud to
+each other, making new dresses for Cora, who
+grew very fast, or planning some pleasant surprise
+for her, and as far as their present position allowed,
+always considering the child's future, and in what
+manner it was their duty to educate her, so that
+she might be best prepared to encounter any of
+the reverses or changes of condition, which fate
+brings into the lives of so many of us.</p>
+
+<p>Louisita had taught the ladies how to poison
+some of the provisions with a plant which grew in
+the woods, and by so doing, and laying the poisoned
+food about the ground, they had destroyed
+nearly all the wolves, and now wandered about the
+island where they desired, making expeditions in
+search of flowers, or having little picnics for Cora
+in the woods, and visiting Ralph's cairn without
+their former fear. They had all been spending a
+long summer afternoon on the beach, the ladies
+seated on the rocks between Ralph's cairn and the
+sea, Mrs. Carleton working on a dress, that she
+was making for Louisita, Miss Vyvyan reading
+aloud, and Cora filling in the small open spaces in
+the cairn, with little stones of her own selecting.
+The sun had gone behind the hill on the western
+side of the castle, when the little party left
+Ralph's cairn and strolled along the shore, as they
+returned homeward, gathering the beautiful sea-pea
+blossoms on their way.</p>
+
+<p>"Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "we have not seen
+Louisita to-day; shall we go to the mound and tell
+her that her dress will be finished in the morning,
+perhaps that would please her?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am ready," replied Miss Vyvyan, "to go anywhere
+you please, Ada; you always know the
+right thing to do."</p>
+
+<p>"May I stay a little way off with Anna," said
+Cora, "not far; I am afraid of Louisita, but I want
+to be near you mama, to take care of you.
+Don't you think, Anna, that Louisita is very cross,"
+said the child.</p>
+
+<p>"Not now, dear, she has been very gentle and
+quiet for the last year."</p>
+
+<p>"I remember," the child continued, "a long
+time ago when I was little and you were trying to
+get some milk for me, and she hit you with her
+sword, she frightened me so; I was afraid she
+would kill you."</p>
+
+<p>"She does not carry her sword any longer," said
+Miss Vyvyan, "and she does not scold us any more;
+she would not hurt any one now, your mama has
+been so kind to her, and set her such an example
+of goodness that she has made her good, too."</p>
+
+<p>They had reached the entrance to the mound;
+Cora shrank back and clasped Miss Vyvyan's
+hand, who led her a few steps on one side.</p>
+
+<p>"What is this," said the child holding in her
+hand a gold ornament set with garnets that she
+had just picked up from a heap of rubbish which
+appeared to be sweepings from Louisita's abode.</p>
+
+<p>"That is a fibula, Cora, such as I saw in a
+museum in Norway."</p>
+
+<p>"Look, Anna, look at these," she continued,
+gathering up several antique beads of glass mosaic
+and a few chess men of amber from the same place.
+"Tell me what they are?"</p>
+
+<p>"They all came from Norway," replied Miss
+Vyvyan, explaining their use to her.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carleton meanwhile knocked on the broken
+planks which served for a floor, and as Louisita
+did not appear she entered the mound, but soon
+came out again, and whispered something to Miss
+Vyvyan who passed in, leaving Mrs. Carleton with
+Cora. On first entering, it was difficult to distinguish
+the interior of the place, or any of the numerous
+objects that it contained, as the only light
+came in through the shattered door, and a small
+hole on one side of the mound, which evidently
+served as a chimney and a window also. After a
+few seconds, when Miss Vyvyan's eyes became
+accustomed to the extremely subdued light, she
+saw that she was in a place that was four or five
+hundred feet in circumference and about twenty-four
+feet high. Advancing toward the side on
+which the hole was broken, she observed Louisita.
+A gleam of light fell upon her. She was kneeling
+in front of a small structure which formed a table.
+Her hands were clasped in the attitude of prayer,
+and her fixed and glassy eyes seemed to look up in
+the direction of a small silver crucifix, which hung on
+the wall before her. Her features were set and rigid.
+The rich brown Spanish tint had left her face.
+When Miss Vyvyan looked upon her she knew
+that she was dead, and, on laying her hand upon
+her cold brow, she concluded that death had taken
+place many hours previously; perhaps the night
+before. She summoned Mrs. Carleton, and bidding
+Cora sit down where they could see her from the
+inside of the mound, the ladies proceeded to lay
+Louisita to rest in the same tomb that had so long
+been her dwelling. They lifted her on to her bed;
+they folded the poor, tired hands of the weary
+woman, whose life had lingered on through those
+lonely, loveless years. They took the silver crucifix
+from the wall and laid it upon her breast; for
+although they were not of her creed, they respected
+her devotion. They felt thankful that in her lifetime
+they had done all they could to lighten her
+burden. They felt still more thankful for her own
+sake, that her pilgrimage was ended, and that she
+had gone to join the babes who were so dear to
+her mother's heart.</p>
+
+<p>Not finding sufficient boards to close up the
+entrance securely, the ladies went to the further
+end of the place to get some which they saw there.
+The pile was very high, and as soon as they took
+hold of one, several other boards fell in broken
+pieces at their feet, revealing the ribs of an old
+Norwegian ship, inside of which lay the skeleton
+of a man which had been there so long, that it
+began to crumble to ashes the moment it was exposed
+to the air. They turned to leave the ship
+when another and much larger fall of boards
+exposed the skeleton of a horse. They paused a
+moment and looked round; they saw that Louisita
+was not in error when she had told them that
+the Norsemen were at one time on the island, for
+there was every evidence of the mound being the
+tomb of a Viking. Among the bones of the horse
+lay the remains of a bridle and saddle of leather
+and wood, the mountings of which were in bronze
+and silver. Near that of the man lay some ring-armor,
+a shield-buckle, two stones of a hand-mill
+for grinding corn, bits for bridles, stirrups, some
+gold finger rings and a fibula of the same metal.
+The ladies passed quietly out of the tomb, and
+built up the entrance as well as they could with
+stones and earth, across which they drew the vines
+and brambles that grew among the spruces close
+by, so that at the end of the following summer
+there was not any trace left of an entrance ever
+having been there.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Mrs. Carleton had missed Miss Vyvyan for a
+longer period of time than usual one day, and in
+going in search of her to a part of the castle which
+they rarely went into, she found her engaged in
+making a little gift to surprise Cora with, and singing
+in a low tone the following song:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Why?</span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Oh weary years why come and go<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With endless sorrow rife;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And hope's dead dreams why come ye back<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To mock my empty life?<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Oh destiny, oh bitter fate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh burning tears that start,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Why must the hearts that love the most<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Forever dwell apart?<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carleton entered the room so gently that
+Miss Vyvyan was not aware of her presence until
+the former was close beside her.</p>
+
+<p>"You look sad, dear Anna; what can I do to
+cheer you?"</p>
+
+<p>"This is a sad anniversary for me," replied Miss
+Vyvyan; "but I did not intend you to know it."</p>
+
+<p>"Let us hope, Anna, that time will give us back
+some of our former happiness," said Mrs. Carleton.</p>
+
+<p>"The grave is unrelenting, Ada; it never gives
+back what it has taken from us. I will tell you all
+some day. I cannot talk about the past now; it
+would unfit me for being of use to others who
+have suffered; it would make me no companion for
+you and dear Cora; it would be selfish to intrude
+my life upon you."</p>
+
+<p>"No, Anna, pray tell me why I sometimes see
+so sad an expression on your face which you
+change the instant you find I am looking at you.
+You know you have never alluded to any event in
+your life prior to our being shipwrecked. You
+have told me of your childhood, certainly, but that
+was so bright and happy that the recollection of it
+must be an endless source of thankfulness. Now
+I again pray of you, tell me all."</p>
+
+<p>"As you so much wish it, Ada," replied Miss
+Vyvyan, "I will tell you that the sunlight went
+out of my life too soon. At the time I first met
+you the world was all darkness to me; all my days
+and years were winter, and my only wish was to
+die."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh Anna, do not say that," said Mrs. Carleton;
+"but go on and tell me why."</p>
+
+<p>"Forgive me, I fear I was rebellious, but I only
+thought of the present. I could not look forward;
+it seemed as if there were no future for me here.
+I was alone; the only lips which had the right to
+breathe my name were sealed in death, and the
+stately dignity or cold respect with which I was
+always addressed reminded me hourly of my isolated
+existence. I have no words that can express
+to you the utter desolation I felt in having no one
+to call me by name. I often sought the whispering
+of the wind through the trees, the leaves and
+the long, waving grass in the hope that it might
+emit a sound which my fancy could fashion into
+the once familiar name, but all in vain; the trees
+and the leaves and the grass, even the rocks and
+hills, whispered and murmured and talked of many
+things, but the sound I most longed to hear came
+never."</p>
+
+<p>Anna noticed that Mrs. Carleton looked sorrowful.
+She ceased speaking.</p>
+
+<p>"Why did you stop, Anna; go on."</p>
+
+<p>"I am distressing you, I see," answered Miss
+Vyvyan; "I ought not to pain you."</p>
+
+<p>"Please go on, Anna."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot expect you to comprehend my exceeding
+loneliness at that time, because your life
+has never been empty, and you have now your
+beautiful child. When first I met you I had nothing.
+When I say nothing, I do not mean to infer
+that I was destitute of worldly means. I had an
+ample fortune which I inherited from my mother,
+besides the manor house and the landed estates of
+my grandfather; but I was destitute in the deepest
+sense; I had nothing of my own to love; I
+was alone. Do you know what that word alone
+means, 'when hope and the dreams of hope lie
+dead?' No, Ada, you cannot, God grant you
+never may. At length there dawned that rich,
+golden autumn day, when you named Cora, and
+gave me the right to say 'My.' The surprise was
+so great to me that I scarcely knew whether I was
+moving about in a dream, for my existence had
+been so long void of interest that I deemed happiness
+for me dead. But when I took Cora in my
+arms, and looked into the wondrous eyes, and saw
+the love, the purity and the delicate sensibility of
+the being to whom I could always in the future say
+'My,' a new world and a new existence seemed
+before me, and I thought angel voices thus whispered
+and said, 'We have brought this beautiful
+child into your life to dwell forever as a sweet, fair
+flower in the garden of your heart.' And as the
+child grew and talked and called me by my name,
+the music of its voice and footstep gladdened my
+soul and sent a thrill of joy through my whole being.
+Ever since the day of our shipwreck, when
+you were lying on the beach so near death that I
+did not dare to allow myself to believe that you
+could live, (and may I say it, Ada, without seeming
+vain), when I was made the instrument to call you
+back to life. Ever since that day until this, you
+and Cora have seemed to belong to me; to be
+mine to love and live for. So you see you have
+brought back the sunshine into my life. I have
+finished; I shall never again talk in this way. My
+study shall be to brighten, not to sadden, the path
+which lies before you in the future."</p>
+
+<p>Anna Vyvyan kept her promise to the end.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The heart that has been mourning<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O'er vanished dreams of love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shall see them all returning,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like Noah's faithful dove.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And hope shall launch her blessed bark<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On sorrow's darkening sea.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I have had joy and sorrow; I have proved<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What lips could give; have loved and been beloved;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I am sick and heart-sore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And weary, let me sleep;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But deep, deep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Never to awaken more!<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>It was September again, and the golden rod
+and fall asters, that had for seven seasons
+been Cora's delight, were once more in
+their yellow and purple glory. The day
+was sunny, and the rich autumnal glow spread
+itself over the walls of the old castle, the forest,
+the rocks, and the sea, and the island and its surroundings
+seemed to the little family to be more
+beautiful than ever.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Carleton was engaged in decorating the
+green parlor with flowers and trailing plants, which
+Miss Vyvyan and Cora had gathered for that purpose.
+The two latter had gone down among the
+trees near the beach to get the last basketful of
+moss to complete the work of adornment.</p>
+
+<p>"Quick, Trefethen, quick, hand me my gun; see
+those birds, what an immense flight of them," shouted
+a strong masculine voice within a few yards of the
+trees which concealed them from view, and which
+also prevented them from seeing from whom the
+voice came.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't fire," cried Miss Vyvyan, instantly catching
+up Cora in her arms as she used to do in the
+child's baby days.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't fire," she repeated, "there are people
+here who are coming out of the woods on that
+side," at the same time, forcing her way among the
+trees, in the direction from which the voice came;
+and taking the advantage of making an inspection
+without being seen herself.</p>
+
+<p>Cora caught sight of two figures standing on the
+open ground between the forest and the sea.</p>
+
+<p>She clasped Miss Vyvyan's neck more tightly
+and whispered softly, "Look, Anna, there are two
+papas."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Vyvyan paused, and looking between the
+branches she saw a tall, finely grown gentleman in
+the full military uniform of a colonel of the British
+army. By his side stood a man of smaller stature
+who wore the blue coat of a sea captain of that
+period. As the sunlight fell upon the bright scarlet
+uniform, the gold laced hat, the gold epaulets
+and the handsome scabbard which contained the
+colonel's sword, the child gazed in great amazement,
+not unmixed with admiration.</p>
+
+<p>As we have already said, Cora was born brave,
+and like her mother struggled to keep up a calm
+courage through any emergency; but the poor little
+heart trembled a little when she said,</p>
+
+<p>"Anna, I think he is a very pretty papa, but why
+does he wear that sword? Louisita used to wear a
+sword," she added.</p>
+
+<p>"We are safe, Cora; he will not hurt us. He
+wears the uniform of our king. He would help us
+if we wanted him to."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we go to him?" said the child.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; we must so that we can tell your mama
+what sort of persons are on the island."</p>
+
+<p>A few more steps took them out of the wood.
+Miss Vyvyan put the child out of her arms and
+led her. The gentleman in uniform advanced to
+meet them, and raising his hat said,</p>
+
+<p>"Pray pardon me if I caused you any alarm. I
+did not know that this island was inhabited, and I
+saw so much wild fowl that the temptation to shoot
+was very strong."</p>
+
+<p>"I can quite understand that," replied Miss
+Vyvyan. "We need no apology," she added, "as we
+were aware that most gentlemen enjoy sport, and
+your bearing and the uniform that you wear assure
+us that there is no cause for alarm."</p>
+
+<p>The officer bowed low, but made no reply.</p>
+
+<p>Cora, who was still holding Miss Vyvyan's hand,
+looked up at her and said again, "What a pretty
+papa, and more papas coming from the ship; but I
+like this one best."</p>
+
+<p>The child's excitement was so great that her
+whisper was very audible to the officer.</p>
+
+<p>"What does she mean?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"That is her own way of expressing herself,"
+Miss Vyvyan answered. "She calls all pictures of
+men papas. We think she has some recollection
+of her father, although she was little else than a
+babe when he was drowned here, which is seven
+years ago to-day. She appears in some mysterious
+way to realize that there was such a relationship,
+for she delights in looking at pictures of papas as
+she calls them, more especially such as are represented
+as wearing military uniform. And when
+she was very young I have often seen her press
+her cheek against that of a small statuette which
+we have of a soldier and kiss it and call it papa."</p>
+
+<p>While Miss Vyvyan and the officer were still
+speaking Cora was examining the handsome uniform,
+and the gentleman was looking intently at
+the gold chain that the child wore round her
+throat. After a little conversation the officer
+addressing Miss Vyvyan said,</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you will not think me too inquisitive if
+I ask whether this fair sea flower has a mother
+living."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes," cried the child before Miss Vyvyan
+had time to reply, "I have the dearest mama in
+the world and we do love her so, don't we Anna?"</p>
+
+<p>Cora in her enthusiasm let go Miss Vyvyan's
+hand, and taking hold of the officer's,</p>
+
+<p>"Come," she said, "come with us and see her,
+and then you will love her, too."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Vyvyan was about to suggest that probably
+the strange gentleman would prefer not to accept
+Cora's invitation until he had received one from
+her mother, when he interposed by asking Cora
+what her mother's name was.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it is mama," she replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, fair one; but she has another name."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you mean Ada, that is what Anna calls
+her."</p>
+
+<p>"She is Mrs. Carleton," said Miss Vyvyan.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Heaven! my prayer is answered," exclaimed
+the officer. Turning quickly away for a
+few paces he covered his face with his hands, and
+his stalwart frame trembled with emotion.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter," said Cora, "are you unhappy;
+never mind, do not be sorry, papa."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my beloved child, I am indeed your own
+papa who has come back to you and mama; take
+me to her; I must go to her this moment, show me
+the nearest way."</p>
+
+<p>Cora again clasped her hand round one of his
+fingers and as she lead him along she said, "Mama
+will be so happy for she thought you could never
+come back to us, and she often told me that if we
+were good we should go to you some day; poorest
+mama, big tears come into her eyes when she tells
+me about my papa."</p>
+
+<p>Arriving at the end of the corridor leading to
+the green parlor Cora ran swiftly in advance of
+Miss Vyvyan and Colonel Carleton calling as she
+went,</p>
+
+<p>"Mama, mama, we have found a real papa, not a
+picture, but my own papa."</p>
+
+<p>Then came the meeting of the long-parted
+hearts and the recounting of events, which had
+taken place since the day on which destiny had
+torn the husband and wife from each other. Cora
+full of fresh young life joined in the conversation
+every instant, telling her father how they used to
+get the eggs of the sea birds and the honey from
+the wild bees' nest, and how they caught the sea
+perch from off the rocks, and how she found a jar
+of gold coins near the Vikings' tomb, which her
+mama said were pesos, and all about the fibula
+which she found there, also.</p>
+
+<p>Then Colonel Carleton explained how he tried
+to rescue his wife and child, just as Ralph had told
+them a few days after they were wrecked; and
+how he was picked up by a young man from Wales
+who came out in the English ship, and was lashed
+to a floating mast by that brave young fellow, and
+by him kept from drowning until they fell in with
+a slave ship that was bound for the coast of Africa,
+but was also out of its course as well as their own
+unfortunate vessels; and how they were taken on
+board and kept toiling under an African sun for
+nearly seven years, when good fortune smiled upon
+them and they were sold as slaves and sent to the
+colony of Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>"The same young Welshman," continued Colonel
+Carleton, "has always been with me. He has a
+very remarkable talent for navigation, and is now
+the captain of my ship. If he had not been I do
+not think I should ever have been able to find you,
+for I did not know that it was an island upon which
+we were shipwrecked; but he did, and under Providence,
+I have everything to thank him for."</p>
+
+<p>"Beg pardon," said a voice at this part of Colonel
+Carleton's narrative, and turning their eyes
+in the direction of the door they saw standing
+there the muscular, well-knit figure, the pleasant
+face and bright eyes of Captain Trefethen.</p>
+
+<p>"Beg pardon," he repeated, "but I heard what
+the Colonel said about me, and I want to say, that
+if he had not cut off the leather belt he wore and
+let all his gold fall into the ocean, that I might have
+the leather to chew when I was famishing with hunger
+on the mast, I must have died; and I feel that
+under Providence I have everything to thank him
+for. I made up my mind then never to leave the
+Colonel till I saw him moored in a safe harbor.
+In a few days," Captain Trefethen continued,
+"everything will be ready for the good ship 'Ada'
+to sail for Virginia, and as I do not suppose the
+Colonel will want to take another voyage of discovery,
+I will leave you all there, as I intended to
+come back to these parts myself and settle on an
+island about forty miles down this bay. It has a
+queer Indian name, 'Monhegan' they call it.
+Captain John Smith, who is now ranging this
+coast, told me about it. He seems to have a fancy
+for Indian names. I shall never forget how he
+sung the praises of an Indian girl the night before
+he set out on his present voyage. 'Pocahontas,'
+he called her. Here is some fruit and a few little
+things for the ladies," he continued, placing a box
+upon one of the tables and leaving the room.</p>
+
+<p>When Colonel Carleton was again left with his
+wife and child and Miss Vyvyan, he resumed his
+conversation, and answered all the anxious and
+rapid inquiries of Mrs. Carleton. "Yes," he said,
+"I assure you again that I left all the family in
+Virginia perfectly well. Your father attended to
+my estates during my absence, and by his wisdom
+in managing them, he has increased their value
+sevenfold. Your sister Julia was married two
+years ago, and she has an excellent husband."</p>
+
+<p>"Excellent husband," echoed Cora, "What kind
+of thing is that? Mama and Anna never told me
+about the excellent. Where do you find it, is it a
+bird; can it sing; may I have one?"</p>
+
+<p>Cora was about to propound further questions regarding
+an excellent husband when the merry
+peals of laughter from the two ladies and the Colonel,
+put an end to her interrogations. She did
+not understand why they all laughed, and like
+many of her elders under similar circumstances
+she felt sensitive on that account; but with her
+usual quickness of thought, she said, "I know
+why you are so merry, papa; it is because you are
+so glad to be with us all in this parlor, that mama
+has made so pretty with these bouquets and
+wreaths of flowers. Mama makes all our rooms
+pretty; you ought to see them when the days are
+dark and foggy, so that we cannot see anything
+outside; then mama gets so many branches of the
+fragrant fir and green moss and red berries, and
+makes the most beautiful things."</p>
+
+<p>"Why does mama select the foggy days to
+adorn the rooms most, my darling?" said the
+Colonel.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, don't you know? she does it to make
+Anna and me happy. Sunshine within, mama
+calls it, and Anna made a song about that; shall I
+sing it to you?"</p>
+
+<p>Without waiting for a reply, the child sung the
+song all through, keeping time on her father's arm,
+which encircled her as she sat on his knee.</p>
+
+<p>When the refrain "our sunshine is within"
+ended, Colonel Carleton bent down and pressed his
+lips upon the golden head of his little daughter.</p>
+
+<p>There was a mist before his eyes as he said,
+"Yes, my darling, our sunshine is within our own
+hearts, and it is in mine to-day for which I thank
+God."</p>
+
+<p>Cora continued talking, telling her father all
+about the beautiful flowers on the island, and the
+picnics on the sea beach and in the woods.</p>
+
+<p>"And one day, papa," said she, "we went for a
+long walk to the north end of this island, mama
+said it was, and we saw such a pretty little island all
+covered with trees, and the eagles were up on the
+tall pines. It was so close to our island that we
+could almost jump on to it, and mama said I could
+think of a name for it, so I named it "Fairy
+island." I think our island that we live on is very
+pretty, too, but I am glad we are going to Virginia
+to live near grandpa and grandma and Aunt Julia
+and my uncles, and I want to see grandpa's dog
+Franco. Do you know, papa, I never saw a dog.
+And Anna must come, too, and live with us."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course she will," said Colonel and Mrs.
+Carleton, both speaking at the same time; "and perhaps,"
+added Cora, "when it is summer, we will go
+to England and visit Anna in her old home at the
+manor house."</p>
+
+<p>"That is right, Cora," said Miss Vyvyan; "the
+way in which you have arranged for the happiness
+of all of us is admirable."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Colonel Carleton, "Cora has made
+a very pleasant sounding plan, but I am not as
+sure as my little daughter appears to be, that we
+shall be able to carry out the whole of it, for when
+we land in Virginia, Miss Vyvyan, your cousin,
+Ronald Fairfax, may have something to say in the
+matter. From what Ada has already told me, you
+seem to have felt great interest in poor Ralph, and
+he and Ronald so much resembled each other in
+all respects that it was almost impossible to distinguish
+them. Pardon me, if I say that I sincerely
+hope you may take an interest in Ronald; besides
+the affection that existed between these two brothers
+was so profound that Ronald will desire to
+show his gratitude to you for your kind care of one
+so dear to him. How is he to do it? I only see
+one way."</p>
+
+<p>The next few days passed by very quickly, as
+every one was busily engaged in making their
+preparations for the voyage. Full of autumn
+beauty, the last day arrived, and the boat with its
+crew waited on the beach for the family from the
+castle.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh dear," said Cora, who was standing in the
+green parlor all ready to start, with her arms full
+of her favorite golden rod and fall asters, "how
+could I forget to pick up some of those shells
+which I like so much; I wanted to take some to
+give to all of them at home, I am so sorry."</p>
+
+<p>"There will still be time enough to get some before
+we embark, Cora; you shall have some, dear,"
+said Miss Vyvyan.</p>
+
+<p>"Why Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "you are surely
+not going down to the breakers to-day; I fear
+you will wear your life out for Cora's sake."</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind me, Ada," replied Miss Vyvyan.
+"If I die in a labor of love it will be the death I
+most desire."</p>
+
+<p>So saying she took a little basket and left the
+room. As she passed through the door Cora threw
+her a kiss and said, "Anna be back."</p>
+
+<p>As we have said previously, the ladies liked Cora
+to keep some of her baby language, and that was
+one of her own modes of expression which they
+never corrected. It reminded them of her infancy
+and of their own mutual attachment, which first
+met in the love they each of them bore toward the
+child.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you all ready?" said Colonel Carleton, as
+he came along the corridor to the green parlor.
