laid, and every preparation was going forward for dinner; and on the entrance of Miss Singleton, the fisher arose, and cordially shaking her by the hand, welcomed her with much kindness to her present abode. "Here you are, Miss Singleton, at Herring Dale," uttered he, "safely anchored in comfortable moorings; and, shiver my topsails, if any gale shall overset your boat again, while Peter Blust stands at the helm of it! Well, my dear, how have my girls treated you?-Jessy told me how main glad she was to see you; and Olive, I perceive, has had the most of your company since your arrival,—she has been showing you the chambers I intend for your use and your maid, Mistress Claribelle, and pray tell me how you like them, they are quite snug and comfortable, bean't they now ?" "They are, indeed, Sir, all that I could wish, and much more than I have a right to expect," replied Agatha, much affected by the unexampled kindness of her generous and benevolent protector; may heaven reward you, for all the kindness you have bestowed on one whose gratitude toward you can never end but with existence ?" 66 "Nonsense, my dear, nonsense," cried the fisher, regarding her lovely eyes, which were humid with a tear; " let me hear no more about that, I beg of you: I have done nothing more than my duty, and want no further reward than that which your smiles can afford me, when I behold you happy beneath a roof which I now hope you will consider as your own. Olly, go, my girl, and see if the dinner is not forthcoming. Shiver my top-sails! I could swallow a mainmast, or snap up a whale, I am so very sharp-set; when the wind blows easterly, I have always an excellent appetite." Olive disappeared; and the fisher, turning to Agatha with some symptoms of curiosity, as well as anxiety, blended in his countenance, exclaimed, in a sort of under tone, "Well, and how dost like my girls ?-Jessy is a darling, isn't she? Olly, too, is a fine wench, isn't she?-They are both well enough for the daughters of a fisher, are not they, Miss Singleton ?" Agatha was about to reply something, but she did not know what, when, fortunately for her, the dinner at this moment was set on the table, and it was immediately followed by the entrance of the whole group, Olive, Jessy, Alfred and Wolf, for whom, as soon as they were seated, Agatha felt greatly in fear, that he would not conduct himself in an orderly and becoming manner; but the dove-like eyes of the sweet Jessy had some how or other followed the direction of Agatha's, and perceiving that they were bent on little Wolf, she immediately contrived to station him beside her, to the no small joy of the one, and the entire satisfaction of the other; for Agatha watched him incessantly, and several times had occasion to reprove him for the greedy impatience he exhibited, and the haste with which he swallowed up the dainties which were set before him, at which the fisher sometimes laughed so heartily, as well as Olive, that, unconscious why she did so, Miss Singleton frequently blushed at the awkward manners of the little rustic, because those of his young companion were so widely opposite; for Alfred behaved at table as if he had been accustomed to the habits of polished society, and taught the lesson of good breeding, the distinguishing characteristic of which is difficult to be obtained, except by a constant intercourse with persons of delicacy and refinement. The youngest daughter of Fisher Blust seemed as if she was designed by heaven alone to form the happiness and constitute the blessing of all around her; for the very moment that she perceived that Wolf was an object of particular solicitude to Miss Singleton, she endeavoured, by every means in her power, to prevent his committing those little blunders and mistakes which appeared to give Agatha so much uneasiness, by frequently handing him what she thought he liked best, and, whenever the eyes of her father or Olive were turned from him, to whisper softly in his ear, in the most good-humoured manner,— "Make use of the napkin to wipe your hands, and not the tablecloth, my dear boy, and do not eat your victuals so fast. There is plenty of time for you to partake of every thing you see here; and no one will hurry you, if you will have patience." "But I am hungry," cried Wolf, aloud; and, without seeming at first to regard her injunctions, was beginning to tear his victuals to pieces without mercy, when Agatha, perfectly shocked at his behaviour, forbade him to do so sharply: "If you do that again, you shall not sit here, Wolf," cried she, " and I will no longer keep your company; do you know where you are, ungrateful and unmanly boy, that you eat thus, like a savage and a bear?