Fanshawe

miserable yea

s one dead, or

ge her varied l

r hear

TU

e hands of the angler had seemed to her inexperience to prove beyond a doubt that the bearer was the friend of her father, and authorized by him, if her duty and affection were stronger than her fears, to guide her to his retreat. The letter spoke vaguely of losses and misfortunes, and of a necessity for concealment on her father's part, and secrecy on hers; and, to the credit of Ellen's not very romantic understanding, it must be acknowledged that the mystery of the plot had nearly prevented its success. She did not, indeed, doubt that the letter was from her father's hand; for every line and stroke, and even many of its phrases, were fam

nception she had unavoidably formed of his character such as to promise that in him she would find an equivalent for all she must sacrifice. On the contrary, her gentle nature and loving heart, which otherwise would have rejoiced in a new object of a

er knowledge of the lady's character, did not permit her to venture upon it. She next reviewed her acquaintances of the other sex; and Dr. Melmoth first presented himself, as in every respect but one, an unexceptionable confidant. But the single exception was equivalent to many. The maiden, with the highest opinion of the doctor's learning and talents, had sufficient penetration to know, that, in the ways of the w

it. But the terms on which they had parted the preceding evening had afforded him no reason to hope for her confidence; and he felt that there were oth

discovered by Dr. Melmoth at Hugh Crombie's inn, she was wholly prepared for flig

wanting to its success. On reaching her chamber, therefore, instead of retiring to rest (of which, from her sleepless thoughts of the preceding night, she stood greatly in need), she sat watching for the abatement of the storm. Her meditations we

oved. Dark and intricate as was the way, it was easier now to proceed than to pause; and

pel her to meet the now dreaded face of Dr. Melmoth. At length, however, a strong and steady wind, supplying the place of the fitful gusts of the preceding part of the night, broke and scattered the clouds from the broad expanse of the sky. The moon, commencing her late voyage not long befo

that led to the principal entrance of Dr. Melmoth's dwelling. He had no need to summon her either by word or signal;

nge tone. "As saith the Scripture, 'Many daughters

a spot so shaded that the moonbeams could not enlighten it. He held by the bridle two horses, one of which the angler assisted

it reward me," he said. "If you have gold to s

ied his comrade. "I have seen the day when such a purse would not have slipped between your fingers. Well

h I wish you no ill," said t

de prevented him. "There is no time to lose," he observed. "The moon is growing pale already, and we should have been many a m

lves upon her mind, seeming to prove that she had been deceived; while the motives, so powerful with her but a moment before, had either vanished from her memory or lost all their efficacy. Her

" he inquired. "We have

we have well e

me, and am going I know not whi

urning away his head, and speaking in the t

st, and the trees shed their raindrops upon the travellers. The road, at all times rough, was now broken into deep gullies, through which streams went murm

eral months before. On arriving opposite to it, her companion checked his horse, and gazed with a wild earnestness at the wretched habitation. Then, stifling a groan that would not altogether be repressed, he was about to pass on; but at that mom

er do you go?

in at the point of death. She struggles fearfully; and I cannot endure

s of the horses carelessly over the branch of a tree. Ellen trembled at the awful scene she would be compelled to witness; but, when death was so near

h neither the increasing daylight nor the dim rays of a solitary lamp had yet enlightened. At Ellen's entrance, the dying

ers. "There is good hope now that she will die a peaceable death; but, if

roaching death, and disturbed intellect; and a disembodied spirit could scarcely be a more fearful object than one whose soul was just struggling forth. Her sister, approaching with the soft and stealing step appropriate to the chamber of sickness and death, attem

g for breath. "I wander where the fresh breeze comes sweetly

r breath in pain," observed her sister, again replac

s in old times; but his words come faintly on my ear. Cheer me and comfort me, my hus

oman's own shadow was marked upon the wall, receiving a tremulous motion from the fitful rays of the lamp, and from her own convulsive efforts. "My husband stands gazing on me," she said again; "but my s

im thither, and, shrouding his face more deeply in his cloak, returned to his former position. The dying woman, in the mean time

she said; "for its griefs

, knelt down by the bedside, throwing the li

is your son!