+"Where is Miss Vyvyan?" he added, on entering
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>"She has gone down to the breakers to get
+some shells that Cora wishes to take to Virginia,"
+replied Mrs. Carleton.</p>
+
+<p>"We will all join her there," said the Colonel,
+"and then we can walk back along the shore to
+our boat."</p>
+
+<p>On arriving at the long ledge of rocks that ran
+straight out into the ocean, and which they called
+the "Whale's Back," they entered the little cove
+that was situated on the side nearest to the castle.
+There was Miss Vyvyan's basket half filled with
+the shells that Cora so much desired; but where
+was she?</p>
+
+<p>In another moment, Cora with her quick step was
+springing up to the highest part of the rocks. A
+shriek of anguish from the child, and the cry in
+her former baby language, "Anna be back, Anna
+be back," brought her parents instantly to her
+side. Looking from the high wall that nature had
+formed, and across the larger cove on the other
+side, they saw far out toward the open sea Miss
+Vyvyan's upturned face. She was floating on an
+enormous wave which was bearing her rapidly
+toward the shore.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh Anna, poor Anna; save her Dudley," cried
+Mrs. Carleton, believing anything possible to the
+brave and kind-hearted man, who had dared and
+surmounted all obstacles for her own sake.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, dearest; yes, trust me. I will do my
+utmost," replied the Colonel, quickly scaling the
+outer side of the cliff, and dashing over and among
+the broken masses of rock that laid between him
+and the sea. Throwing off his hat and heavy uniform
+coat, he stood with extended arms at the
+water's edge, exactly at the spot where he knew
+the wave would strike. Miss Vyvyan was being
+swiftly borne toward him and was within a few feet
+distance.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep calm," he called to her, "for heaven's
+sake, keep calm, and I can save you."</p>
+
+<p>The great wave bearing its living burden, broke
+upon the beach with unusual violence. Colonel
+Carleton was struck and thrown far up toward the
+shore by its mighty force. In another instant, he
+was on his feet again, rushing forward after the receding
+water, which was carrying Miss Vyvyan
+out. She still floated on the crest of the wave.
+Raising one hand and unclasping it, she threw
+upon the beach a small white shell, saying as she
+did so, "for dear Cora." She saw the friendly outstretched
+arm of the brave man; she looked up to
+the rocks; she saw the pure, classic features of
+gentle, loving Ada, paralyzed with distress, white
+as marble, pallid and death-like, as on the day that
+she had kissed them back to life seven years before.
+She saw the beautiful child, who was so
+precious to her; she noted the terror, pain and
+love in its fair, young face. She heard the sweet
+voice calling "Anna be back." She saw no more,
+the waters covered her; the same ocean which
+had brought her to the island, claimed her for its
+own and bore her away forever.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Many summers and winters have come and gone,
+and long years have passed away since the ladies
+and their dear little one lived on the island. The
+flowers have faded and the trees of the forest have
+died with time, but neither time nor death has
+power to kill the love of a true heart; that lives
+on forever and ever and, ph[oe]nix-like, exists on its
+own ashes. So it is that the solitary student wandering
+in the twilight along the shore, and the
+young lovers, who are whispering the old, yet
+always sweet story in the little cove close by, hear
+ever and anon, coming up from the sea, the echo of
+Anna Vyvyan's last words, "For dear Cora."</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Peak's Island, by Ford Paul
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Peak's Island, by Ford Paul
+
+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: Peak's Island
+       A Romance of Buccaneer Days
+
+Author: Ford Paul
+
+Release Date: August 23, 2008 [EBook #26410]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEAK'S ISLAND ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert Cicconetti, V. L. Simpson and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ PEAK'S ISLAND
+
+
+  A ROMANCE
+  OF
+  BUCCANEER DAYS
+
+
+  BY
+  FORD PAUL
+
+  PORTLAND, MAINE
+  PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR
+  1892
+
+
+  PRESS OF BROWN THURSTON CO., PORTLAND
+
+
+  DEDICATED TO
+  Cora Caroline Clifford
+  AS A SMALL TRIBUTE OF GREAT LOVE
+  BY THE AUTHOR
+
+
+    FORD PAUL
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+    Roll on thou deep and dark blue ocean roll;
+    . . . . . . Upon the watery plain.
+    The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain
+    A shadow of man's ravage, save his own,
+    When for a moment like a drop of rain,
+    He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan,
+    Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown.
+
+
+SEPTEMBER 27, 1607.
+
+Dead bodies everywhere. The ocean, lashed to fury by the gale of
+yesterday, came booming and hissing upon the beach in great breakers
+white with foam; each billow as it dashed upon the jagged and broken
+rocks bore in its terrible embrace still more human victims, or some
+portion of the two unlucky ships that were fast breaking up. One wedged
+in between two rocks with just sufficient play to allow of its heaving
+from side to side, with every wave that struck it. The other and much
+larger vessel, the Queen Elizabeth, a fine British ship, which had
+sailed from England freighted with a cargo of general merchandise for
+the colony of Virginia, went crashing up against the cruel stone teeth
+of the cliff which overhung and projected into the angry sea; dismasted,
+her bulwarks and rigging torn away she floated out into deeper water
+only to be driven back again upon the rocks, by the violence of the wind
+and the rapidly incoming tide.
+
+Another crash and another, the forecastle carried away, the decks
+opening, bales, chests, cordage, stores of all sorts tossed high up on
+the shore, more dead bodies--chiefly of men, for they had some time
+before given up to the few women and children the now capsized and
+shattered boats. All along the shore, as far as eye could see, the beach
+was composed of a heterogeneous mass of enormous fragments of rock
+thrown together and piled up on each other, leaving here and there in
+their midst a separate pool of sea water; in some of these pools was a
+dead body or two, but by far the greater number were lying in every
+imaginable, distorted position among the huge, irregular blocks of
+stone. Many, who had been washed in sufficiently far to escape drowning,
+were killed by the force with which they were dashed on shore: there,
+with broken bones and gnashed and blood-stained bodies, they slept in
+death, like men who had fallen in some great battle. It was noon, but
+not a ray of sunlight glinted across the ghastly scene. Every sound was
+lost in the terrific roar of the great, heaving hills of water, which
+rolled in continuously; huge masses of wet gray cloud hung over all,
+obscuring or transforming every visible object. Far up among the shingle
+lay one human form which still bore signs of life. It was that of a
+young lady, attired in deep mourning, a stream of blood trickled down
+the pale face, and from time to time one hand moved convulsively toward
+a deep cut in her head as if to assuage the pain; presently in
+half-consciousness she whispered "Do not tell my mother I am hurt, it
+would grieve her. She has had too much sorrow already."
+
+The beloved mother, and all others who had made life precious to the
+speaker, had three years previously been tenderly laid to rest in their
+quiet graves thousands of miles away; but at this moment the mind had
+only half awakened. A few minutes later her brain was clear and active,
+and the truth flashed upon her in all its force. The recollection of her
+bereavement and the fact of her being utterly alone in life, were the
+first thoughts that came and the thoughts which dominated. And so it is
+that all who are called upon to endure a great sorrow, acutely realize
+that sorrow again and again with each return of the mind to the
+consciousness of human existence, whether it be after the delerium of
+fever, the stunning from an accident, or the awaking each morning to
+daily life. With the awaking to our senses assuredly comes the old
+heartache; nay, before we awake it is there, and before we are conscious
+of aught else we are conscious of the grief which weighs heaviest on our
+soul. Thus it was with Anna Vyvyan: the awaking to life brought with it
+the pain in all its intensity, although she lay there on the cold
+stones, her clothing drenched through and through, bareheaded, her hair
+matted together with the sea water, bruised and cut and faint from
+exhaustion, still the present physical suffering seemed by comparison
+nothing to her. Everything was buried in the sorrow of the past, the
+sorrow that she had lived through, but had not left behind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+    The stately homes of England
+      How beautiful they stand,
+    Amidst their tall ancestral trees,
+      O'er all the pleasant land!
+    The deer across their greensward bound
+      Through shade and sunny gleam,
+    And the swan glides past them with the sound
+      Of some rejoicing stream.
+
+    The merry homes of England--
+      Around their hearths by night,
+    What gladsome looks of household love
+      Meet in the ruddy light!
+    There women's voice flows forth in song
+      Or childhood's tale is told
+    Or lips move tunefully along
+      Some glorious page of old.
+
+    The blessed homes of England,
+      How softly on their bowers,
+    Is laid the holy quietness
+      That breathes from Sabbath hours
+    Solemn, yet sweet, the church bell's chime
+      Floats through their woods at morn,
+    All other sounds at that still time
+      Of breeze and leaf are born.
+
+
+Miss Vivyan was the daughter of an officer of high rank in the navy of
+Queen Elizabeth, who lost his life in the royal service while his little
+girl Anna was still very young. His valor had gained for him many medals
+and yet more substantial honors in the form of valuable grants of land
+from Her Majesty. This property, added to the family inheritance of
+Anna's mother, who was a lady of old and noble race, left both the widow
+and her child in very affluent circumstances. The young widow, handsome
+and possessed of brilliant talents, attracted many suitors for her hand;
+but her heart lay far down beneath the sea with her dead husband, and
+she resolved to devote her love and her life to the care of her child.
+She accordingly retired to an old manor house on the borders of Wales,
+which had descended to her through many generations. The great stone
+halls and corridors, the long, low rooms and the little diamond-shaped
+window panes, admitting so small an amount of light, might have given to
+some minds a feeling of gloom; but both mother and daughter had their
+occupations, the one in giving, the other in receiving, an education,
+beside the care of all the sick and poor peasants of the neighborhood.
+Indeed they were so happy in their affection for each other and found so
+much to do, that they had neither the time nor the inclination to
+cultivate morbid or gloomy thoughts, which would, they felt, make their
+companionship an infliction on every one whom they approached, and unfit
+them for the duties of their position. So life went on calmly and
+happily with them.
+
+A faithful steward attended to the estates and a good old housekeeper
+managed the servants, always keeping order, discipline and peace in the
+establishment. Twice a year they were allowed to have a dance in the
+servants' hall, one at Christmas and the other on Anna's birthday, on
+which occasions they invited the sons and daughters of the neighboring
+farmers, and the tradespeople who supplied the manor house. The village
+shoemaker, the tailor, and the blacksmith were the musicians, and to the
+strains of two violins and a clarionet, they merrily danced through the
+livelong night, such good old figures as Sir Roger de Coverly, Speed the
+Plough, and the Cushion dance, till the rising sun streamed in at the
+windows and warned them that it was time to blow out the candles, take
+off their holiday garb, and assume their daily work. As for the mistress
+of the mansion, she found her pleasures in the duties of her position
+and the rich companionship of a well stocked library. She had no
+neighbors of her own rank within several miles distance, no one to visit
+or to be visited by, with the exception of the old bachelor clergyman of
+the parish, whose formal calls took place at stated intervals, unless
+some sudden case of want among the poor caused him to ask her aid, for
+he knew very well that her heart and hand went forth on every occasion
+of distress. Hers it was to soothe and cheer and comfort and help, and
+many a thorny path was made smooth and many a heavy burden lifted by her
+brave and generous spirit and the pleasant, cheerful way she had of
+doing such things. In the presence of others she made a duty of
+cultivating cheerfulness of manner. Not that she ever for a moment
+forgot the recollection of her love and her loss; but she considered her
+sorrows too sacred for a subject of conversation on one hand, and on the
+other, that her grief was her own, and that she had no right to intrude
+it upon others, or to weigh down and sadden their lives by what was sent
+for her to bear. Hence her presence was always welcome to the peasants,
+who regarded her with reverence and affection, as she passed,
+accompanied by her little daughter, from cottage to cottage leaving some
+dainty for the sick, or an article of clothing for the needy.
+
+Years went by and Anna had left babyhood far behind her and was now a
+girl of fifteen. Her mother at this period, decided that it was time to
+call in the aid of masters to assist in her daughter's education.
+Accordingly, such were summoned from a distant town. There was a master
+for the minuette and the gavotte, a master for the harpsichord, a master
+for the French and Italian languages, and so on. The days and hours were
+all laid out systematically, giving an abundance of time for physical
+training and out-door life, but with the exception of the masters for
+music and dancing (more especially the former) none of these instructors
+made much impression upon the girl's mind. Her heart and soul were given
+to music. While she was in the house her time was spent between the old
+church organ that stood in the hall, and the harpsichord which adorned
+the long, oak-panelled drawing-room. When out of doors she was forever
+listening to the music of nature, the wind through the trees, the dash
+of the water-fall, the rippling of the brook, all had their charm and
+fascination, for nature never played out of tune. She would try to make
+out what key these sounds were in, whether they varied at different
+seasons, or if change in the weather made them alter,
+
+    Music was her passion, her love, her life.
+
+Just at that time, two new inmates were added to the manor house family.
+Young Cecil Vyvyan, a cousin of Anna's, who was of the same age as
+herself, and his tutor, Dr. Strickland, a grave, middle-aged Scotch
+doctor of philosophy. The boy's parents were in India, which caused the
+widow to suggest to them that he should, for a few years, make his home
+with her, in order that she might watch over his health, which was
+exceedingly delicate.
+
+It was in the twilight of a day late in the autumn that Anna waited in
+the large old-fashioned library to make the first acquaintance of her
+cousin. In the broad stone fireplace, logs of beech and chestnut were
+piled up on the hearth, across brass dogs, where they blazed, and
+glowed, and lighted up the comfortable looking room, with its dark,
+massive, carved oak furniture, its painted glass windows, its rich but
+faded velvet draperies, interspersed here and there with a piece of old
+tapestry, the needlework of the ladies of former generations. A few
+family portraits, and well-filled bookcases of vellum-bound octavos,
+quartos and folios. As the butler threw open the door of the room and
+announced Master Cecil Vyvyan, Anna went forward to greet the latter,
+and almost gave a start of surprise at seeing the real cousin differ so
+much from the ideal one which she had pictured to herself; for she
+expected to find Cecil of the same type as the English boys that she had
+always seen. She thought he would be large of his age, with a fresh rosy
+complexion, bright eyes, an open countenance, crowned with masses of
+rich, curling locks. Strong and healthy, overflowing with buoyant
+spirits, agile and ready for active service either of work or play.
+Instead of which there stood before her one of small stature and thin,
+diminutive figure, with a pale, weary-looking face and tired eyes, which
+apparently did not observe any of the objects by which he was
+surrounded, but concentrated their gaze upon the young girl only, with
+whom he stood face to face, carefully regarding her with that scrutiny
+which we are all wont to use when we first make the acquaintance of a
+new relative.
+
+Anna gave him her hand and welcomed him with a few kind words. As the
+boy and girl stood there, no two cousins could have appeared more
+externally unlike, and yet never were two more alike in their highest
+tastes and deepest feelings. But an ordinary looker-on would only see
+the boy so small, and quiet, and weary, and the girl so tall, and
+active, and healthy, abounding in lively spirits, in the full enjoyment
+of her young life, with the mother she adored, thinking nothing could be
+more beautiful than her picturesque old home and its surroundings of
+hill and valley, and woodland, and broad green meadows, and turning over
+in her mind how she would show Cecil all the favorite haunts. The lily
+pond in the park, the finest view of the Welsh mountains, and the right
+place for a good gallop--then the ponies, and the dogs, and the fish
+pools.
+
+"You must be tired from so long a journey, Cousin Cecil," said she, "let
+me bring this armchair; it is the most restful one in the whole house.
+It has a pedigree, too, the same as you and I have. It belonged to our
+great-grandfather, Sir Vyell Vyvyan, and was made more than a hundred
+years ago from one of the oaks which grew in the north grove in the
+park," so saying she laid one hand on the back of a huge, cumbersome
+piece of furniture, and rolled it across the room up in front of the
+glowing logs.
+
+It was now Cecil's turn to be amazed, how could she move that great,
+clumsy thing, he pondered to himself, I could not. With a gentle thank
+you, and bowing gracefully to her, he sank into their great-grandfather's
+chair, and was almost lost sight of among the ample velvet cushions.
+
+Anna who had seated herself on one side of the fireplace, was watching
+the pale face, and the weary eyes that were looking dreamily at the
+fantastic shapes which from time to time the glowing embers assumed.
+Presently a slight, convulsive shudder passed through the boy's frame
+and a quiet little sigh escaped him.
+
+He is sad, thought Anna, perhaps he is thinking of his home in Calcutta,
+poor fellow, I must do something to amuse him. At the same instant, what
+she considered a very happy thought suggested itself.
+
+"I am so glad you came, Cousin Cecil," said she "they say you will soon
+get well and strong here. I have a little terrier that catches rats, you
+shall take him out in the morning, if you like, and the gardener's boy
+will show you where you can kill plenty."
+
+"I don't kill rats," he replied, still keeping his eyes fixed upon the
+burning logs and striving to follow the outlines of a fairy island with
+palms and tropical plants and ferns as tall as forest trees, which, in
+his imagination, he saw there.
+
+"Do you go with your terrier to kill rats?" he inquired, with the
+slightest tone of sarcasm in his voice.
+
+"Oh, no," replied the girl, "but I thought you would like to. Most boys
+are amused by it, they call it sport, and you know the rats must be
+killed or we should have them running behind the wainscot of all the
+rooms in the house, and the gamekeeper would not be able to rear the
+young pheasants, and we should have no chickens nor pigeons, nor
+anything of the kind."
+
+"Why, Cousin Anna," said the boy, "have you a Scotch governess, and does
+she make you give a reason for every thing, and give you her reason in
+return? That's what Dr. Strickland does with me. It tires me dreadfully,
+and I don't see what use it is, for I always know things without
+reasoning about them; they come to me of themselves."
+
+Anna, in her eagerness to show kindness to the guest of the house, and
+to divert what seemed to her his sad thoughts, did not stop to make any
+reply, but rose and hastily crossed over to one of the bookcases,
+bringing back in her arms a large folio, full of colored illustrations
+of field sports.
+
+"Now, Cousin Cecil," said she, drawing up a chair close by the side of
+his, and laying the folio open upon her lap, "this will please you I am
+sure; this is not about rats, but thorough-bred horses and dogs,
+stag-hounds and fox-hounds. Did you ever hear that our grandfather kept
+a pack of fox-hounds here, that is a hundred dogs you know. I will take
+you to the kennels and the huntman's lodge some day soon."
+
+Cecil did not know that a hundred dogs made a pack, for he had passed
+all his life in India, until a few months previous to his coming to the
+manor house.
+
+"Look at this picture of coursing, here is another of hawking, and now
+see these otter hounds."
+
+"The landscape is beautiful," said the boy. "I like the soft gray light
+on those distant hills in the background, but I do not care about
+pictures of horses and dogs; please take them away. I like to see the
+animals moving in the fields, but I think all this kind of sport is very
+cruel."
+
+This was said in an extremely gentle way, and at the same time with an
+inflection of the voice which made a deep impression upon his listener.
+I wonder what I can do to amuse him, thought Anna; I don't suppose he
+would care to look at my last piece of embroidery, or hear how many
+sonatas I can play; I am afraid he is sorry he came here, perhaps he was
+thinking of the Himalaya mountains, when he said he liked those hills
+in the picture. Most boys like out-door amusements, she again thought to
+herself, and acting upon the idea of the moment.
+
+"Cecil," said she, "we have two capital ponies, we will go out in the
+forenoon to-morrow if you like, for we are to have a holiday from our
+studies all day, in honor of your coming here."
+
+Again a gentle "thank you" from Cecil, his tired eyes still seeking air
+castles among the red and gray embers of the fire. After some minutes
+silence, he turned to look at the tall old clock in the corner, which,
+in addition to the hours and minutes depicted upon its face, was adorned
+with supposed likenesses of the sun and moon and other heavenly bodies,
+beside the terrestrial globe which represented Jerusalem as being
+situated in the very center of the earth's surface.
+
+The same old clock, which had stood in the same corner of the library
+long enough to mark the hours of the births and marriages, the meetings
+and partings, and death, of several generations of the Vyvyans, now
+chimed in slow, subdued tones, through which ran the echo of a wail,
+like the voice of a human being, who has seen much and suffered much.
+
+"Dr. Strickland will expect me to return to him now, Cousin Anna, so I
+must say 'good evening'."
+
+"Before you go, Cecil, tell me at what time you will be ready to ride
+with me to-morrow?"
+
+"I must ask my tutor," he replied.
+
+"Very well, you can let me know at breakfast time. I suppose you can
+find your way to your part of the house, follow straight along the
+corridor till you come to the south wing at the end. Your study and all
+the other rooms for you and Dr. Strickland are there. Good night."
+
+The next day the ponies were brought round to the hall door immediately
+after luncheon, and the boy and girl were mounted. Cecil, whose chief
+mode of locomotion had hitherto been in a palanquin, did not by any
+means enjoy his present situation; but as he made no remark, his cousin
+supposed he was as pleased and jubilant at having an opportunity of
+seeing the beautiful surroundings of the place as she was showing them.
+They rode through the park, down the long avenue of oaks and beeches,
+and out by the keeper's lodge to the lake, and then away over the hill
+among the scattered cottages of the peasants, who touched their hats or
+curtsied as the cousins rode by. Anna always returning their salutations
+with some pleasant word or nod, or an inquiry after their welfare. At
+last they turned their ponies homeward. The boy all the while silent;
+the girl chattering and explaining and repeating anecdotes which had
+been told to her, and laughing merrily at the ludicrous passages in
+them. As they were again entering the park, the boy's riding whip
+slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground. Looking at his cousin
+with a grave expression of face, he said,
+
+"I have dropped my whip, what shall I do?"
+
+"Dismount and pick it up," replied Anna.
+
+"But I cannot," he replied, "I am afraid I could not mount again without
+the groom to help me."
+
+"Very well, then I will get it," so down she sprang, passed up the whip
+to Cecil, and bounding into her saddle again was off at a canter before
+the boy could say a word.
+
+"Come along, Cecil," she cried, looking back, "come along, this is the
+finest stretch of ground in the country for a race."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+    No--that hallowed form is ne'er forgot
+        Which first love traced;
+    Still it lingering haunts the greenest spot
+          On memory's waste.
+          'Twas odor fled
+          As soon as shed:
+    'Twas morning's winged dream;
+    'Twas a light that ne'er can shine again
+        On life's dull stream:
+    Oh! 'twas light that ne'er can shine again
+        On life's dull stream.
+
+
+Dr. Strickland and his pupil had been fairly ensconced, and for some
+time past settled in the pretty, sunny rooms in the south wing of the
+manor house. All the windows of the lower suite opened to the ground,
+and overlooked and led into a Dutch flower garden, which, in accordance
+with its name, was laid out in formal walks with high box borders on
+each side, and stiffly-shaped flower beds of poppies, and tulips, and
+marigolds, and clusters of monkshood, and the tall white lilies of
+France, edged round with thyme and sweet basil. In the soft green turf,
+were planted evergreen trees, which were cut and clipped into fantastic
+shapes of peacocks, and pyramids, and cubes, and swans, and other
+devices. Here and there were clumps of holly and yew, from the midst of
+which some fawn or dryad, some Hebe or Flora, in Italian marble, had
+long kept watch. Then there were the old cedars of Lebanon, with seats
+encircling their great trunks, the ends of their long branches lying on
+the grass, offering beneath them, rest and shade at any hour of the day.
+The western side of the garden terminated in what was known as Lady
+Dorothy's walk. A straight, long, gravel walk, bordered on either side
+by a few feet of soft turf, and an avenue of yew trees two centuries
+old. The small closely-growing foliage of these trees was so dense that
+it formed a perpetual green wall, effectually shutting out all the
+world, with the exception of the sun at noonday, and the stars and moon
+at night. At the head of the walk was a sundial, and at the further end
+a fountain. Not a great, noisy, conspicuous construction, suggestive of
+the rush and turmoil of life, drowning in its splash all the sweet
+sounds of bird and bee, and the marvelous music of nature, but a pure,
+gentle, dainty little fountain, the sound of whose crystal drops, so
+full of soothing and tenderness, fell upon the ear like the voice of the
+one we love. Near the fountain was a rustic seat from which one might
+look across the park with its forest trees, its green undulations, and
+its lake, and still further away westward to the purple Welsh mountains.
+In every way this was a beautiful garden, a place to dream of, and live,
+and love, and die in.
