he had promised to write from the Cape, or by any
vessel they might hail in their course. Daily she
scanned the shipping-list, started at the sound of the
postman's horn as he passed through the village of St.
Bude, only to meet with a new disappointment.
About this period, the anxiety of Gertrude was fated to take a new direction, or rather fears for the life of her parent were added to those she entertained for the weal. of her far distant lover. Compelled to undertake a hasty journey to London, in consequence of the failure of the banker who held the property of his late wife in trust for her daughter, he found on his arrival that his ruin was complete-that he had eluded the vigilance of his creditors, and sought a refuge beyond the Atlantic.
The Rector bore this reverse of fortune with the fortitude of a Christian, consoled with the conviction that Gertrude would not be less prized by St. John because she came portionless to his arms ; and, without unnecessary delay, he proceeded on his homeward return.
His affectionate daughter, grieving little for the loss of fortune, was dreadfully alarmed at the changed aspect of her father. He imputed the alteration to fatigue, and retired early to his chamber. A low fever soon developed itself ; and, in spite of the most unwearied attentions of his child, and the most eminent medical attendance, the disease proved fatal, and at the termination of a few weeks, the Rector of St. Bude became an inhabitant of the tomb. His bereaved daughter sunk for a while beneath the afflicting stroke ; but roused by the appearance of the new incumbent, she hastened, with the aid of an old friend of her father's to set about the necessary preparation for leaving the Rectory. The last night she spent beneath its roof was to her a night of acute and overwhelming agony, and with the dawn she left the home of her birth, and returned to the cottage of her aged nurse, in a neighboring hamlet. Loved and respected by his flock, the orphan daughter of the Rector lacked no invitations from several families in the neighborhood ; but the lofty spirit, which had laid dormant in the bosom of Gertrude, in the season of prosperity, became developed and shone out in the hour of adversity. She resolved, rather than drag the heavy chain of dependence, to employ those talents and accomplishments which had amused and embellished her idle | hours as a recourse in her present altered fortunes. Her nurse had a daughter married in London, to a respectable mechanic, and apprising Margaret of her intentions, and selecting a few cherished memorials of other days, she proceeded to the toll-house to await the coach in which a place had been secured. As she left the cottage of the nurse, which had been rendered snug and comfortable by the bounty of her father, and as the aged dame stood at the door weeping, and calling down blessings on her head, she
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felt a sinking of the spirits, which she vainly struggled to subdue. The season was in unison with her feelings ; it was the early morn of a cold wintry day, unusually dark and dreary ; and as she entered the coach, a drizzling rain beat heavily against the windows, and a dense fog enveloped the surrounding objects. The embrowned and yellow leaves fell fast from the trees, which skirted the road, and those which still clung to the half-naked branches, exhibited a lively image of decay. It was past midnight when the coach drove into the inn-yard ; but late as it was, Margaret and her husband awaited the arrival of the orphan. The sight of a familiar face produced a powerful revulsion in the feelings of Gertrude, and throwing her arms round the neck of Margaret, she burst into tears. Johnstone, with genuine feelings of delicacy, left the parlor, and having procured a coach, he placed his wife and Gertrude inside, and mounting the box with the driver, directed him where to proceed. The abode of Johnstone was situated in the outskirts of London, near to Finsbury Square, and while he as sisted the coachman to remove the luggage, his wife conducted the weary traveller to a neat bed-room on the first floor, which was luckily untenanted when she received the letter of Gertrude. After partaking of coffee, she undressed with the assistance of Margaret, and retired to court the repose her exhausted frame so much required. Sleep fled, however, from her pillow ; and, when toward morning she sunk into a broken and unquiet dose, the painful thoughts which had occupied her waking hours recurred in broken and distorted images in her dreams ; and when Margaret entered her chamber, she grieved to behold the ravages misfortune and grief had produced in her once blooming joyous countenance. Resolved on the course she meant to pursue, Gertrude lost no time in advertising for the situation of a governess, and on the second morning after its appearance, a flaming chariot drove up to the door of Mrs. Johnstone's dwelling, from which alighted a portly dame, arrayed in the extreme of fashion. She inquired for the young person who wanted the situation of governess, on which Margaret ushered her into the little parlor, where sat Gertrude at work, in the unstudied negligence of a morning robe. The stranger announced herself as the lady of Alderman - and in want of a governess for their two daughters. She did not question -indeed, seemed incapable of questioning Gertrude in regard to her fitness for the office, but she inquired as to terms and references as to character, with a coarseness which grated painfully on the feelings of the bereaved orphan . But pertinaciously cherishing the belief that she was deserted by Hector,-
