LORE
 
 1 x
 
 
 
 u- 

 
 IBRARY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CAL IFORNIA 
 
 LOSANGE ES
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 BY GEORGE H. MILES. 
 
 & Keiu, Eebisefc, anti Enlarged Edition. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 THOMAS B. XOONAN & CO. 
 
 17, 19, AND 21 BOYLSTON STBEET. 
 
 1883.
 
 LORETTO ; 
 
 OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HERE once was where many may 
 still remember a neat farmhouse, not 
 large, but tastefully built, with dormer 
 Avindows projecting from the high, sharp roof 
 and a double portico running around it. It was 
 a venerable house, rather emblematic of comfort 
 than affluence, beautifully situated on the cleared 
 slope of a well-wooded hill. In winter it was 
 somewhat dreary to those who passed and knew 
 not the fireside joys within ; but in summer the 
 birds and the flowers, the vines and honeysuckles, 
 peopled with busy bees and festooning the 
 porches, the rich herbage rolling over the fertile 
 plain, until, changing color in the distance, it 
 grew blue as the vault it seemed to kiss, the elms, 
 the oaks, and the maples, all united to make 
 Loretto for so it was called a little Eden.
 
 4 LOEETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 A clear, quick trout-stream ran through the 
 lawn to the north, giving that fine finish to the 
 landscape which running water only can im 
 part. In the misty spring mornings at break of 
 day you could always see, looming through the 
 fog along this stream, an elderly man, with a 
 broad felt hat drawn over his cheeks to keep' 
 off the flies, dressed in a close-bodied gray coat 
 and breeches of permanent pepper and salt. 
 He was tall and portly, and though not abso 
 lutely lame, there was a decided halt in his gait, 
 injuring its grace, perhaps, but sparing its dig 
 nity. There he could always be found during 
 the choicest hours of the legitimate season, with 
 his rod fast in hand and all his tackle around 
 him, fishing away with so much temper and so 
 little skill that rare, indeed, was it when the 
 proprietor of Loretto breakfasted on trout of his 
 own catching. 
 
 But the Colonel never angled alone; in spite 
 of old Isaac he was far too wise for that. A 
 bright-faced mulatto boy named Charley w r as his 
 inseparable companion in all these matinal excur 
 sions. From his own intuitive sagacity of inter 
 nal organization, and from careful study of his 
 master's mistakes, Charley had become an expert 
 in the art in which his preceptor remained a 
 bungler. Whilst the Colonel bustled about to
 
 LOEETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 5 
 
 the mortal terror of every fish within twenty 
 yards of his fly, Charley, breathless in the bushes, 
 patiently cast his wriggling earthworm and drew 
 out with a quiet smile the unsuspecting victims 
 that dreaded the more tempting bait. 
 
 The Colonel was never jealous. So completely 
 had he merged Charley's individuality in his 
 own, that the idea of Charley's having caught a 
 fish never entered into his speculations it was 
 perfectly ridiculous. Why, Charley belonged to 
 him quite as much as his own hair line and 
 what mattered it whether he used his tapering 
 English tube, or his less elastic black boy as a 
 rod for Charley was but a rod in the case 
 all the difference being that one was of foreign, 
 the other of native origin. Over and over again, 
 when not a trout had twirled his reel, and when 
 a dozen noble prisoners floundered in the tin- 
 pan at the little fellow's heels, would the Colonel, 
 eyeing the speckled beauties as their clear scales 
 glittered in the sun, exclaim, "Ah, you little 
 rogues, you could not escape me ! " And so 
 firmly was the Colonel persuaded of this that 
 to all the juries in the county he would have 
 sworn that he had caught those fish. This was 
 one of the Colonel's eccentricities failing would 
 be too hard a name for his innocent and confirmed 
 delusion ; and so fervently did he believe it that
 
 6 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 Charley himself was to the full as certain of the 
 proposition as his master, and would have re 
 sented any insinuation of the truth as a most 
 unfounded calumny. 
 
 Through all the country round the proprietor 
 of Loretto was a favorite; men, women, and 
 children celebrated the purity and benevolence 
 of his character, and, as is frequently done, 
 magnified even his peculiarities into virtues. 
 At wedding, christening, and wake he was the 
 principal man in all the neighborhood; in all 
 matters of etiquette an oracle. If any doubtful 
 point of precedence occurred, if any knotty 
 question of honor arose, if any nice shade of 
 interest was to be decided, on which the doubt 
 ful light of the law was unsolicited, the Colonel 
 was sure to be invoked ; and he gave his re 
 sponses forth with so much sagacity, sincerity, 
 and pointed brevity, that his reputation rose 
 with every decision, and he stood arbitrator par 
 excellence for the country. Even his title, the 
 Colonel, was a mark rather of love and honor 
 than of any military service, past or present. 
 True it was that in the late war he had been 
 captain of a company, and that his knee had 
 been stiffened by an enemy's ball, but this 
 had happened long ago, and his gallantry, though 
 noticed in the prints of the day, was all unchron- 
 icled in history.
 
 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 7 
 
 The Colonel Avas a bachelor but he did not 
 live alone ; his sister Mary divided with him the 
 empire of Loretto. Mrs. Cleveland was under 
 fifty some ten years. younger than her brother. 
 She was a shade over the medium size of woman 
 rather slightly made, and her shoulders curved 
 a little forward by weakness or care. Her hair, 
 which she wore drawn straight from her forehead 
 behind, her ear, was in blended lines of black 
 and white ; her eye was large, calm, and clear, 
 the expression of her face habitually sad and 
 reserved. There were lines of thought and 
 determination about her mouth, but smoothed 
 and softened as if the hand of resignation had 
 touched them. She had the true mother-look in 
 which infant innocence first reposes, and which 
 manly virtue most reveres. Her brother loved 
 her more than his life, and well was his love 
 returned. She knew how to ward off his 
 occasional fits of petulance, and how to meet 
 them, when, in spite of her, they came in moment 
 ary gustiness. Loretto was a happy house, and 
 especially happy when the third and last of the 
 family left the convent school, whose small spire 
 just rose above the neighboring woods, when 
 she left the good sisters and young friends with 
 whom her youth had gone by like a sweet, sweet 
 dream, to join her own family circle and spend
 
 8 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 the year the whole year winter and summer, 
 ay, life itself, so it seemed, at Loretto. 
 
 Agnes Cleveland had just completed her 
 studies at the convent, she had gone through 
 the prescribed course brilliantly and well, she 
 had stayed even a year beyond the required 
 time and now there was nothing more to be 
 learned, nothing more to be gained by remaining. 
 At least, so thought the world and the Colonel. 
 
 She left school in the bright month of July, 
 with the blessing of all who knew her, with her 
 tears falling fast on the load of honors she held 
 with difficulty in both arms. She had always 
 left before at the same season to spend the 
 summer at home: but then it was different, 
 then it was only for a short vacation then the 
 future was to be but a repetition of the past, filled 
 with the same well-known faces, endeared by 
 the same innocent pastimes, hallowed by the 
 same tranquil pursuits, and sanctified by the 
 same long sweet prayers by Mass in the morn 
 ing, by Angelus at noon, by Litany at night. 
 At first she did not feel the change so keenly. 
 It was impossible to realize that there was no 
 return to the convent that her desk was to 
 have another occupant, her flower-bed another 
 mistress ; but when the summer melted into 
 gorgeous autumn, and she still remained at
 
 LOEETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 9 
 
 Loretto, when she felt that her heart was to be 
 changed before she could forget the girl and 
 become a woman, her tears were less frequent, 
 indeed, but far more painful. 
 
 She endeavored to conceal her sadness from 
 her mother and uncle, but it was too plain. It 
 puzzled and annoyed the Colonel she had 
 always been so cheerful, so free from all the 
 melancholy of thought, though thoughtful too. 
 He never inquired the cause, but his conjectures 
 were multitudinous and incessant. 
 
 It was a bright winter afternoon the snow 
 was lying deep and well-beaten over the road, 
 just hardening after the midday thaw, as the 
 sun went down without a cloud about him. 
 Agnes had returned with her mother from ves 
 pers at the convent chapel. They were sitting 
 silently in the twilight before the generous wood- 
 fire that kept the parlor bright and warm. The 
 Colonel had gone to take an airing on horseback, 
 as he phrased it, which, in other words, was a 
 visit of benediction to the poor. 
 
 Formany minutes they sat, each steadily gaz 
 ing into the fire, which sparkled and crackled as 
 though it loved and welcomed them. 
 
 " Agnes," said Mrs. Cleveland at last, without 
 
 O * ' 
 
 raising her eyes, " you must be unhappy." 
 
 There was a long pause, and the fire burned
 
 10 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 loudly, and the sigh of the wind was plainly 
 heard from without. 
 
 " Are you not?" asked the mother, for the 
 first time hazarding a look at her daughter. 
 
 Agnes was leaning back in her chair ; her head 
 thrown forward almost on her breast ; her hands 
 clasped and resting between her knees, her tears 
 glancing down her cheeks. 
 
 " Are you not ? " repeated Mrs. Cleveland, 
 touching her straightened arms. 
 
 The touch was electric. Without a word, 
 the young girl rose and cast herself on her 
 mother's bosom. 
 
 " I am ! I am ! " she sobbed again and again. 
 " Oh, mother ! " she said, " I love you, and yet 
 I wish to leave you I must leave you ! " she 
 added with more energy, kissing her parent's 
 pale forehead as she spoke. 
 
 " Leave me for what, Agnes ? " said Mrs. Cleve 
 land, smoothing her daughter's hair, which had 
 fallen loose in her agitation. 
 
 " For the convent ! " 
 
 Louder and louder burned the fire, and louder 
 was the sigh of the wind without. 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland was not unprepared for this ; 
 she had long since read her daughter's heart. 
 The habitual half-smile of quiet resignation 
 played around her lips. Agnes was surprised 
 at her calmness.
 
 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 11 
 
 " And you would really leave me then, my 
 child ? " resumed the mother, tenderly pressing 
 the small hand she had taken in hers. 
 
 " Leave you for God alone ! " said Agnes, 
 "for God alone, mother. Do not think me 
 insensible to all your goodness ; do not doubt 
 my love you cannot, you do not doubt it! I 
 have been unhappy because I dreaded your oppo 
 sition, and knew the trial I was preparing for 
 you ; unhappy, because I was resisting an impulse 
 which I recognized as from Heaven, and which, 
 in spite of every human obstacle, I must obey!" 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland was still unmoved, or if there 
 was any change it was only in her clear eye, in 
 which the unshed tear hung and trembled ; only 
 in the slight movement of her lips, playing with 
 a happier smile. " Have you spoken to your 
 confessor ? " she asked. 
 
 " I have. " 
 
 "And" 
 
 " He cautioned me against obeying an impulse 
 which might only be transient; advising me to 
 consider it more maturely." 
 
 "And I, my daughter, repeat his advice. 
 Think not of me in your decision, but of your 
 own immortal soul, of Him who will one day 
 judge it, and of your spotless Mother, who sits in 
 heaven exalted above the angels. Please her,
 
 12 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 and you will not fail to please me. You are 
 young, and a few months in society may under 
 mine your purpose. But, my own Agnes, you 
 must be happy now you have not pained me, 
 nor can you ever pain me, my child, so long as 
 you hold the call of God your first duty." 
 