+
+Springtime had come, and Cecil and his tutor were sitting in their
+study, looking out at the linnets flitting about the garden, and at the
+primroses and blue violets which grew in front of the windows. The
+lessons of the day were over, and the Doctor was pursuing his favorite
+amusement, namely, drawing mathematical deductions, and coming to
+logical conclusions upon all matters. Although he was a ripe scholar, he
+would frequently forget himself, and break out in his strong Scotch
+accent; but that signified nothing, as Cecil perfectly understood his
+speech, and the family all liked him, for they knew he was a good man
+and greatly interested in the well-doing of his pupil.
+
+"Ye had a lang walk wi' your cousin this morning," said the Doctor. "I
+hope ye understand her better than ye did."
+
+"I am not sure that I do," answered Cecil. "I don't see why she moves so
+quickly and is always well; I don't like people who are always well,
+they cannot feel for others."
+
+"Ye should no say that, Cecil, when ye look at your aunt; she's no
+invalid, but she gi'es up her life for the sak' o' others. Did ye ken
+that these verra rooms are the anes she likes most, the anes she lived
+in till we came, and she gave them up that ye might enjoy the best she
+had to offer?"
+
+"O yes, I know that," said Cecil. "My aunt is very kind, but I was not
+thinking of her when I spoke, I was thinking of Cousin Anna; she runs so
+fast and when she is not singing, she is laughing, and I don't believe
+she has any nerves, for the other day my pony got a stone in his shoe,
+and she was off hers in a moment, seized my pony's fetlock and snatching
+up something in the road, knocked out the stone and mounted in less time
+than I have taken to tell you. Now none of the young ladies in India
+would take a pony's fetlock in their hand, so I think Cousin Anna cannot
+possess nerves."
+
+"In one respect ye are right," said the Doctor, "Such a young leddie as
+ony o' those we used to see in India, would ride on and leave ye, and
+when she got home, she would tell one of the servants to tell some one
+of the other servants to see aboot it, and when they had passed the
+order through half a dozen, in the course of a few hours perhaps one of
+them would be with you, and, in the meantime, she would be lying on the
+sofa, with Shastri standing by, fanning her out of her nervous shock."
+
+"But think of the first day I rode with my cousin, she surprised me so
+when she picked up my whip, I thought then she had no nerves."
+
+"Admitting such a statement to be true," replied the Doctor, "which we
+are by nae means sure of, for the truth has no been logically proved, I
+say, admitting that it be true, is it no' a gude thing for ye that your
+cousin has nae nerrves, if ye are to gang aboot drapping things that ye
+dar' na pick up again. In the sense that ye appear to desire your cousin
+to hae nerrves, I dinna ken mysel' what use they wad be to a young
+leddie wi' a speerit such as she has. I wad no' wish to see a lassie o'
+her years hae nerrves; na, na, she wad no hae ony use for them;
+Providence kens what is guide for us a', and will send her the nerrves
+when she is fit to manage them."
+
+"Still I don't see," said Cecil, "why she is not frightened sometimes.
+Perhaps she may be, but if so she will never say so; I don't think a
+girl ought to be so fearless."
+
+"Perhaps ye dinna ken that young leddies o' her rank in England are all
+educated in that way. The English hae this proverb amang them. 'A
+well-born woman is ever brave.' Your cousin inherits her courage a long
+way back, she is no mongrel born; I wish ye to see for yourself, Cecil,
+that it is a gude thing to be brave. There are mony ways o' showing it
+beside being a soldier or a sailor." And then the Doctor dropped his
+Scotch accent and spoke slowly, "We ought to be brave enough to do our
+duty to others," said he. "And now I will give you six reasons for being
+brave for the sake of those we love. Firstly, brave that we may inspire
+them, with courage when their hearts are weary. Secondly, brave that we
+may be patient and gentle when their nerves demand rest. Thirdly brave
+that we may be kind and diligent and loving when they are sick.
+Fourthly, brave that we may not be morbid and gloomy and thus depress
+them. Fifthly, brave that we may be faithful and true in all things.
+Sixthly, brave that we may endure without murmuring to the end."
+
+Long after the Doctor had left the room, Cecil was still there, leaning
+his head against the side of the window and thinking over this
+conversation. He possessed a generous disposition, and could not bear
+the idea of having misjudged his cousin. But he was of a sensitive
+temperament and not having a robust constitution, the girl's gaiety of
+spirit and great vital energy fatigued him. The cousins continued their
+amusements and their studies steadily together for the next two years,
+and although Cecil still called Anna as wild as a hawk, yet he never got
+into any serious difficulty, but he applied to her to help him out of
+it, whether it was in solving a problem or otherwise; carrying out Dr.
+Strickland's teaching he appeared to feel that his strength lay with her
+and she in her turn was rejoiced to help him.
+
+There are natures which seem made to help others, they find their
+greatest happiness in it; and so it was with Anna, the more he needed
+her help the more she delighted in giving it. Cecil's health was greatly
+improved by the climate of England, and with stronger health came
+stronger nerves. He now no longer thought his cousin without them, but
+he thought she knew how to control them; in fact, they had grown to love
+each other with that certain kind of cousinly affection which one often
+sees, and which is very true and lifelong, but has not the rapture, the
+intensity, nor the anguish, which belong to really falling in love.
+
+It was a day in sweet summer time, all roses and beauty, when the young
+people met as usual in Lady Dorothy's walk; it was their favorite place,
+and here they would ramble up and down, and sit by the fountain, and
+talk, and paint, and read for hours together; and the next day it was
+the same thing, and the next, and the next, for they never grew tired of
+the place, or of each other. They were now pacing the long walk, and
+although they were past the age of eighteen, they still continued their
+studies, but were permitted to select them.
+
+"What a pleasant thing it is, Cecil, to follow out one's own life and
+study what we wish," said Anna. "I am so glad to be free, no more
+construing sentences, no more conjugating verbs, no more solving
+problems; I always hated all of that dry stuff."
+
+"What are you going to do, then," inquired Cecil.
+
+"Firstly, I shall spend more time with my mother, more time in the study
+of my music, and read all the poetry I wish to, and ride on horseback,
+and dance, and, of course, help my mother more in taking care of the
+peasantry."
+
+"Now, Cecil, what shall you do?"
+
+"Firstly, I think I shall paint, and rove about among this beautiful
+scenery," he replied. "I shall paint until I feel sure that I shall take
+the first prize in the grand exhibition; I will not exhibit one stroke
+of my brush until then."
+
+"Well done, Cecil," said Anna, "that is the spirit I like."
+
+For she knew as she looked at him, that he possessed a wealth which no
+money can buy, a soul full of poetry, a mind full of genius, the
+elements of true greatness in any art, and the only wealth that she
+valued.
+
+And Cecil went on with his painting, and progressed, and brought more
+depth of tone and beauty into his pictures with every fresh attempt,
+till the canvas seemed to live under his hand, and his poetic soul and
+gentle nature spoke through his art. When any difficulty presented
+itself, he would always seek Anna and have her near him, not that she
+was an artist, but from some cause he could paint his best when she was
+by; indeed they were together the greater part of the time, for if they
+began the day in their different parts of the house, by some chance they
+either found each other in the library, or Lady Dorothy's walk, long
+before noon. They drifted to the same place, they scarcely knew how, but
+they began to know that the presence of each one to the other, was
+equally essential to their happiness. Cecil was a poet, not a writer of
+rhymes or jingles, but as we have said a true poet in his soul. Anna
+felt this in all her intercourse with him and heard it in the tones of
+his voice when he spoke, a voice that had a ring in it, a resonance, and
+that exquisite power of modulation which says more than the words
+themselves. And so time went swiftly and sweetly by with their walks and
+rides, and occupations, until they were twenty years old. Anna happy in
+the possession of Cecil's love, with life as she wished it, pure, joyous
+life, with music and beauty everywhere. A song ever on her lips, the
+happiest, merriest maiden in all "Merrie England."
+
+Cecil in his gentle way, deriving extreme pleasure from the study and
+exercise of his art, and Anna's companionship. For the cousinly
+affection of two years ago, had in both of them merged into deep intense
+love, which ended only with their lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+    And those were sudden partings such as press
+    The life from out young hearts.
+
+           *     *     *     *     *
+
+    O who wad wear a silken gown
+      Wi' a poor broken heart,
+    And what 's to me a siller crown
+      If from my love I part.
+
+           *     *     *     *     *
+
+    Alone, alone, all, all alone,
+      Alone on a wide, wide sea!
+    And never a saint took pity on
+      My soul in agony.
+
+
+It was springtime again, and the snowdrops were nodding their dainty,
+little white heads, and the linnets were again building their nests in
+the sweet old garden, when Anna's mother summoned her from Cecil's side
+in Lady Dorothy's walk, to the oak-paneled drawing-room.
+
+"My daughter," she began, "I regret that I must interrupt your present
+happiness, but circumstances compel me to separate you and Cecil for the
+present. It is time that you were presented at court, and it is time
+that you passed a season in London. We have hitherto lead so secluded a
+life that your name is not known beyond the limits of our county, and I
+feel I am not doing my duty by you."
+
+"But we are all very happy, mother," said Anna. "Why need we be more
+known?"
+
+"Yes, my daughter, we are happy now but changes must come to all
+sometime. I may be called away from you."
+
+"O my dearest mother do not say that, I cannot, I dare not think of what
+life would be without you; you know I will do anything you wish, or give
+up everything else in life, but I cannot give you up; it would break my
+heart, I should die," cried Anna.
+
+"Broken hearts don't die, my daughter, would to God that they did; few,
+very few die of broken hearts, but many live with them. I have carefully
+considered what is my duty toward you, and my reason and affection
+coincide; now listen, in case I am called away by death, there is Cecil
+to whose care and protection I could resign you, for I knew you loved
+each other long before you knew it yourselves; I am happy that it is so,
+but if Cecil were taken away also, there would be no very near relatives
+to care for you, for the nearest members of your father's family are in
+India, and mine in the colony of Virginia, and as you will inherit the
+landed estates of your late grandfather as well as mine, it would be
+better that you should make trustworthy friends before I leave you, I
+see this pains you, dear daughter, I shall say no more on this subject.
+In three days we shall set out for London as the season has already
+begun, and we shall require some time to get our court dresses made."
+
+The last evening at the manor house was passed by Anna and Cecil under
+the light of the stars, in Lady Dorothy's walk. The next morning saw
+the large, old yellow family coach at the door, drawn by four strong,
+heavy horses, a coachman and groom on the box, a maid and a butler in
+the rumble, and the widow and her daughter inside. Cecil who was
+standing by one of the coach windows looking very pale and thoughtful,
+tried to put on a smile as he said,
+
+"We are to look for you both back again in the early autumn, you said,
+aunt."
+
+"Yes, Cecil, as soon as the first brown leaves fall."
+
+The young people looked good by to each other, but said not a word, and
+the heavy old coach moved away. In three days more the travelers were in
+London, and in due course Anna was presented at court by her mother, who
+had herself been presented on the occasion of her marriage. Then came
+calls and cards and invitations to balls and routs and state dinners,
+and the poor tired mother went through all these ceremonies as a duty
+toward her daughter, and the daughter endured it because she loved her
+mother, and desired to obey her wish. It was necessary that a young
+heiress of her rank should be dressed in accordance with the fashion of
+the day, but the young heiress longed to be released from the thraldom
+of fashion, the fatiguing, heavy brocade dresses, the hoops, the stiff
+ruff and the stomacher, the farthingale and high heeled shoes, and a
+thousand times more than all, did she desire to be released from the
+artificial and to her unsatisfactory life, from the flattery, the
+coquetry, the idle, envious tattle, and to be back again with Cecil, in
+her simple, healthy attire, and to live among honest hearts.
+
+The autumn came, and the dry brown leaves began to fall from the trees.
+Day after day, Cecil opened the harpsichord, and laid a bouquet of the
+rich deep-hued flowers of the season upon it, and then he took his place
+by the fountain, and watched the winding road through the park, so that
+he might get the first sight of the coach when it returned. The autumn
+leaves continued to fall, and Cecil kept his daily vigil until they were
+lying deep on the ground, and the branches overhead were bare. Then came
+a letter saying that Cecil's aunt was ordered by her doctor to pass the
+winter in Italy, in the hope of curing a cough, which had of late
+settled upon her, so that it would be spring before the ladies could
+return to the manor house, hence they traveled to Italy and spent the
+winter among its masterpieces of genius, both in music and art. The soft
+air seemed all that was wanted to restore Anna's mother to health. Every
+day, they found something beautiful that they desired Cecil to see, but
+it was too late now to send for him, for spring was near. With the
+spring, came back the cough, and again the medical order was change of
+climate. This time, a sojourn of some months in Norway was prescribed
+for Mrs. Vyvyan, bracing air, and much out-door life in the pine woods.
+After many weeks of slow journeying, the ladies with two of their
+servants reached Norway, and took up their abode in an old chateau, in
+the midst of a pine forest so-called, but a forest really composed of
+many varieties of fir and spruce, as well as pine. The combined aroma of
+these woods made the air fragrant for many acres around the chateau, and
+for a time, it appeared to have the most beneficial effect upon the
+invalid. But one quiet eve, when the summer days had waned, and the
+faded leaves of another autumn fell, a pang of anguish shot through
+Anna's heart. The dearly loved mother was called away.
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+A short time only had elapsed since that event, and the servants were
+packing, and making preparations for the return to the manor house, when
+a mounted courier arrived at the chateau, with a large package of papers
+addressed in Dr. Strickland's handwriting. Very long, and full of
+feeling, and minute in every detail, was the letter the good man had
+written, if letter so long a dispatch might be called. He told of
+Cecil's conversations, of his watchings from beside the fountain; how
+every day he picked flowers, and put them on the harpsichord, saying
+this is the place she loves best; and how he faded and wasted day by
+day, yet struggled so bravely against the hand of death, that he might
+finish his last and best picture for Anna; and how on the last day of
+his life, he had laid his flowers on the harpsichord as usual, and then
+desired to be carried to the library and lifted into their
+great-grandfather's chair to die,--the chair that Anna had placed for
+him the first time they met.
+
+When Anna had finished reading the final words of Dr. Strickland's
+letter, she rose and moved quietly into the recess of one of the large,
+heavily mullioned windows, and looked down a long vista into the forest,
+to the tall dark pines under which was her mother's grave. Every vestige
+of color had left both cheek and lip, and she stood in the great somber
+room, as cold and white and as still as the statues which adorned its
+walls. The extremes of grief and joy have no speech; she had none. No
+cry of lamentation went forth; no tears of relief fell from her eyes;
+she knew her life was ended, but she also knew that she could not die.
+Three words only escaped her lips. "O God, alone."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+    Has hope like the bird in the story,
+      That flitted from tree to tree
+    With the talisman's glittering glory
+      Has hope been that bird to thee?
+
+    On branch after branch alighting,
+      The gem did she still display,
+    And when nearest and most inviting,
+      Then waft the fair gem away?
+
+
+Among the papers of the late mistress of the manor house, were found two
+letters which from their dates showed that they had been written during
+her stay in Italy. One was addressed to Sir Thomas Richardson, Lord
+Chief Justice of England, the other to her daughter. She appeared to
+have had a foreshadowing of her death, and directed Anna, in case of
+such an event, to have Sir Thomas' letter delivered to him immediately,
+and to abide by whatever decision he might come to. Anna had never seen
+Sir Thomas, but she knew that he was in some way related to her on her
+mother's side of the family, and that he was an old gentleman, who lived
+among his books, in an old-fashioned country house in one of the midland
+counties of England, with no one but his servants about him. And when
+the decision came, which informed Miss Vyvyan that she too was to live
+there, as his ward, she was thankful, for the tie of kindred was strong
+in her nature, and she thought to herself, there is still a link, that
+connects with the memory of my loved mother. Besides he is old and
+alone, perhaps I may be able to do something to make his life less
+lonely. But what could she do, she asked herself, for to her all seemed
+vague and undefined.
+
+Arriving at the quiet old home of Sir Thomas, with its smooth green lawn
+and flat meadows around and in front of the house, she was shown into
+the presence of a tall, stately, white-haired, old gentleman to whom
+nature had indeed been gracious, for he was extremely handsome, and of
+courtly manners. He greeted her kindly but with much dignity, and
+addressed her throughout the conversation as Miss Vyvyan. A shudder
+swept through her frame each time she heard herself so called, by the
+only one left who had the right to address her by her own familiar name
+of Anna, which she had hoped he would do. But although desiring to be in
+every way kind to his ward, his ideas of dignity and courtesy were
+fixed, and to him she was always Miss Vyvyan. Thus without a thought of
+causing her pain, he ever brought before her the deepest sense of her
+bereavement and her isolation. Life in Sir Thomas' home was very
+different from life at the manor house, both in doors and out. The old
+gentleman passed most of his time in his library, and Anna rarely saw
+him until evening, when he would sometimes instruct her in playing
+chess. When she went outside of the house, all seemed strange and dull
+and dreary, plain grass lawns all around, not a flower bed to be seen,
+no long garden walk, no fountain, no hills to ramble over, no purple
+mountains in the distance, but a flat level country on all sides. And
+when she came in doors again, no loved mother, no Cecil to greet her.
+
+Nearly three years had gone by since Anna's arrival as Sir Thomas' ward.
+It was evening, and they had just finished their game of chess, when he
+for the first time addressed her as my dear young lady, and after a
+short pause proceeded.
+
+"This is not a fit place for you; I am too old to be the companion of
+youth; I am doing you injustice in allowing you to remain with me, and
+have decided that you shall have a more suitable home."
+
+"I do not wish to leave you, Sir Thomas," replied Anna, "besides I have
+nowhere to go. I cannot live at the manor house all alone."
+
+"Certainly you cannot," he answered. "I have arranged everything for you
+to the best of my power. You do not really come into property until you
+are twenty-five years of age. Your landed estates and other moneys are
+secured to you in such a way that you need not feel the least
+apprehension about your affairs, everything has been attended to. The
+manor house will be in the charge of a steward for the present. You will
+probably wish to live there again some day. As I have just said, I am
+too old; I may not, I cannot have long to remain here. There is a cousin
+of your mother living in the colony of Virginia, Fairfax by name. He has
+a wife and family, two nephews, whom he has adopted, twins, I think,
+also Fairfaxes. They stand in the degree of a third generation from
+myself. I mean to say these twins are about the same age my grandson
+would be now, had he been spared to my declining years. Therefore, they
+must be a few years older than you are, and more adapted for being
+companionable to you, than I am. I have been in correspondence with your
+Cousin Fairfax, during many months, in regard to your making your home
+with them in Virginia, until you are older, and have ceased so much to
+need protection, or until you have settled in a home of your own. The
+arrangement appears to be very agreeable to them, and I trust you will
+be happy in their society. I cannot part with you without saying that
+your presence in my house has given me much pleasure--the only one now
+left to me, that of recollection. Although you are very quiet, for one
+who has only reached your years, yet the sound of your footstep about
+the house called sweet though sad memories of my only daughter, and I
+thank you for them. If I thought only of myself, I should keep you here
+till the end, but there are times when it is more noble to resign than
+to fulfill the dearest wishes of our heart."
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+It was in the summer of 1607 that Miss Vyvyan, attended by her waiting
+woman, sailed from England, for the colony of Virginia, in the ship
+Queen Elizabeth, from which she had just been wrecked, when we took up
+the narrative of her early life. To that period of time we will now
+return.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+    This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
+    Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight.
+    Stand like Druids of old, with voices sad and prophetic.
+    Stand like harpers hoar with beards that rest on their bosoms.
+    Loud from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced neighboring ocean,
+    Speaks and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+    And thou too who so 'ere thou art
+      That readest this brief psalm
+    As one by one thy hopes depart
+      Be resolute and calm.
+
+    Oh fear not in a world like this,
+      And thou shalt know ere long,
+    Know how sublime a thing it is
+      To suffer and be strong.
+
+
+As the shipwrecked young lady lay on the cold, rough beach, amid the
+dead bodies, with the hoarse roar of the ocean sounding in her ears, and
+the heavy, wet clouds of mist clinging about her, indifferent to life or
+death, the recollection of the ship being pursued by buccaneers and
+driven far out of her course came back to her mind, and then being
+caught in a hurricane and seeing another vessel battling with the
+tempest, and both ships furiously hurried on toward a wild, rocky coast,
+the vessels crashing on shore and rebounding again, and some one
+lifting her into a boat, and then she remembered no more. While these
+recollections were passing through her brain, she raised herself upon
+her elbow and looked around. Death everywhere, the ocean with its
+floating corpses and wreckage lay before her. On either hand a long
+broken beach, with its gloomy rocks and its scattered dead. A scene
+which at any other time in her life would have struck her with awe, she
+now gazed at quietly, and questioned "Why am I the only one left, oh, if
+I too could die." Turning to look behind her through the mist, she
+observed that the land was hilly, and in some places rose to a
+considerable height. The whole surface as far as she could make out was
+covered by a thick growth of lofty pines, mingled with spruce and other
+sorts of fir, among which sprung up an entanglement of various kinds of
+undergrowth, all these trees and shrubs growing nearly down to the sea
+and forming so thick a forest, that it was impossible for sight to
+penetrate it further than a few yards. There was no building of any kind
+to be seen, no sign of human habitation of either savage or civilized
+life. The great abundance of pine trees, and the general appearance of
+the forest, which strongly resembled the forests of Norway, instantly
+called up the question in Anna Vyvyan's mind, can it be possible that
+destiny has sent me back to the land of my mother's grave?
+
+A low wail like the cry of a young child in distress, caused the only
+hearer to start to her feet, and looking on the other side of a broken
+rock close by, she saw stretched out white and still, a young lady by
+the side of whom, in a half-standing position, and bending over her was
+a beautiful golden-haired little girl of between two and three years. In
+another instant Anna was also bending over the young mother, to whom she
+found the child was tied by a crimson silk sash such as were worn by
+military officers. The tearful little one turned up her sweet face,
+without any apparent fear, but with a great deal of sorrow in it, and
+said, in her baby language,
+
+"Mama dorn seep," then she pressed her lips upon the cold white cheek,
+and kissed it and stroked and patted the also beautiful mother, who lay
+so mute and pallid and unconscious of all her little one's gentle love.
+
+Again and again came the cry from the poor forlorn little creature, "Det
+up, mama, det up, mama;" but the dear mamma was beyond the reach of the
+sweet baby voice. Anna's first thought was to see if any sign of life
+remained in the slender form before her, but she could find no pulse,
+and the face and hands were as cold, as the rocks upon which she was
+lying. Miss Vyvyan unfastened the child, and drew away the long sash,
+which had tied her to her mother's waist. As she did so, she observed
+the delicately formed features, which were so regular and proportionate
+that they might have been chiseled in marble, to represent some Greek
+goddess. She saw the masses of soft brown hair, and the long dark
+eyelashes, which dropped upon the cheek like silken fringe. She
+observed, too, the simple traveling habit, made of the finest material,
+but perfectly free from any attempt at vulgar ornament. And as she took
+the child into her arms, and looked down once more on the sweet white
+face, which lay on the stones at her feet, and noted the refinement in
+everything about her, she knew that the little one's mother came of
+gentle blood. The child was willing to go to Anna, but not willing to be
+removed out of sight of its mother. So Miss Vyvyan sat down where they
+were with the little one in her lap, and shook out the silk sash with
+the idea of wrapping it round the shivering child, but that, too, was
+wet, every thing in the shape of clothing was wet, both on Anna and the
+child. All that she could do for the moment to comfort the tiny thing,
+was to fold it in her arms, and try by that means to keep it from
+perishing with cold. It had probably been shielded by some heavy woolen
+wrap, which was torn off by the breakers when they were cast on shore,
+for as Anna shook out the silk sash, there fell from it a strip of thick
+woolen fringe, which had the appearance of having belonged to a shawl.
+
+But now the child was bareheaded, and wore a little white dress of
+exceedingly fine embroidery, which also spoke of the mother's love, for
+none but loving hands ever wrought work so dainty as that. Round its
+neck was clasped a small gold chain of minute links of very fine
+workmanship. So thin and delicately was it made, that it resembled a
+thread of golden silk. Anna examined it carefully to see if she could
+find any letter or name upon it, but none was there, then she spoke to
+the child as it lay nestling its pretty head upon her arm, and still
+talking to its mother, and said,
+
+"Tell me, dear little one, what is your name?"
+
+The child looked up, but evidently could not understand the meaning of
+her words.
+
+Anna tried again by laying one of her fingers on the child's shoulder
+and saying, "Who's dat?"
+
+"Mama's baby," answered the little one in an instant.
+
+"Will Mama's baby tell me where papa is?"
+
+"Dorn seep," replied the child.
+
+"Tell me where dorn seep, sweet child."
+
+"Down dare," answered she, pointing to a mass of human bodies which were
+thrown together on the beach some distance below them, and which were
+constantly kept in motion by the incoming tide.
