as to the disposition of her income, which she spent freely and magnificently on herself alone. Her jewels, silks, laces, were of the finest quality and fabric; she drove a peerless littl

loved to rule whether by right or sufferance. Lovers she had in plenty; suitors, such as they were, manifold; yet she preferred so far her single estate to aught that could be or had been

to be mistaken, which Claude Bainrothe had once given to me, suspended from the button of her chemisette by a small gold chain, so as to lie constantly against her heart. How her pride had ever stooped to receive and wear the pledge originally given to another it was difficult for me

easure, I noticed on one of her slender fingers, from which all other incumbrances in the way of rings had been removed for the ni

n," I said, laughingly, to conceal m

ot to take it off until certain things were accomplished, nor to tell the n

seas?" I questioned, seriousl

give a grand fancy ball, or rather, we are, the same thing of course, and I want you to lay off your deep mourning for a time" (hers had been already entirely put aside), "and appear as night. You can still wear black, you know; I shall be Morning, and Mabel, Hesper. Now, won't it be a lovely idea? Hesper, you know, is both morning and evening star, and can hover between us, bearing a torch, and dressed à la Grecque. Is not that

possession, I acknowledge, but why does he make any parade about it at all? They are mine all the s

ostro! I am sure this was the opinion of all who saw you togethe

ves, would never have dreamed of such a thing, and he, too,

hat is a consideration with you, or ought to be, Miriam. Your estate is your chief distinction, child, if you only knew it; besides, with a knowledge of your constitutional malady, you should be very careful what hands you fall into. No woman that I know of demands su

en, in turn, to my counsel. Marry him yourself by all means; he would suit you, body and soul, far better than me.

ht you were in earnest"-here she hesitated, c

uietly; "what then?" and I looke

is course is shut out from you, however, entirely, by your own folly, so you must take what you can get no

troth should ever cost me. The corpse of my dead love had bled at the touch of its murderer, in accordance with

best, to lift back our chairs as the tide advances, and seat ourselves securely thereon beyond the surf. We all remember how it fared with the quaint old monarch and moralist when he tried the plan of the immortals,

ll it my début party, but I never felt that it was so, or that I was more than any other guest. I would

orning that greet the rising sun. On her brow was a diadem of opals and diamonds arranged in a crescent form, from beneath which, her fleecy white veil flowed backward to the hem of her garments like a

s of Aurora. Her colorless hair, of a tint so neutral as to defy description, curling in light spiral ringlets so as to drop profusely on her bosom, had been richly p

had I ever seen the light-blue eyes so clear and brilliant, the thin, writhing lips so scarle

earls, mingled with diamonds, concealed the slight prominence of the collar-bones, and descended low on the white and well-veiled bosom. Every eye was turned on her wit

have ever seen you!" said a low voice in my ear, as I echoed the passing praises lavished o

y. "For reasons of my own, I have preferred

late, and you bear inspection far better than Evelyn with all her beauty; your figure is absolutely faultless; your face the most attractive woman ever wore, if not the most absolutely regular. I tell you simple truths. I am a disinterested critic, you see, and stand apa

r on the scene, and throw his handkerchief, for me to succumb, and I had been so confounded by this tirade of compliment and commonplace that I scarcely knew how t

itely-moulded proportions on which the gaze reposes with such delight, and that set a man to dreaming, whether he will or not." And his eye dwelt on me from throat to waist in a manner that made my flesh crawl as if the worms that tortured Herod were passing over it. At this point I rebelled-I ground my teeth resolutely-my face flushed to the temples-I could willingly have stricken that audacious scrutinizer in the face with my c