 " Yes mother, I will be happy now ; it will 
 not cost an effort." 
 
 " God bless you ! " Mrs. Cleveland held her 
 daughter closer to her heart, and Colonel Clev- 
 erton entered the room. 
 
 "A quarrel and a reconciliation, I take it, 
 ladies," he said, as he threw an enoi-mous overcoat 
 into a corner and took off his spurs. " Whew ! 
 this hill's as cold as an iceberg, and would freeze 
 a polar bear, but for a friend like this," and he 
 thrust both hands into the cheerful blaze that 
 rose joyously to hail his coming. But though 
 apparently unobservant, the Colonel had his eyes 
 about him, and saw that he was just in at the 
 close of a scene. 
 
 At tea he was struck with the altered manner 
 of his niece. Her eyes would swim at times, but 
 there was a world of joy in her face of calm, 
 deep, holy joy, joy that made him wonder. 
 
 After the cloth was removed, she lit his cigar 
 with a smile such as he had not seen for many a 
 day. She played backgammon with him until
 
 LORETTO; OB, THE CHOICE. 13 
 
 after nine, and, in the excitement of the game, her 
 eyes glittered, her laugh rang, and she shook her 
 hair from her temples as joyously as when he 
 held her on his knee and gave her sweet things 
 
 ~ O 
 
 to win her love. And when the old mahogany 
 clock struck ten, and she presented on one knee 
 a brimming mug of brown October, 
 
 " Agnes," said he, as the creaming ale touched 
 his mouth, " thank God ! you are yourself 
 again." 
 
 Before the tankard descended, Agnes had left 
 the room. 
 
 "Mary," began the old man, looking stead 
 fastly at his sister, " is that young girl in love 
 with any one but me?" 
 
 " Not that I am aware of." 
 
 "You have had a conversation with her," he 
 continued, with the air of one who defies contra 
 diction. 
 
 " I have." 
 
 " And you discovered the secret of her unhap- 
 piness?" 
 
 Yes ! " 
 
 " May I know it ? " this almost amounted to 
 a challenge. 
 
 " Yes, brother, you had better know it at once. 
 Agnes wishes to. return to the convent." 
 
 The Colonel shuddered.
 
 14 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " To spend another year there ? " 
 
 " To spend her life there ! " 
 
 "As a nun?" 
 
 "Yes!" 
 
 " Good God ! " thundered the Colonel, bound 
 ing from his chair and knocking his stick with 
 terrible emphasis against the floor. " Agnes a 
 nun ! And you permit it, sister ! " The old 
 man paced rapidly up and down the room, 
 whilst the perspiration gathered in large drops 
 on his forehead. " You permit it ! and sit there 
 as contentedly as if she were going to a ball 
 and speak of it calmly speak of it to me calmly 
 as if I had no heart as if I could see the 
 immolation of one of God's fairest creatures 
 without a tear. Why, it would make me weep 
 to chain up one of my hounds for life but 
 this young flower, this Agnes madam, you are 
 a stone ! " 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland was silent. 
 
 " Oh, I did not think it of her ! " muttered the 
 Colonel, in vain attempting to arrest his tears, 
 "I did not think it of her. To leave her old 
 uncle I who have loved her loved her as 
 age alone can love youth I who have made 
 myself a boy for her these fifteen years to 
 leave her old- uncle oh, this is bad enough ! 
 But to leave her mother "
 
 LORETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. j5 
 
 He stopped short and turned upon his sister 
 with flashing eye and heaving breast : 
 
 " Mary ; is she not your child ; your own, 
 your only child, bone of your bone, flesh of 
 your flesh ; has she not your own image stamped 
 xipon her face ; are you not a mother, and can you 
 calmly see her cut down in her youth, her hopes 
 and beauty blasted ; can you calmly see her 
 walking, a willing fanatic, into a dreary, lonely 
 dungeon? Tell me, sister, can you see the 
 axe descending on her neck, and smile like 
 an Indian executioner? Tell me! there is the 
 same blood in our veins ! " 
 
 "But not the same faith in our hearts." 
 
 " And you consent, then ? " stammered the 
 Colonel, pale with passion. 
 
 "I do, brother, and hear me. There's noth 
 ing under Heaven so dear to me as Agnes. I 
 lived for her when I Avould have died without 
 her. I have nothing else on earth to love, save 
 you, brother, save you, my best and first friend ! 
 But, if I find that I have nursed her for God 
 and not for man, for the cloister and not for the 
 cold, indecent, hollow-hearted ball-room, I tell 
 you, brother, there's not a mother living, be she 
 slave or be she queen, who will be as proud, as 
 happy, as thankful as I." 
 
 " Ah ! you are leagued to kill me. Strike. I
 
 16 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 can bear no more ! " He sank back in his 
 chair. 
 
 " Did woman ever marry with a fairer chance 
 of happiness than I? exclaimed Mrs. Cleveland, 
 rising to her full height, whilst her face glowed. 
 " Oh, I looked forward to a future such as few 
 can fancy ; and when I thought it in my reach, 
 it turned to burning sand." 
 
 " There are few such villains as " 
 
 " Hush ! Man is too corrupt to be judged by 
 his fellows. We need a more merciful tribunal," 
 and she pointed above. 
 
 The Colonel paused a moment, then changed 
 his tactics. " But this young creature, scarcely 
 twenty, knows not her own mind ; and I know 
 of nothing more dangerous, more treacherous, 
 more outrageously abominable, than to wrest 
 this momentary inclination to her own destruc 
 tion before she has time" 
 
 " She shall have time ! " 
 
 "How long?" 
 
 " One year."
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 XE year ! " muttered the Colonel to him 
 self, after Mrs. Cleveland had retired, 
 drawing his capacious arm-chair closer 
 to the fire as he spoke. His tears had dried, his 
 face had cleared up, and presently his eye began 
 to twinkle with a sly expression, as if some 
 bright idea had suddenly crossed his mind. 
 
 " One year, eh ? " he repeated audibly, smooth 
 ing his thin white hair ; then, emptying the mug 
 of ale mechanically, he threw his feet heavily 
 upon the fender, rubbed his hands until they 
 tingled, and chuckled, " I have it ! I have it ! " 
 
 The Colonel rose with that confident slowness 
 with which a gentleman of the old school leaves 
 the table, in the inspiration of the moment, to 
 bring forth with his own hand his best bottle 
 for his best friend. He opened the front door 
 cautiously and stepped tiptoe on the portico. 
 He paused a moment ; it was a clear winter 
 night, the frost had polished the stars, and their 
 rays surrounded them like long eyelashes of 
 gold. The cold wind refreshed him, and he 
 drank it in like water. 
 
 " Oh, my dear little pet," he thought, " they 
 shall never coop you up here from the sight of
 
 18 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 those blessed fields, among which you will ramble 
 hereafter ! " 
 
 Then for the first time feeling that it was 
 freezing hard, he crept on tiptoe to the door of 
 a small room opening on the porch. 
 
 " Charley ! " he Avhispered shrilly through the 
 keyhole. In an instant came the answer, " Sir ! " 
 A turn, a sigh, a shake ; the door was unbolted, 
 and the little fellow's curly head appeared. 
 
 " Charley ! dress warm, saddle Fleetly for your 
 self, and come into the parlor. Do it quietly." 
 
 The sagacious boy nodded, and the Colonel 
 hobbled back. He took his immense writing- 
 desk from its time-honored green bag, unlocked 
 it carefully, and selecting a quill, mended a pen 
 with infinite pains. 
 
 Charley reappeared before the old gentleman 
 had finished writing, and without saying a word, 
 stood by the door. 
 
 " Get closer to the fire, my boy, closer ; warm 
 up well," ejaculated the Colonel, looking to see 
 that his commands were obeyed. 
 
 " There ! " he continued, describing a flourish 
 after his name, folded the letter and sealed it. 
 
 " Are you warm, Charley ? " 
 
 " Yes,' sir." 
 
 " Where's your great-coat, eh ? and comfort, 
 eh ? Get them, you inconsiderate rascal ! Do
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 19 
 
 you think I want to freeze you on Fleetly's 
 back, to be a Christmas snow-man for the children 
 of the neighborhood ? " 
 
 Charley retired, and the Colonel directed the 
 letter. "Now you're all right no, stop! your 
 ear's out," and he fixed the comfort carefully, 
 even tenderly, around the boy's neck and head. 
 " Take this letter to the post-office ; it must go 
 at five by the morning mail. Be sure you drop 
 it into the box and not the gutter, and mind 
 you, Charley, not a word ! " 
 
 With a bow and a smile, the trusty messenger 
 departed. When he had gone the Colonel again 
 ensconced himself in his chair, and, contrary to 
 custom, lit another cigar and replenished his 
 mug. But he only drank half. He sat there 
 until Charley returned, after performing his task 
 in half an hour. 
 
 " Well-timed, my boy ! Is the letter in ? " 
 
 A nod. 
 
 " The horse attended to ?" 
 
 Another nod. 
 
 " Keep close to the fire then, and drink this : 
 drink, I say ! it won't hurt you," said the Colonel, 
 slapping him on the back. 
 
 In a few minutes more they were both abed; 
 but long after Charley was snoring the Colonel 
 kept tossing on his pillow, repeating
 
 20 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " M} r sister, we are playing a long game of 
 chess, and I have just made the first move 1 " 
 
 What the move was will soon appear. 
 
 If any are interested in the game let them 
 follow ; if placing the pieces has not been tedious, 
 the moves, perchance, may please, or what is 
 more, instruct. 
 
 It may be supposed that the Colonel was a 
 Protestant; he was not, however. He was a 
 Catholic, at least he had been a Catholic ; 
 but that was long ago, when his mother lived. 
 By neglecting his religious duties for forty 
 years he had imbibed all the prejudices of 
 society, all the errors of humanitarianism, all 
 the suggestions of inclifferentism ; in short, he 
 was uttei'ly decatholicized, and nothing more 
 nor less than a thoroughbred man of the world, 
 living for time and not for eternity, loving his 
 neighbor as the world understands it, but neglect 
 ing his God. 
 
 Agnes was up with the sun and at mass. Her 
 heart bounded gladly and fervently as she 
 walked home with the bloom of health, youth, 
 and piety on her cheeks. Summer never seemed 
 fairer than that winter morning, and the sun on 
 the snow-clad hill-tops told of brightness beyond 
 its own, brightness beyond the grave. No birds 
 were singing, but melody was all around her;
 
 LORETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 21 
 
 no flowers were blooming, but the air was fra 
 grance, for her God was in her bosom, and her 
 mother leaned on her arm. 
 
 Breakfast and the Colonel were waiting for 
 them at Loi-etto. The Colonel was a scrupulous 
 observer of all the habits which bachelorship 
 invents and cherishes. One of these was to kiss 
 his niece before coffee every morning, when he 
 had the chance. But this time his embrace was 
 more affectionate than it had ever been, and 
 Agnes observed it. 
 
 Christmas was drawing near. Confectioners' 
 windows in the village were already bespangled 
 Avith visions that riveted the eyes and moistened 
 the mouths of troops of eager boys, who knew 
 that the second harvest of the year, the annual 
 feast, was coming. Agnes too looked forward to 
 it as a season of joy unbounded ; for her gift was 
 to be the divine child himself, who sanctified the 
 day. 
 