+
+Anna's desire to die no longer existed; as she held the beautiful little
+creature to her heart and rocked it, all her thoughts concentrated in
+the one question, what could she do to aid this sweet helpless one. The
+ideas rushed through her mind with the rapidity that they come to us in
+fever. It must have warmth and food, or it will perish. I cannot let it
+die, it is so beautiful, and I love it. I must act this moment. Rising
+with the child in her arms, she hastened along as rapidly as she could
+among the wreckage, scrambling between bales and chests of all kinds, in
+the hope of finding something, anything; she could not surmise what it
+might be, but some sustenance must be had for the child. Although
+hundreds of cases and bales were strewed about, they were all so
+securely corded and nailed up, that it was impossible to procure
+anything from them.
+
+At last, far in on the land, she came to a large pile of freight, which
+had struck so violently, that the greater number of the cases and bales,
+had broken in two, or had burst open. The first object that met her
+sight, was a broken chest full of table covers of rich cloth, evidently
+the product of India and Persia, as the silk embroidered borders in
+oriental needlework showed; happily everything was thrown in so far that
+it was dry.
+
+Taking one of the table covers, she wrapped it round the child, who in
+the midst of its discomfort showed its gentle nature by saying,
+
+"Pitty sing, pitty sing," and holding up its sweet face to kiss Anna.
+
+"Yes, mama's baby shall have more pretty things soon," said Miss Vyvyan.
+
+"Dinner," cried the child, "bing dinner, Dinah bing dinner."
+
+"Yes, darling, we must find dinner for mama's baby."
+
+"Dinah bing dinner?" again repeated the poor, hungry little thing, with
+an expressive look of interrogation.
+
+"Yes, dear, yes;" folding the soft woolen cover still more closely round
+the child, Anna placed her in a sheltered spot. "Stay there a moment,
+baby, while I bring dinner."
+
+From the marks on the outside of the boxes it was plain that they had
+come from some Mediterranean port, and contained fruits and other
+edibles. With a heavy stone, Anna soon broke open a small box of candied
+fruit, selecting some, she gave it to the half-starved child. One of the
+baby hands held her fruit, the other one was instantly stretched out
+toward the box.
+
+"Mama, tandy, too," she cried.
+
+"Mama is asleep, darling, she does not want candy."
+
+"Oh mama, tandy, too," she repeated, with an earnestness that sent a
+thrill through Anna's heart.
+
+"Yes; mama's baby shall take some if she wishes to."
+
+The child took a piece of the fruit, "Doe now," she said.
+
+"Go where, baby?"
+
+"Mama," answered the child, struggling among the folds of her wrap, to
+get on to her feet and pointing in the direction of its mother. A nature
+so full of love, shall not be pained or thwarted by me, mused Anna, as
+she carried back the child who had already become precious to her. When
+they reached the place where the cold white mother was lying, and Anna
+was in the act of putting the little one on the ground as it desired, an
+unusually large wave broke so close by, that the spray and foam dashed
+against, and flowed over the sweet pale face. The child uttered a sharp
+cry of distress, and disengaging itself from Anna's arms and darting to
+its mother, threw itself down by her side, and, clasping her neck with
+its tiny arms, covered with kisses the face that was so dear. The next
+wave will carry the mother away, Anna thought. I cannot let the child
+witness such a sight, it would break her loving little heart, and she
+also felt that she, herself, could not give up to the all-devouring
+ocean, the object of so much affection in the babe. Placing the little
+one in safety, she took up the cold, white burden in her arms, and
+carried it far back from the reach of the sea, putting it down on the
+moss, at the root of a large pine. As it lay there so lone and sad and
+beautiful, with the child standing by it, for the little soul had
+followed with its swiftest steps, Anna bent over it and kissed the face.
+Poor dear, she murmured in a whisper, as long as I exist, my love and my
+life shall be devoted to your child. She bent again and kissed the cold
+lips. Could it be possible that breath came lightly through them? It
+was,--it was,--deeper and deeper drawn and more regular each time.
+Merciful God, she lives, and the tears fell fast from eyes that had long
+been dry with grief. A faint sigh, and the partial parting of the long
+silken eyelashes, told that life was coming back still more and more. In
+a few moments she feebly uttered, "My child."
+
+"Your child is safe and with you," replied Anna, lifting the little one
+closer to its mother's side.
+
+"Dudley," she faltered.
+
+"He has not come yet," said Anna, surmising for whom she was inquiring,
+and pitying in her inmost soul the widowed heart that must so soon learn
+to live without him.
+
+When the poor mother opened her eyes, the scene of horror was more than
+her delicate organization could endure, and a violent, fit of trembling
+came upon her.
+
+"Tote on," said the anxious, sensitive child.
+
+The suggestion was acted upon, Anna ran to the pile of dry wreckage, and
+soon returned, with an armful of table covers and a box.
+
+"Tote on mama," cried the child hurriedly, as if it felt there was no
+time to be lost.
+
+"Yes, darling, a coat for mama," said Anna, improvising a pillow with
+one, and wrapping several other warm covers about the shivering mother.
+
+"Take this," said she, holding to her lips some cordial which she had
+poured into a mussel shell, "It is buanaba, a very delicate restorative
+made in Turkey, pray try to take it, it will keep you from shivering
+so."
+
+As we have already said, Anna possessed great vital energy, and with her
+to think was to act. She saw that the delicate, slender young mother and
+the child must both die, unless she could find some means of getting
+them warm. There was an abundance of dead wood close by, if she could
+only start the first spark of fire. Pushing her way a few yards into the
+forest, she brought out a quantity of dead grass and resinous wood, and
+continued striking two stones together until at last the spark came, and
+a good fire soon blazed high, and sent out its glow toward the pine tree
+beneath which they were lying. Some large stones were soon heated in the
+hot embers, and rolled to the feet of the mother. Covering was brought
+and held to the fire, and the lowly bed made so warm that the exhausted
+mother and her little one fell into a natural and refreshing sleep. In
+the meantime Anna was everywhere scrambling and climbing among the
+freight, dragging what she could not carry, searching for anything that
+might be appropriated as a covering against the cold, and looking after
+the cases of eatables with a thought for the poor, starving ones under
+the pine tree. It was late in the afternoon when the sleepers awoke. The
+mist had in a great measure cleared away, and the sunlight was
+straggling through the remaining clouds. A good fire was burning, and a
+tin of water was boiling beside it. A long box cover, supported by
+stones at each end, formed a table, other box lids made seats, and the
+table was spread with food that would at least sustain life. Heaped up
+under another pine tree, was a sufficient supply of both food and
+covering, to provide for the ladies and child for some time to come.
+There was no lack of tins of all shapes, so they were made use of to
+cook in, and for holding food. As soon as the child was thoroughly
+awake, it sat up in its bed, showing its sweet fair face, and smiling
+with happiness at finding its mother awake by its side. Taking up a cup
+of food made from sea moss and sweetened with the candied fruit, Anna
+attempted to feed the child by means of a shell, but it turned its face
+away, and said in tones full of distress, "Mama too, Dinah bing dinner."
+When Anna took hot coffee from the fire and propped up the exhausted
+mother and induced her to drink it, everything went well with the child.
+It was perfectly satisfied, and took its own food, and laughed and
+played with the pebbles and shells that were brought to it.
+
+"I have tried often, very often to speak to you," said the mother,
+addressing Anna for the first time; "I was conscious, but I could not
+speak; I was too weak I suppose, and now my voice has come back to me, I
+have no words, I do not know what I can say to you."
+
+"Will you let me suggest what you shall say," asked Anna? "It is this;
+say what I can do that would most help you and your lovely child; and
+now try to rest while I think how you can be sheltered from the night
+air, for night will be upon us in the course of two hours at furthest."
+
+The fog and mist had now completely disappeared, and given way to the
+sun, which, however, was nearing the horizon, and the trees cast long
+shadows on the grass.
+
+While the mother and child had been asleep in the afternoon, Anna had
+built up a few broken boards and stones between them and the sea, that
+they might not be pained on their first awaking by seeing the terrible
+sight which was so near.
+
+"I am better," said the mother. "I feel stronger. I cannot endure to see
+you doing all. I want to help you. I do not need more rest now. But tell
+me first, pray tell me the truth, whatever it may be. Is there any one
+left alive here besides ourselves. Have you seen an officer in a
+colonel's uniform? My husband was in the service of King James, he wore
+the royal uniform, when he tied my child to my waist with his sash, and
+lifted me into a boat. I cannot remember any more. I think I must have
+been stunned. How long have we been here? I seem to have lost some of
+the time, but I felt you take away my child, and I heard you speak
+tenderly to it. Have we been here too long for my husband to be living?
+Tell me, can it be possible that I may find him?"
+
+Anna could not add to her anguish by repeating what the child had said
+when questioned about its father, for she believed it had spoken truly
+when it answered,
+
+"Dorn seep, down dare."
+
+"I do not think we have been here longer than to-day," she replied. "I
+do not know exactly. It was early in the morning when our ship struck
+the rocks, but it was broad daylight when I came to my senses on the
+shore. The tide was coming in, it was very high, and now it must have
+been going out for nearly four hours, so I think we must have been cast
+on shore this morning."
+
+"Then my husband may still be alive, I must seek him." With those words,
+she rose to her feet, but nearly fainted with the effort.
+
+"Your child is sleeping," said Anna. "Let me support you, if you will
+attempt to walk. Tell me your husband's name, that I may call it aloud;
+these rocks are very rugged and I can send my voice into places among
+them, that it would be impossible to go into."
+
+"Colonel Carleton," she replied.
+
+"Lean on me, Mrs. Carleton. Shall we go down this way?"
+
+The tide had carried out the mass of floating bodies to which the child
+had pointed at noon, but numbers of others still remained in all
+directions. Tottering and staggering among the dead, Mrs. Carleton
+continued her search, until she had looked into every ghastly face that
+lay there.
+
+"Now will you call aloud for me," she said, "for I cannot, my strength
+is gone."
+
+Anna called, but the only sound that came back was the echo of her own
+voice from the forest and the heavy rolling of the sea. They returned in
+silence to the child, who was still asleep. The sun had nearly set, when
+all at once a rich, bright glow from the west rose behind the forest and
+flooded every object with golden light. Looking out to sea eastward,
+they observed only a few miles away many islands, some of them covered
+with forests down to the water's edge.
+
+"Where can we be," they both ejaculated at the same time. There was no
+habitation visible on any of them, nor any smoke rising from them.
+
+"These trees remind me of Norway," said Anna. "Do you think we can be in
+Norway?"
+
+"I am unable to say," replied Mrs. Carleton, "but I am sure we are in a
+northern clime by the growth both of trees and plants."
+
+The ladies seated themselves by the sleeping child, trying to think what
+it was best for them to do. There was no time for delay; it would soon
+be dark, and the little group of three appeared to be the only living
+human beings in the place, wherever that place might be. While they were
+talking together, they had turned their backs to the sea and were
+looking toward the sunset, and watching the varied rays of light which
+here and there penetrated through the forest on the hill before them.
+
+"I did not hear your name, Mrs. Carleton, on board the ship I sailed in
+from England," said Anna.
+
+"I did not come from England," she answered. "My parents settled in the
+colony of Virginia long ago. I was born there, that is my home. My
+husband as well as myself, had many relatives in England, and we were
+going to visit them, and intended to have our child baptized there, that
+its name might be registered among those of its forefathers. Sometime
+after we sailed, we fell in with buccaneers; but our ship, the Sir
+Walter Raleigh, was a fast sailor, and we got away from them; yet I was
+told when the hurricane came on, that they were the cause of our being
+out of our course, hence our calamity."
+
+"We met the same destiny," said Anna, and then she told in a few words
+whence she had sailed, and that her name was Vyvyan.
+
+The hill in front of the ladies, rose too high for them to see the
+actual setting of the sun, but the rich glow of gold and crimson now lit
+up the whole forest, and defined the outline of the rising ground.
+
+"What is that I see?" said Mrs. Carleton, shading her eyes with her
+hands.
+
+"'Tall pines' I think," answered Anna.
+
+"No, it is a tower; look, Miss Vyvyan, in that direction, see on the
+hill; it is a stone tower; look, now the light has changed; there are
+windows, many of them, see on the right the building extends a great
+way, it is very large."
+
+Anna looked through the wood where Mrs. Carleton directed, and saw
+distinctly in the rosy light of the sunset, an immense stone building,
+with a massive tower capable of containing many rooms, and rising to the
+height of two hundred feet. With the exception of the tower, the
+building was very irregular, and gave the impression of having been
+erected at different periods. It combined the characteristics of a
+feudal castle and a fortress. It was old and gray, but by no means a
+ruin, yet it had a gloomy and forbidding appearance. The ladies looked
+at each other and hesitated, they did not speak for a few moments; the
+same idea possessed the mind of each. They thought that good people
+would not live in such a place, amid such wild surroundings, but neither
+one of them would unnerve the other by saying so, for they knew in their
+present situation they required all the courage that they could command,
+in order that they might be ready to meet their uncertain fate.
+
+While they continued looking almost spellbound the child awoke, and
+observing their earnest gaze, added her own scrutiny to theirs. She bent
+her little golden head forward and saw some of the windows upon which
+the reflection of light glinted.
+
+"Home," she exclaimed, smiling with childish glee, "doe home," taking
+hold of her mother's dress to draw her in the direction of the building,
+which was about half-way up the hill, and only a few hundred yards from
+where they now stood.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+    The battled towers the donjon keep,
+      The loop-hole grates where captives weep,
+    The flanking walls that round it sweep,
+      In yellow luster shone.
+
+           *     *     *     *     *
+
+    Act,--act in the living present!
+      Heart within and God o'erhead!
+
+           *     *     *     *     *
+
+    Let us then be up and doing
+      With a heart for any fate
+    Still achieving, still pursuing
+      Learn to labor and to wait.
+
+
+The ladies held a consultation, should they attempt to go to the castle
+and ask for shelter. How could the child, which like themselves had
+hitherto lived in luxury, pass a night on the beach. Beside the forest
+looked as if it was the resort of wolves and bears. It would be unsafe.
+They could not after dark remain where they were, there was no
+alternative, so they decided to go at once to the building. There was no
+path, but they held the branches aside for each other. Taking the child
+with them, they stumbled over the loose stones and among the briers as
+well as their want of strength would permit, for they were much
+exhausted. Mrs. Carleton was so weak that she fell several times and was
+severely hurt, but no murmur escaped her and she rose and struggled on
+again as if nothing had happened, turning, from time to time, with some
+word of kindness or cheer to Miss Vyvyan, who was helping the little one
+along.
+
+Emerging from the woods, they found themselves in a long, open space of
+grass, which was surrounded on all sides by the forest. The great
+building stood full in front of, and overshadowed them. It was a
+veritable feudal castle and, as we have said, grand, gloomy and
+forbidding to look at. The windows were far up from the ground, no
+entrance door was in sight, no walks or drives around it, everywhere
+rank grass, with here and there a tuft of golden-rod, or fall aster
+springing up. No smoke rising from any of the chimneys, no traces of
+footsteps, no sound but the sighing of the wind through the pines, and
+the surging of the ocean. Mrs. Carleton was first to break the silence.
+
+"If I were by myself," said she, "I should imagine I must be dreaming,
+but I feel the reality of our position, this is no dream. We are all
+alone here; this place must have been deserted long ago. Look, there is
+the entrance overgrown with brambles. It is best that we are alone; if
+we can get shelter, we need not fear molestation."
+
+She spoke calmly and cheerfully and tried to wear a smile for the sake
+of the two who were looking at her and listening to her words. Anna had
+entertained grave fears for Mrs. Carleton while they were getting up to
+the castle. She thought the delicate frame must give way altogether, but
+she now saw that her newly-made friend was as brave, as she was gentle
+and loving and faithful, and fear gave place to hope and resolve. As she
+went a few steps to gather some asters, which the child wished for, she
+said to herself, "This fragile, suffering, uncomplaining woman has
+already taught me a great lesson, and I will never seek selfish relief
+by adding to her overburdened life, the weight of my own sorrow. She
+shall always think me cheerful, whatever I may know my self to be, for
+nothing that I can do will be of so much help to her and the sweet
+child."
+
+As Anna returned, the little one stretched out her hands to receive the
+flowers and held up the rosy lips to give a kiss for them, which was her
+usual mode of acknowledging any kindness shown to her.
+
+"Miss Vyvyan," said Mrs. Carleton, "I have been looking on the other
+side while you have been gathering the flowers. I find there is an
+immense pile of ruins there, which looks as if it were the ruins of a
+tower. That small entrance at the north end is the only one that is
+open. Shall we try to get in, we can beat down the brambles."
+
+The doorway was low and arched, the stone work about it coarse and
+massive, the door had fallen from the upper hinge, and lay so far open
+that ingress was very easy. The ladies entered and passed into a broad
+stone passage, which was many yards in length and led to a staircase at
+the foot of the great tower at the south end. As they passed along the
+passage, they saw a number of rooms on either side, which were all in
+semi-darkness, being lighted only by narrow loopholes in the outer
+walls, yet there was sufficient light to show them that they were all
+well filled with what appeared to be chests, boxes and packages, but the
+ladies were too much fatigued to make any examination of them. They
+observed that the walls were all of rough stone, but there was no
+feeling of dampness. On reaching the staircase, Mrs. Carleton discovered
+some inscriptions cut deep into the wall.
+
+"What is this, Miss Vyvyan? I see it is not Greek or Latin or Hebrew. I
+never saw any characters like these."
+
+"They are runic," replied Anna. "I should not know what they are, only
+that I have seen them on old ruins in Norway. Do you think we are in
+Norway? This old castle is very much like buildings I have seen there."
+
+Mrs. Carleton, who was an excellent botanist, again referred to the
+trees and plants which they had seen as they came up from the beach.
+
+"Those fall asters," she said, "and the species of golden-rod are both
+of northern growth, but I cannot in the least feel sure of our
+whereabouts. It scarcely seems probable that we shall find the means of
+getting away from this place very soon, for there is no evidence of any
+commerce here, and as far as I can judge, nothing for merchants or
+traders to come for. I do not say this to dishearten you, Miss Vyvyan,
+but I feel it right that we should speak openly and honestly to each
+other."
+
+"I understand you," replied Anna, "you do not wish to fill my
+imagination with false hopes; it is good, and kind, and sensible, and I
+thank you for speaking as you have done. I feel myself that this is no
+time for dreaming, and I do not any longer care to indulge in it. All I
+care for, is to lead an earnest, true life in whatever position Fate may
+place me. If we are destined to remain together, you shall see."
+
+The ladies had now ascended the winding stone staircase as far as the
+top of the first flight from the ground. From the stairs, they stepped
+into a corridor with a stone floor and bare stone walls, somewhat
+similar to the one below, but wider and well lighted. From this
+corridor, branched off other passages and staircases, leading both above
+and below, and numberless rooms of all kinds, the doors of which were
+chiefly open, showing the most luxurious and costly furniture, and the
+richest hangings, containing chests filled with rich velvets and satins,
+and all other requirements of ladies' dress. Some rooms were evidently
+sleeping apartments, others were furnished as parlors, the walls being
+hung with tapestry, and adorned with rare paintings and mirrors in
+frames of the most exquisite workmanship, in ivory, silver and bronze.
+Rich carpets and rugs covered the floors. The rooms all felt dry. They
+had wide, open fireplaces in which stood fire dogs of brass or iron; in
+some of them still remained half-burned or charred logs, and the dead
+ashes of long years ago. The ladies remarked that, amidst all this
+abundance of wealth, there was a certain incongruity in the arrangement
+of the contents of every room. In one they found silk draperies from
+India, a divan from Turkey, an Italian settee in the finest Florentine
+carving; beside it a massive English table of heart of oak, and the
+light, spider-legged gilt chairs of Paris, with their faded red silk
+cushions, and so on. They rambled through room after room. In many of
+them were firearms of all dates and nations, sabers and cutlasses,
+daggers and swords, with pistols and guns, and powder flasks, and
+spears. Some of these lay upon the tables and chairs, and others hung
+from the walls. In all the sleeping-rooms, were numberless articles of
+men's dress, uniforms and costumes of various kinds, sufficient in
+variety to supply disguises for a whole regiment. With the exception of
+the number of firearms and other instruments of warfare lying about, the
+rooms were all in order. The reflection of the setting sun streamed in
+at the windows, and across the floors at the west side of the castle,
+and lit up the mirrors, and pictures, and beautiful and curious works of
+art, which hung on the walls, or stood on the shelves, or on quaint
+pieces of furniture, and which abounded everywhere and made the interior
+of the building a pleasant contrast to the gloomy-looking outside.
+
+Passing hastily through the rooms which led off the corridors, the
+ladies returned to the great tower at the south end. They found the
+door, which gave entrance to it was closed; but on Mrs. Carleton laying
+her hand upon the lock, it at once gave way, and they went through a
+vestibule, and entered a large and very handsome room. It was octagon in
+form, with a window in every division. The upper part of each window was
+made of antique painted glass, which shed red hues of crimson, gold and
+purple in different parts of the room, ever varying their position with
+the change in the sun's altitude, and giving the apartment at all times
+of the day, a bright, cheerful appearance. This room was furnished still
+more gorgeously than any of the others. The walls were hung with the
+richest kinds of Spanish tapestry; on a ground of dark green silk
+velvet, was embroidered large flowers and arabesques in gold,
+interspersed at intervals with the well-known representations of the
+three castles, which are a part of the arms of Spain. The furniture was
+all of chestnut, carved in the deeply cut and highly raised work, which
+is so rich and elaborate, and peculiar to the Spanish artists. Several
+curiously cut mirrors hung on the walls, and also some exceedingly
+delicate paintings in ivory, and, a number of choice enamels on plaques
+of gold. The mantel piece of stone was high and adorned with beautiful
+vases of Egyptian and Etruscan make, mingled with those of Rome and
+Herculaneum, and the more modern flower-holders of Bohemian and Venetian
+glass. The sofas, as well as the luxurious armchairs, were covered with
+green silk velvet. The window draperies were of the same, ornamented
+with gold fringe.
+
+The floor was made of various kinds, inlaid in mosaic work, as we see
+them in Italy. Soft ruby colored rugs were lying in front of the table,
+and before the fireplace. On one side, was a small carved bookcase
+containing a few volumes of novels, some of poetry and a few sacred
+books of the Roman Catholic creed, all of them in Spanish.
+
+In one or two of the books, the name of "Inez" was written. Across the
+end of one of the sofas lay a guitar of satin-wood, inlaid with
+mother-o'-pearl, with a Spanish lace mantilla by the side of it, and on
+a small table close by was an open music book containing Spanish songs.
+
+Everything gave evidence of having been left untouched for many years,
+the flowers in the vases had dried, and fallen bit by bit, and lay in
+small heaps that looked like chaff. In one corner of the room stood a
+tall Chinese jar, that had once contained sprays of the fragrant fir
+balsam, which was now little else than dust. In the wide, open fireplace
+on the hearth, the wood that had been carefully placed on the dogs ready
+to light, had become so dry, that it had crumbled away, and fallen to
+pieces with its own weight.
+
+The ladies felt the importance of using the remaining daylight in making
+some preparations for the night, so deferred any further examination of
+the castle until the next day. They experienced a certain feeling of
+safety in being alone.
+
+"Mrs. Carleton," said Miss Vyvyan, "you will not mind if I run down to
+the beach, and bring up some of the table covers and some food. I shall
+soon be back again."
+
+"I do not mind being left, but I do mind your doing it without help; I
+want to help you in everything, but I am not strong enough yet. We will
+stand by the window and watch you as far as we can."
+
+The child understood the conversation, and turning with a very earnest
+and inquiring look to her mother, she said,
+
+"Be back."
+
+"Yes, dear, Miss Vyvyan is coming back. That is my little one's way of
+saying she wishes you to return," said Mrs. Carleton. "She always says
+to me, if I am leaving the room, 'be back,' she means come back."
+
+"I like to hear her say it," said Anna; "it sounds so real and so
+pretty, and it is her own way of expressing what she desires. I hope you
+will always allow her to keep that little remnant of babyhood. I ask it
+of you as a favor."
+
+"I am only too glad, Miss Vyvyan, to do anything you wish," replied Mrs.
+Carleton.
+
+As Anna left the room and hastened down the tower stairs, she heard the
+sweet little voice calling after her,
+
+"Be back, be back."
+
+Mrs. Carleton had prepared a pleasant surprise for Anna on her return.