about his neck. A multitude of words seemed struggling for utterance; but they gave place to a low moaning sound, and then to the silence of death. The one moment

ough a long course of grief and pain. On beholding this natural consequence of death, the thought, perhaps, occurred to him, that her soul, no longer dependent on the imperfect means of intercourse pos

e, was much more violent than his outward demeanor would have expressed. But his deep repentance for the misery he had brought upon his parent did not produce in him a resolution to do wrong no more. The sudden consci

salutary effect which his mother would have died exultingly to produce upon his

tone of voice. "The sun is on the point of rising, t

of a lawless and guilty man; though what fate he intended for her she was unable to conjecture. An open opposition to his will, however, cou

eral?" she asked, trembling, and consc

se, however, will serve to lay her in the earth, and leave something for the old hag. Whither is she gone?" interrupted h

lf to look again towards the dead, conducted Ellen out of the cottage. The

pot were the horses had

her prayers, had taken

re,-a circumstance easi

dles had been thrown ove

wever, imputed it

od by weight and measure," he muttered to hims

e, seeming to reflect on the course most advisable

, timidly. "There is now no hope of escapin

urned away her face. "Have you forgotten your father and his misfort

and so overgrown with bushes and young trees, that only a most accurate acquaintance in his early days could have enabled her guide to retain it. To him, however, it seemed so perfectly familiar, that he was not once compelled to pause, though the numerous win

beneath which Ellen and her guide were standing, varies so far from the perpendicular as not to be inaccessible by a careful footstep. But only one person has been known to attempt the ascent of the superior half, and only one the descent; yet, steep as is the height, trees and bushes of various kinds have clung to the rock, wherever their roots could gain the slightest hold; thus seeming to prefer the scanty and difficult nourishment of the cliff to a more luxurious life in the rich interval that extends from its base to the river. But, whether or no these hardy vegetables have voluntarily chosen their rude resting-place, the cliff is indebted to them f

that gushes forth from the high, smooth forehead of the cliff. Its perpendicular descent is o

inues to flow and fall, undiminished and unincreased. The stream is so slender, that the gentlest breeze suffices to disturb its descent, and to scatter its pure sweet waters over the face of the cliff. But in that deep forest there is seldom a breath of wind;

e maiden's ingenuity in vain endeavored to assign reasons for this movement; but when they reached the tuft of trees, which, as has been noticed, grew at the ultimate point where mortal footstep might safely tr

the means of proceeding. In this spot you need fear no intr

. In other circumstances this shady recess would have been a delightful retreat during the sultry warmth of a summer's day. The dewy coolness of the rock kept the air always fresh and the sunbeams never thrust themselves so as to dissipate the mellow twilight through the green trees with which the chamber was curtained. Ellen's sleeplessness and agitation for many preceding hours had perhaps deadened her feelings; for she now felt a sort of indifference

these barren memorials with a certain degree of interest. She went on repeating them aloud, and starting at the sound of her own voice, till at length, as one name passed through her lips, she paused, and then, leaning her forehead against the letters, burst into tears. It was the name of Edward Walcott; and it struck upon her heart, arousing her to a full sense of her present misfortunes and dangers, and, more painful still, of her past happiness. Her tears had,

length reached the base of the crag in safety. She then made a few steps in the direction, as nearly as she could judge, by which she arrived at the spot, but paused, with a sudden revulsion of the blood to her heart, as her guide emerged from behind a projecting part of the rock. He approached her deliberately, an ironical smile writhing his features into a most disagreeable expression; while in his eyes there was something that seemed a wild, fierce joy. By a species of sophistry, of which oppressors often make use, he had brought himself to believe that he was now the injured one, and that Ell

inuing to wear the same sneering smile. "Or has your anxiety for your f

Ellen. "But this place is lonely and fea

lonely,-lonely as guilt could wish. Cry aloud, Ellen, and spare not. Shrie

and affrighted at the fearful meaning of his countenanc

hears, and an Eye that sees all the evil of the earth, yet the A

not forever," she answered, gathering a desp

o insure its heaviest weight. There is a pass, when evil deeds

n to say. But, as she spoke these words, the expression of his face was changed, becoming su

ct, the wrong, the lingering and miserable death, that she received at my hands. By what claim can either man or woman

by a fragment of rock, which, falling from the summit of the crag, struck very near them. Ellen started from her kn