 Three days after the Colonel had written, an 
 answer came. It was brief and satisfactory : 
 
 "MY DEAR OLD 
 
 " Expect this evening, yours, 
 
 " ELLEX ALMY." 
 
 " Bless her bright young soul ! " exclaimed
 
 22 LORETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 the Colonel, pressing the paper to his heart. 
 " Lei's the queen that will win this game ! " 
 
 That day was the longest the Colonel had ever 
 spent ; it seemed to him as though evening would 
 never come. He examined his tackle, his guns, 
 his razors; he whistled, he sang, read, wrote, 
 walked, rode ; but do what he would, the .hours 
 were ages. By a strong effort, he managed to 
 conceal his anxiety from his sister and niece ; 
 still they might have noticed that he started at 
 the sound of every sleigh-bell, and that he took 
 a particular pleasure in standing at the window. 
 He was singularly musical, too, and there was 
 scarce one ballad of the olden time from which 
 the Colonel did not borrow a phrase in the 
 course of the day. 
 
 Evening came at last, and with it Ellen Almy. 
 
 " Why, there's a sleigh at our gate," exclaimed 
 Agnes, rising and going to the window. 
 
 " Who can it be ? " said the Colonel, opening 
 the door. 
 
 Agnes followed him out on the porch. 
 
 " Who are they, Aggie ; your eyes are better 
 than mine ? " 
 
 " Strangers to me, a lady and gentleman. " 
 
 Presently they heard a sweet, clear voice ; 
 " Yes, this is the place ; I remember it now. 
 Help me out, Mr. Melville ; these country winds
 
 LOKETTO; OB, THE CHOICE. 23 
 
 have quite starched my limbs, and I'm stiff as 
 your cravat." 
 
 " My Lei, I do verily believe ! " cried the 
 Colonel, rushing to meet her as she leaped 
 lightly from the sleigh. " Lei, Lei, is not this 
 you?" 
 
 "All that's left of me, uncle, and this is my 
 very good friend, Mr. George Melville, a young 
 gentleman who can catch a trout, shoot a par 
 tridge, play all fours, and sing divinely. Take 
 care how you hug me, uncle; I'm cold as an 
 icicle; you'll break my bones; wait till I get 
 warm," and, disengaging herself, she ran into the 
 parlor and threw herself on her knees before the 
 fire. 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland rose in amazement at this 
 abrupt entry, and Ellen, enjoying her surprise, 
 took off her bonnet, threw back her long golden 
 curls, and still kneeling and laughing, said : 
 
 o o o* 
 
 " Now, Aunt Mary, take a good long look, 
 don't you know me?" 
 
 " Ellen Almy ! " exclaimed Mrs. Cleveland, 
 embracing her, as the Colonel entered, followed 
 by Agnes and George Melville. 
 
 Without a word, Ellen flew towards Agnes, 
 and, seizing her by the hand, led her as close to 
 the lamp on the table as she could get. There 
 she stpod, eyeing her from head to foot, so
 
 24 LORETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 comically that Agnes could not keep from 
 smiling. 
 
 "So this is my little cousin with whom I 
 played, and quarreled, and made up, ten years 
 ago ! Do you remember me, Agnes ? " And 
 the expression of her bright face suddenly 
 changed, her eyes filled with tears, and she 
 'threw her arms around her cousin's neck. 
 
 " They told me," she continued, raising her 
 head from her friend's shoulder, "that you had 
 grown up to be a sweet creature, with black 
 hair, black eyes, rosy cheeks, and cherry lips, 
 but I little expected to find such an absolute 
 beauty." 
 
 "Come Ellen, no flattery here," interposed 
 Mrs. Cleveland. Ellen, with a look of mock 
 gravity and displeasure, walked slowly up to her 
 aunt, and looking reproachfully into her eyes, 
 replied : 
 
 "Madam, you do me great injustice; in the 
 first place, my name is Lei, not Ellen. The 
 world is full of Ellens, but there's only one Lei, 
 isn't there, uncle ? Secondly, though my faults 
 are as innumerable as your virtues, I have not to 
 answer for the sin of saying what I do not 
 think." 
 
 " But what we think is often flattery," replied 
 her aunt.
 
 LOKETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 25 
 
 " Then, to please you, I'll stop saying what I 
 think ; " and laughing more merrily than ever, 
 she sprang upon the Colonel, saying, "Now that 
 I'm thawed you may hug me as much as you 
 please ; " and the old gentleman took her at her 
 word. 
 
 There was silence for a moment. Ellen, of 
 course, was the first one to break it, 
 
 "My goodness, Mr. Melville, excuse me; but 
 indeed I forgot all about you ; have you been in 
 the room all this time? Permit me, sir; Ag, my 
 friend, Mr. Melville, sweet name, isn't it ? Mr. 
 Melville, my cousin, Miss Agnes Cleveland, just 
 from school, as that blush demonstrates. I wish 
 I could blush ! " 
 
 Even Mrs. Cleveland laughed at this, and 
 before she had ceased Charley appeared, and 
 with his best bow announced supper. 
 
 Ellen sat next to Agnes. " Oh, Aggie," she 
 said, " I feel so happy ! Do you remember the 
 long walk we took one first of May, the day I 
 fell in the creek and scared off uncle's trout for 
 a week ? Do you remember the talk we had, 
 whilst I sat on the grass drying off in the 
 sun?" 
 
 A smile played over Agnes's face as she 
 answered, "I have not forgotten anything, El 
 len"
 
 26 LOBETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 ''Lei! I tell you!" cried her cousin. "You 
 know we were talking about the future that 
 morning, and you said you'd marry a soldier, 
 andl"- 
 
 " Determined to have a circus rider." 
 
 " That his neck might be broken as speedily as 
 possible," suggested Melville. 
 
 Lei eyed him meaningly across the table and 
 said, "Exactly! Aunt Mary, this is the same 
 milk-toast 'you used to give us; where's the 
 honey ? " 
 
 Charley brought it. 
 
 When the brief meal was over Agnes and her 
 cousin, arm-in-arm, led the way to the parlor. 
 
 " Put your hand on the table, Ag ; there ; 
 yours is larger than mine, but it's whiter too. 
 Now, take off your shoe ; what ! your foot 
 smaller than mine ! I don't believe it. Let's 
 see mercy ! Were you ever in China ? " 
 
 "Flattering again?" said Mrs. Cleveland. 
 
 "By no means," answered Ellen, "I was allud 
 ing to her teeth. 
 
 ' In China none hold women sweet, 
 Unless their snags are black as jet.' 
 
 as old Prior says ; " and she pointed (Agnes was 
 laughing) to the ivory gleaming between her 
 lips.
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 27 
 
 " Lei " said the Colonel, from his arm-chair, 
 " under what impulse, or by what accident, did 
 you blunder on us, after a meditated, deliberate, 
 and most unpardonable absence of nearly ten 
 years?" 
 
 " After excusing myself from the accusation, 
 I'll answer the rest of the question. I was eight 
 years old when I left here ; five years were lost 
 at boarding-school; two more wasted at a pre 
 paratory academy for fashionable life. Of course 
 you could not expect me to interrupt my educa 
 tion merely to see you. Father wouldn't listen 
 to it. Then I was packed off to Europe for two 
 years, to obtain a fine classical finish, and on my 
 return there were so many entertainments that 
 for two seasons I had not a moment to spare my 
 relatives and friends, without doing injustice to 
 my multitudinous admirers. Isn't it so, Mr. 
 Melville?" 
 
 Melville drew a long breath, and answered 
 yes." 
 
 " Agnes, that was meant for a sigh," resumed 
 the lively girl ; " he is incorrigibly romantic. 
 Well, uncle, one morning I found myself not 
 fifty miles from here, on a wedding frolic, and as 
 the sleighing was good it struck me to comfort 
 your old eyes by my presence, especially as there 
 is a chance of the snow's melting and a ride
 
 28 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 back in the mud. Where shall we go to-night, 
 Aggie ? " 
 
 " To bed, I suppose," said Agnes, after seeing 
 the drift of the question. 
 
 " Do you go to bed every night, Agnes ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " But before that? Oh, dear ! Is there noth 
 ing to be seen about here? no sights, no rustic 
 
 o o * 
 
 soirees, no opera? How do you manage to exist 
 between nine and twelve?" 
 
 "By talking and sleeping." 
 
 " No sleeping now," observed Melville, sotto 
 voce, to the Colonel. 
 
 'A piano, as I live," went on Lei, disregarding 
 the allusion to her loquacity, "strike a note and 
 I'm dumb. Come, Agnes, let me see how you've 
 been taught." 
 
 Agnes at once consented and played a theme 
 with variations by Hertz. Lei was silent, accord 
 ing to promise; but hardly had the last note 
 sounded, than she broke forth : 
 
 " Cousin, do you call that playing ? Listen to 
 me!" She sat down to the instrument, and, 
 after a shoi't prelude, began an adagio of Beetho 
 ven's. During the first bar her face changed ; 
 as she went on her eye seemed to catch the 
 inspiration of the music ; the giddy, laughing girl 
 fled before something nobler; she was another
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 29 
 
 being. Agnes stood almost breathless beside 
 
 O O 
 
 her, surveying her cousin in joy and wonder. 
 As the sublime melody rolled on, gathering- 
 strength from the deepening harmony, her tears 
 started ; and when the piece was over, unable to 
 restrain the impulse, she clasped Lei in her arms. 
 She was too good, too pure, not to perceive her 
 own inferiority, and rejoice in it. 
 
 "My dear Lei," she said, " you have given me 
 a lesson I shall never forget ! " 
 
 " Imitate me in everything, cousin, and you 
 will be perfect," said Lei. 
 
 Melville, whom the adagio had visibly affected, 
 advanced to the piano. 
 
 "Miss Almy," he said, "play that again, and 
 I'm yours forever." 
 
 Lei looked at him until he laughed in spite of 
 himself, and then, without discontinuing her gaze, 
 began to sing John Anderson, my Joe John, 
 whilst Melville retreated in dismay. The con 
 versation soon became general, and thus passed 
 Lei's first evening at Loretto.
 
 80 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 new pieces are now in motion at 
 Loretto Ellen Almy and George Mel 
 ville. In a few words, perhaps, we may 
 bring them nearer to the eye. 
 
 Lei, let us call her so, for it is a sweet name 
 either in itself or from association, was a year 
 younger than Agnes. The daughter of a wealthy 
 merchant,^ with all the advantages of wealth 
 and fashion, gifted with no ordinary share of 
 personal beauty, and peculiarly endowed with 
 that indescribable fascination of manner which 
 has no name, Lei was a pet wherever she went. 
 She was above envy and without a rival. What 
 ever she did became a law for the satellites 
 around her ; scarcely had a new fancy struck 
 her before it was reduced to practice, and once 
 realized it grew into a fashion. Her actions 
 and sayings were retailed at second-hand, and 
 sought after with much avidity by all those who 
 borrow from the fruitfulness of others to supply 
 their own mental sterility. 
 