+She had taken a flint from the lock of one of the guns, and had
+succeeded in lighting a cheerful fire, before which the ladies spread
+the table covers, and slept until the light of the morning sun shone in
+upon them through one of the painted windows, and made brilliant hues
+in various parts of the room, which the child called butterflies. The
+little party was rested and refreshed, and awoke to be greeted by a
+beautiful day.
+
+As soon as they had breakfasted, they began a thorough investigation of
+their new abode. They descended to the basement where they had entered,
+and discovered in one of the rooms immense stores of provisions of all
+kinds, many of them in good order, for they were in sealed jars and
+cases. One of the down-stairs rooms was a carpenter's shop, containing
+tools of all sorts, which were of great use to the ladies in opening
+many things that it would have been impossible for them to do otherwise.
+There was a large store of wine, and a kitchen containing strangely
+shaped cooking utensils from different countries. Near the small north
+doorway by which the ladies entered the castle, was a narrow stone
+staircase, leading down under ground, but it was so dimly lighted, that
+they did not attempt to go down it. Ascending again to the tower, they
+discovered several more beautiful rooms in it, all richly furnished. All
+these rooms had apparently been set apart for the use of the lady, with
+the exception of one, a library, containing carved oak shelves, loaded
+with books in many different languages; the heavy furniture was also of
+carved oak, cushioned with old gold embossed leather. A Spanish cloak of
+crimson velvet was thrown across the back of one of the chairs, and upon
+the seat of it lay a sombrero with a plume, also a sword and a pair of
+gauntlets. An arched doorway in one corner of the library, led into a
+small watch tower, the whole size of which was filled up by a winding
+stone staircase.
+
+"Come, Miss Vyvyan," said Mrs. Carleton, "we will go up here, and we
+may, perhaps, see something that will tell us where we are." They
+climbed the stairs to the top, and passed through a low door on to the
+battlements of a great tower, whence they looked down at the pine trees,
+two hundred feet below. They saw at once that they were on an island;
+not by any means a large one, and that the whole of it was covered by
+forest as far as the water's edge, excepting in a few places where a
+bare rock or swamp intervened. They looked to the south and saw only the
+open ocean. The day was clear and calm, and they could see away to the
+horizon. To the east lay many other islands; then to the north the same
+sight met their eyes. Looking to the west still more islands were to be
+seen, and also what appeared to be the mainland, and far away, perhaps
+seventy miles off in the distance, a magnificent range of lofty
+mountains. Nothing could exceed the beauty of the scene. As they walked
+round the top of the tower, looking down upon all these forest-clad
+islands without any sign of habitation, Mrs. Carleton, turning to Anna,
+said, "Let us try to think over all the maps we have studied in our
+geography lessons."
+
+"Just what I have been trying to do," said Anna, "but I can only think
+of a great number of islands in the Pacific ocean, and we know we are
+not there, and we are not in any of the West India islands, for, as you
+say, the trees tell us we are in the north, and now that I see so many
+islands, I know we are not in Norway. But is it not strange that the
+runic characters are in so many places in this castle? See, here are
+more of them, exactly the same as I saw when we were in Norway."
+
+"Yes," replied Mrs. Carleton; "everything tells us we are in the north,
+and also tells us we are alone. We may have to remain here, we know not
+how long, perhaps years; and then, too, we have something else to
+consider. These trees show that the winters in this region are very
+severe, as do also the rents in the rocks that we clambered among on our
+way up to the castle. Those great fissures were all caused by the action
+of intense frosts, by such a degree of cold as you and I have no idea
+of, excepting from what we have read. In a climate like this, we know
+the winter sets in early, so I think, Miss Vyvyan, the only thing we can
+do is to prepare for it immediately as soon as we can."
+
+"I see; everything is exactly as you say," replied Anna, "and now let me
+ask you a favor. I am stronger physically than you are, and I beg you to
+allow me to undertake the heavier share of our occupation. Let me do all
+that requires to be done outside the castle, such as getting wood and
+water, and whatever we may want from the wreckage, and you take charge
+of the inside of our present home, in which you must allow me to help
+you. I understand you already, and I believe you would do everything
+and endure all the fatigue without a murmur, but that is impossible; you
+have not the strength, and you must try to be well for the sake of your
+dear child."
+
+Mrs. Carleton endeavored to remonstrate with Miss Vyvyan about the
+division of the toil, which was so new and strange to each of them, for
+she was born with a great generous heart that was ready and willing to
+do and die for others; but Anna would not listen to her sweet pleadings,
+although in her soul she admired them.
+
+"Bow wow," said the little one, pointing down to the forest.
+
+The ladies looked over the battlements and, to their horror, saw three
+wolves creeping stealthily along under the shadow of the great pines
+below. They thought instantly of the fallen door at the entrance, and
+hastened down the tower stairs as far as the room hung with green velvet
+tapestry, where they had passed the night, and which they decided should
+in future be their sitting-room, so they named it the green parlor. As
+they entered, the glow of the cheerful fire on the hearth, the beautiful
+prospect of forest and sea from the windows, and the child's
+butterflies, glancing here and there, gave a bright and pleasant air to
+the room, but the ladies felt much disturbed by the discovery of wolves
+so near them, and the knowledge of the open door in the passage below.
+
+"Miss Vyvyan," said Mrs. Carleton, "there are other doors of entrance to
+this, castle; I saw them, we will go and see if we can open one of
+them; and then we will close up the door below altogether."
+
+At the end of a passage leading from the tower, and not far from the
+green parlor, they found a massive door, strongly barred and bolted
+inside. They drew the bolts, and on opening it led down on the outside,
+by a long flight of stone stairs to the grass below, and very near to
+the place on which they stood on their arrival from the beach.
+
+"We shall be safe in one respect now," said Mrs. Carleton, "for no
+animal can break this door and we can keep it bolted."
+
+The first thing to be done now was to close up the entrance down stairs.
+The ladies went down and out through the door by which they had entered
+the castle at the north end. Quickly gathering up some of the wood which
+lay round about them, they set fire to it, in order to scare away any
+wolves which might be prowling near, and at once went to work, carrying
+stones from the ruins of the fallen tower, and by their joint strength
+replacing the door. They next piled up such a barrier of great stones
+behind it, that they were sure that no wolves could enter that way. They
+had finished their first attempt at building and were about to go up
+again to the green parlor, when the child with a little laugh and in its
+sprightly way cried out,
+
+"Kitta, kitta, see kitta." At the same instant running as fast as her
+tiny feet could go, after two small white kittens which the next moment
+disappeared down the half-dark stairs, that they had noticed when they
+first arrived, but were too tired to investigate at that time.
+
+They now looked down them and in the dim light, saw only a passage which
+led in the direction of the fallen tower. They satisfied themselves that
+there was no opening from that to the outside of the building, and
+concluded that the immense pile of ruins completely stopped up all means
+of ingress that way, so they decided not to go to the bottom of the
+gloomy staircase for mere curiosity, when time was so precious to them,
+for they felt as Mrs. Carleton had remarked that winter might be upon
+them very soon. They passed all the remainder of the day in bringing up
+from the beach such supplies as they most needed, and decided to devote
+a portion of each day to this occupation as long as the weather
+permitted.
+
+Before sunset they were all safe in the castle again, the child running
+about the room they were arranging, and delighted with the many
+beautiful ornaments. The ladies made up their minds to adapt themselves
+to their circumstances, and be as cheerful as they could, for the
+child's sake. They selected the tower for their residence, as it
+contained the best rooms in the castle, and the view from every one of
+them was beautiful. They could go up the watch tower and look off from
+the battlements, over the islands and forests, to those majestic purple
+mountains, whenever they desired to do so.
+
+A sleeping room next to the green parlor was chosen for Mrs. Carleton.
+It was fitted up with the same degree of luxury as most of the others,
+the furniture being of satin wood and ivory, and the hangings and
+drapings of the bed and windows of pink velvet and white lace. Two
+curiously wrought silver lamps stood on the dressing table, and showed
+that they had burned themselves out. In front of the mirror was a jewel
+casket; it was open, and showed rings and aigrettes of diamonds and
+emeralds. A few ruby ornaments lay on the table, and a string of pearls,
+also a small lace scarf and a pair of lady's gloves, embroidered on the
+backs with gold. The curtains and velvet draperies of the windows were
+completely closed, and the room looked as though some one had dressed in
+it and gone away and left the lamps burning. Everything was a mystery to
+the ladies which they could not unravel.
+
+When the day was over, Mrs. Carleton and Miss Vyvyan sat beside the
+sleeping child, in Mrs. Carleton's room. The fire was burning on the
+hearth, and the full moon poured its beams in at the windows; they had
+no other light.
+
+Mrs. Carleton spoke much of her bereavement, but struggled to be brave,
+and to resign herself to a destiny she could not alter, at the same time
+revealing, quite unawares to herself, a character full of intense
+affection, unselfishness and great courage.
+
+As Anna watched the sweet, pure face so full of emotion and sensibility,
+and the firelight flickered upon and lit up the refined features, her
+whole heart yearned toward her new friend, and her own sorrow was
+buried in those of the forlorn young mother.
+
+"I have been considering," said Miss Vyvyan, "about your child. Do you
+not think we ought to make life as bright and happy as we can for her,
+and we can do a great deal, although we may have to stay in exile for a
+long while. She need never suffer from that idea. All will depend upon
+the way we educate her, and the way we live."
+
+"Exactly so," replied Mrs. Carleton. "We will make our lives as good an
+example as possible; we will bring her up, as far as circumstances will
+admit, the same as we would do if she were in my old home. We cannot
+have the servants we have been accustomed to have, but we can make this
+home a systematic one, and a refined one, and we must make it a cheerful
+one for her sake."
+
+"There is one thing I feel very anxious about," said Mrs. Carleton; "my
+child has not yet been baptized. As I told you, we were going to take
+her to England for that purpose. I should feel happier if I could carry
+out my husband's wish, and be able to call her by the name he so much
+liked."
+
+"I can fully enter into your feelings," said Miss Vyvyan. "Why not
+baptize her yourself? I presume you are familiar with the service, as we
+have baptisms in our church so frequently."
+
+"Yes," replied Mrs. Carleton, "and I cannot see that there would be
+anything wrong in doing so, myself, as there is not any one else to do
+it."
+
+"It can no more be wrong," said Anna, "to repeat the baptismal prayers
+for your child, than it is to offer up your daily prayers for her.
+Indeed to me it seems perfectly right, as we are situated at present."
+
+"I am glad you entertain those feelings on the subject, Miss Vyvyan,"
+replied Mrs. Carleton, "and as we are both of the English church, will
+you be godmother to my little one?"
+
+"You confer great happiness on me," replied Anna, "by making such a
+request. What do you intend to call her?"
+
+"Cora was the name my husband wished her to be called," replied Mrs.
+Carleton. "And I desire to add Caroline to it, as that is the name of my
+dear mother, and is now, alas, the only means I have of showing my
+affection for her, who is perhaps at this moment mourning my absence."
+
+"Will you baptize her to-morrow?" inquired Miss Vyvyan. "If you will, we
+can make a dress for her in the forenoon. There is an abundance of white
+India muslin and cashmere, too, enough I should say to dress her for
+years to come."
+
+"Yes," answered Mrs. Carleton, "I like that idea, and we will keep her
+always dressed in white."
+
+"And as to yourself," said Anna, "I ask you as a favor, to let me
+choose for you in this instance, I wish you always to be beautifully
+dressed in colors, that will look bright and cheerful. I think it will
+have an influence on the child's spirits and thence on her health. I do
+not feel that we need to have any compunction about using the things we
+find here, for we see that this place must have been deserted many
+years ago, and I cannot help thinking that all these costly things are
+the plunder of buccaneers."
+
+"Nothing is so probable," answered Mrs. Carleton. "Indeed, when we
+consider for a moment, everything seems to say so. Many of those cases
+which still remain unopened are such as the merchants bring to the
+colony of Virginia. I have seen similar ones there which came from
+foreign countries. It occurs to me that all these stores are the cargoes
+of ships that have been robbed by those desperate men who have been and
+still are the terror of the sea; but why they left this place so
+suddenly is difficult to divine, unless, perhaps, retribution fell upon
+them when they were out at sea on some of their marauding expeditions.
+Evidently a lady has lived here, too; perhaps they took her with them on
+their last voyage, and she also may have been lost, so I think we may
+feel we are not doing wrong in using such things as are necessary to our
+existence while we are here."
+
+The next morning the ladies were up early busying themselves with their
+preparations for the child's baptism. As they sat by the open window in
+the green parlor, making the little white dress, the sunlight falling
+upon the floor, the soft, warm breeze from the south coming in upon
+them, and the beautiful child playing about the room, prattling to
+herself in her baby language, and trying with her little hands to cover
+the colored shadows--butterflies as she called them,--and to hold them
+in one place, they each of them thought to themselves how much there is
+in life to make us happy; and yet, and yet, who can be happy when there
+is an empty place which nothing here can fill. They neither of them
+expressed what they thought, for they had each made a resolution to help
+the other.
+
+The sea and sky were one beautiful blue; there was just sufficient
+breeze to cause white caps at distant intervals, and to toss the surf
+lightly against the rocks.
+
+The ladies finished their sewing, and with the child went out to gather
+some wild flowers to adorn their parlor for the baptism. In a few
+minutes they saw a narrow path which they followed and found that it
+lead to a well of pure water only a little way off. Below this was a
+swamp surrounded by a luxuriant growth of asters of every hue, and white
+and pink spirea and golden rod, and blue iris, and the delicate,
+rose-colored arethusa, and the blue fringed gentian abounded on every
+hand; also shrubs of the bayberry, wild rose and sweet brier, with many
+beautiful ferns.
+
+By Mrs. Carleton's refined taste the green parlor was soon transformed
+into a fairy bower. The autumn sunshine sent a flood of golden light
+over all, and the child, dressed in its fresh white attire, was
+baptized, and Miss Vyvyan was its godmother. The ceremony was just over
+and the latter lady was still standing with the child in her arms,
+beside a large crystal bowl which was placed on the table and embedded
+in green moss and wreathed round the top with white roses. It contained
+the water from which the child had received the symbol of the Christian
+church.
+
+"Now," said Mrs. Carleton, "I wish to say to you, Miss Vyvyan, that from
+this day Cora belongs to both of us, to you as well as to myself; she
+will henceforth be _our_ child. I want you to have someone you can speak
+of as 'mine.' I am thankful that I never knew what it was to be without
+someone of my own to love, who was near to me, but I can picture to
+myself what a death in life such an existence must be to those who have
+to endure the separation, and I should feel very selfish if I did not
+divide my happiness with you."
+
+"I do not know how to answer you," said Miss Vyvyan. "I cannot say what
+I wish to. Will you grant me one more kindness; that is, let Cora always
+call me by my name, Anna, and you do the same. It is more than three
+years since anyone called me Anna; there is no one left to do so."
+
+"I will," said Mrs. Carleton, "and to you I must be Ada, for so I am
+named. I am glad that you are pleased at having Cora for your godchild.
+I thought you would be; that was a little plan of mine. I wanted to do
+something to make you feel happier."
+
+Gentle, loving Ada, always thinking of the good she could do to others,
+always self-abnegating, always giving up her own happiness that others
+might receive pleasure; even in the midst of grief, bereavement and
+exile, devising means to cheer a life that she saw was more lonely than
+her own--such was her character.
+
+The position in which Miss Vyvyan now stood as Cora's godmother created
+a sincere bond of friendship between the two ladies, which as time went
+on developed into a lifelong affection. They each understood and
+appreciated every thought and feeling of the other. The child, who was
+of an intense and affectionate temperament, loved both of her guardians.
+She confided in Anna and would stay with her for hours together, and she
+always demanded in her baby way that Anna should partake equally with
+her mother and herself of everything that she deemed pleasure and
+enjoyment, and if Miss Vyvyan remained long out of sight, inquiry and
+desire were expressed by Cora in one little sentence, "Anna be back." At
+the same time, with an innate and delicate discrimination, the child
+defined the distinction between her filial love for her mother and that
+given to her friend in so natural a way that neither of the ladies could
+ever feel slighted or wounded in the least degree.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+    He who ascends to mountain tops, shall find
+    The loftiest peak most wrapped in clouds and snow;
+    He who surpasses or subdues mankind,
+    Must look down on the hate of those below.
+    Though high above the sun of glory glow,
+    And far beneath the earth and ocean spread,
+    Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow
+    Contending tempests on his naked head,
+    And thus reward the toils which to those summits led.
+
+
+They had been domiciled in the castle for several days when Miss Vyvyan
+said,
+
+"As I am to take care of the commissariat department out of doors, Ada,
+I think it would be well for me to go down to the beach and bring up all
+the provisions I can, while we have such fine weather, as we think the
+winter may be very long here, so if you consider it a good plan I will
+fill another storeroom."
+
+"We will all go down, Anna," replied Mrs. Carleton. "We have been here
+five days now, and I hope the tide may have removed much that was
+distressing to see there."
+
+When the ladies reached the beach it was as Mrs. Carleton had supposed,
+all the corpses had floated away, but the whole beach and the shore far
+up from the sea was still strewn with wreckage. They worked very
+diligently, making piles of many things that might be useful, little
+Cora trotting about as busily as her companions, and helping as far as
+she knew how. It was scarcely ten o'clock, but the ladies had been out
+in the sun for some time lifting and carrying heavy burdens, an
+occupation which was as fatiguing to them as it was novel. So that they
+might rest a little while, and get all the sea breeze that there was on
+that still day, they went out on to a mass of high rocks, which
+projected into the ocean and formed a cove on each side.
+
+Scarcely had they seated themselves, when they saw a gentleman climbing
+up from one of the coves below and coming toward them. He was a young
+man perhaps twenty-seven years of age. As he approached them, they
+noticed that his appearance was that of a gentleman of rank, his every
+movement was full of grace and high breeding, his figure was slender and
+under the middle size, and his face exceedingly handsome and refined.
+His bright chestnut colored hair was long and fell in waving masses on
+his shoulders. He wore a small beard of the same hue, his dress was very
+rich and elaborate, after the fashion of the time, and when he spoke,
+his voice and courtly manner, told that he was what his appearance
+indicated. As soon as he came near to them, he bowed low, and made a
+gesture with one hand, as if raising his hat, but he was bareheaded.
+
+"Ladies," he began, "pardon me for intruding upon you, but for the love
+of heaven give me a cup of water, it is many days since I moistened my
+lips, I have been shipwrecked on your coast."
+
+The ladies were on their feet in an instant. Mrs. Carleton running to a
+birch tree a few yards back from the beach, and breaking off a piece of
+bark, deftly bent it into a cup, which she handed to Miss Vyvyan to fill
+from the same pond that had supplied them with water the first day they
+were thrown upon the island. Refreshed by the draught the stranger tried
+to thank them, but speech and strength failed him, and tottering a few
+paces toward the land, he fell down insensible beside a fissure in one
+of the rocks. The ladies went to him.
+
+"His hands are as cold as if he were dead, Ada," said Miss Vyvyan. "What
+will it be best to do?"
+
+"What did you do for me, when you first tried to help me?" replied Mrs.
+Carleton.
+
+"I tried to get you warm."
+
+"Well, then, we must do that."
+
+At these words, they simultaneously took off the outside wraps they
+wore, and laid them over him, and hastened about among the wreckage,
+until they had a good supply of warm rugs and coverings.
+
+"Where did you get those hot stones that you placed at my feet," said
+Mrs. Carleton?
+
+"I made a fire and heated them."
+
+Then we will make a fire and do the same thing.
+
+They covered the poor fellow over, and put hot stones to his feet, and
+he seemed to be sleeping. In the meantime they prepared some light food
+for him. They sat in silence near by, waiting to see what they could do,
+should he return to consciousness. They observed the color coming back
+to his face, and a bright pink spot burned on each cheek.
+
+"I fear," said Mrs. Carleton, "fever is setting in. I will make
+something with the fruit we brought down, that will quench his thirst."
+
+The child seemed to echo the thoughts of her companions, seeing them
+anxiously engaged in ministering to the sufferer. She began gathering up
+anything that she thought pretty, and laid it by his side. Presently she
+went to him with a few wild flowers, which she had picked from the
+crevices of the rocks and among the shore grass close by. She observed
+the ladies spoke in low tones to each other and moved about very
+quietly. She knew there was some cause for this, for, young as she was,
+she had already an idea of illness and suffering, and her little heart
+was full of pity for others. She stood looking at him as he lay asleep
+before her, waiting with her wild flowers, until the time should come
+for her to give them to him. "Poorest, poorest," she repeated, at the
+same time stroking his hair with her baby hand. That was her own word,
+and her own way of showing sympathy and pity. The little one's
+vocabulary was, at this period of her life, very limited, but equally
+significant of all that she saw and felt. She possessed no extraneous
+babble. The only words she was capable of uttering came from her heart;
+hence they fell upon her hearers with all the beauty and strength of
+truth. "Poorest, poorest," she again repeated; "dorn seep; papa dorn
+seep, too."
+
+At the child's last sentence, a shudder quivered through Mrs.
+Carleton's frame, and a still whiter shade passed over the already pale
+face. She clasped her little one close to her and bowed down upon its
+head. She did not utter a sound. Her silence said more than any words
+could have done, for hers was a sorrow that had no speech.
+
+After a restful sleep, the young man awoke, and sitting up among the
+many rugs and coverings by which he was surrounded, he looked about in
+every direction, and appeared to be endeavoring to realize his true
+position. He saw the high tower of the castle rising so near to him
+among the trees; he saw the ladies and the child, but he did not feel
+quite sure of the truth of all he saw until Mrs. Carleton put a cup into
+his hand and said,
+
+"This is a fever drink; will you take some? I have just made it from
+fruit, the same as we make it in Virginia."
+
+"Thank you," he said. "I know what it is. I am a Virginian. I sailed
+from that colony in the ship Sir Walter Raleigh. Who has been so kind as
+to bring me all these rugs," he continued.
+
+"We did," replied Mrs. Carleton, looking in the direction of Miss
+Vyvyan, who with the child stood near them.
+
+"What, with your own hands? I regret to have caused you so much trouble;
+although I am grateful to you in the extreme, I would have preferred you
+to have given orders to some of your servants. It is not seemly that
+ladies such you are should wait upon me; it is not consistent with the
+chivalry of a gentleman."
+
+"I understand your feelings on this subject," said Mrs. Carleton, "for
+I, too, am a Virginian; but we have no servants now, and my friend and I
+are glad that we can be useful. It is five days since your ship was
+wrecked, therefore we know that you must have suffered greatly. Pray do
+not be disturbed by seeing us doing what little we can to save you from
+perishing; let me assure you that we are very happy to do our utmost."
+
+The young man bowed, his cheeks still wore the bright flush of fever
+which heightened the intensity of his soft brown eyes, that beamed with
+gratitude.
+
+"Do you say that you are a Virginian?" he inquired, addressing Mrs.
+Carleton.
+
+"Yes," she answered; "we were in the Sir Walter Raleigh, too; that is to
+say, my husband and child with myself, but I never saw any of the
+passengers. I remained in my cabin all the time we were at sea."
+
+"I recollect you, now," he said. "I saw Colonel Carleton lift you and
+your child into a boat when our ship went ashore."
+
+"Were you acquainted with Colonel Carleton?" she inquired. "He was my
+husband."
+
+"We were not acquainted until we met on board, but during the several
+weeks we were at sea we passed all the time together. You say he _was_
+your husband. Is it possible that generous-hearted man is lost?"
+
+Mrs. Carleton made an inclination with her head.
+
+"Forgive me," he said, "my conversation has caused you pain."
+
+"Please continue," she replied, "tell me all you know about him."
+
+"I witnessed many of his acts of kindness during our voyage, and
+received kindness from him at what I suppose was the last moment of his
+life. The boat you were in was full and I urged him to get into another
+one, but he refused, saying, 'I can swim and you cannot.' At the same
+moment he took hold of me and dropped me into the boat as easily as if I
+were a child. You know how tall and powerful he was. The next instant
+your boat was capsized and I saw Colonel Carleton leap into the sea and
+swim toward you. His hand was almost upon your arm, when an enormous
+wave swept him out of sight. The same wave capsized our boat, and the
+next one threw me into the cove below. I might have got away before, but
+part of a broken mast lay across my chest and I was entangled hand and
+foot by the rigging. I could neither move nor call aloud. I heard voices
+more than once, the voices of ladies. I believe it was your voice and
+that of your friend, for I never knew my ear to deceive me. I saw
+corpses lying all around me. The tide took them away and brought them
+back again many times while I was there. All one night a dead hand lay
+across my throat, but I could not disengage my hands to remove it. I had
+no fever; I was conscious of everything. The tide was higher than usual
+this morning. It lifted the mast and I crawled from under it."