Jewish pedigree had always been a barrier between us. Dr. Pemberton, Mr. Stanbury, Laura, George Gaston, all that truly loved and believed in me, were gone for an indefi

own right hand, or burnt it to a cinder like Scaevola; sooner gone out to service-played chambermaid on the boards, or the tragedy-queen of the commonest

ve me in my inexperienced childhood, and that age never seemed to change nor chill, bent above me with its gracious and genial sweetness, and the princely banker on this occasion condescended to manifest his kindly and approving interest in the daughter of his dead friend. At

ing who was then the idol of society, became its ostracized outcast, and, among all who bowed befo

e so

im reve

otives against acts, thought against deeds, with atom-like precision, nor measure the tempted with the temptation grain by grain, hair by hair. Ambition

and flattered him, and fostered his foibles, in the beginning, with its false and fawning breath, and, la

ection, the approbation of his kind-and he died of heart-starvation; fortunate, indeed, in that he was mercifully

nd justice are not the same; but one may still so temper the othe

ow we condemn one whose head was rendered gidd

l not return to it just now; nor, indeed, do I even in thought revert to it with any thing like patien

as the boldest rider draws rein with a beating heart beside the dark abyss over which he must fling his horse, or perish,

he Bank of Pennsylvania; and that his directions were that, as the different loans he had made beca

the periods at which these loans were due, or how the money was cared for when paid in b

g to law, this was the only legal tender. Paper, however excellent, should never be received in discharge of any liability of my estate, sin

gest, a little indignantly, "seeing all moneys are to be immedia

"Had your father deemed you capable of conducting your own affairs, he would not have

me, by my sister's assumption of importance, and, probably, as well by her entire ignorance of his true motive i

ions, and her insight into financial matters, of which abilities, in

us and strong-minded, and very gratifying to her arrogant and exacting spirit-ever alive to the delight of contr

and to which he alone had access. Here he had kept a store of plate, money, jewels, and papers, so as to defy all burglarious interference or for

ay, commanded, by my father, not to speak of either; so, in silence the mystery had almo

rched with thirst, to the dining-room, about four o'clock in the morning, to seek a glass of iced-wa

rised to see the gleam of a candle falling athwart the mirror, which had been swung from its place (as I had seen it once before swung by my father), so as to screen my advancing form from the pe

to proceed, I saw Mr. Bainrothe suddenly emerge from behind the mirror, and take from the table near it a

had greeted my ear on the day when I first detected this treasure-cave of my father, and as different

he find ingress into our castle, supposed at least to be inaccessible by night? Has he a false key I wonder,

n in an innocent mind, from circumstances like those that surrounded me, and what a nameless horror there is about the insidious and

out from its place, as I have said, like a door on invisible hinges and fastened with a spring, he passed hastily out of the dining-room into the pantry beyond,

ay with him, when he went home at night (he was a married man, and slept at his own

committed in a neighboring street, adding, by way of caution: "Don't forget to lock us up carefully at night, Franklin; remember w

best, Miss Miriam," he remarked; "that is, if your mind is really troubl

if I did this? Our household would sleep until noon,

n foot by that time. But she usually is; cooks has to stir earlier

the pantry-door, and I will be jailer of Monfort Hall in future, in your absence, for I am quite sure some one wa

fearful about robbers, all but Miss Evelyn Erle-I never seen the like of her, for true grit! All was safe when I came, Miss Miriam, any

, a little sternly; "some come for one purpose, some for another. Attend to the bol

mocking smile on his lip-when Evelyn told him, before me, some time later, that I had caused

of these deposits? Years hence, when the house was crumbling to decay, some stranger might be enriched by this concealed gold, for aught he knows, which is legitimately mine. Evelyn, too, is in complete ignorance of this hidden chest, I am convinced, and, as far as I am concerned, will probably remain so. After all, does Bainrothe m

me, I was roused one night from my early slumber by the sound of bitter weeping in Evelyn's chamber. I had left her engaged over a

found her indulging in a passionate burst of grief

ne-Mabel's-all swept away with one fell swoop, Miriam! The Bank of Pennsylvania ha

ns peur et sans reproche.' As to that bank, did not my father believe it to be as indestructible as the United States, the government itself? Nay, did not Bainrothe himself do all he could to convince him of it, and induce him to i

nuously here was said by me in a far more fragmentary way between her bur

organ, and that alone was permitted to enter our doors. Mr. Bainrothe acknowle

rely read th

s a competence at least. But he was deceived, Miriam; we are worth nothing-a round naught-" and she suited the action to the word by the union of the tips of her thumb and finger-"is the figure whereby to describe our fortunes now; a