 Of course Lei had been spoiled. Most persons 
 only knew her as a light-hearted, flippant girl, 
 with wit enough to amuse others, but without 
 prudence to govern herself. But those who
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 31 
 
 looked beneath the transparent surface could see 
 a noble vein of deep feeling, responding firmly 
 and healthfully to every genuine touch. Lei had 
 much talent and more genius; she acquired 
 without much difficulty what others had written, 
 but rose without an effort to higher things, of 
 which they never dreamed. There are many in 
 the world who resemble her ; many we meet 
 daily in the morning and in the evening, who to 
 the same levity unite a certain strength and 
 elevation of character; but there are few who 
 equal her, few who combine such girlnm merri 
 ment with such womanly worth. 
 
 Lei's mother had been a Catholic, but she was 
 dead, and her father, being a Protestant, gave 
 her a Protestant Episcopalian education. Of 
 Catholics she knew little save from stereotype 
 calumny, and from her own juvenile observations 
 in France, Spain, and Italy. 
 
 George Melville was near thirty. Early in life 
 he was left lord of himself, sole heir to a large 
 fortune. There was nothing remarkable in his 
 person beside a high forehead and a bright eye ; 
 but all his friends considered him attractive. 
 There was more in him than was seen at first, 
 much that was only perceptible to the few who 
 knew him well. He had been a hard student all 
 his life, and gave to the classics the long winter
 
 32 LOKETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 evenings so generally sacred to revelry and dissi 
 pation. He did not, however, totally abstain 
 from society, but carefully avoided becoming its 
 slave. To strangers he was reserved and formal, 
 with others cheerful and familiar. Thei-e was 
 an air of close scrutiny about him from which 
 ninety-nine in a hundred shrank. Lei was not 
 one of these ; she defied both competition and 
 scrutiny. She and Melville, though apparently 
 diametrically opposite in taste and disposition, 
 had been fast friends for more than a year, and 
 it was rumored that they were engaged to be 
 married. This was false, however, not one word 
 of love having passed between them. The masses, 
 the unreflecting and unfeeling list of visitors, 
 wondered at their intimacy; though surely it 
 was not surprising that Melville should discover 
 Lei's real value, or that she should prefer his 
 intellectual gifts to the superficial endowments 
 of the bulk of her acquaintances. 
 
 " Charley ! " cried the Colonel, the next morn 
 ing, after breakfast, " saddle Fleetly for Mr. 
 Melville, and Lilly for Miss Agnes ! Do you 
 hear, my boy? Off with you, and bring them 
 up in five minutes. Mind the girths, you ras 
 cal, there are two precious lives depending on 
 the proper hole in a leather strap." 
 
 "And you don't mean to order a horse for
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 33 
 
 me," muttered Lei, pouting as she spoke ; " am 
 I to remain here for your special edification?" 
 "You must not begrudge me an hour this 
 
 o o 
 
 morning," answered her uncle. "I will intro 
 duce you to the farm, my dear child, and coun 
 teract your excessive affectation by an infusion 
 of rtisticity." 
 
 "Well," replied Lei, as Charley and the 
 horses appeared, " I shall endeavor to profit by 
 the manners of your turkeys, chickens, pigeons, 
 pigs, cows; and I doubt not, but that after a 
 diligent study of your sheep, I shall prove an 
 absolute lamb. Farewell, mes amis!" she 
 exclaimed, as Agnes and Melville mounted. 
 " Farewell ! " she repeated, as they galloped off, 
 and turning to her uncle, looked him steadily 
 and seriously in the face. 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland was sewing in the back parlor. 
 A peculiarly sly expression played around the 
 3orners of the Colonel's mouth, and he glanced 
 stealthily towards the back parlor. 
 
 " Now," Lei, he said, with great significance, 
 "come to my sanctum, and I'll show you my 
 tackle." 
 
 The Colonel's Sanctum was a small room 
 next his chamber. It contained all his sporting 
 apparatus, all his curiosities, all his petty bache 
 lor contrivances, a large bookcase crowded
 
 34 LORETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 with Turf Registers and Treatises on Anglicg, 
 heaped over noble editions of the English 
 essayists and the old English dramatists. A 
 round table stood in the centre, covered with 
 papers, heaped up in that glorious confusion 
 which an author loves and a housekeeper hates. 
 Two rocking-chairs and a red lounge were the 
 only seats. 
 
 Lei took one chair, the Colonel the other. 
 
 " Oh, uncle," said Lei, shaking her finger at 
 him, "what a little lying hypocrite you have 
 made me." 
 
 " In a good cause, my queen," replied the old 
 man. 
 
 " You wrote me word that Agnes intended to 
 bury her beauty in a convent, and that I must 
 come and prevent it. But what possessed you 
 to insist on my dropping in as if by accident, 
 with a lie on my lips ? Oh, it kills me to play 
 the hypocrite ! I was tempted, in spite of your 
 commands, to salute Agnes by falling on her 
 neck, and declaring that if she ever took the 
 veil it would have to go over my head too, all 
 the priests in Christendom to the contrary not 
 withstanding." 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! " laughed the Colonel ; " very 
 good, very good, my own sweet pet. But mark 
 me, Lei, if her mother suspects us we are gone.
 
 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 35 
 
 I tell you that Agnes Cleveland, in her cradle, 
 was devoted to the cloister ; and I know my 
 sister well enough to assert that if we show 
 our hand we lose the stake." 
 
 " Very well, uncle, as you say. Oh, Lei, Lei, 
 have you come to this ! a snake in the grass 
 a wily, subtle, deep designing serpent. What 
 would Melville say?" 
 
 "Whatever he pleases," interposed the Colo 
 nel haughtily. " Listen, Lei, my plan is briefly 
 this : while you stay, to consecrate all your 
 energy, all your fascination, all your genius, to 
 divert your cousin's mind from her present 
 purpose, and spread out before her all the allure 
 ments of retined society. But do it gradually, 
 smoothly," gently; do it so that the transition 
 will be unfelt, so that her mother " 
 
 " Will have every reason to despise me ! " 
 cried Lei, springing to her feet. " Yet, it must 
 be done ! The life I lead is bad enough, God 
 knows, but it's better than a convent." 
 
 Lei said this mournfully. She was standing 
 by the window, her hand resting on a mag 
 nificent pair of antlers, whose ample arms su.s- 
 taiued a powder-flask, shot-pouch, bird-bag, and 
 quite a variety of old hats and caps adapted 
 to all the seasons and every species of weather. 
 The Colonel sat silently eyeing her, as if not a 
 little Duzzled.
 
 36 LOBETTO; OB, THE CHOICE. 
 
 Lei looked out upon the snow-clad plain, 
 upon the pale blue wintry sky, and fell into a 
 re very, that strange compound of thought and 
 feeling which soothes and saddens too. She 
 was startled from it by a heavy hand on her 
 shoulder. She turned ; the Colonel stood beside 
 her ; his cheeks were wet with tears, his upper 
 lip was quivering. 
 
 " Lei," he said, " if what I ask is painful, I 
 will not demand it ; but " the words died 
 away in his throat. 
 
 Lei dried his eyes and her own with her hand 
 kerchief. " Uncle ! " she exclaimed, impetuously, 
 the road to heaven is not by trampling on your 
 heart, and Agnes must take another path ! Your 
 hand, uncle ! " They joined hands. " I solemnly 
 pledge myself to wean Agnes from her choice of 
 a religious life, if all the influence at my com 
 mand can do it ! I will tell her the story that- 
 enchanted me ; I will reveal the beautiful visions 
 that seemed to hover before me ; I will tell her 
 of the raptures I have had and of the raptures 
 I still expect. If she resists me she's invin 
 cible!" 
 
 "Bless you! bless you, Lei!" repeated the 
 Colonel, putting back her hair, and pressing her 
 head to his bosom. Though for ten years he 
 had rarely seen her, and then only for a day
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 37 
 
 or two as he travelled, yet, at that moment, she 
 was almost as dear to him as Agnes. " You 
 have given me new life, my child ; there's vic 
 tory in your flashing face ! Can you guess my 
 next great move ? " 
 
 "Take Agnes home with me after Christmas?" 
 
 " Eh ? Have you fathomed your old uncle so 
 soon? To be sure; go with you she must! 
 Take her to every opera and every ball " 
 
 " No, no," broke in Lei ; " I shall carefully 
 select from both, or you'll soon have her here by 
 telegraph, more eager than ever for the con 
 vent." 
 
 " Introduce her to the handsomest men" 
 
 " And disgust her at once." 
 
 " Surround her with stylish women " 
 
 " And sicken her completely." 
 
 " Well, then," suggested the Colonel, taken 
 sadly aback, " begin by accustoming her to small 
 tea-parties where intelligence makes the absence 
 of music and dancing unfelt." 
 
 Lei fairly screamed and laughed till she reeled 
 back again to the window. 
 
 " Take her to a tea-party ! My dear, good- 
 for-nothing old uncle, why you'd have us both 
 back for the convent ! " 
 
 "Lei,' said the Colonel, and stopped short. 
 Lei turned, expecting something else ; her bright
 
 38 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 eyes glittering from laughter, like violets, dewy 
 in the morning. 
 
 "Lei" He looked, up and catching her 
 mischievous glance, inwardly admitted that he 
 was only making himself ridiculous, and turning 
 away to save his dignity, added, " Do just as you 
 please, and be hanged to you ! " 
 
 " Tell me, uncle, and tell me truly, am I not 
 the abler tactician on my own ground ? Your 
 conception of the game is a masterpiece, but 
 leave the details to me." 
 
 " Right, right, you're always right." 
 
 "I knew a young girl, situated just as Agnes 
 is, who became a nun because her friends ovei'- 
 did it in trying to prevent her. I don't often 
 praise myself, but I can manage the human 
 heart as easily as I can a horse, provided I once 
 get the reins." 
 
 "We must not let her mother suspect; be 
 prudent, Lei." 
 
 Lei was looking out of the window, instead of 
 listening. 
 
 " What fine buildings are those? she asked." 
 
 " The convent," replied the Colonel, suppress- 
 ing a curse. 
 
 " The convent ! " said Lei, musing. " So it is, 
 there's the old house ; but there are so many new 
 ones around it, it's not easily seen. Ah me ! I
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 39 
 
 don't wonder Ag wants to stay there. Non 
 sense ! they'd cut off all her beautiful black hair, 
 and crimp her face up in a skull-cap, and set her 
 to scrubbing floors and scouring pots. She shan't 
 go!" 
 
 " She shan't ! " responded the Colonel, " and 
 now, my sister, I cry, check/" 
 
 Thus plotted Lei and the Colonel, whilst 
 Agnes, little suspecting what mischief they were 
 hatching, rode gayly beside George Melville. 
 Melville was much interested in his companion. 
 She was a new character to him ; new, not only 
 because the inexperienced school-girl peeped 
 from almost every sentence, or because her man 
 ners were artless and unvarnished by social attri 
 tion, though affable, striking, and dignified by 
 interior correctness and feeling ; Melville had 
 seen many such. It may have been this, in part, 
 but there was something else, something entirely 
 new, yet still suggesting things which had passed 
 for him, but which might come again ; something 
 admired without knowing why ; something which 
 repelled while it attracted. 
 