+
+He appeared to suffer much from exhaustion and lay down again upon the
+rugs, and closing his eyes remained silent. After a little rest, he
+again sat up and resumed his conversation with Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"I have a great love of music," he began. "I left the colony of Virginia
+with the intention of going to London, to perfect my study of that
+divine art, under the direction of Orlando Gibbons. He is very young to
+be a composer, but he is already of much renown."
+
+For some time he continued to speak fluently on the subject of music, a
+subject of which the ladies perceived he was a complete master. As he
+talked, he became full of enthusiasm, and that wondrous light which
+belongs to genius alone illumined his beautiful, eyes and his whole soul
+spoke through them.
+
+"Ah, my madrigals," said he, "they will yet be sung to His Majesty, King
+James. My symphonies I shall submit to Orlando Gibbons, then I shall
+hear them played by a full orchestra, the world will hear, then justice
+will be accorded to me, the great masters will be my judges, genius such
+as theirs allows them to be generous and true in their opinions of other
+men. They will see me as I am. They will not condemn what they cannot
+understand. They will not call my life useless, because my tastes, my
+talents and my whole being compel me to be different from those among
+whom I live. I cannot help it, and I would not if I could."
+
+An expression of mental pain passed over his face as he thus proceeded.
+"Why did my uncle call my life and my work useless? It is hard to be
+misunderstood. If I can create out of my own brain something that is
+pure and beautiful, that gives happiness, that draws coarse natures away
+from their coarseness, to feelings more elevated, that can bring to some
+an ecstasy of delight, to others a sweet calm. If I follow a pursuit
+which injures no human being, no living creature, why am I to endure
+displeasure? Is it more manly, more noble to hunt the poor, panting deer
+till it falls gasping on the ground, and then to save its life for the
+purpose of chasing it again for sport? Is it more noble to ride races
+till the horses drop down dead? Tell me, do such pursuits elevate or
+brutalize?"
+
+Taking a roll of paper from his breast, he handed it to Mrs. Carleton,
+saying, "I have a symphony here which I composed since I left my home;
+would you like to look at it? I wish my twin brother Ronald could see
+this; he understands me, and he will understand my music, although since
+his accident, his hand can no longer obey his will; yet he will read my
+symphony, aye, more, he will play it in his soul. With it you will find
+a song also, the words and music are both mine; when you have read it,
+will you hand it to your friend?"
+
+Mrs. Carleton took the roll of music into her hand, but observing that
+the writing was almost obliterated from having been so long wet with sea
+water, she passed it to Miss Vyvyan, who sat a little farther off,
+desiring to spare him the pain of seeing that his composition was
+destroyed. The many pages of music were entirely illegible, with the
+exception of part of the refrain of the song, the words of which ran
+thus:--
+
+    Bury me deep,
+    Where the surges sweep,
+    And the heaving billows moan.
+
+At the bottom was the name "Ralph." The following part of the signature
+was destroyed.
+
+As Anna read over the words of the song, she could not help feeling that
+they might be prophetic of what was very near. She folded the paper
+together and returned it to him.
+
+"Is that your signature?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, that is my name," he replied. "Do you like music," he continued.
+
+"I do," she said.
+
+"How much do you like it?"
+
+"I like it to such a degree," she replied, "that I think life is not
+life without music."
+
+"Ah, that is what I think," he said. "But I am exhausted. Ladies, will
+you pardon me if I sleep a little while? I want to get back my strength,
+that I may be able to wait upon you both, and make all the return in my
+power for your great kindness to me."
+
+He soon fell into a restless, broken sleep, constantly murmuring to
+himself incoherently.
+
+"Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "he is very ill, and it is almost sunset,
+and quite impossible for us to take him up to the castle. We must make
+some shelter here for him; the breeze already comes in from the sea
+much cooler, and the night will be cold." The ladies picked up loose
+stones and planks and everything they could move, and formed a low wall
+around him, making a place of shelter as large as a small room. They
+then drew up a portion of a sail and laid it partially across for a
+roof. He still slept, but as they looked at him, they saw the fever was
+rapidly increasing; a still brighter flush was on his cheeks; his lips
+were parched, and his breathing distressingly short and oppressed.
+
+"What can we do?" said Mrs. Carleton. "See there, Anna! The sun has gone
+behind the hill to the west of the castle; it will soon be dark. It
+would be terrible to leave him here to perish, for he needs great care,
+beside the wolves may come, and he is too ill to defend himself. Do tell
+me what you think it best to do?"
+
+"One of us must watch by him to-night, Ada," replied Miss Vyvyan, "and
+if he should be better to-morrow, we may be able to get him up to the
+castle. I must be the one to watch. Little Cora could not pass the night
+without you, and even if she could, you are not well enough yet to be
+out in the night air. Let me go up and get a few things such as he may
+require. I will be back very quickly."
+
+When Miss Vyvyan entered the castle, the sun had set, and a dull gray
+hue had settled upon every room. How dreary for poor Ada, she thought to
+herself, here almost alone, with the death of her husband so recent, and
+so vividly brought before her to-day. She at once thought of kindling a
+fire as the only means she had of taking away some of the gloominess of
+the place. She did so, and then spread a supper table as temptingly as
+she could with the only food they had at command, and hastened back
+again to the beach.
+
+"He still sleeps," said Mrs. Carleton, "but his fever is very high. It
+distresses me to leave you here, Anna, and I would not, but for little
+Cora's sake."
+
+"I understand you," replied Anna; "I shall always understand you. We are
+not mistresses of our own destiny; we have to do what we can, not what
+we wish. I know all that you would do if you could."
+
+As Mrs. Carleton took the child in her arms and turned her steps toward
+the castle, the moon rose slowly from the sea and made a long, golden,
+glimmering path from the horizon to the shore. It was the harvest moon,
+which was almost at the full. The night was light and still, with the
+exception of the sound of the waves, which broke upon the beach below in
+one long, continuous moan.
+
+Anna watched beside her charge, sometimes moistening his parched lips,
+sometimes arranging his improvised pillow, and listening to every sound
+both near and distant, with that quick, discriminating sense of hearing
+which we acquire from watching over those we love, and which she had
+learned during the last illness of her mother. The night was now far
+advanced. Close beside her came the quick, hard breathing, and the
+indistinct murmuring of the sufferer.
+
+From down below, still arose the mournful tones of the heavily rolling
+waves, and from the forest came the howling of the wolves, but she could
+hear they were not near; and resolved if they should approach to scare
+them away, by setting light to a pile of wood which Mrs. Carleton had
+laid together for that purpose.
+
+As she sat there on the ground and realized her situation, a feeling
+almost of terror came over her. During the past few years, she had gone
+through the discipline of a long lifetime. This night, the past and
+present seemed to combine to crush out the remnant of courage that had
+been left to her. She buried her face in her hands and rocked to and
+fro, struggling with her feeling, struggling with destiny, and
+struggling to call back some of her former self; that as her day, so her
+strength might be.
+
+At that moment, Ralph awoke; he turned his face on his pillow, and
+regarding her with great earnestness, he said, "Where is Ronald, my
+brother? I want him here now."
+
+Anna went nearer to him and, looking at the flushed face and the
+brilliant, restless eyes, saw that he was delirious.
+
+"Ronald," he repeated. "Are you there?"
+
+"Perhaps he is near you," said Anna, wishing to solace him.
+
+"That is well," he answered. "I will play my new composition to him."
+
+He immediately began to move his hands over the rugs which covered him,
+as if he were playing the organ.
+
+"Ah," said he, "that is the chord I sought,--thank heaven.--Listen to
+this.--Hark, hear this resolution. Now do you see what that chord leads
+up to?--How is that harmonic progression?--How does this sound?--I shall
+have a double suspension there.--Ah, that is good.--Hark; now can you
+hear the melody running through the minor?--Yes, the violoncellos come
+in there,--so it must be.--More ink; quick, quick,--there is so much to
+write and so little time."
+
+He sank down again, exhausted, and fell into a deep sleep. After an hour
+he again awoke, the flush had left his cheek; he was very calm, and had
+perfectly regained his senses.
+
+"I have been dreaming of my brother Ronald," he said. "I thought he was
+here. Can you tell me what time it is?"
+
+"I think," replied Anna, "by the position of the moon, it must be an
+hour past midnight."
+
+"I have been ill," he said, "but I feel better, much better; almost well
+again. I want to thank you ladies for so much kind care of me; both Mrs.
+Carleton and you, but I do not know what to call you. I did not hear
+your name."
+
+"I do not wish you to thank me now," said Anna, "because you are too
+weak to talk at present, but I will tell you my name. It is Anna
+Vyvyan."
+
+"Vyvyan," he repeated. "I know that name; I will tell you all about it
+to-morrow--I feel faint.--There is a great oppression at my
+heart.--Those timbers crushed my chest.--I cannot breathe.--Raise me
+up."
+
+Anna knelt on the ground beside him and raised him up as he desired.
+
+"Yes," he said, "tired, tired."
+
+The next moment a wonderful far-away look of rapture came over his
+beautiful face, and then a pale shadow such as might be caused by the
+passing flight of a bird;--his head fell upon her shoulder;--he was
+dead. Anna laid his lifeless body gently down and watched beside it
+through the silent hours of the night, gazing from time to time at the
+finely-formed features. They had a fascination for her, and she could
+not dispossess her mind of the thought that she had seen them before.
+
+The first few streaks of dawn came creeping over land and sea, and the
+sun arose and shed a shimmering light on the surrounding islands, the
+forest and the misty mountain tops. With daylight, the howling of the
+wolves ceased, and the only signs of life were the sea gulls that
+floated about near the shore or ran screaming along the beach devouring
+their prey, and a pair of eagles which constantly hovered near and
+swooped down close to where the dead man was lying. Anna covered the
+cold, pale face and went nearer to protect it from any attack.
+
+The sun had not long risen when Mrs. Carleton with little Cora left the
+castle.
+
+Anna heard their voices, and went to meet them. "I must be careful how I
+speak," she said, addressing Mrs. Carleton, "for I feel sure Cora
+understands much more than she can find language to express, but I have
+to tell you that ever since about an hour after midnight I have been all
+alone. He sleeps."
+
+The ladies gave the child some shells to play with, and went to where
+his body lay. They drew the sail over the low wall which they had made
+around him and completely covered in the little room.
+
+"That will keep any eagles or wolves away while daylight lasts," said
+Mrs. Carleton, "but we must bury the poor fellow's body before night.
+The thought of having it devoured or mutilated when it is in our power
+to prevent it, is more than either of us could bear, for in addition to
+the forlorn state that we found him in, his genius and his gentle
+breeding made both of us take an interest in him. Beside, his being a
+Virginian, and the last person to speak with Dudley, gave him a claim on
+my friendship."
+
+They went up to the castle and did not return until just before sunset,
+when they brought with them many beautiful wild flowers, which, as we
+have said, abounded on the island. They also gathered branches of the
+fragrant fir balsam, with which they lined the fissure in the rock on
+which Ralph's body was lying. Folding around the latter a robe of rich
+brocade, they lowered it tenderly into the tomb that nature had wrought.
+As Anna laid the face cloth over the marble features, she started back.
+The resemblance which had attracted and held her attention during the
+night, had come out vividly since the morning. The likeness was to her
+own mother, and was as marked as if Ralph had been her son. They covered
+his silken winding-sheet with flowers until the sepulchre was filled,
+then they laid flat stones across his resting place, and began to build
+a cairn over all. They continued building until the sun went down,
+little Cora bringing stones in her baby hands and placing them with the
+same precision that she saw her mother and Miss Vyvyan were doing.
+
+"We have made everything secure now, Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "but we
+will come again to-morrow and add more stones to the cairn, and every
+time we come to the beach we will do the same. Will you take charge of
+the manuscript? We do not know what the future may bring. He wished his
+brother Ronald to see it, and we may, perhaps, some day have it in our
+power to carry out his wish. Now we will go back to the castle, for I
+see you are in great need of rest."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+    Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes,
+      Misprising what they look on
+    .     .      .       .      .    to her
+      All matter else seems weak; she cannot love,
+    Nor take no shape nor project of affection,
+      She is so self-endeared.
+
+
+The maple leaves had turned from rose and crimson to orange, then to
+pale yellow and to brown, and had fallen to the earth, for it was now
+almost Christmas, but no snow was as yet on the ground. The ladies had
+made all the rooms which they occupied in the tower very comfortable and
+homelike, although they could neither of them bring themselves to speak
+of the place by the name of home, for that was a sacred word to both of
+them. They always spoke of their dwelling-place as the castle. We have
+already said that the views from every room in the tower were of
+exceeding loveliness. Most of the windows overlooked the islands, many
+of which were far away, others perhaps only two or three miles off. At
+one time, their beauty would be softened and half obscured by mist, at
+another they would appear to be lifted up into the sky by the effect of
+the mirage. At times a heavy sea fog hung over the island and obscured
+every distant object, and to the nearer ones gave a weird and spectral
+look.
+
+Just at daylight one morning, when the fog was coming in from the ocean,
+the ladies were awakened by the lowing of cattle. On looking down from
+the tower windows, they saw some cows come out from under the trees and
+pass along close to the walls of the building. They scarcely had time to
+express their surprise to each other, before it was much heightened by
+the appearance of a woman, who followed the animals out of the forest
+and drove them quickly across the grass which had formerly been the
+courtyard of the castle, to a high mound a little way to the north of
+it, there both she and the cattle disappeared in the fog and among a
+thick growth of spruces. The woman's movements were quick and firm, and
+she stepped as one who not only possessed determination, but defiance
+also. She was tall and gaunt and bony, possibly not fifty years old, but
+her hair which hung loose in disheveled entanglement, was as white as if
+she were eighty. She had large black eyes that flashed upon every object
+that she looked at. She wore a red dress, which reached only a little
+below her knees. On her feet she had a pair of heavy, high boots, such
+as are worn by cavalry soldiers. Her head was partially covered by an
+old cotton handkerchief which had once been of many bright colors.
+
+"Did you hear what language she spoke," said Miss Vyvyan?
+
+"I caught the sound of a few words somewhat like Italian, but it was not
+Italian."
+
+"I heard it," replied Mrs. Carleton. "I believe it was Spanish, but she
+passed so quickly I could not hear distinctly, or I should have
+understood her."
+
+All that day the ladies remained in doors. They watched in the direction
+of the mound, but nothing was to be seen which would lead them to
+suppose that any dwelling was near to them; and so the time passed until
+night covered the island with darkness. They had put little Cora to bed,
+and were, according to their usual habit, sitting beside her in Mrs.
+Carleton's room. The night was unusually cold. It seemed as if winter
+had really sent in its heralds in advance, to announce its near
+approach. The wind howled and shrieked through the rooms which
+surrounded them up stairs, and groaned and roared in the many passages
+and apartments down below. Their glowing log fire was so acceptable to
+them, that they were loath to leave it, and so they sat talking together
+until midnight. They had gained a very good idea of time by observing
+the sun and moon, and were also greatly aided by the ebb and flow of the
+tide. They knew exactly the high-water mark, by certain rocks; they knew
+that it took so many hours to ebb and so many to flow, and they had
+become so familiar with the sound of the outgoing and incoming tide,
+that even in the darkness of night, they did not feel at a loss.
+
+"It is past midnight, Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, going to one of the
+windows and leaning out to listen, "The tide has just turned. Come
+here," she continued. "What is that rising above the mound?"
+
+"Sparks of fire and wood smoke," replied Miss Vyvyan. "There must be a
+dwelling of some kind there. That is probably where the woman went to
+with the cows, but it is strange that we have never seen anything of it
+before to-night."
+
+The intense cold of the next day warned the ladies that they must use
+dispatch in finishing their arrangements, in order to be able to meet
+the exigencies that a severe winter night might bring upon them. During
+the two months they had been living in the castle, they had employed
+themselves continually in bringing in supplies of all kinds, until they
+felt they had ample stores to last them for a very long time, but they
+were all in the rooms down stairs; and as the distance from the tower
+was so great, and the weather so severe, they decided to make a
+storeroom up stairs, on the same floor as that on which they lived. They
+had been busy for some time, packing and carrying up their requirements,
+little Cora, as usual, just as active as themselves, taking up her loads
+and returning for more; her tiny feet pattering up and down the long,
+stone staircase, flitting back and forth between her mother and Anna,
+with her own peculiar, light, swift, graceful movement, which was like
+that of a bird.
+
+All at once, they each missed the return of the child; but as the ladies
+were in separate parts of the castle, they each of them thought she had
+remained with the other. After some time had elapsed, they began to
+feel anxious, and each sought the other.
+
+Meeting on the stairs, the question "Where is Cora?" came from the lips
+of each of them at the same moment; then a hurried explanation, and a
+terrible feeling of horror. They ran in every direction, calling her
+name. They separated and went different ways; they met again and went in
+search of her together. Could it be possible that she had gone up the
+watch tower, and fallen from the battlements. They flew up the tower
+stairs and looked over. They rushed down again and out into the court
+yard; no sound, no sign of the child. In the agony of their distress,
+they went into every room and opened every great chest, every large
+piece of furniture.
+
+"Oh Anna," cried Mrs. Carleton, "that woman we saw, do you think she has
+stolen my child; perhaps put her to death. We must go to the mound where
+we saw her go."
+
+They followed the tracks of the cattle, and pushed their way through the
+trees for a short distance, till they came to the almost bare mound; it
+was high and long; near the base was an opening of irregular shape,
+which was evidently the entrance, but it was partly closed by an old,
+broken door. They had gone within a few feet of it, when the door was
+violently thrown down, and the gaunt woman in the same strange dress
+stood in the doorway, brandishing a rusty sword at them, and speaking
+rapidly in a peculiarly harsh and high pitched voice. She spoke in
+Spanish, which Mrs. Carleton perfectly understood, and which she, also,
+spoke fluently.
+
+"Go hence," said the woman. "What seek you here? I am Louisita, and all
+that you see here is mine; my land, my trees, my seashore; hence I say,
+away with you, or this sword pierces the heart of both."
+
+"Pray, hear me one moment," pleaded Mrs. Carleton, "I am in the greatest
+distress."
+
+"What care I for your distress, have I not enough of my own without
+listening to yours? Off with you."
+
+"Only a few words," again entreated Mrs. Carleton. "I want to--"
+
+"You may want, I heed that not. I want myself; I have nothing to give
+you. I would not give you anything, if I had it. You are intruders on
+this island. I saw you arrive, and the men you brought with you. Ha! ha!
+You meant them to land here. Where are they now? I saw it all, ha! ha!
+ha! You may wait for their return; they have made a long voyage, so long
+that they will never come back; glad, glad, I hate the accursed sex,
+they caused all my suffering; twenty years entombed here, through their
+state of mad intoxication. If only one of that great band of pirates had
+remained sober, I might have got away."
+
+"Do let me ask you, have you seen my child?" said Mrs. Carleton. "I
+entreat you to tell me."
+
+"See your child. I saw you take food to one of the accursed sex. I saw
+you try to make him live. I despise you for it. Why should he live to
+drink, drink, and bring misery on me and all women? I tell you again I
+hate them for their love of drink. I hold them in contempt for their
+weakness. The ocean did well to swallow them down, just as their
+brothers swallowed down the fiery drink on that fearful night when the
+great tower fell and crushed a hundred of them."
+
+"Do, I implore you, say if my child strayed anywhere in your sight?"
+cried Mrs. Carleton, overcome with anguish. "We have lost her."
+
+"Lost her; lost her; seen her;" echoed Louisita very slowly, and making
+a long pause as if to collect her thoughts, she added, "The child was
+young and the wolf was hungry."
+
+As Mrs. Carleton translated the last sentence to Miss Vyvyan, she fell
+fainting into Anna's arms.
+
+"Do not heed what she says, dear Ada; let us believe the best until we
+know the worst. Cora may have fallen asleep in some of the nooks in the
+building, and so did not hear us call her."
+
+The ladies returned to the castle. Miss Vyvyan was also under the most
+intense apprehension, but she concealed her feelings from Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"Which room were you in, Ada, when you missed Cora? She may, as I said,
+be asleep, and perhaps she is among some of the bales in one of the
+storerooms."
+
+"I was down at the end of the passage," replied Mrs. Carleton, "in the
+largest room. We will go there first."
+
+They went down and searched the room, but could not find Cora. As they
+came out of it they heard a sound which seemed to come from under
+ground. They ran to the half-dark stairway which they had seen when they
+blocked up the north door. The sound was more distinct; it was Cora's
+voice in conversation. Who could have taken her down to that
+subterranean place? They did not hesitate an instant, but descended the
+stairs as quickly as the darkness would admit, and found themselves in a
+dungeon where there was just sufficient light to see that an uncovered
+well was close beside the path which they were following. The talking
+had ceased. The silence was profound and added still greater gloom to
+the place. They both stood bending over the well and looking down into
+the depth of water which was black and silent. They each looked at the
+other. They read the thoughts which passed through each other's mind.
+They neither of them spoke. They did not dare to. While they still stood
+bending over the well, straining both eyes and ears to the utmost,
+little Cora's voice came again. It seemed close to them; they could not
+distinguish any words, but the tones were those of her usual pretty baby
+prattle. Was that voice from the spirit land? They could see nothing but
+the gray stone walls of the dungeon, the dark, open well and some large,
+loose stones, which had heavy iron chains with rings attached to them,
+and which had in former years been fastened to the ankles of the
+prisoners and worn by them till death relieved them of their burden.
+Just in the same way as many of the poor victims of imperial tyranny are
+to-day doomed to drag their chains and weights while they labor in the
+mines of Siberia. Again came Cora's voice as if from the further corner
+of the dungeon. The ladies stumbled among the loose stones in the
+semi-darkness, Anna, who was more robust and the taller of the two,
+folding her arms around Mrs. Carleton to support her, and both of them
+feeling their way lest they should fall into any other well or
+excavation. Arrived at the corner they saw a gleam of light, which came
+in a slanting direction through a large hole in the wall. They still
+heard the little voice and determined to follow it. The hole would only
+admit of their crawling in on their hands and knees. This they did for
+several yards, until everything was in complete darkness, and they found
+they were against a wall straight in front of them, and could go no
+further. The passage was too narrow for them to turn round and come out,
+the top of it was so low it nearly touched their heads as they crawled
+along. The air was oppressive, and suffocation almost overpowered them,
+but they could still hear the voice which seemed nearer. Feeling the
+walls carefully with their hands, they found that a sharp turn to the
+right, led along in a direct line toward the sound. This passage was
+also dark, and as narrow almost as a coffin. They continued crawling for
+several yards more, sometime cutting their arms with the broken stones
+which covered the bottom, and sometimes placing one of their hands upon
+some cold substance which moved and felt as if it might be a lizard or a
+sleeping snake. They neither called nor spoke, for they feared someone
+might have the child, who would run away with her, if warned of their
+approach, so they determined to come upon them suddenly. They were
+greatly exhausted, but they struggled on.
+
+At length daylight appeared at the end of the subterranean passage, and
+in another moment they emerged from it and stood in a large stone hall,
+amply lighted from above by open iron gratings and loopholes in the
+walls; through one of the latter, a bright gleam of light fell like a
+halo upon the sweet, fair face and the golden head of the child, who was
+sitting on the floor, with a portion of her little white dress folded
+around a kitten, which she was rocking in her arms and talking to. Happy
+as was her wont and all unconscious of the flight of time and the
+anxiety that she had caused, she seemed to have made some little
+exploration of her own since she had been there and wanted to show her
+discovery, just the same as Mrs. Carleton and Miss Vyvyan were always
+doing to one another.
+
+"Come," said she, getting up from the floor and taking her mother's
+hand, "funny sing down dare; Anna too," she continued, and stretching
+out her other hand, she caught hold of the folds of Miss Vyvyan's dress,
+and drew her along also, leading them both across the hall to a large
+gate of iron bars. It was locked, and closed the entrance to a broad
+stone passage.
+
+"Down dare, funny sing," she went on, pointing to a skeleton, which lay
+just inside, and so near to the gate that one hand had been thrust out
+between the bars and the bones of it were lying close to their feet. A
+great quantity of long black hair still remained about the skull, in the
+midst of which was a Mexican ear-ring of elaborate workmanship.
+Everything told them that the skeleton was that of a woman. Glancing
+round the hall, the ladies could not see any door. How did Cora get
+there? Before they had time to inquire, little Cora saw something inside
+the gate, and with her usual quick movement, she swiftly passed her tiny
+hand between the closely placed iron bars and from a small heap of
+debris of finger bones, drew out a richly chased gold ring, inscribed
+with the name of "Inez;" set in it was a large ruby in the form of a
+heart.