-recollect yourself, you are not now in the Black Forest, with Ronaldo, or the woman who has taught you such unseemly manners; you are sitting at the table with goodly company, and in the presence of your benefactor, and if you do not treat him with respect, and also these young ladies, who are so kind to you, I will never more speak to you, nor will I any longer permit you to call me your sister, I will be no sister, nor even friend, to one who so far forgets what is due to his superiors." CHAPTER XI. "The purest treasure mortal times afford, THE effect of this speech was almost instantaneous on the feelings of little Wolf, as it not only produced a speedy reformation, but acted like a charm for the future on the hardy disposition and rough manners of the forest boy, insomuch that he never more offended on the like occasion, but cautiously avoided every opportunity of giving the slightest displeasure to his pretty sister, for so he always called Miss Singletou. Jessy, too, shared some of his attention; but it was very evident that Wolf did not like Miss Blust, and it was as plain that she did not like him; for only two days after his arrival at Herring Dale, Wolf offended Olive, by making an observation on the beauty of her sister Jessy, for which he never more basked in the sunshine of the smiles of Miss Blust, nor ever was a favourite with her afterwards, and this offence was actually occasioned by the fisher himself, who one day, when his daughters were dressed more than usual, in order to accompany Miss Singleton, to return a tea-visit to their kinswoman, Margaret Craftly, who had given a very cordial and pressing invitation to the lovely orphan, at the sly suggestion of her brother, though Margaret cautiously avoided saying so; and it was just as they were all assembled at dinner, that the fisher suddenly exclaimed,— "Well, Mr. Wolf, you are looking very hard at your sisters." "It is because I like to look at every thing that is pretty," answered he," and why may I not make use of my eyes, pray? but I don't think all my sisters pretty, for all that, though Alfred does." "Indeed!" cried the fisher, "you are always differing in opinion from Alfred, and you stand on very little ceremony in letting us know it." "Well, what harm was there in saying what I did to Alfred?" cried Wolf; "he said what he pleased to me, and so did I to him, and it was all about Morning, Noon and Night, for so I have called my three sisters. In the first place, there is Morning: it is light and rosy, when the weather is fine, and so is my sister Jessy; her eyes are so blue and so clear, and so lively, and she has such pretty light hair,-so I named her Morning, because she always put me in mind of it. Then comes Noon, you know, which is brighter still, because the sun shines then with ten thousand times more light, and it is so beautiful, that it often dazzles our eyes; but then it makes us feel so warm and so comfortable, that no one can help admiring and wondering at its charms, and that is just what I feel whenever I look at Miss Singleton, so I named her Noon, because I like noon better than morning. Well, last of all comes Night, which is dark and frowning, and so is my sister Olive there, though Alfred will have it that she is more beautiful than either of my sisters; but I am sure I don't think so, because she looks so cross." A silence of some minutes ensued, not much to the satisfaction of either of the parties, and it was particularly unpleasant to the feelings of Agatha and Jessy, who felt that they had no right to feel pleased or gratified at the compliments bestowed on them by the little forester, which had so many disadvantages on its side, as to mortify the pride of the indignant Olive, who, having shot at Wolf the most angry glances, demanded to know in no very gentle accents of her sister Jessy, if she was ready to go to her kinswo man's?" or, perhaps," added she, deeply colouring with resentment, "you had much rather stay and listen to the conversation of that rude, bold, and forward urchin, who thinks, because my father has given him a shelter beneath this roof, that he is at full liberty to insult every one with impunity; but let him beware how he presumes a second time to throw out his gibes and sneers at me, or I will make him dearly repent his insolence, I promise him; for it is neither my father, nor Miss Singleton, nor you, Jessy, that shall screen him from having what he so justly deserves,—a sound horsewhipping;" and, whisking her scarf about her, Olive flounced out of the room, and walked so rapidly, from the violence of the passion in which she had put herself, that she was almost in sight of her kinswoman's habitation before either Miss Singleton or Jessy could overtake her; for the fisher had no sooner heard the conclusion of Wolf's speech, than he had darted out of the room to conceal the loud bursts of laughter which he could no longer restrain; not that he wished the boy to be rude or uncivil in his language or manners to his eldest daughter, or that he would receive any toleration from him in future for so doing, but because he was absolutely astonished at the boy's singular address and effrontery, and the undaunted and whimsical manner he had in showing it; nor could the fisher but admit that there was truth in the figurative comparisons he had drawn, for it was seldom that a frown did not dwell on the countenance of Olive, and that a smile did not rest on that of the sweet Jessy, and they must be insensible indeed who could not be struck with the superior loveliness of Agatha Singleton; so that, taking all this into serious consideration, the fisher could not reasonably blame Wolf for the just discrimination he had displayed, though he had taken an improper time for discovering it; and he only waited till his girls were fairly out of sight before he returned to Wolf, in order to give him a necessary caution against offending Olive, by any of his rude and abrupt remarks or observations for the future, and found him by no means dismayed or intimidated by the threats with which he had been menaced, or conscious that he had been guilty of the slightest impropriety; and when the fisher prepared to approach him, with a stern and angry look, he exclaimed,- |