 The world has some redeeming points, and 
 society might be worse : public opinion is yet 
 sufficiently Christian to discountenance open 
 crime. The thousands we meet have nothing to 
 blush for ; their names are stainless, their eyes
 
 40 LOKETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 are bright and fearless, their hopes are high, 
 there is no brand on the brow ; the tribunal to 
 which they appeal acquits and commends ; their 
 belief in their own integrity, like a good con 
 science, makes them lovely and enchanting. But 
 when God and not man affixes the seal of inno 
 cence, when the soul, pure in thought as well as 
 in act, walks in the midst of " a thousand liveried 
 angels," how different, how different ! Melville 
 was a man of strong sense and true feeling, a 
 keen, experienced observe.', a tourist of more than 
 half the world; but he found Agnes a new 
 character, one he had yet to read. 
 
 At first he found it difficult to remove her 
 embarrassment and to converse as cordially as 
 he wished. But the sun was bright, and the 
 heroes bounded along; long before their return, 
 Melville had conquered the difficulty, and even 
 reached that desirable point, seldom soon, and 
 sometimes never gained, where people exchange' 
 thoughts as well as words. 
 
 "Aggie, dear," "said Lei, as they alighted, "do 
 you know that you're just one-half hour after 
 dinner time ? "
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 41 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ||HE scene is still the same ; but patience, 
 reader, it will soon be changed. There 
 are not many spots, even in your fancy, 
 superior to Loretto, poorly as our meagre descrip 
 tion reflects its beauty. "We might labor for 
 hours to picture all its charms, to copy the fine 
 prospect it commanded, without making it a 
 whit more enchanting. Loretto had no water 
 falls around it, no gloomy, splendid glens, no 
 towering masses of rock, cleaving the clouds in 
 stern sublimity ; but every tree, every field, 
 every outline of the undulating plain had a 
 meaning ; the place had a Genius, the indefinable 
 spirit of beauty haunted the spot. 
 
 Let us spend a few more evenings there : they 
 will not be lost ; they are necessary to the 
 sequel. Let us still linger around that bright, 
 crackling, intelligent wood-fire, inspiriting that 
 plain little parlor, before we are transported by 
 Lei's magic to the coal furnaces and sumptuous 
 drawing-rooms of the city. Christmas is but 
 two days off, and then we leave, not to return 
 till the forest trees are in leaf, the orchards heavy 
 with fruit ; not to return until the spring flower? 
 have passed away and the busy bees have
 
 42 LOEETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 exhausted the honeysuckles wreathing the white 
 porches of Loretto. 
 
 " Why are you so sad, Lei ? " said Mrs. Cleve 
 land. 
 
 " Because I am going to leave you to-morrow." 
 
 " To-morrow ! " echoed Agnes. 
 
 " To-morrow ! " repeated the Colonel. 
 
 " I must," said Lei, " or father will have all 
 the alarm bells in town ringing for me, and all 
 the constables in creation after Mr. Melville." 
 
 " Are you tired of our solitude ? " asked her 
 aunt. 
 
 "No, aunt; but I am sure Mr. Melville is 
 heartily sick of your country monotony, and 
 longs for the variable gayety he has made essen 
 tial to his existence. Much as I wish to stay I 
 am not selfish enough to enjoy myself at his 
 expense." 
 
 " Is that your only reason ? " said Melville. 
 
 " Not the only one, but still a sufficient one 
 for a creature as considerative and self-sacrificing 
 as I." 
 
 " Lei ! " gasped the Colonel, thumping the 
 floor with his stick, "are you serious?" 
 
 ' " As serious as I ever was, or ever expect to 
 be." 
 
 " Do you love me, Lei ? " 
 
 "Yes."
 
 JLORETTO ; OB, THE CHOICE. 43 
 
 " Then stay." 
 
 " Can't, uncle." 
 
 " Look'ee, my young girl, I am not used to 
 contradiction." 
 
 " Nor I either," retorted Lei. 
 
 " Do you dare to follow your inclinations in 
 spite of my commands ?" 
 
 " Dare you pretend to command my inclina 
 tions ? No" man in Christendom can boast of 
 that. Leaving Agnes is the 1 hardest part of it. 
 If only you and Aunt Mary were in the case, I 
 might get up a parting tear ; but it would dry 
 before it reached my mouth." 
 
 " I assure you, Miss Aim y," said Melville, " that 
 so far from wishing to go " 
 
 "Did you think me in earnest when I spoke 
 of you?" replied Lei. "Oh, George Melville! 
 George Melville! the cottage of Loretto is the 
 tornb of your wit ! " 
 
 " Lei ! " said Agnes, taking her hand and kneel 
 ing down before her, " Lei, I have been silent, 
 because I did not believe you, because I don't, 
 can't, and won't believe you. Meet me now 
 with your wild, wicked blue eyes, and tell if you 
 will not spend Christmas with us." 
 
 Lei hesitated some seconds, and then re 
 plied : 
 
 " On one condition, Agnes, I will."
 
 44 LOBETTO ; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " Name it ! name it ! cried the Colonel, bright 
 ening like snow in the morning. " We grant it 
 in advance." 
 
 " That you accompany me home, Agnes," said 
 Lei, leaning forward, and for the first time look 
 ing her cousin full in the face. There was an 
 earnestness in Lei's manner that could not be 
 misinterpreted, and Agnes, taken by surprise, 
 continued to gaze at her, not a little bewildered 
 by the proposition. It was not long, however, 
 before her eye wandered to her mother. Lei 
 saw the glance, and dreading it, rose quick as 
 lightning, and throwing her arms around Mrs. 
 Cleveland's neck, exclaimed, 
 
 " My dearest aunt, if you deny me this, we 
 pai-t forever. Never again shall Lei's foot cross 
 this time-honored threshhold, never again shall 
 your toast and honey bless my lips, never again 
 shall these arms, which a statue might envy, be 
 your necklace ! I will never play for you, never 
 sing for you, never dance for you, and, what is 
 more, I'll never pray for you. Still stern and 
 unrelenting? Oh, Aunt Mary, we will guard 
 her as the. apple of our eye; we'll have two 
 dragons in special attendance ; the wind shall be 
 tempered to suit her ; society decimated to please 
 her, and, listen, Aunt Mary, the rose shall bloom 
 brighter in her cheeks, her form shall be fuller
 
 LOKETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 45 
 
 and her step freer ; and you shall have her back 
 again, the same noble, beautiful, peerless Ag 
 nes ! " 
 
 " This is all so sudden," said Mrs. Cleveland, 
 "that I cannot possibly give you an answer 
 to-night." 
 
 " Give me an answer to-morrow, and remember 
 my threats! they are not to be disregarded. 
 And as for. you, my veteran," continued Lei, 
 leaping upon the Colonel, if you do not use all 
 your authority in my favor I'll never call you 
 uncle again ! " 
 
 " Can't spare Aggie ! " muttered the Colonel, 
 afraid to look up lest his face should betray his 
 thoughts. 
 
 " Better spare her a month, Colonel, than lose 
 her forever ; " and she brought her face close to 
 his. 
 
 " God bless you ! " he whispered in her ear. 
 
 " God forgive me ! " she said in her heart ; and 
 adding aloud "I will return in a moment," 
 left the room laughing. 
 
 She went to her chamber, groping her way in 
 the dark and blinded by her tears. She knelt in 
 the clear moonlight at the foot of her bed. 
 
 "Oh, God!" she said for in moments of 
 anguish we often think aloud ."can I lead this 
 young angel forth from this holy solitude to
 
 46 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 share with me the spurious honors, the tinsel 
 trappings I covet and despise ? Shall I infect 
 her with the fatal thirst for admiration and 
 excitement which consumes me? I will not!" 
 She started to her feet. " And yet and yet 
 to wither in a convent to drag out life, the 
 miserable dupe of suicidal superstition. Could 
 I stand by and see the fillets put on her neck 
 as the black-robed executioner leads her to 
 the shambles? No, Agnes, you shall try the 
 world, at least. If it does not sicken you, I 
 think there is more of the nun in me than in 
 you!" 
 
 She leaned out of the window until the cold 
 night air dried her tears ; then carefully washed 
 her eyes and returned to the parlor. 
 
 " Come, Ag, a truce to thought, it's a bad 
 companion. Don't sit there like a maid of mar 
 ble, come closer to me. Uncle, let your stick 
 alone, I don't want a drum obligate. Don't 
 breathe so hard, Mr. Melville." 
 
 With this, Lei began the following song, as 
 merrily as if she had not wept since child 
 hood : 
 
 " There was a time when she rose to greet me. 
 
 But what, alas, cared I ! 
 For well I knew she flew to meet me, 
 Yet met me with a sigh.
 
 LOKET.TO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 47 
 
 I left her in her deep dejection, 
 
 And laughed with merry men. 
 What cared I for her true affection 
 
 I did not love her then! 
 
 But now I wander weak and weary, 
 
 And what, alas, cares she! 
 I lost her love, and life grew dreary 
 
 She scarce remembers me ! 
 In vain, in vain I now implore her, 
 
 She spurns my tearful vow : 
 Too late, too late, I now adore her 
 
 She does not love me now! " 
 
 As Lei concluded, she turned to Melville. She 
 had sung with even more point than the words 
 seemed to suggest and the look she gave Mel 
 ville meant something, too, whatever it was. 
 
 "I never heard that before," said Me ville, 
 from his seat. 
 
 "You'll hear it again though," said Lei. 
 
 'Who's the composer?" he asked. 
 
 " Words and music perpetrated by your hum 
 ble servant. Now, sir, as the groves of Loretto 
 are not yet honeyed by your voice, I abdicate 
 in your favor. Agnes, ask him to sing l l am a 
 Wanderer; ' it is a wild, diabolical thing, and 
 he delights in it." 
 
 Melville, thus appealed to, did not wait for 
 Agnes to ask him.
 
 48 LOEETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " Begin, begin ! " cried Lei, seating herself 
 beside Mrs. Cleveland. " Let your articulation 
 be" She bit her lip and crossed her arms 
 meekly over her breast. Melville was sing 
 ing: 
 
 " I am a wanderer I 
 Far from home, far from her 
 The lady whom I left in tears, 
 
 Whose tears still flow for me, 
 The bride I have not seen for years, 
 
 And never more may see ! 
 
 " Houseless and penniless, 
 None to love, none to bless ! 
 Oh ! wronged and wronging, let me rave 
 
 In death our tears are dried ; 
 I'll sleep as soundly in the grave 
 
 As ever at her side 1 " 
 
 The wild ballad was followed by a dead silence ; 
 even Lei was hushed. Agnes was startled ; the 
 Colonel looked anxiously at Mrs. Cleveland, 
 whose face was supported and concealed by her 
 hand. To Melville, the long pause was painful, 
 his powerful voice and the almost unearthly 
 music had produced an effect greater than he 
 designed or wished. 
 
 " A strange song, that, Colonel Cleverton," he 
 said, striking some chords carelessly; "and it 
 came into my possession in a very singular way.
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 49 
 
 I was reading a new overture of Mendelssohn's, 
 at a music store at London, when my attention 
 was diverted by a conversation between the pro 
 prietor and a middle-aged gentleman who had 
 entered. I could not remove niy eyes from the 
 stranger he fascinated me. His dress was 
 negligent, his coat old and faded, but his bearing 
 proud and graceful. I cannot describe his head 
 and face you may have seen the same expres 
 sion in a sculptor's ideal of manly power and 
 beauty. It seemed as if disappointment or re 
 morse had frozen from it every particle of joy ; 
 but there was left a reckless disdain of every 
 thing human or superhuman, and the shadow of 
 a great mind embittered by adversity and en 
 feebled by dissipation." 
 
