bloomed, amidst the nauseous weeds which had so long been permitted to dwell beside them. There was a cowslip-bed which sent forth its sweets in spite of the reptiles which crawled over them; but the most striking object in view from this obsolete and solitary habitation, were the white cliffs which surrounded it, so stupendous, and beautifully wild and romantic in appearance, that Captain Singleton as he contemplated the ocean that rolled beneath them, declared that he considered the prospect from the Cottage the most enviable in the world; " For here," uttered he, turning towards Peter, who often accompanied him to this solitary spot while the repairs were going forward in the most active preparation, "here I have only the elements to contend with, which is far better than to be at enmity with man. He is more turbulent than the ocean, and I would sooner listen to the howling winds that pour through my casements, than be the sport of more furious passions in the breast of my fellow-creatures. The waves are stilled, the winds are hushed, by the power of the Infinite Being who rules over them; but when is the violence of the warring passions controuled in the human bosom? answer me that. You, Mr. Blust, have never been doomed to bleed under their raging influence-I have; forgive me, if the recollection of past injuries wrings from my heart a bitterness of spirit, which twenty years have not been able to extinguish or quench from my feverish breast."

The fisher wanted but little of human discernment, with which he was tolerably gifted, to perceive that the man before him groaned under a burthen of intolerable anguish, and that he now sought retirement merely to conceal the sorrows of a wounded heart;

but from what source these sorrows sprung, or by what hand this wound was inflicted, Peter could not define, and it was very unlikely that he ever would ascertain the secret malady which seemed so deeply to have taken root in the mind of Captain Singleton ; yet there was an innate propensity in the disposition of the fisher to feel for the unhappy and the oppressed, and the same disposition to relieve them, whenever he considered them to be the objects of want or penury. He had an overflowing purse, as well as an overflowing heart, in the cause of humanity, and that he never spared when occasion required it; but in the case of Captain Singleton he could do nothing but what was presented in the usual form of civility and urbanity of manner, offered to a stranger landing on the coast. Money, it was evident, that he did not want; and, though Peter was a man of all others the least prone to suspicion, or even curiosity, yet he was anxious to learn the history of the recluse; and there were certain times, also, when he suspected that all was not right in the affairs of the Captain, and that some motive of extraordinary import had induced him to purchase the Cottage on the Cliff under circumstances of so mysterious a nature, and to make a recluse both of himself and his beautiful daughter, for beautiful Miss Singleton confessedly was, of whom the fisher had only once accidentally caught a sight; but the face of Agatha, once seen, could not be easily forgotten : they were features which struck deeply on the first glance of the beholder, and rivetted their expression on the heart, which seemed to plead for, rather than demand, an interest there.

Agatha was indeed somewhat below the middle or

ordinary size of women, but so beautifully formed was her small and delicate shape, that she might have been a model for the statuary; her limbs being just of such sufficient fulness, as to convey the idea of the most perfect loveliness of women, without either grossness or vulgarity being attached to it: she had indeed the looks of an aeriel being, so light, graceful, and swift, ́were her movements. But the face of Agatha was not correspondent with her form; here there was a dignity without pride, and a softness without weakness, or even timidity: her dark hazel eyes shone with brilliancy, but they were tempered with a mild and piercing expression of something more than sadness; and it might be said that, when she smiled, she looked more than mortal, for it was not the smile of gladness, or of the expression of youthful sprightliness.

Her complexion was of the hue of the palest lily, which in any other countenance but that of Agatha's, would have been the effect of languor or indisposition; but a word, a single word, pronounced by her with enthusiasm, brought a colour into her cheek, bright as the carnation tints of morn; and then her eyes sparkled like glittering gems-so soft, so hallowed, chaste and pure, that they seemed the messengers of Heaven; for nothing earthly appeared to engage the beautiful and animated speaker, when directing her discourse to her father, which Captain Singleton apparently was, and who she seemed to worship above all created things; yet it was remarkable that he never addressed her as his daughter, and paid her but little attention; at least, he never shewed any softness towards her, as fathers were wont to do to a favourite child, but when Agatha was not present

he loved to dwell on her merits with a peculiar delight and satisfaction.

It is true that Miss Singleton seldom strayed beyond the boundaries of the Cottage on the Cliff, in which the Captain had been a resident for nearly three months before he received any invitation to the house of the fisher; for though Agatha had often conversed with the daughters of Peter, the pretty Jessy, and the beautiful Olive, yet Captain Singleton had never permitted her to form any closer intimacy with them, though the sweet girls themselves longed to court the society of the charming Agatha, which for a while gave great umbrage to the feelings and the pride of honest Peter; and on his daughter Jessy, one day, informing him that she had just parted with Miss Singleton, with whom she had been taking a walk on the sea-shore, he quickly replied,—

"Shiver my top-sails! and what did you do that for? when you know how shy and distant the Captain has been toward us, only because you happened to invite his daughter to come over to Herring Dale to take a dish of tea with us, and now you must needs go, you silly wench, and pop yourself in the way of this Miss Singleton again! I tell you, Jess, you are as good as she, though mayhap you may not be quite so learned, and I will have you to humble to no man's child, who seems to consider you so much beneath her. There's your sister Olive-you would not catch her running after this Captain's daughter, if the Captain's daughter did not run after her, I warrant me! no, no; my Olive is too spirited a wench for that !— but you, you little soft melting fool"--The fisher paused, for Jessy was his favourite; notwithstanding

the lecture he was now giving her; and a tear which was just beginning to start in a pair of the loveliest blue eyes in the world, very rapidly changed his manner towards her. The tear was kissed off, while the lovely girl, thus encouraged by his returning smile of good humour, timidly addressed him.

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Indeed, father, I did not run after Miss Singleton, nor attempted to converse with her till, in a voice of the sweetest affability, she enquired after my health and my sister's; and then I walked by her side for a considerable way on the sea-beach, and found her such a delightful companion! I do not mean that she is a merry one, father, for Miss Singleton often sighs when no one is observing her; and when I asked her if she did not feel very solitary since she had come to live at the Cottage on the Cliff, she replied,—

"I ought not to feel solitary in any place, or in any country, that my father inhabits, but perhaps I should feel dull if he were not with me; it is my father who makes me love every thing, whether I like it or not.' 'So,' says I."Jessy paused and laughed, and the fisher exclaimed, looking at her arch and pretty turn of features with unspeakable delight and satisfaction,

"Well, hussy, what did you say? didst tell her you had a foolish fond old father, who never forced you to like or love any thing contrary to your nature or inclination ;-didst tell her that, you gipsy? and that I take more pleasure in seeing my girls happy than in any one thing beside." To which Jessy, with a sweet smile, replied,

"I did, indeed, tell Miss Singleton something like that, father, and she seemed delighted at the account I gave her of the merry lives we live at Herring Dale;