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which I fear will not be for a length of time, they have suffered greatly, and are much bruised, and nature was nearly exhausted when they were taken up. Shelty is a warm-hearted soul, and these boys owe him much for the vigorous exertion he has made to save their lives; he tells me that at one moment they were on the point of sinking, being clasped in each others arms so firmly that they could scarcely be separated, even when dragged upon the beach, so that I cannot help thinking there is some relationship between them; and as to the vessel, there is no vestige of her at present,—not a fragment left behind to inform us of her name, or her captain's. The poor scamen who perished after they were driven on the surge, were certainly not Englishmen, from some indistinct sounds which they uttered in the agonies of their expiring moments; but Shelty thinks they were either French or Italians. This however, is mere conjecture, as they had no apparel on, not even a check shirt, poor fellows, when they floated on the surge."

Poor Agatha, unable to contend with the insupportable reflection, that her father had so suffered and so perished, could not listen to this affecting account given by the fisher of the dying seamen, without bursting into a fresh agony of tears, which though it greatly relieved her oppressed heart, exhausted her delicate frame, and rendered repose absolutely necessary for the agitated state of her harrassed spirits; and though Agatha had been taught to know and to feel that the only remedy against the evils and calamities of human life was patience and fortitude, yet for a short time she sunk under the severe and sudden shock which had so unexpectedly assailed her, and respectfully bidding the kind-hearted fisher for a few hours farewell, she retired to her chamber, with her faithful attendant, and now her only companion, Claribelle, from whom Peter assured her she should not be separated, nor yet the old man who had acted in the capacity of the Captain's servant, whom he had taken into his service because he had been faithful to his master. It was not that this old man (who was called Paulo) was a personage very pleasing in the eyes of the fisher, for Paulo was cold, distant and reserved to an uncommon degree; he had also a set of features which were harsh and forbidding, and

on which mystery' was written in very legible characters, which was the exact opposite of the disposition of the fisher, who hated concealment of every kind, and who, of a frank and generous nature himself, wished (but could not find) every one else to resemble him in this particular. What was remarkable, too, Paulo did not seem to know much of this young lady, though he professed to have been so long in the service of Captain Singleton, nor did he appear very solicitous about her. The untimely death, too, of his unfortunate master was not lamented by him in a way that an old and affectionate servant would have done, for it rather appeared to have increased the natural asperity of his temper, than have called forth any sensibility of his heart.

All this was observed in silence by the fisher, who would have willingly found means to have dispensed with the services of this disagreeable man altogether, had he not delicately considered the situation of Miss Singleton, and the peculiar circumstances in which she was so unfortunately placed; and though he did not like Paulo, nor was over fond of admitting him beneath his roof, yet, out of respect to the feelings of the unhappy Agatha, he forbore to express his sentiments on the subject, well knowing that if Paulo did not behave himself properly in his household, that he could relinquish his services whenever he thought it prudent to dismiss him,but so recently after the death of the Captain, and without any apparent cause than merely having conceived a prejudice toward him, would appear brutal and unnatural, besides being guilty of great ill-manners toward an object whom he now felt himself bound to protect and to cherish as sacredly as one of his own daughters.

"No, shiver my top-sails, if ever I do a dirty or unmanly ac tion," exclaimed he, as, having taken a kind leave of Agatha, and leaving instructions with Shelty, that the boys should have every attention shown to them, till they were able to be removed to Herring Dale," Shiver my top-sails," again repeated the fisher, as he mounted his white naggie, to return again to his own habitation, after the affecting scenes he had witnessed at the Cottage on the Cliff, if I hurt the poor girl's feelings, by telling her that I don't like the Captain's servant. There may be men who like to plant

thorns in a helpless woman's breast, where poverty and misfortune have already planted many; they deserve to have a rope's yarn twisted about their necks for it."

These were the reflections of the honest fisher as he journeyed homeward; and longing to behold his daughters, to know in what sort of disposition they had received the intelligence conveyed to them by David, he resisted a temptation, which he was by no means accustomed to do, and that was to stop at the sign of the Trumpeter to taste a drop of Shelty's home-brewed ale, and enliven himself with a pipe of tobacco; but the fisher was, for the first time in his life, even out of sorts with his favourite propensity.

The fate of Captain Singleton, and the sufferings of his lovely daughter, had given a serious turn to his thoughts, and while he heaved a sigh too for the unfortunate crew who had perished at the Cliff, David, and even Jessy and Olive came out of the gateway to meet him, and to welcome his return home again; even old Alice came hobbling after them, with tears of joy trickling down her furrowed cheeks, while she blubbered out,—

"Heaven save you, dear master! God be thanked, you are returned once more in safety to your own peaceful home."