e calm, dear Evelyn! Learn to bear with dignity our fate. We must sustain each other now-be all in all to one another, as we have never been befor

behind the mirror (though I had once determined never to reveal this to her or

isplacement of confidence, not warranted, surely, by any thing that had gone b

rather than spiritual, and with her slender white hands wreathed together like the interlacing marble snakes in the grasp of the Laocoon, so long, and lithe, and sinuous, seemed the polished, flexile fingers. Her lips were livid, but on h

of what you utter, Miriam

at I live,"

perhaps he has already removed and invested this gold, Miriam, of which you say there w

ow his almost canine obedience to me, Evelyn), to remain, when engaged with the plate, in the adjoining pantry, with the door ajar between, and to be always on guard. Papa always allowed him the privilege of that room, and I love to continue it, you know, since we never use it e

irror to Morton, and kept it from me? Thank you, Mir

one except himself from solitary possession of the dining-room as much as possible, Mr. Bainrothe especially. Yes, I told him this, but I kept papa's secret. Believe me

papers, and I have observed that he never leaves his post there, while Mr. Bainrothe remai

t this yourself, Evelyn, and, with your opinion of Mr. Bainrothe, must see that I felt I had good

omacy," she observed, dryly; "but, after all, Miriam, how does this change

" I exclaimed, rising hastily from my knees, "I am faint-blind! Qui

ing myself gradually-after a few moments of oppression-growing better, i

elay, I was, to her surprise, able to sit

strive to be calm, as Dr. Pemberton enjoined me to do, and there was good sense in his advice, certainly. We

ou are pale again, Miriam-collapsing visibly in my sight. Do take your remedy-so efficacious of late in warding off these distressing attacks. I have taken the trouble, too, to go after them. I was at some pains i

I am better without the drops. I wish to see what m

ght, and defeat Bainrothe on his own grounds, or he may be beforehand with us. Take your drops, dear, and have

not have done. I took the drops, went quietly to bed, and was s

inds of my window, in lines of moted light. Mrs. Austin was sitting close to the sash, with her invariab

t once as part and parcel of my malady. In the chamber the usual smell of ether, the

I had experienced another se

spell of lethargy, long after my consciousness returned, I never knew, but certain it is, I sat up in my bed like one ref

lept? And where is

ce she went to it last night, that shock yesterday overcame her so completely." By this time she was standing by my pillow, after lay

whose first inquiry on reviving from illness had always been for Mabe

; the little angel! She has been hanging over you tearfully all day; never

in the eyes of her partial affection; and yet Evelyn treated her with positive disrespect ev

and must grow strong again to do my work. I am not nearly

u are hungry, poor child; you have not left a drop-pint-bowl too-with a gill of wine

d gently to

much to do, and Evelyn must aid me,

Dr. Craig and sent it last night, after

s. I could have told her," I said, sententiously; "i

rto

ld turn in his grave could he know he had been forced out in the rain at such an hour, f

and did not return to-day. He is sick with a

the mar

rto

simple! I am provoked, for some reasons, that he should have been sent away to-day. Fortunately, I bolted the pantry-door myself, b

?" I asked, recommencing my system

t what makes you so particula

s. In the mean while tell me, ha

thout entering the house at all. I saw him go down-street, after dinner,

here, this morning-while-

and he was in his shirt-sleeves then. He sleeps in a large room in the ell, you know. I was standing at the pantry-door

ity at that tim

at work in the parlors, washing window

what was

k by ten. Miss Evelyn had her breakfast after she returned, with Miss

I interrupted, "or who went a

s Miriam, and your eyes are so big! Do you feel light

rest I have still to learn-I must see Mr. Bainrothe this evening. There is a positive necessity for me to exert myself now, but first I have some examinations to make.

ot hear my steps nor move from his position by the fire, where he sat apparently absorbed by his newspapers. "Morton," I said, and

wall-unsuspected before by him-in which fitted an iron chest, the existence of which he had never dreamed of until now. But t

all, while the cold dew stood on my brow, and my

sion of anguish upon his kind, old, quivering face. "D

old friend! did you think I charged you to watch every one who came, so earnestly, to stay here so constantly,