+
+The child who possessed as part of her inheritance a fine, sensitive
+instinct, looking at her mother, observed that her long silken eyelashes
+were wet with tears, and that traces of recent mental agony lingered on
+her face. In an instant, the dear little soul strove to comfort and
+cheer, after the manner so often employed by each of her guardians
+toward herself. Holding up the ring in one hand, and clinging round her
+mother with the other, she said,
+
+"See, mama, Cora dot pitty sing for mama. Don't ky, don't ky, Cora loves
+mama."
+
+"Sweet child," exclaimed Anna, taking her up into her arms and holding
+her to her heart. "Sweet child, more precious to us every day, for each
+one reveals some new beauty of character, some still more lovable
+trait. Come, dear Ada, come away," she continued. "I will carry Cora.
+How did my little godchild come here?" she said, addressing the little
+one in her arms.
+
+"Kitta doe," answered Cora.
+
+"Yes darling, where did kitta go?"
+
+"By dare," said the child, pointing to a massive column, one side of
+which was built close to the wall and had the appearance of being placed
+there as a support, but was in reality to conceal a doorway which led to
+a flight of stairs between two walls.
+
+The ladies went up, Miss Vyvyan carrying Cora. They soon found
+themselves in one of the rooms which was nearly filled with firearms and
+other implements of warfare. The entrance to it at the top of the stairs
+was concealed in the same manner as the doorway below, and but for Cora
+following the little white kitten, the ladies might have lived many
+years in the castle and never have seen it. The subterranean passage
+into which they accidentally crawled, had been made for a place of
+concealment in case of a sudden attack upon the castle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+    Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
+    That host with their banners at sunset was seen:
+    Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
+    That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
+
+    For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
+    And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
+    And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
+    And their hearts but once heaved and forever grew still.
+
+           *     *     *     *     *
+
+    And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
+    And the might of the Gentile unsmote by the sword,
+    Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!
+
+
+Christmas had come and gone, and the snow was lying deep on the ground.
+They had seen nothing of Louisita since the day Cora was lost.
+
+"I wonder," said Mrs. Carleton, "how that poor woman, Louisita, exists?
+for I think from what I saw the day we went to her, that she is all
+alone, and if you recollect, she said something to that effect. I fear
+she suffers in this cold weather. You saw, of course, that it was no
+kind of a house that she came out of."
+
+"Yes," replied Miss Vyvyan, "it appeared to be only a mound of earth."
+
+"I want to take her some food," continued Mrs. Carleton. "Do you think
+we can get there through the snow?"
+
+"I can carry Cora," replied Miss Vyvyan, "if you can take the food."
+
+Mrs. Carleton filled a box with both food and fruit, and the ladies,
+with little Cora, went forth to visit Louisita.
+
+She met them in the same manner as before, not allowing them to come
+very near to the opening, and brandishing the old sword.
+
+"If that child were one of the accursed sex," she said, with a malicious
+look, "I would sever its head from its body."
+
+The child could not, of course, understand her language, but she read
+the look, and clasping her arms closely around Anna's neck, she buried
+her face on her shoulder.
+
+"Will you accept of this?" said Mrs. Carleton, speaking very gently, and
+at the same time lifting the lid of the box.
+
+Louisita sprang at the contents as a famished tigress might have sprung
+upon some long-sought prey. Jerking the box out of Mrs. Carleton's
+hands, she put it on the ground, and again raised her sword. "Hence,"
+she cried, "all of you; no one enters here. Ha, what do I see; stop,
+stop," she screamed. "Donna Inez, my lady, Donna Inez. Where did you get
+that ring," she continued, pointing to Mrs. Carleton's finger, on which
+she wore the ring that Cora had found. "That is the ring Donna Inez wore
+the night they murdered her. Yes, the accursed sex murdered her, the
+night they drank out of the skulls till they were all mad, mad, and the
+great tower fell upon them; ha, ha, ha. Who will drink out of their
+skulls when they find them? More of the accursed sex, they who make laws
+to command women, and who cannot command themselves. Away with you. I
+tell you to go, you are intruders."
+
+"I fear your dress is not warm enough," said Mrs. Carleton. "You must
+suffer from the cold."
+
+"Suffer," shrieked Louisita, "I have known nothing else than suffering
+for twenty winters and summers, and they the accursed sex caused it all
+by their passion for the fiery cup; it soddened their brains; it
+poisoned every good feeling in their hearts. It buried my husband under
+the ruins of the tower; it bereft me of my home; it caused my two babes
+to die of cold and hunger in this tomb."
+
+"Poor Louisita," said Mrs. Carleton, "if you will come back with us to
+the castle I will find some warm dresses and other comforts for you."
+
+"Never," she replied; "it is haunted. I have not been into it since I
+came away with my babes the morning after the tower fell."
+
+"Why do you think it is haunted?" asked Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"I know it is because I hear them shrieking in the night, and I hear
+Donna Inez calling, 'Open the gate'."
+
+"I will not ask you to come inside, Louisita, but if you will only come
+up the outside steps to the door I will get you anything you wish for."
+
+"I want food; I want warm clothes; I want something to cover my bed."
+
+"You shall have it," said Mrs. Carleton. "I feel very sorry for you; I
+wish to make you happy."
+
+"Ha! ha! happy," she repeated. Then looking toward Miss Vyvyan she
+continued, "Make her take that child out of my sight. She brings it here
+to mock me. I will run my sword through her heart if ever she brings
+that child here again."
+
+"She does not bring my child here to mock you, Louisita. She is my
+friend, and loves my child, and we could not leave it alone. My friend
+always goes where I go, for fear anything might befall me. She cannot
+speak Spanish or she would explain all to you."
+
+"Go away with you," said Louisita; "go get the things for me. I will
+come for them when I am ready, but I will not put my foot over the door
+sill."
+
+"All things considered, Ada," said Miss Vyvyan, "I think it is well that
+Louisita is afraid to go into the castle, for she appears to be of a
+spiteful nature, and might try to do Cora some harm, but we will never
+again let the child be out of sight."
+
+Mrs. Carleton prepared for Louisita's arrival by placing a number of
+things of all kinds in the hall near to the entrance which the ladies
+used. In a little while she came, still in the same short red gown and
+cavalry boots, bearing the old sword in her hand.
+
+"Where are my things?" she demanded of Mrs. Carleton, speaking in the
+same defiant tone as usual. "Bring them here to the door. I told you I
+would not enter. That belonged to Donna Inez," she said, taking up a
+dress, "and that was Don Alphonzo's," seizing hold of the red velvet
+cloak which the ladies had found in the library.
+
+"Wrap the cloak about your shoulders, Louisita," said Mrs. Carleton; "it
+will keep you warm."
+
+"I will not," she answered, fiercely; "it belonged to one of the
+accursed sex; he died through drinking of the fiery cup; he caused the
+death of many through the same thing."
+
+"Perhaps you will wear this, Louisita," said Mrs. Carleton, offering her
+one of the best and warmest table covers that she and Miss Vyvyan had
+brought from the wreck.
+
+"Yes," said she, "I will; give me another for my bed."
+
+"Let me go, Ada," said Miss Vyvyan, who had hitherto been standing far
+back in the hall with Cora. "I know where we put one that will please
+her, for I see that she likes red," and taking Cora up in her arms she
+disappeared.
+
+"Why does she take that child everywhere," asked Louisita.
+
+"I told you just now," replied Mrs. Carleton, "that my friend loves my
+child, and they are always happy together."
+
+"Does she think she is happy?" said Louisita, "what a fool she must be;
+she is not happy, you are not happy, I am not happy. Oh, the fool, she
+has not sense enough to know that she is not happy."
+
+Just at this junction Miss Vyvyan returned with Cora on one arm, and
+the other one loaded with warm, bright-colored articles, such as she
+felt sure Louisita would like. As she approached the door, where the
+woman stood, and passed the things to Mrs. Carleton, the child again
+clung tightly as before to Anna, who hastily went back to the end of the
+hall.
+
+"Tell the fool to go away out of my sight with that child," said
+Louisita, "and I will tell you about this place. I will not tell her
+because she mocks me by bringing the child to remind me of my dead
+babes--my babes who were famished to death."
+
+Miss Vyvyan went to the green parlor with little Cora, and Louisita
+began her narrative.
+
+"I was born in Spain. When I was a young woman, Donna Inez was married
+to Don Alphonzo in Madrid. She engaged me for her waiting woman. I was
+married directly after to one of Don Alphonzo's sailors. We came to this
+island in one of the Don's ships. The castle was most gorgeously
+furnished with the spoils of almost every country in the world. I
+thought Don Alphonzo was a great noble, so did my husband, for he was so
+called in Spain, but soon my husband told me that the Don and all his
+men were buccaneers. Donna Inez did not know the truth until after we
+came here. We tried to get away, but that was impossible. The Don
+brought the richest dresses and jewels to make the Donna like her home,
+but he could not succeed. Many wrecks I have seen in just the same place
+you were wrecked in; Don Alphonzo and his crew burned false signals at
+night, they hoisted false colors by day, they drew the unfortunate ships
+to their doom; the Don had a hundred men in this castle, ready to obey
+his commands at any moment. They had uniforms and flags of many nations,
+which they used as disguises and decoys. They robbed the vessels which
+fell into their hands, they killed some of their crews, some they sold
+into slavery, and others who refused to commit murder, they chained to
+great stones down in the middle dungeon. That was called the 'dungeon of
+death,' for they kept the men there until they died of starvation, and
+when they died, they threw their bodies into the well. My husband, Juan,
+was put into that dungeon, because he would not kill a Spanish boy who
+was taken prisoner, but Donna Inez made the Don release him, for we
+thought Juan would help us to get away. The Donna had promised to give
+him half of her jewels, if he would find some way to get us back to
+Spain, but he made himself powerless, he soddened his brain, he murdered
+his manly feelings; he was once good and brave and I loved him with all
+the intensity and devotion of a true woman, but he learned to value
+strong drink more than my affection, he killed my love, he drowned it in
+the fiery cup, and I grew to despise and loath him. Don Alphonzo was
+worse than Juan, for he had so much learning and so much power and he
+turned it all to a bad use. He blasted other lives by his own evil
+example. Out of his wickedness grew the curse which fell upon me, but
+he has met with retribution."
+
+"Poor Louisita," said Mrs. Carleton, speaking very gently, "What can I
+do for you?"
+
+"Nothing," she replied. "Let me tell you the rest. One night the Don and
+his crew came back with the greatest prize they ever seized. The men
+were summoned to unload the ship. They made immense fires from the
+castle to the beach, and by their glare they robbed the merchants of
+their valuable cargo. It was near midnight before their rapacity was
+satisfied. Don Alphonzo ordered the vessel to remain where she laid
+until daybreak, when he intended to set her adrift, with all her crew on
+board, that he might see them dashed on to those rocks which you see
+down yonder. The Don then commanded a feast to be set in the banqueting
+hall, in the base of the north tower. He ordered every man in the castle
+to attend the revel, that they might rejoice over their great prize.
+They all went; the wine flowed like water; they went down to the
+banqueting hall by a secret stairway; they passed along a stone passage,
+which was closed by an iron gate. The banqueting hall had no windows;
+they always held their revels there, that they might not be surprised by
+any enemy, for no light could be seen outside, and no one could tell
+that they were carousing. I listened on the secret stairs until their
+loud shouting had ceased, and I knew that the strong drink had soddened
+their brains, and paralyzed their arms. I ran to Donna Inez; I dressed
+her in the richest brocade; I covered her neck and arms with jewels of
+fabulous worth, for I knew the effect of costly attire upon the accursed
+sex whose help we needed. I made ready some caskets of jewels to take
+with us. I told the Donna all that I had heard of the ship lying there
+till morning, and we resolved to let the captain know that the Don and
+all his men were powerless, and to offer him the Donna's jewels if he
+would take us away. We knew he would be glad to escape; we knew he would
+be glad of the jewels, for they would make him very rich. We were ready
+to leave the castle. My babes were very young; they were asleep in a
+large basket; I could easily carry them to the beach. We heard a sound
+like a moan; it seemed far off, then a distant rumble, but nearer than
+the first sound; next a terrific roar; another and a fearful crash,
+crash. For a moment the whole castle trembled; a flash of light lit up
+the place; the north tower was wrecked from top to bottom; the walls
+fell inward; they fell as you see them lying now, for no hand has
+touched them since. We knew an earthquake had occurred. My babes awoke
+and screamed; I tried to quiet them, and to hold Donna Inez back, but
+she tore herself away; she was panic stricken; she did not know what she
+did; she said something to me as she ran out of her room about seeking
+protection; she rushed down the stairs in the direction of the
+banqueting hall; she never came up them again. As soon as I had hushed
+my babes I followed her. She was inside the iron gate; it had closed
+upon her as she passed through. It could only be opened by those who
+understood the secret spring. There was no one who could come to show us
+how to open it. We could not break the gate; that was impossible. We saw
+that the further end of the castle was stopped, all filled up with
+immense blocks of stone which had crashed in when the tower fell. Don
+Alphonzo and more than a hundred men lay under the ruins; they shrieked
+and groaned there all through the night. Donna Inez became frantic. She
+dashed herself against the iron bars like some newly caged bird. In the
+morning when the sun came up from the sea she was dead. I looked for the
+ship; it had sailed. I had almost lost the power of moving, but the
+cries of my babes called me back to activity. I gathered some covering
+and some other things and took them to the Vikings' tomb. I tore away
+the earth to make an entrance. We lived there till cold and hunger
+killed my babes. I have lived there ever since. Nothing could induce me
+ever to enter the castle again."
+
+"Why do you call it the Vikings' tomb, Louisita?" asked Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"That was what Don Alphonzo called it. I think he knew for he was a man
+of much learning, although he had no sense. He said the Vikings built
+the castle very long ago, and lived here for two hundred years till a
+great pestilence prevailed among them, and so many died of it that the
+remaining ones deserted the place. He said the Indians cast a spell over
+the Vikings and bewitched them, because the Indians used to live here
+in wigwams before the Vikings came and drove them away from their own
+land, and would not allow them to bury their dead among their
+forefathers, for they have a burial place on this island. It is down
+there just below the swamp where I saw you gathering flowers one day
+soon after you came here. There is a large elm tree down there, the only
+one near. The Indians are buried there all round it. They always had an
+elm tree in that place. They have a secret charm by which they keep it
+there. The Vikings cut down their elm many times, but it sprung up again
+in the night, and was as tall and large as ever the next day. When we
+came here Don Alphonzo had their tree cut down every day, but it always
+came up again just the same. At last he was afraid the Indian spirits
+would cast a spell over him, too, so he let their elm alone. The Indians
+still bury their dead under it, but no one ever sees them arrive. They
+come in the night. An elm will always grow there till the two thousand
+years for which they have their charm has expired. After that time there
+will never be another."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+    A fool, a fool!--I met a fool i' the forest.
+
+
+The first winter which the ladies and little Cora passed on the island,
+was unusually severe, but they had expected and prepared for it; and the
+winter scene was so novel to them, and fraught with so much beauty, that
+they never wearied of it. Besides the constant occupation in their
+housekeeping and attending to Cora, and also caring for Louisita, and
+providing her with all the comforts they had in their power to take to
+her, for she still insisted in living in the Vikings' tomb, which she
+never permitted them to enter.
+
+Spring came at last, and with it returned to the island the robins, the
+song thrushes, the beautiful golden orioles, and the humming birds, all
+of which had gone southward at the beginning of winter. The wood violets
+and the trailing arbutus blossomed among the grass. The spruces and
+pines put forth their young buds, and the whole island wore a garb of
+beauty.
+
+The little family of three, spent much time out of doors, and visited
+the beach almost daily, for they all loved the sea, especially little
+Cora; and to enhance her happiness was the first desire of both of the
+ladies. They frequently wandered around Ralph's grave, and never omitted
+adding a stone to the cairn, which they had raised to his memory.
+Little Cora with her tiny hands, always placing her own mite to the
+pile. As the child grew stronger, they took longer walks, and taught her
+from the book of nature as they went along, for Nature's lessons in
+geology, and botany, and natural history, lay all around them.
+
+They had by this, brought their lives into the same degree of system and
+order, as that in which they had each of them been educated in their
+respective homes; the want of which during the first part of their
+residence on the island they greatly missed. They now divided their
+days, and had regular hours for certain occupations, and they made a
+compact, that they would always be cheerful in the presence of the
+child, and meet their destiny bravely, that they might not give a somber
+tinge to her young life. Everything went well with them as far as might
+be, excepting that Louisita, who had the control over three cows, would
+never let them have a drop of milk for Cora. The child had for a long
+while after their coming, constantly repeated at every meal "Dinah, bing
+milk." She seemed to think her negress nurse was somewhere near her, and
+was able to bring anything she wished for, as formerly.
+
+Her demands for milk, had ceased for a week or two, when one morning she
+again begged for it, and when told she could not have any, a look of
+extreme repression of feeling came over her features. She did not cry,
+or in any way show temper. The food was distasteful to the poor little
+thing; and the look of forced endurance, one may say that forced
+resignation and endurance combined, which we sometimes see in older
+faces and which is utterly discordant with their reasoning faculties,
+was distressing to behold in one so young. The child could not
+understand why she was not to have milk; but the brave spirit of her
+mother was her birthright, and like her mother, she endured
+disappointment without a murmur.
+
+"This must not be any longer, Ada," said Miss Vyvyan. "It is too much
+for you to witness, and for Cora to suffer. That dear child shall have
+some milk. I will learn how, and I will milk one of those cows, whether
+Louisita's sword kills me or not."
+
+"Dear Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "I pray you do not expose yourself to
+danger; do not be rash. Why what has come to you? I never heard you
+speak like that before."
+
+"I know it, Ada, but you never saw me so placed else you would have. I
+detest selfishness, and you have been so kind to Louisita, and she is
+aware how precious Cora is to us. You know we shall not be depriving her
+of anything, because she told us she threw most of the milk away; but
+she encourages the cows to come here in order to keep them tame. You
+recollect that she told you the rest of the herd which stay on the other
+side of the island have become wild."
+
+"I, of course, know that we should not be depriving Louisita," said Mrs.
+Carleton; "but I fear so much that she may hurt you."
+
+"Only teach me a few words of Spanish, Ada," said Miss Vyvyan, "and I
+will put that out of her power. Teach me to say I am a spirit, you
+cannot harm me."
+
+"I am afraid, Anna; for your own sake I would not have you go."
+
+"I am not in the least afraid of her," replied Miss Vyvyan. "I have
+always done my best to help her, and I certainly intend to continue to
+be kind to her, because she needs help; but I never submit to injustice
+being done either to my friends or to myself. I consider it unjust to
+throw away the milk which Cora so much requires."
+
+With those words Miss Vyvyan left the room. In a few minutes she
+returned.
+
+"Ada," said she, addressing Mrs. Carleton, "my good old guardian, Sir
+Thomas, used to say 'All is fair in love and in war.' Now I am going to
+unite both love and war, for as I love you and Cora I must in all honor
+defend you both, just as some gallant knight would do if he were here.
+Put your hand on my shoulder and feel what is there."
+
+Mrs. Carleton did so.
+
+"Why, what have you under your dress?" said she.
+
+"A whole suit of chain armor, Ada, that's all, and a helmet of the same
+under this lace scarf on my head. Louisita won't have the pleasure of
+piercing my heart this time, and when she finds that she cannot, she
+will think the spirits are round me, or that I am like the Indians and
+have a charm. I am going now; the cows are in sight. I saw how Louisita
+milked, and I think I can do it. Look down from the window, Ada, and see
+the fun."
+
+"Anna be back," said the child, looking up with a face more full of
+anxious desire than inquiry.
+
+"Yes, precious one," replied Miss Vyvyan, "Anna will come back."
+
+No sooner had Miss Vyvyan approached the cow and was endeavoring to
+imitate as well as she could Louisita's way of milking, than the latter
+came striding out of the mound wearing her cavalry boots and flourishing
+her sword, exclaiming, as usual:
+
+"Hence; away, away; all here is mine. Touch not that cow. I will pierce
+your heart."
+
+Miss Vyvyan who heard it all did not take any notice of her, but went on
+with apparent indifference, pursuing her lacteal occupation. Louisita
+stood over her and went through all the sword exercises that she was
+mistress of. Still Miss Vyvyan continued her endeavor to milk, unharmed
+either by cut or thrust. Presently, turning to Louisita, she repeated
+her Spanish lesson as well as she could in the midst of her laughter.
+
+"It is the fool who is laughing," said Louisita, looking up at Mrs.
+Carleton, who was leaning out of one of the tower windows. "It is the
+fool, who has not sense enough to know that she is not happy. I shall
+never interfere with her again; she can have all the milk she wishes
+for; she has a charmed life."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+    The quality of mercy is not strained;
+    It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,
+    Upon the place beneath. It is twice bless'd.
+    It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
+    'Tis mightiest in the mightiest.
+
+
+Summers and winters went by; five years had passed since the family had
+been cast on the island; they had watched from the tower almost daily
+for a white sail, but none had ever appeared, and yet they always
+continued to hope that the day would come, and they struggled within
+themselves to be patient and cheerful. Sometimes the thought would take
+possession of the mind of each of the ladies, that one or other of them
+might die, and how terrible it would be for the one who was left, and
+worse still a thousand times, both of them might die and leave Cora; but
+neither of them would ever breathe a word which could convey such an
+idea to the other; and when such thoughts and feelings oppressed them,
+they took the best method of dispelling their anxiety by engaging
+themselves in some active occupation. They made a pretty garden for
+summer enjoyment out of doors, and another for winter in one of the
+large rooms, by filling boxes and chests with earth. They always had
+beautiful flowers in their parlor, which was a great source of delight
+to Cora, as well as to her guardians. The two guitars which they had
+found in the castle, they strung with wire, and managed to have some
+music every evening in the twilight; then they had a time set apart,
+also in the early part of the evening, which they called Cora's hour.
+For that period, they devoted themselves wholly to the recital of such
+subjects as were suitable and pleasant to her, and which they varied
+every day in the week, weaving each recital into a little story,
+sometimes telling from history; at another time, Mrs. Carleton would
+compose a story about Virginian life, and Miss Vyvyan would tell one
+about foreign countries; but the hour Cora liked best, was the one
+devoted to poetry and fairy tales. She was now in her eighth year, and
+could read very well; but there were no fairy tales among the numerous
+books in the library, so the ladies repeated them from memory. When the
+friends had put Cora to bed, they always remained together during the
+rest of the evening, working, and reading aloud to each other, making
+new dresses for Cora, who grew very fast, or planning some pleasant
+surprise for her, and as far as their present position allowed, always
+considering the child's future, and in what manner it was their duty to
+educate her, so that she might be best prepared to encounter any of the
+reverses or changes of condition, which fate brings into the lives of so
+many of us.
+
+Louisita had taught the ladies how to poison some of the provisions with
+a plant which grew in the woods, and by so doing, and laying the
+poisoned food about the ground, they had destroyed nearly all the
+wolves, and now wandered about the island where they desired, making
+expeditions in search of flowers, or having little picnics for Cora in
+the woods, and visiting Ralph's cairn without their former fear. They
+had all been spending a long summer afternoon on the beach, the ladies
+seated on the rocks between Ralph's cairn and the sea, Mrs. Carleton
+working on a dress, that she was making for Louisita, Miss Vyvyan
+reading aloud, and Cora filling in the small open spaces in the cairn,
+with little stones of her own selecting. The sun had gone behind the
+hill on the western side of the castle, when the little party left
+Ralph's cairn and strolled along the shore, as they returned homeward,
+gathering the beautiful sea-pea blossoms on their way.
+
+"Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "we have not seen Louisita to-day; shall we
+go to the mound and tell her that her dress will be finished in the
+morning, perhaps that would please her?"
+
+"I am ready," replied Miss Vyvyan, "to go anywhere you please, Ada; you
+always know the right thing to do."
+
+"May I stay a little way off with Anna," said Cora, "not far; I am
+afraid of Louisita, but I want to be near you mama, to take care of you.
+Don't you think, Anna, that Louisita is very cross," said the child.
+
+"Not now, dear, she has been very gentle and quiet for the last year."
+
+"I remember," the child continued, "a long time ago when I was little
+and you were trying to get some milk for me, and she hit you with her
+sword, she frightened me so; I was afraid she would kill you."
+
+"She does not carry her sword any longer," said Miss Vyvyan, "and she
+does not scold us any more; she would not hurt any one now, your mama
+has been so kind to her, and set her such an example of goodness that
+she has made her good, too."
+
+They had reached the entrance to the mound; Cora shrank back and clasped
+Miss Vyvyan's hand, who led her a few steps on one side.