 Had Melville looked towards the corner where 
 Mrs. Cleveland sat he would have paused ; but 
 observing that Agnes was listening intently he 
 continued, 
 
 " He came to sell the song. As the publisher 
 was courteously returning it, I asked permission 
 to glance at it. He assented coldly and with a 
 smile of scorn almost insulting. The daring 
 originality of every phrase the wild tide of 
 melody made me stare in astonishment at the 
 stranger who claimed to be the author. The 
 same withering smile was on his face. We were
 
 50 LOEETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 standing beside a piano, and, -without more ado, 
 I sang it with all the feeling inspired by the 
 novelty of the music and the man. It was my 
 turn of triumph then. Before I had well fin 
 ished the stranger seized mv hand his thin 
 
 O * 
 
 cheeks flushed and a mist gathered in his eyes. 
 
 " 'You understand me,' he said. 
 
 " ' Will you sell me this song?' I asked. 
 
 "The flush in his cheek deepened as he re 
 plied : 
 
 " ' Are you not an American ? ' 
 
 "I bowed. 
 
 " 'Do you return to your country?' 
 
 'Yes.' 
 
 "'Then honor me by accepting my song.' 
 
 *' He saluted me cordially, and brushing 
 quickly by the publisher, would have gone with 
 out another w-ord. Unwilling to part from him 
 thus I caught him by the arm. 
 
 " ' May I ask your name ? ' I said. 
 
 " ' I have none.' 
 
 " Stay, sir, I beg you, and let us enjoy one 
 hour of music together.' 
 
 " ' I no longer evj oy music,' he replied, with 
 an accent that made me shudder. 
 
 "I gave him my card, saying, 'Pray, let us 
 meet again.' 
 
 " * In heaven, perhaps,' was the only answer ;
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 51 
 
 and he stepped into the street, leaving me rooted 
 to the floor in amazement. He remains a mys 
 tery to this day : I can see him now the deep 
 scar on his forehead " 
 
 As if her heart had burst, a deep groan came 
 from Mrs. Cleveland's breast. 
 
 " Death and madness ! " muttered the Colonel, 
 tottering toward her; but Agnes anticipated 
 him. 
 
 " It is nothing, Agnes," whispered Mrs. Cleve 
 land, recovering herself. "It will pass off in an 
 instant, only a momentary faintness. A glass of 
 water, my child ! " 
 
 The cloud on the Colonel's brow was terrible. 
 
 " Could you not see," said Lei, aside to Mel 
 ville, " that eveiy word you uttered was a dagger 
 plunged into that woman's heart ! " 
 
 " More mystery, more mystery," said Melville. 
 "What have I done?" 
 
 " God knows ! But never sine: that sons: again." 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 S Charley was covering up the parlor 
 fire for the night Agnes left Lei and 
 went to her mother's chamber. She 
 had never heard her father's name mentioned;
 
 52 LOKETTO J OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 she rarely thought of a father, and whenever she 
 did it was only to offer up a fervent prayer for 
 one who had died before she was old enough to 
 know or to love him. But Melville's song, her 
 uncle's frown, and her mother's anguish had 
 revealed a secret hitherto unsuspected ; her 
 memory darted, like a ray of light, farther back 
 into her life, and it seemed to her that she had 
 loved another before she loved the Colonel, one 
 who was all kindness, one who sang to her 
 before she came to Loretto, one who was with 
 her day and night, one whom she suddenly 
 missed and wept for. Was it her father, and 
 was he alive? Unable to answer, unable to 
 satisfy or control her thousand vague conject 
 ures, she now sought her mother to escape the 
 torture of doubt. Agnes had seen little of the 
 world; her observation had been limited to 
 Loretto and the adjacent village ; but her inex 
 perience was amply supplied by that keen, quick 
 insight which needs not the lamp of time or 
 trial to read the book of human nature. Before 
 Melville had concluded his narrative she sus 
 pected ; when the deep groan interrupted him, 
 she knew the truth. 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland rose from her knees as Agnes 
 entered, and they sat down together on the bed. 
 The first look revealed their thoughts, and they
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 53 
 
 embraced in silence. Much as Agnes wished to 
 speak it was long before her working lips could 
 pronounce the question she wished yet feared 
 to utter. At last, firmly and rapidly, the ques 
 tion came, 
 
 "Is my father living?" 
 
 A flood of tears was the only reply ; for the 
 full heart must overflow before it speaks. But 
 Mrs. Cleveland had trained herself to resigna 
 tion in the school of the cross ; the unspoken 
 prayer sped from her uplifted eye, and stilled 
 her breast, and calmed her throbbing heart, and 
 poured light and sweetness over the waters of 
 bitterness on her face. Agnes waited till all was 
 calm, and then repeated more firmly and dis 
 tinctly still 
 
 " Is my father living ? " 
 
 " I know not ! " 
 
 She had controlled her emotion until then, 
 that fair young girl she had nerved herself to 
 hear, iinshrinking, whether he was alive or dead, 
 but she was unprepared for this terrible announce 
 ment ; unprepared to remain longer in suspense ; 
 unprepared to hear from her mother's lips this 
 fearful ignorance of her father's fate. The dark 
 wavering line of sudden agony rose in her fore 
 head, and she clasped her hands in supplication 
 and terror ; pale and motionless as death she sat,
 
 54 LOEETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 her eyes fixed on her mother's, crouching as 
 though she shrank from another word. 
 
 " I can tell you nothing more, my child," Mrs. 
 Cleveland said, employing as she spoke all the 
 arts of maternal love to heal the wound she had 
 inflicted ; " I can tell you nothing more. Trust 
 to God and pray for your father. AVe may meet 
 again, if not here, in heaven ! " 
 
 Ay, to those who live for this world with 
 scarce a thought of the next, who centre all their 
 hopes, fears, joys, sorrows, thoughts, passions 
 /iere, who look on death as the end of all, who 
 know God only by reputation, who trust not his 
 mercy in misfortune and ask not his blessing in 
 prosperity, who in health or sickness fly to man 
 as the sole companion, the sole comforter, to 
 these, indeed, a meeting in heaven means noth- 
 ii>g ; but to those who look beyond the grave for 
 their true home, who hail death as the end of 
 exile, the beginning of life, who hold the acci 
 dents of time light in comparison with their lot 
 in eternity, who stake not their happiness on 
 human calculation, who exult when the world 
 cries " Despair ! " who, amid change, and storm, 
 and light, and darkness, preserve a correspond 
 ence fixed above ; who, though in daily contact 
 with man, are in constant communion with God, 
 living to love in bliss hereafter, to these a meet-
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 55 
 
 ing in heaven is an appreciable promise, a 
 blessing that takes the sting from parting ; and 
 they know not how to say " Farewell forever ! " 
 
 Years of consolation could not have imparted 
 to Agnes the exquisite relief of that one word. 
 " Yes, in heaven ! " she said, again and again, 
 and knelt with her mother almost rejoicing. 
 
 When Mrs. Cleveland was alone her mind 
 gradually wandered from the painful subject 
 which had engrossed it to the consideration of 
 Lei's proposition. She had never parted from 
 Agnes except to place her at the convent school, 
 where all was harmony and peace, where the 
 licensed pride a-nd revelry of society found no 
 footing. She mistrusted the influence of fashion 
 able life on any pure, young heart ; she was 
 happy in her daughter's choice ; she did not 
 believe that temptation must be sought and van 
 quished before a decision is made. But she 
 feared precipitation, she feared lest the strict 
 seclusion in which Agnes had been brought up 
 might have misled her by making habit seem 
 vocation. She thought it better that her daugh 
 ter should see something of the world before she 
 renounced it. She was not conscious of one 
 spark of pride in her daughter's beauty, or of 
 ambition to see it triumph in the arena of fashion. 
 She regarded marriage as a very questionable
 
 56 LOKETTO J OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 blessing, and certainly aspired not to any bril 
 liant alliance. But Mrs. Cleveland was a woman 
 and a mother; she did not fully consider the 
 danger of gazing on the pomp and splendor and 
 magic in which the arch-demon steeps arid gilds 
 the orgies of his votaries ; it did not strike her 
 that there was not the least occasion to witness 
 or bid adieu to the pleasures Agnes could never 
 share. She did not like to judge the world too 
 harshly ; there were many pure, pious people in 
 it, who lived, as she did, apart from its excesses 
 and in the enjoyment of its comforts ; there were 
 some who glided uncontaminated through all its 
 
 o o 
 
 dangerous mazes, guided by one faithful thread 
 that brought them safely out. Lei was wild and 
 light, but truehearted and sensible withal ; a 
 fortnight or a month could make no change in 
 
 O O 
 
 Agnes, unless such were the will of God. But 
 Mrs. Cleveland came to no conclusion of her 
 own, except to leave the matter with Agnes and 
 her confessor. Upon this delicate and all impor 
 tant point her own reasoning failed to satisfy 
 her ; she felt that she needed advice in a question 
 so dear to her, advice from those who were 
 commissioned to instruct. Her humility w r as 
 equal to her firmness ; for her firmness pro 
 ceeded not from self-reliance, but from reliance 
 on God.
 
 LOEETTO ; OE, THE CHOICE. 57 
 
 Agnes, younger in grief than her mother, re 
 mained awake long after the latter slept, think 
 ing of her father and watching Lei, Avho was 
 slumbering so calmly beside her. With Agnes 
 it was a night of almost ceaseless prayer, of 
 prayer more refreshing then than sleep. Pres 
 ently the" taper grew pale in the dawn, and the 
 merry sunbeams tipped the window curtains 
 with gold the domestics were astir it was 
 the morning of Christmas eve. 
 
 "Now," cried Lei, "for another day at Lo- 
 retto ! " 
 
 " I knew you did not mean to leave me," said 
 Agnes. 
 
 Lei drew back abashed, as she recollected her 
 imperious declaration of last night, and some 
 moments elapsed before she added, with the 
 arch gravity she could so well assume, 
 
 " Provided, Ag ! provided, I can thus pur 
 chase leave of absence for you." 
 
 But the saving clause came too late. A word, 
 a look, a blush, a pause, may defeat the subtlest 
 schemes, even when nearly perfected ; just as 
 the snapping of a twig betrays and foils the 
 ambushed hunter when surest of his prey. 
 Agnes remembered now some strange looks 
 that had passed between Lei and the Colonel, 
 she remembered many of Lei's remarks, which
 
 58 LORE T TO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 implied a knowledge of her determination to 
 embrace a religious life, and, after a rapid re 
 view of all that had lately happened, she felt 
 sure that Lei had not come to Loretto without a 
 purpose or uninvited. 
 
