"Why, he saved my life.

for him, you would have no

If it had not been child, papa."

"It is true, he had been made instrumental to save your life, but you should not, on that account, become foolish."

"Suppose, then, papa, that we could not get a place for him inside, why then I should go with him on the outside, and then you would have plenty of room to stretch your stiff leg, for you know very well, when you keep it long in the same position, it becomes quite painful. We must treat him as a gentleman, you know, because he is going to live with us-mustn't we?" looking tenderly into his face, as if to elicit a favourable reply.

He looked thoughtful. She could not construe his meaning-was obliged to retire to rest, more dissatisfied than otherwise at his mysterious conduct.

The very leaving of his company, however, seemed to restore her to that of Maclandreth, for she could not doubt but that they were one in spirit, and that the most delicious of all communion that of the heart and spirit-was mutual. Mr. Acehambur had now leisure to

think more calmly of what that mysterious evening had revealed. His thoughts recurred to his having promised to take Mr. Maclandreth with him. Then he pondered what might be the probable issue of such an engagement. He was an entire stranger. He knew nothing of his connexions. He might, for aught he knew, be a runaway vagabond. Then he would correct himself for his having for one moment harboured such a thought of the deliverer of his dearest Alison. He thought himself that their meeting must be of God, since the circumstances by which they were brought together could not be so ordered by any other being.

"Alison," he again muttered to himself, "is very young and inexperienced, and seems much attached to him. Poor girl, she knows but little of the grief in which her joy may end." Here he chid himself, saying, "Why should I be always looking on the dark side? He is a good man, and his steps seem to me ordered by the Lord. I will not murmur. Thy will be done." Having again bent his aged knees before God, he sank into a profound sleep.

The same soft creature, in whose lovely form
Virtue and beauty seemed as if they tried

Which should exceed the other. Thou hast got
That brightness all around thee that appeared

An emanation of the soul, that loved

To adorn its habitation with itself,

And in thy body was like light, that looks
More beautiful in the reflecting cloud
It lives in."

RICHARD LALOR SHIEL.

NOTWITHSTANDING the confusion of the preceding night, Mr. Acehambur and Alison were up at their usual time, and had nearly concluded their morning devotion before Mr. Maclandreth had made his appearance. The confusion with which he entered the room, and the efforts by which he endeavoured to conceal his joy, at again meeting with Miss Acehambur, were too visible to pass unnoticed. Nor, indeed, did she make any secret of hers. Her face crimsoned at her own happiness-as little could her undisguised nature hide it, as the darkness

of a room can hide a burning taper placed in its centre.

Mr. Acehambur observed with satisfaction, their mutual delight, and saw in Maclandreth, a kind and faithful guardian for his beloved Alison when he should be no more. In a few days, they were happily settled in their new residence. To give a full and just description of this delightful spot is next to impossibility. It stood on a small eminence, commanding on the one side, the view of an extensive and fruitful valley where nature and art seemed to vie with each other in exhibiting their choicest treasures, and in mutually lavishing the well-earned rewards of industry. The other side, wearied the eye by its unmitigated sterility. The pulseless repose of the mountains towering on high, assumed the aspect of an unconquerable union, heightened by their massiveness into a terrific grandeur. From one of these rocks, there issued a murmuring rivulet; which, after it had watered the garden and a well-cultivated field, that faced the door of the house, emptied itself into a small lake that couched beneath the declivity

upon which this delightful cottage stood. It seemed as if nature had embellished it by bringing into one small spot a specimen of every variety of which she is possessed. It was every way suited to the taste of a pious and contemplative mind. It was the very image of tranquillity and repose:—so quiet that the very spirit of devotion seemed to be ever present with its inhabitants-so calm that the silent voice of conscience was tremblingly listened to-so holy that Heaven's children alone dwelt there; for I was told, upon good authority, that the servants and all about the house were chosen from among the most pious that could be found.

.

Many were the delightful hours that Ambrose Maclandreth and Miss Acehambur spent in rambling over the rocks, or pleasantly conversing under the refreshing shades of some ancient tree, with which many a legend stood connected in their memory as having been authentically related to them by some of the old servants, whose veracity could not be doubted, since they themselves had seen more things than one near that spot. One of these stories has so much of the marvellous and the pathetic in