+
+"What is this," said the child holding in her hand a gold ornament set
+with garnets that she had just picked up from a heap of rubbish which
+appeared to be sweepings from Louisita's abode.
+
+"That is a fibula, Cora, such as I saw in a museum in Norway."
+
+"Look, Anna, look at these," she continued, gathering up several antique
+beads of glass mosaic and a few chess men of amber from the same place.
+"Tell me what they are?"
+
+"They all came from Norway," replied Miss Vyvyan, explaining their use
+to her.
+
+Mrs. Carleton meanwhile knocked on the broken planks which served for a
+floor, and as Louisita did not appear she entered the mound, but soon
+came out again, and whispered something to Miss Vyvyan who passed in,
+leaving Mrs. Carleton with Cora. On first entering, it was difficult to
+distinguish the interior of the place, or any of the numerous objects
+that it contained, as the only light came in through the shattered door,
+and a small hole on one side of the mound, which evidently served as a
+chimney and a window also. After a few seconds, when Miss Vyvyan's eyes
+became accustomed to the extremely subdued light, she saw that she was
+in a place that was four or five hundred feet in circumference and about
+twenty-four feet high. Advancing toward the side on which the hole was
+broken, she observed Louisita. A gleam of light fell upon her. She was
+kneeling in front of a small structure which formed a table. Her hands
+were clasped in the attitude of prayer, and her fixed and glassy eyes
+seemed to look up in the direction of a small silver crucifix, which
+hung on the wall before her. Her features were set and rigid. The rich
+brown Spanish tint had left her face. When Miss Vyvyan looked upon her
+she knew that she was dead, and, on laying her hand upon her cold brow,
+she concluded that death had taken place many hours previously; perhaps
+the night before. She summoned Mrs. Carleton, and bidding Cora sit down
+where they could see her from the inside of the mound, the ladies
+proceeded to lay Louisita to rest in the same tomb that had so long been
+her dwelling. They lifted her on to her bed; they folded the poor, tired
+hands of the weary woman, whose life had lingered on through those
+lonely, loveless years. They took the silver crucifix from the wall and
+laid it upon her breast; for although they were not of her creed, they
+respected her devotion. They felt thankful that in her lifetime they
+had done all they could to lighten her burden. They felt still more
+thankful for her own sake, that her pilgrimage was ended, and that she
+had gone to join the babes who were so dear to her mother's heart.
+
+Not finding sufficient boards to close up the entrance securely, the
+ladies went to the further end of the place to get some which they saw
+there. The pile was very high, and as soon as they took hold of one,
+several other boards fell in broken pieces at their feet, revealing the
+ribs of an old Norwegian ship, inside of which lay the skeleton of a man
+which had been there so long, that it began to crumble to ashes the
+moment it was exposed to the air. They turned to leave the ship when
+another and much larger fall of boards exposed the skeleton of a horse.
+They paused a moment and looked round; they saw that Louisita was not in
+error when she had told them that the Norsemen were at one time on the
+island, for there was every evidence of the mound being the tomb of a
+Viking. Among the bones of the horse lay the remains of a bridle and
+saddle of leather and wood, the mountings of which were in bronze and
+silver. Near that of the man lay some ring-armor, a shield-buckle, two
+stones of a hand-mill for grinding corn, bits for bridles, stirrups,
+some gold finger rings and a fibula of the same metal. The ladies passed
+quietly out of the tomb, and built up the entrance as well as they could
+with stones and earth, across which they drew the vines and brambles
+that grew among the spruces close by, so that at the end of the
+following summer there was not any trace left of an entrance ever having
+been there.
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+Mrs. Carleton had missed Miss Vyvyan for a longer period of time than
+usual one day, and in going in search of her to a part of the castle
+which they rarely went into, she found her engaged in making a little
+gift to surprise Cora with, and singing in a low tone the following
+song:--
+
+    WHY?
+
+    Oh weary years why come and go
+      With endless sorrow rife;
+    And hope's dead dreams why come ye back
+      To mock my empty life?
+
+    Oh destiny, oh bitter fate,
+      Oh burning tears that start,
+    Why must the hearts that love the most
+      Forever dwell apart?
+
+Mrs. Carleton entered the room so gently that Miss Vyvyan was not aware
+of her presence until the former was close beside her.
+
+"You look sad, dear Anna; what can I do to cheer you?"
+
+"This is a sad anniversary for me," replied Miss Vyvyan; "but I did not
+intend you to know it."
+
+"Let us hope, Anna, that time will give us back some of our former
+happiness," said Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"The grave is unrelenting, Ada; it never gives back what it has taken
+from us. I will tell you all some day. I cannot talk about the past now;
+it would unfit me for being of use to others who have suffered; it
+would make me no companion for you and dear Cora; it would be selfish to
+intrude my life upon you."
+
+"No, Anna, pray tell me why I sometimes see so sad an expression on your
+face which you change the instant you find I am looking at you. You know
+you have never alluded to any event in your life prior to our being
+shipwrecked. You have told me of your childhood, certainly, but that was
+so bright and happy that the recollection of it must be an endless
+source of thankfulness. Now I again pray of you, tell me all."
+
+"As you so much wish it, Ada," replied Miss Vyvyan, "I will tell you
+that the sunlight went out of my life too soon. At the time I first met
+you the world was all darkness to me; all my days and years were winter,
+and my only wish was to die."
+
+"Oh Anna, do not say that," said Mrs. Carleton; "but go on and tell me
+why."
+
+"Forgive me, I fear I was rebellious, but I only thought of the present.
+I could not look forward; it seemed as if there were no future for me
+here. I was alone; the only lips which had the right to breathe my name
+were sealed in death, and the stately dignity or cold respect with which
+I was always addressed reminded me hourly of my isolated existence. I
+have no words that can express to you the utter desolation I felt in
+having no one to call me by name. I often sought the whispering of the
+wind through the trees, the leaves and the long, waving grass in the
+hope that it might emit a sound which my fancy could fashion into the
+once familiar name, but all in vain; the trees and the leaves and the
+grass, even the rocks and hills, whispered and murmured and talked of
+many things, but the sound I most longed to hear came never."
+
+Anna noticed that Mrs. Carleton looked sorrowful. She ceased speaking.
+
+"Why did you stop, Anna; go on."
+
+"I am distressing you, I see," answered Miss Vyvyan; "I ought not to
+pain you."
+
+"Please go on, Anna."
+
+"I cannot expect you to comprehend my exceeding loneliness at that time,
+because your life has never been empty, and you have now your beautiful
+child. When first I met you I had nothing. When I say nothing, I do not
+mean to infer that I was destitute of worldly means. I had an ample
+fortune which I inherited from my mother, besides the manor house and
+the landed estates of my grandfather; but I was destitute in the deepest
+sense; I had nothing of my own to love; I was alone. Do you know what
+that word alone means, 'when hope and the dreams of hope lie dead?' No,
+Ada, you cannot, God grant you never may. At length there dawned that
+rich, golden autumn day, when you named Cora, and gave me the right to
+say 'My.' The surprise was so great to me that I scarcely knew whether I
+was moving about in a dream, for my existence had been so long void of
+interest that I deemed happiness for me dead. But when I took Cora in
+my arms, and looked into the wondrous eyes, and saw the love, the
+purity and the delicate sensibility of the being to whom I could always
+in the future say 'My,' a new world and a new existence seemed before
+me, and I thought angel voices thus whispered and said, 'We have brought
+this beautiful child into your life to dwell forever as a sweet, fair
+flower in the garden of your heart.' And as the child grew and talked
+and called me by my name, the music of its voice and footstep gladdened
+my soul and sent a thrill of joy through my whole being. Ever since the
+day of our shipwreck, when you were lying on the beach so near death
+that I did not dare to allow myself to believe that you could live, (and
+may I say it, Ada, without seeming vain), when I was made the instrument
+to call you back to life. Ever since that day until this, you and Cora
+have seemed to belong to me; to be mine to love and live for. So you see
+you have brought back the sunshine into my life. I have finished; I
+shall never again talk in this way. My study shall be to brighten, not
+to sadden, the path which lies before you in the future."
+
+Anna Vyvyan kept her promise to the end.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+    The heart that has been mourning
+    O'er vanished dreams of love,
+    Shall see them all returning,
+    Like Noah's faithful dove.
+    And hope shall launch her blessed bark
+    On sorrow's darkening sea.
+
+           *     *     *     *     *
+
+    I have had joy and sorrow; I have proved
+    What lips could give; have loved and been beloved;
+        I am sick and heart-sore,
+        And weary, let me sleep;
+        But deep, deep,
+        Never to awaken more!
+
+
+It was September again, and the golden rod and fall asters, that had for
+seven seasons been Cora's delight, were once more in their yellow and
+purple glory. The day was sunny, and the rich autumnal glow spread
+itself over the walls of the old castle, the forest, the rocks, and the
+sea, and the island and its surroundings seemed to the little family to
+be more beautiful than ever.
+
+Mrs. Carleton was engaged in decorating the green parlor with flowers
+and trailing plants, which Miss Vyvyan and Cora had gathered for that
+purpose. The two latter had gone down among the trees near the beach to
+get the last basketful of moss to complete the work of adornment.
+
+"Quick, Trefethen, quick, hand me my gun; see those birds, what an
+immense flight of them," shouted a strong masculine voice within a few
+yards of the trees which concealed them from view, and which also
+prevented them from seeing from whom the voice came.
+
+"Don't fire," cried Miss Vyvyan, instantly catching up Cora in her arms
+as she used to do in the child's baby days.
+
+"Don't fire," she repeated, "there are people here who are coming out of
+the woods on that side," at the same time, forcing her way among the
+trees, in the direction from which the voice came; and taking the
+advantage of making an inspection without being seen herself.
+
+Cora caught sight of two figures standing on the open ground between the
+forest and the sea.
+
+She clasped Miss Vyvyan's neck more tightly and whispered softly, "Look,
+Anna, there are two papas."
+
+Miss Vyvyan paused, and looking between the branches she saw a tall,
+finely grown gentleman in the full military uniform of a colonel of the
+British army. By his side stood a man of smaller stature who wore the
+blue coat of a sea captain of that period. As the sunlight fell upon the
+bright scarlet uniform, the gold laced hat, the gold epaulets and the
+handsome scabbard which contained the colonel's sword, the child gazed
+in great amazement, not unmixed with admiration.
+
+As we have already said, Cora was born brave, and like her mother
+struggled to keep up a calm courage through any emergency; but the poor
+little heart trembled a little when she said,
+
+"Anna, I think he is a very pretty papa, but why does he wear that
+sword? Louisita used to wear a sword," she added.
+
+"We are safe, Cora; he will not hurt us. He wears the uniform of our
+king. He would help us if we wanted him to."
+
+"Shall we go to him?" said the child.
+
+"Yes; we must so that we can tell your mama what sort of persons are on
+the island."
+
+A few more steps took them out of the wood. Miss Vyvyan put the child
+out of her arms and led her. The gentleman in uniform advanced to meet
+them, and raising his hat said,
+
+"Pray pardon me if I caused you any alarm. I did not know that this
+island was inhabited, and I saw so much wild fowl that the temptation to
+shoot was very strong."
+
+"I can quite understand that," replied Miss Vyvyan. "We need no
+apology," she added, "as we were aware that most gentlemen enjoy sport,
+and your bearing and the uniform that you wear assure us that there is
+no cause for alarm."
+
+The officer bowed low, but made no reply.
+
+Cora, who was still holding Miss Vyvyan's hand, looked up at her and
+said again, "What a pretty papa, and more papas coming from the ship;
+but I like this one best."
+
+The child's excitement was so great that her whisper was very audible to
+the officer.
+
+"What does she mean?" he asked.
+
+"That is her own way of expressing herself," Miss Vyvyan answered. "She
+calls all pictures of men papas. We think she has some recollection of
+her father, although she was little else than a babe when he was drowned
+here, which is seven years ago to-day. She appears in some mysterious
+way to realize that there was such a relationship, for she delights in
+looking at pictures of papas as she calls them, more especially such as
+are represented as wearing military uniform. And when she was very young
+I have often seen her press her cheek against that of a small statuette
+which we have of a soldier and kiss it and call it papa."
+
+While Miss Vyvyan and the officer were still speaking Cora was examining
+the handsome uniform, and the gentleman was looking intently at the gold
+chain that the child wore round her throat. After a little conversation
+the officer addressing Miss Vyvyan said,
+
+"I hope you will not think me too inquisitive if I ask whether this fair
+sea flower has a mother living."
+
+"Oh yes," cried the child before Miss Vyvyan had time to reply, "I have
+the dearest mama in the world and we do love her so, don't we Anna?"
+
+Cora in her enthusiasm let go Miss Vyvyan's hand, and taking hold of the
+officer's,
+
+"Come," she said, "come with us and see her, and then you will love her,
+too."
+
+Miss Vyvyan was about to suggest that probably the strange gentleman
+would prefer not to accept Cora's invitation until he had received one
+from her mother, when he interposed by asking Cora what her mother's
+name was.
+
+"Why, it is mama," she replied.
+
+"Yes, fair one; but she has another name."
+
+"Oh, you mean Ada, that is what Anna calls her."
+
+"She is Mrs. Carleton," said Miss Vyvyan.
+
+"Great Heaven! my prayer is answered," exclaimed the officer. Turning
+quickly away for a few paces he covered his face with his hands, and his
+stalwart frame trembled with emotion.
+
+"What is the matter," said Cora, "are you unhappy; never mind, do not be
+sorry, papa."
+
+"Yes, my beloved child, I am indeed your own papa who has come back to
+you and mama; take me to her; I must go to her this moment, show me the
+nearest way."
+
+Cora again clasped her hand round one of his fingers and as she lead him
+along she said, "Mama will be so happy for she thought you could never
+come back to us, and she often told me that if we were good we should go
+to you some day; poorest mama, big tears come into her eyes when she
+tells me about my papa."
+
+Arriving at the end of the corridor leading to the green parlor Cora ran
+swiftly in advance of Miss Vyvyan and Colonel Carleton calling as she
+went,
+
+"Mama, mama, we have found a real papa, not a picture, but my own papa."
+
+Then came the meeting of the long-parted hearts and the recounting of
+events, which had taken place since the day on which destiny had torn
+the husband and wife from each other. Cora full of fresh young life
+joined in the conversation every instant, telling her father how they
+used to get the eggs of the sea birds and the honey from the wild bees'
+nest, and how they caught the sea perch from off the rocks, and how she
+found a jar of gold coins near the Vikings' tomb, which her mama said
+were pesos, and all about the fibula which she found there, also.
+
+Then Colonel Carleton explained how he tried to rescue his wife and
+child, just as Ralph had told them a few days after they were wrecked;
+and how he was picked up by a young man from Wales who came out in the
+English ship, and was lashed to a floating mast by that brave young
+fellow, and by him kept from drowning until they fell in with a slave
+ship that was bound for the coast of Africa, but was also out of its
+course as well as their own unfortunate vessels; and how they were taken
+on board and kept toiling under an African sun for nearly seven years,
+when good fortune smiled upon them and they were sold as slaves and sent
+to the colony of Virginia.
+
+"The same young Welshman," continued Colonel Carleton, "has always been
+with me. He has a very remarkable talent for navigation, and is now the
+captain of my ship. If he had not been I do not think I should ever have
+been able to find you, for I did not know that it was an island upon
+which we were shipwrecked; but he did, and under Providence, I have
+everything to thank him for."
+
+"Beg pardon," said a voice at this part of Colonel Carleton's narrative,
+and turning their eyes in the direction of the door they saw standing
+there the muscular, well-knit figure, the pleasant face and bright eyes
+of Captain Trefethen.
+
+"Beg pardon," he repeated, "but I heard what the Colonel said about me,
+and I want to say, that if he had not cut off the leather belt he wore
+and let all his gold fall into the ocean, that I might have the leather
+to chew when I was famishing with hunger on the mast, I must have died;
+and I feel that under Providence I have everything to thank him for. I
+made up my mind then never to leave the Colonel till I saw him moored in
+a safe harbor. In a few days," Captain Trefethen continued, "everything
+will be ready for the good ship 'Ada' to sail for Virginia, and as I do
+not suppose the Colonel will want to take another voyage of discovery, I
+will leave you all there, as I intended to come back to these parts
+myself and settle on an island about forty miles down this bay. It has a
+queer Indian name, 'Monhegan' they call it. Captain John Smith, who is
+now ranging this coast, told me about it. He seems to have a fancy for
+Indian names. I shall never forget how he sung the praises of an Indian
+girl the night before he set out on his present voyage. 'Pocahontas,' he
+called her. Here is some fruit and a few little things for the ladies,"
+he continued, placing a box upon one of the tables and leaving the room.
+
+When Colonel Carleton was again left with his wife and child and Miss
+Vyvyan, he resumed his conversation, and answered all the anxious and
+rapid inquiries of Mrs. Carleton. "Yes," he said, "I assure you again
+that I left all the family in Virginia perfectly well. Your father
+attended to my estates during my absence, and by his wisdom in managing
+them, he has increased their value sevenfold. Your sister Julia was
+married two years ago, and she has an excellent husband."
+
+"Excellent husband," echoed Cora, "What kind of thing is that? Mama and
+Anna never told me about the excellent. Where do you find it, is it a
+bird; can it sing; may I have one?"
+
+Cora was about to propound further questions regarding an excellent
+husband when the merry peals of laughter from the two ladies and the
+Colonel, put an end to her interrogations. She did not understand why
+they all laughed, and like many of her elders under similar
+circumstances she felt sensitive on that account; but with her usual
+quickness of thought, she said, "I know why you are so merry, papa; it
+is because you are so glad to be with us all in this parlor, that mama
+has made so pretty with these bouquets and wreaths of flowers. Mama
+makes all our rooms pretty; you ought to see them when the days are dark
+and foggy, so that we cannot see anything outside; then mama gets so
+many branches of the fragrant fir and green moss and red berries, and
+makes the most beautiful things."
+
+"Why does mama select the foggy days to adorn the rooms most, my
+darling?" said the Colonel.
+
+"Why, don't you know? she does it to make Anna and me happy. Sunshine
+within, mama calls it, and Anna made a song about that; shall I sing it
+to you?"
+
+Without waiting for a reply, the child sung the song all through,
+keeping time on her father's arm, which encircled her as she sat on his
+knee.
+
+When the refrain "our sunshine is within" ended, Colonel Carleton bent
+down and pressed his lips upon the golden head of his little daughter.
+
+There was a mist before his eyes as he said, "Yes, my darling, our
+sunshine is within our own hearts, and it is in mine to-day for which I
+thank God."
+
+Cora continued talking, telling her father all about the beautiful
+flowers on the island, and the picnics on the sea beach and in the
+woods.
+
+"And one day, papa," said she, "we went for a long walk to the north end
+of this island, mama said it was, and we saw such a pretty little island
+all covered with trees, and the eagles were up on the tall pines. It was
+so close to our island that we could almost jump on to it, and mama said
+I could think of a name for it, so I named it "Fairy island." I think
+our island that we live on is very pretty, too, but I am glad we are
+going to Virginia to live near grandpa and grandma and Aunt Julia and my
+uncles, and I want to see grandpa's dog Franco. Do you know, papa, I
+never saw a dog. And Anna must come, too, and live with us."
+
+"Of course she will," said Colonel and Mrs. Carleton, both speaking at
+the same time; "and perhaps," added Cora, "when it is summer, we will
+go to England and visit Anna in her old home at the manor house."
+
+"That is right, Cora," said Miss Vyvyan; "the way in which you have
+arranged for the happiness of all of us is admirable."
+
+"Yes," said Colonel Carleton, "Cora has made a very pleasant sounding
+plan, but I am not as sure as my little daughter appears to be, that we
+shall be able to carry out the whole of it, for when we land in
+Virginia, Miss Vyvyan, your cousin, Ronald Fairfax, may have something
+to say in the matter. From what Ada has already told me, you seem to
+have felt great interest in poor Ralph, and he and Ronald so much
+resembled each other in all respects that it was almost impossible to
+distinguish them. Pardon me, if I say that I sincerely hope you may take
+an interest in Ronald; besides the affection that existed between these
+two brothers was so profound that Ronald will desire to show his
+gratitude to you for your kind care of one so dear to him. How is he to
+do it? I only see one way."
+
+The next few days passed by very quickly, as every one was busily
+engaged in making their preparations for the voyage. Full of autumn
+beauty, the last day arrived, and the boat with its crew waited on the
+beach for the family from the castle.
+
+"Oh dear," said Cora, who was standing in the green parlor all ready to
+start, with her arms full of her favorite golden rod and fall asters,
+"how could I forget to pick up some of those shells which I like so
+much; I wanted to take some to give to all of them at home, I am so
+sorry."
+
+"There will still be time enough to get some before we embark, Cora; you
+shall have some, dear," said Miss Vyvyan.
+
+"Why Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "you are surely not going down to the
+breakers to-day; I fear you will wear your life out for Cora's sake."
+
+"Never mind me, Ada," replied Miss Vyvyan. "If I die in a labor of love
+it will be the death I most desire."
+
+So saying she took a little basket and left the room. As she passed
+through the door Cora threw her a kiss and said, "Anna be back."
+
+As we have said previously, the ladies liked Cora to keep some of her
+baby language, and that was one of her own modes of expression which
+they never corrected. It reminded them of her infancy and of their own
+mutual attachment, which first met in the love they each of them bore
+toward the child.
+
+"Are you all ready?" said Colonel Carleton, as he came along the
+corridor to the green parlor. "Where is Miss Vyvyan?" he added, on
+entering the room.
+
+"She has gone down to the breakers to get some shells that Cora wishes
+to take to Virginia," replied Mrs. Carleton.
+
+"We will all join her there," said the Colonel, "and then we can walk
+back along the shore to our boat."
+
+On arriving at the long ledge of rocks that ran straight out into the
+ocean, and which they called the "Whale's Back," they entered the little
+cove that was situated on the side nearest to the castle. There was Miss
+Vyvyan's basket half filled with the shells that Cora so much desired;
+but where was she?
+
+In another moment, Cora with her quick step was springing up to the
+highest part of the rocks. A shriek of anguish from the child, and the
+cry in her former baby language, "Anna be back, Anna be back," brought
+her parents instantly to her side. Looking from the high wall that
+nature had formed, and across the larger cove on the other side, they
+saw far out toward the open sea Miss Vyvyan's upturned face. She was
+floating on an enormous wave which was bearing her rapidly toward the
+shore.
+
+"Oh Anna, poor Anna; save her Dudley," cried Mrs. Carleton, believing
+anything possible to the brave and kind-hearted man, who had dared and
+surmounted all obstacles for her own sake.
+
+"Yes, dearest; yes, trust me. I will do my utmost," replied the Colonel,
+quickly scaling the outer side of the cliff, and dashing over and among
+the broken masses of rock that laid between him and the sea. Throwing
+off his hat and heavy uniform coat, he stood with extended arms at the
+water's edge, exactly at the spot where he knew the wave would strike.
+Miss Vyvyan was being swiftly borne toward him and was within a few feet
+distance.
+
+"Keep calm," he called to her, "for heaven's sake, keep calm, and I can
+save you."
+
+The great wave bearing its living burden, broke upon the beach with
+unusual violence. Colonel Carleton was struck and thrown far up toward
+the shore by its mighty force. In another instant, he was on his feet
+again, rushing forward after the receding water, which was carrying Miss
+Vyvyan out. She still floated on the crest of the wave. Raising one hand
+and unclasping it, she threw upon the beach a small white shell, saying
+as she did so, "for dear Cora." She saw the friendly outstretched arm of
+the brave man; she looked up to the rocks; she saw the pure, classic
+features of gentle, loving Ada, paralyzed with distress, white as
+marble, pallid and death-like, as on the day that she had kissed them
+back to life seven years before. She saw the beautiful child, who was so
+precious to her; she noted the terror, pain and love in its fair, young
+face. She heard the sweet voice calling "Anna be back." She saw no more,
+the waters covered her; the same ocean which had brought her to the
+island, claimed her for its own and bore her away forever.
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+Many summers and winters have come and gone, and long years have passed
+away since the ladies and their dear little one lived on the island. The
+flowers have faded and the trees of the forest have died with time, but
+neither time nor death has power to kill the love of a true heart; that
+lives on forever and ever and, phoenix-like, exists on its own ashes.
+So it is that the solitary student wandering in the twilight along the
+shore, and the young lovers, who are whispering the old, yet always
+sweet story in the little cove close by, hear ever and anon, coming up
+from the sea, the echo of Anna Vyvyan's last words, "For dear Cora."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Peak's Island, by Ford Paul
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