 Lei, confident that she had parried suspicion, 
 ascribed the evident tumult in her cousin's mind 
 to Melville's song and the subsequent interview 
 with her mother. Lei had heard her father 
 allude vaguely to Mrs. Cleveland's misfortune, 
 and guessed the nature of it. " Poor girl," she 
 murmured inaudibly, " no wonder she is so 
 thoughtful ! " 
 
 For once in her life Lei \vas deceived. We 
 have already indicated the process by which 
 Agnes discovered, or thought she had discov 
 ered, a deliberate, premeditated plan; but she 
 did not stop there. She loved Lei as she stood 
 there before her, young, gifted, beautiful ; the 
 few days they had spent together had sufficed to 
 endear them mutually to each other ; like two 
 sweet springs, they met and then flowed on 
 together. Agnes required no assistance in de 
 tecting her cousin's virtues, no monitor to point 
 out her imperfections. She knew her as if by 
 inspiration. Agnes was not thinking of her 
 father, but of her who stood before her, young, 
 gifted, beautiful. A heroic purpose crossed her
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 59 
 
 mind, the ardor of a missionary glowed in her 
 cheeks, and if mortals are ever commissioned to 
 aid an angel guardian Agnes felt the call. 
 "Without presumption, but in hope and joy, she 
 silently folded Lei to her heart, vowing, 
 
 " You came to change me ; I go to change 
 you/" 
 
 Lei, at a loss to account for so much emotion 
 and so little grief, could not help saying, with a 
 smile, 
 
 " Ag, I know you're unhappy, and yet you're 
 not sad. Does Catholic sorrow differ from Prot 
 estant sorrow ? " 
 
 " It may, perhaps ; I know too little of your 
 heresy to decide." 
 
 " Then how do you know it's a heresy ? " sug 
 gested Lei, quickly and maliciously. 
 
 " Because the church brands it heresy. I am 
 not the judge." 
 
 " Oh, Aggie, Aggie, how delightfully humble 
 your church is ! " 
 
 " Humbler, though infallible, than you erring 
 and culpable individuals who presume to judge 
 her." 
 
 This was the first time, and then accidentally, 
 that the two friends touched controversy ; they 
 had no relish for it. But having once crossed 
 weapons playfully, the contest might have waxed
 
 60 LORETTO ; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 warmer had not the Colonel's sonorous voice, 
 echoing up the stairs, terminated the battle 
 thus : " Girls, are you ever coming down to 
 breakfast ? " 
 
 We need not tell how Lei redoubled her en 
 treaties, how Melville delicately aided her to 
 induce Mrs. Cleveland to consent at once to a 
 brief separation from her daughter, or how the 
 Colonel threw all the influence of authoritative 
 silence in Lei's favor, saying nothing on either 
 side, but expi-essing by every limb, feature, mo 
 tion "Let her go!" 
 
 "I will decide to-ni^ht," was Mrs. Cleveland's 
 
 o * 
 
 only answer to every appeal. 
 
 In the afternoon, Agnes and her mother or 
 dered Charley to get ready their snug country 
 wagon for the convent. 
 
 " Lei," said Agnes, as she was stepping into 
 the carriage, " the Litany will be sung at six, 
 and I want you to hear it. You and Mr. Mel 
 ville, can leave here at five and be in time." 
 
 "Gone to consult her confessor," muttered 
 the Colonel, as Charley flourished his whip; 
 " he will never let her go." 
 
 " Then," returned Lei, " there's but one thing 
 left Mr. Melville must challenge him." 
 
 The Colonel was in no laughing humor. He 
 did his best to content himself in the cottage,
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 61 
 
 exhausting every position possible to the human 
 body, and exploring every room in the house, 
 without satisfaction or repose. Finally, he 
 caught up his gun and swore he would have a 
 brace of partridges for supper. 
 
 Lei and Melville were left alone without ex 
 actly knowing what to do. A shade passed 
 over the young girl's brow as she Avatched Mel 
 ville intently for a while, as he sat abstractedly 
 gazing toward the convent. But her glad, gay 
 look soon returned, and she said, 
 
 " I wonder whether a little music will not 
 keep us alive until five o'clock." 
 
 For some minutes she played without an aim, 
 trilling with some pretty melodies that came 
 first into her mind ; but presently higher thoughts 
 began to dawn, and she blended into one superb 
 whole a thousand fragments of fine ideas, some 
 original, some remembered, until Melville him 
 self, often as he had witnessed these flights of 
 genius, was fairly astounded. The cottage 
 seemed to be alive with music, as Lei, forgetful 
 of herself, of him, and of all else, save the 
 beauty she was creating, lovelier than she had 
 ever been, poiu-ed forth the unpremeditated 
 strain. The movement was rapid but sad, 
 though variable as an April morning, until there 
 seemed to be an evident concentration of one
 
 62 LOKETTO J OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 idea; and then, gathering all her strength for 
 the sublime theme, which she had been almost 
 imperceptibly approaching, she dashed without 
 pause or breathing into a figure of John Sebas 
 tian Bach's. Every touch unfolded some ex 
 quisite passage in the master's life, and Melville 
 could see the fair-haired child of genius studying 
 thorough-bass by moonlight, lest his jealous 
 brother, catching the gleam of his lamp, should, 
 send him to the garret. He could see him toil 
 ing on cheerfully through persecution and neg 
 lect, until in the full blaze of acknowledged 
 superiority he rose like the day-star from the 
 inists of the horizon. 
 
 " What do you think of that ? " cried Lei, as 
 evidently delighted as though another had per 
 formed, with tears still in her eyes. 
 
 " I wish it had lasted forever," was Melville's 
 enthusiastic reply. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 was 'quite dark when Lei and Melville 
 entered the convent chapel. Lei was 
 admitted, at Mrs. Cleveland's instance, 
 through the private door. The tapers on the
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 63 
 
 altar were not yet lit, and the soft light of a 
 single lamp produced an effect more solemn 
 than darkness. A novice showed her to a pew, 
 where she sat down in silence, well pleased to 
 have some moments for reflection in a place so 
 favorable to meditation. 
 
 Melville was conducted to a recess on the 
 right of the altar. He looked anxiously round 
 for Ag ne s and her mother, but they were either 
 invisible or absent. Had the folding doors of 
 the sacristy been open he Avould have seen the 
 confessor of the convent sitting between Mrs. 
 Cleveland and Agnes, and had he been a little 
 nearer, might have heard the end of a discus 
 sion in which he was interested even more 
 deeply than he imagined. 
 
 The confessor was a middle-aged man, tall 
 and spare, slightly bald, his face marked with 
 that beautiful character of meekness and benevo 
 lence which belongs to those alone who ever 
 feel that the eye of God is on them. A life of 
 piety and self-denial is marked by lines as legible 
 as the furrows which irreligion and profligacy 
 plough ; there needed not' the surplice and the 
 cassock to point him out as "a man of God." 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland and Agnes, after receiving 
 absolution, had called him into the sacristy and 
 acquainted him with Lei's proposition.
 
 64 LOBETTO; OB, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " I am somewhat afraid of this same Lei," he 
 said, after they had sketched her character. " I 
 should not like to trust our rustic little Agnes 
 with so accomplished a belle. Do you think it 
 advisable, madam ? " 
 
 " I leave the matter entirely with you," Mrs. 
 Cleveland replied. 
 
 " And what says Agnes ? " 
 
 " I wish to go," returned Agnes, grasping his 
 hand. 
 
 " You wish to go ! " repeated the confessor, 
 earnestly surveying his youthful charge, his voice 
 faltering as he spoke, in astonishment and fear. 
 
 " Yes," cried Agnes, kneeling before him and 
 meeting unflinchingly his reproving look. "Oh, 
 father, I cannot tell you ho\v beautiful a soul is 
 straying from heaven in that Lei whom you 
 fear. I know she wishes to change my present 
 purpose, I know she came here chiefly to alter 
 my determination, I know she expects my visit 
 to her to promote or accomplish her object. But 
 I have found out that she is less attached to the 
 world than I am to the cloister, that she would 
 sooner relinquish her idols than I the veil. In 
 the struggle between us the victory will be 
 mine, not hers. For this I wish to go." 
 
 The priest regarded her a while in silence, 
 and then said, with a smile of compassion and 
 love,
 
 LORETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 65 
 
 " Is this your only reason, my child ? " 
 
 "It is, indeed. If there be in my heart one 
 lui'king wish to see or share the pleasures I have 
 heard of, but never tasted ; if there be one spark 
 of curiosity to know something of life's page 
 antry before I leave it; if there be any motive 
 other than that I have mentioned, before heaven 
 I am unconscious of it. " 
 
 "My child, my child, your motive is beauti 
 ful. But your generous designs will plunge you 
 into temptations which it would be presumption 
 to seek without a special call." 
 
 "Father," said the young girl, her dark eye 
 gleaming with radiance beyond that which men 
 call beauty, "Father, it is not merely because 
 I have been educated in a convent school, 
 screened from conventional blandishments by 
 the solitudes of Loretto, and accustomed from 
 infancy to the impressive observances of this 
 consecrated retreat, that I have determined to 
 be a religious. I have heard my schoolmates 
 picture their city homes and pastimes in colors 
 brighter, perhaps, than reality. The finger of 
 God has pointed out my vocation, and my 
 choice is unalterably made. As I recognized 
 his blessed hand when I first announced to you 
 my fixed resolve, so do I now recognize his 
 sacred voice, and it bids me go. "
 
 66 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 Agnes still knelt, her hands clasped, her face 
 upturned to heaven, as if bearing witness to her 
 truth. It was a beautful group the priest and 
 the mother in tears, the daughter's lips parted 
 with something holier than a smile. 
 
 " Yes," she fervently continued, kissing her 
 confessor's hand, " let me begin my mission 
 now. " 
 
 1 " Come to me after the Angelus, bring your 
 cousin and her friend ; if I permit you then, 
 remember, it will the exception, not the rule." 
 
 One by one the candles on the altar were 
 lighted, and Melville could see Lei, kneeling or 
 leaning forward, he knew not which ; but still 
 there was no sign of Agnes. Presently a sweet- 
 toned bell began to ring, and then a rustling 
 was heard, as a hundred girls, two by two, and 
 a hundred sisters, entered the chapel. Melville 
 had bestowed only a careless glance on the 
 exquisite marble work of the altar, and was 
 examining a fine painting in the gleam on the 
 opposite wall, when a figure appeared through 
 the side door of the sacristy and knelt in the 
 front seat. It was Agnes ! But never till then 
 had Melville seen the expression at which he 
 wondered kindled into such active power; it 
 was as if a bud, already marked as the fairest in 
 the garden, had burst into a flower more rare,
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 67 
 
 more fragrant, more beautiful than all the prom 
 ise of spring. The mellow light streamed full 
 on her face, revealing the glory which invests 
 the body, when, detached from earth without 
 the bitterness of death, the soul mounts on the 
 wings of faith to commune with its Redeemer. 
 He could-not turn away from the apparition, he 
 feared lest it should disappear, it was so spir 
 itual, so unreal, so angelical. Agnes knew not 
 that any human eye was on her, for her own 
 was on heaven ; but Lei knew it. 
 
 The folding doors of the sacristy opened, the 
 confessor, unattended, knelt before the blessed 
 sacrament, the Litany of MARY began. With 
 the deep swell of the organ came a clear, soft 
 voice, intoning, those dear, dear, ever dear epi 
 thets which the sanctity of ages has lovingly 
 and humbly bestowed on the Virgin Mother of 
 JESUS, whilst the choir responded in unison, 
 *' Ora pro nobis ! " 
 
 And when the chanting ceased the convent 
 bell again was heard, and the Angelus went 
 murmuring from the altar to the choir. The 
 ceremony was over ; too soon for Lei, too soon 
 for Melville, upon whom it left an impression of- 
 profound sadness. 
 
