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BLANCHE CLEVELAND;

OR,

THE RAIN AND SUNSHINE OF YOUTH.

CHAPTER I.

HEAVEN'S RECALL.

"It matters little at what hour o' the day
The righteous fall asleep; death cannot come
To him untimely who is fit to die;

The less of this world, the more of heaven;
The briefer life, the earlier immortality."

MILMAN.

"BE quiet, nurse, I will cry, for I cannot bear to lose my darling mama. Oh dear!

she must not die, she shall not die!" and Blanche Cleveland buried her face in her hands, and sobbed piteously.

"But, Miss Blanche, dear Miss Blanche," said the nurse, laying her hand kindly on the

little girl's head, "don't talk so; what would your mama say if she heard you?”

Blanche suffered her nurse to soothe and console her for a few minutes, and then said, "Leave me now, nurse." The nurse obeyed, and Blanche was left alone.

Blanche was the only daughter of Sir Edward and Lady Cleveland, and was tenderly cherished by both parents; she had but one brother, Arthur, who was many years older than herself, and whom she had not seen for some time, as he had been travelling for the last two years with his tutor before going to college. Sir Edward had married, early in life, the daughter of a country clergyman, much against the wishes of his friends; with her, however, he was happier than he might have been with a lady of higher rank. He was proud, very proud of his boy Arthur, who was indeed a noble youth, but little Blanche was his heart's idol; he could scarcely bear her to quit his sight.

It had been the endeavour of Lady Cleve

For

land to instil into the minds of both her children, from their earliest infancy, the principles of religion, and in Blanche those principles seemed to have brought forth fruit; but the pleasures of the world which he had just bcgun to experience, had, to his mother's sorrow, choked them in the heart of Arthur. some time past the health of Lady Cleveland had begun to decline; every means which the fond affection of her husband, or the skill of the most eminent physicians could suggest, had been tried, but without effect, and the terrible fact was at last forced upon Sir Edward, that his beloved wife was dying.

When this mournful intelligence was communicated to Blanche by her papa, the sorrow seemed too great to be real; but when at length she was convinced of her mama's danger, the blow fell upon her with all the agony of a first grief. Even then she hoped that her mama might be spared for some months, and though Sir Edward knew that they could not hope that her life

would be continued more than a few days longer, he could not bear to take away the hope to which the little one was clinging.

When the nurse left her, Blanche threw herself on her knees by a chair, and pressed her hands to her forehead. She had been taught by her mama to pray, but now her heart was too full to utter words, she could only raise her eyes to heaven. Even that soothed her, and she arose somewhat calmer just as her nurse returned.

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"Your mama wants you, Miss Blanche," she said; "but remember, dear, she is very ill, and perhaps if you cry as you have been doing, it may make her worse."

"But I won't, nurse."

Lady Cleveland was sitting in a large easy chair by the fire, when her little girl entered; her eyes were closed, and her lips moved as if in prayer; Blanche thought she was thinner and paler than she had ever seen her, but that was only because her senses were sharpened by what she had just heard. She sat down on a low chair by her mama's side, her usual

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