"Thank ye, Alice, thank ye, old girl; dost believe thou art a warm and true-hearted wench, for all thou art whiles a bit snapped or so; come, hobble in, and get ready some supper, and heat a drop of brandy, for I am very queer; shiver my top-sails, if I don't find my eyes swimming, after all! for the last time I beheld the Captain, he went across that meadow, when the beans were in blossom, I remember, with that angel of a daughter of his hanging on his arm;-poor fellow ! he will smell the bean-flower blossom no more! but―(here the fisher caught a glance at Jessy; for Olive, for some reason or other, had at that moment averted her head, but Jessy's eyes overflowed with tears)-what is the matter, my Jessy ?" cried the fisher, giving her a hearty smack of her ruby lips, at the same moment that he turned toward Olive and saluted her in the same affectionate manner; after which they all went into the house, where a more explicit explanation took place between them, relative to the situation of Agatha, and the fate of her unfortunate parent. The fisher concluding his account

of the unhappy sufferers with hoping that they were prepared to receive Miss Singleton under his roof, with every mark of attention and kindness that her misfortunes entitled her to expect, and intreating them that they would show her the affection of a sister; for remember girls," continued the fisher, regarding his daughters with peculiar earnestness," that such might have been your own condition, had it pleased Providence to have made you orphans, like Agatha. I have often been in danger of perishing at sea, in which case you would both have been fatherless, and in want of some friendly hand to have protected your helpless youth; reflect on this, and when you behold the orphan daughter of Captain Singleton enter this roof, study to promote her happiness by every means in your power, and make it a comfortable home to her."

CHAPTER IV.

"There's rue for you, and here's some for me.-I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my poor father died."

THE grief of Agatha Singleton, unlike that of some of our modern females, might have been taken for a want of sensibility, rather than an excess of it; but it could only be by those who were unacquainted with the tenour of her harmless life, and the natural bent of her heroic disposition; for the mind of Agatha, as well as her principles, and even her manners, were those of a heroine. Tempered by misfortune, although only in the earliest bloom of youth, she had acquired what few young persons possess-calm philosophy and patient mildness; she could, therefore, endure much, without giving vent to her feelings, which, however, were quick, sensitive, and delicately acute; yet no one knew so well to conceal the anguish of her throbbing heart, or was so prompt to forgive an injury offered to her feelings: which, though she did not seem to resent, never failed to sink deep into the recesses of her wounded heart, and occasioned her to mourn in silence, though she never murmured at the unkindness of her fellow-creatures;

for seldom did Agatha shed a tear, but in the presence of that being alone, who knew from whence it derived its source. Educated in a convent, she had imbibed her first principles of religion, which, so far from having rendered her mind gloomy, austere, or melancholy, had taught her that cheerful and rational pleasure was the only basis on which a true sense of christianity was formed, and that an All-wise and Merciful Being does not forbid us to partake of those many and manifold blessings which he has so kindly provided for our use; he had made them in vain, if his creatures were not to enjoy them. No; Agatha had learned that it is only when we pervert his good and gracious gifts, that we render ourselves then unworthy of possessing them. And, What has innocence to do with fear? was, perhaps, the first lesson which was impressed on the mind and the heart of the youthful noviciate, in the Convent of the Holy Sisters. She had neither taken the veil, nor was adjured to do so by the guardians who had placed her there; and was, consequently, unbiassed in her moral principles and religious duties, by the austere and rigid laws of the convent, or the sentiments of those who had already embraced a monastic life; for, before this young and lovely female had so deeply drank of the cup of sorrow, she had been lively as the bounding doe, though harmless and as gentle as the innocent dove. But the elastic spirit which health, fresh glowing in the first dawn of roseate beauty, had given to her blooming cheek, had suddenly received a check, and that the rose was pulled, though time had not withered up its charms, was evident, from the languor which too often pervaded almost every feature of a countenance which, whether it expressed mirth or melancholy, was always beautiful.

The unexpected shock which the feelings of Agatha now sustained, was, indeed, so agonizing as to render every nerve powerless, by the sudden whirlwind of calamity which had overtaken her. When she thought of being perfectly secure, and ultimately safe from every evil, the death of her only earthly protector, (for so Agatha had been taught to believe that Captain Singleton really was,) had torn every fibre of her gentle heart asunder; and no sooner had the worthy fisher departed from the cottage, than she wept abundantly, and beheld herself in the situation that she ac