 Agnes had displayed so much penetration and 
 resolution that her confessor was more than half
 
 68 LOEETTO; OB, THE CHOICE. 
 
 inclined to yield the point, but well knowing the 
 seraphic shapes in which the subtle fiend deludes 
 innocence he deemed it more prudent to with 
 hold a decision until he had seen Lei. 
 
 He had not long to wait before she entered 
 with Agnes, followed by Melville and Mrs. 
 Cleveland. After the ordinary greetings of first 
 acquaintance, he conducted them from the sac 
 risty to a room in a small brick house adjoin 
 ing the church, and bade them warm themselves 
 whilst he placed wine and cake on the table. 
 As Mrs. Cleveland approached to assist him he 
 whispered, 
 
 " Is that young gentleman a relative?" 
 "Engaged to my niece, I believe." 
 "Ag," said Lei, looking from the ceiling to 
 to the floor, and scrutinizing the window sashes, 
 " were we not here once before ? " 
 "More than once," replied Agnes. 
 " But you were not here then ? " resumed Lei, 
 appealing to the confessor. 
 
 " Xo, Miss Almy, or I should remember you." 
 " And I should remember you, though I must 
 have been a very little girl then. What has 
 become of your predecessor, the old gentleman 
 in spectacles, who looked like a prophet, and 
 told me that I would one day be a better Catho 
 lic than Asmes ? "
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 69 
 
 " Father Thomas," suggested Agnes. 
 
 " Yes ! " cried Lei, eagerly, as the name recalled 
 his image more vividly. - 
 
 " He is enjoying, I trust, the full reward of 
 his pious labors," answered the priest, "and 
 perhaps praying now amidst the angels for the 
 fulfilment of his prophecy. Miss Almy," he 
 continued, presenting her a glass of wine, "there 
 is a milk-white lamb amongst these hills, whom 
 we love and watch most tenderly, and you have 
 come to steal her from us." 
 
 Lei was silent. 
 
 " You have made her believe that our country 
 fields afford poor nourishment, and taught her to 
 sigh for more alluring pastures." 
 
 Lei was silent, Melville restless. 
 
 " You would have her forsake the simple herb 
 age that has hitherto sustained her, to crop the 
 hot-house plants which may poison as soon as 
 tasted." 
 
 " You do her too much injustice," objected 
 Melville. 
 
 " Are you too in the conspiracy, Mr. Melville ? 
 There are four against me then," retorted the 
 confessor, looking from one to the other." 
 
 "As suppliants only, not extortioners," added 
 Lei, turning away as if to examine a proof 
 engraving of the Last Supper.
 
 70 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 The good priest had at last made up his mind, 
 and taking Agnes by the hand, he said , ' 
 
 " And for how long, my child, would you 
 leave us ? " 
 
 " For a month." 
 
 " Miss Almy, you must turn your back on me 
 no longer. I own myself vanquished and com 
 mit your cousin to your keeping for a month ! " 
 
 Melville bowed deeply, and thanked him cor 
 dially, whilst Agnes crossed over to Lei, who 
 was still examining the picture. 
 
 " Why, Lei ! " exclaimed Agnes, completely 
 taken by surprise, as Lei, who had been vainly 
 struggling with her tears, fell weeping on her 
 neck. 
 
 " Strange, strange girl," murmured Melville 
 to himself. " When shall I ever know her real 
 character ! " 
 
 "Tears of joy, my child?" inquired the con 
 fessor, touched by her emotion. 
 
 " No, sir," cried Lei, " tears of sorrow ! I 
 could not ask your consent because in my 
 inmost soul I did not wish it. Up to this 
 moment I have labored incessantly to induce 
 Agnes to accompany me home, but my heart 
 failed me at the dawn of success ; and were I 
 not prevented by" her promise to her uncle 
 flashed across her, "by by violating every
 
 LORETTO ; OK, THE CHOICE. 71 
 
 rule of propriety and respect, I would supplicate 
 you now to retract your permission." 
 
 " Which I should never do," said the priest, 
 who saw the beautiful soul of which Agnes 
 spoke, shining through the tears in Lei's eyes. 
 
 " Place her not in my keeping ! " continued 
 Lei, with mournful earnestness, " I am not worthy 
 of so holy a charge ! " 
 
 " Then in God's keeping ! I relieve you of 
 responsibility ; " and from that moment the 
 name of Ellen Almy became an altar-word ; 
 and throughout that peaceful convent there were 
 prayers offered up from many a pure heart for 
 her peace and happiness. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HAT night Lei had a dream. She 
 dreamed that she was in the Convent 
 Chapel, alone at midnight ; that as 
 she was kneeling there, a lady, whose face was 
 concealed by a white veil spangled with stars, 
 appeared upon the altar. Slowly and noiselessly 
 the figure moved towards her and stood over 
 her, the veil was uplifted it was her mother! 
 Noi the pale, cold body she had seen in the
 
 72 LOBETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 coffin, but the mild, warm, bright being, whose 
 breast had once been her home, the living 
 
 ' O 
 
 mother of other days. She dreamed that her 
 mother kissed her, saying, " I have come to life 
 again, you are no longer motherless ; though 
 invisible, I will be ever at your side to hear your 
 lowest whisper, and grant whatever a parent's 
 love may bestow. Sleeping or waking, I shall 
 watch over you, go where you will I am with 
 you, and though years and years may pass before 
 we meet again, remember that your mother 
 lives ! " 
 
 The figure receded to the altar, as if wafted 
 back by unseen wings ; a smile of more than 
 mortal sweetness overspread her face, and from 
 her hands and forehead streamed forth rays of 
 glory, bathing the sanctuary in light. It was 
 still her mother's form, but not her mother, not 
 the mother who had died ; but one like her, only 
 far more beautiful, far more powerful, and in 
 loving whom she had loved her parent, too. It 
 was still her mother, but more than her mother ! 
 
 " O Holy One, leave me not ! " trembled on 
 her lips, as the lovely vision seemed about to 
 lose itself in excess of light ; but in the effort to 
 speak she awoke with a Christmas sun beaming 
 full on her face. It was nine o'clock. 
 
 " I thought you were never going to wake,"
 
 LOKETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 73 
 
 said Agnes. " Do you know that you have been 
 crying in your sleep ? " 
 
 " Oh ! I have had such a dream," sighed Lei, 
 pressing the tears from her eyelids. " I dreamed 
 that my mother was living and appeared to me ; 
 how beautiful she was ! And now that you 
 smile, you remind me of the look she gave me 
 as she vanished. Ag, when I first woke and 
 saw you kneeling there I thought you were an 
 angel." 
 
 " I wish I were, Lei, if only to be your guard 
 ian." 
 
 "What have you been doing to yourself this 
 morning ? " 
 
 " Nothing. What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Have you been riding ? " pursued Lei, after a 
 pause. 
 
 " I rode to the Convent with mother." k 
 
 " What took you there so early ? " 
 
 " To go to communion." 
 
 " To communion," murmured Lei, resting her 
 cheek on her hand ; then turning fondly to 
 her friend, she said, " Agnes, do you think 
 that if I had been to communion I should look 
 as you do now ? If I thought so I might 
 Do you really mean to go home with me to 
 morrow ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Agnes, laughing.
 
 74 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " Yes ? " echoed Lei, adding sadly and slowly, 
 " May I never hear music again if I am not sorry 
 for it ! " 
 
 The Colonel was getting ready for church. 
 Christmas, he said, was one of the few festivals 
 in the year when it became imperative on every 
 thorough-bred gentleman to appear in his pew, 
 just to show that Christianity was a very 
 good thing in its way, and to encourage the 
 lower classes in their harmless devotions. There 
 was a smack of vulgarity in staying home on such 
 an occasion ; it savored of false aristocracy ; men 
 ought to concede something to the practice of 
 their ancestors and the prejudices of their neigh 
 bors ; in short, he owed it to himself and the 
 community to go to church. A landholder of 
 liberal tastes and fine impulses was, of course, 
 not required -to hear mass as regularly as a daily 
 laborer or a woman ; but still it was incumbent 
 on every admirer of the Gospel to make some 
 public acknowledgment, once in a while, of his 
 respect for Christianity and his want of sympathy 
 with atheism. Besides this, there was a drop of 
 Catholic blood in the old man's heart, which ran 
 thrilling through his veins at the sound of the 
 Christmas mass-bell, startling his well-contented 
 conscience an instant from its slumbers.
 
 LORETTO ; OB, THE CHOICE. 75 
 
 The Colonel had already bestowed an hour on 
 his toilet, and with Charley's assistance it was 
 nearly complete. Touched by the keen edge of 
 his favorite razor, his chin was as smooth as an 
 infant's, his hair was richly powdered, his white 
 cravat tied in faultless symmetry. No wonder 
 he stood before the glass so complacently arrang 
 ing his ruffles, whilst Charley brushed his best 
 coat, for he was hale, hearty, and handsome ; 
 and, with his well-turned limbs, his imposing 
 carriage, his rich complexion, so peculiar to the 
 gentleman epicure, his fine head and delicate 
 hands, he was at that moment a study for an 
 artist. 
 
 " Brush it well, my boy," said the Colonel, 
 anxious to be seen to all possible advantage ; for 
 he knew that his appearance in church was ex 
 pected by all the parish ; that his entrance could 
 not in the nature of things be unobserved ; that 
 after service every eye would be on him. 
 
 " Not a speck ! '* cried the old man, diligently 
 examining the coat and taking a gold-piece from 
 his waistcoat pocket. " Have you heard mass, 
 Charley ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; three masses." 
 
 That's right." 
 
 " And I went to communion with mistress." 
 
 " You're a good boy, Charley," giving him the
 
 76 LORETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 gold-piece. " "Why, you bow equal to a dancing- 
 master or a Muscovy cluck. Now get my hat 
 I wish it were a few years younger but it will 
 do it will do. 
 
 " I never saw you look so well in ray life, sir," 
 whispered Charley, timidly, as he dexterously 
 applied the brush for the last time, and drew 
 back to contemplate his master in humble ad 
 miration. 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! " laughed the Colonel, not at all dis 
 pleased ; " I thank you for the Christmas gift, 
 especially," he internally concluded, " as it is not 
 undeserved. Now, my boy, get the carriage. I 
 will drive. I expect to find dinner and the pre 
 sents comme il faut on my return ! " 
 
 " Comme ilfaut ! " replied Charley, who had 
 the words like a parrot. 
 
 "Stop! my cane!" another glance in the 
 mirror, another rub of the chin, another pull at 
 his waistbands, and the Colonel was ready for 
 church. 
 
 A Christmas Mass is always beautiful ; beau 
 tiful in the Cathedral, where nave and aisle are 
 crowded with the rich and poor, thronging to 
 hear " the glad tidings / " where a thousand faces 
 are beaming in reverent joy, as amid incense and 
 immortal music the pontifical ceremonies pro 
 ceed ; beautiful in the country church, where a
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 77 
 
 single priest intones the same unchanging service, 
 where many a youth and maiden, many a father 
 arid mother in the decline of life, who have walked 
 six miles or more, fasting, are humbly expecting 
 Communion, with a holy earnestness, through 
 which no trace of corporal fatigue is seen ; but 
 still moi'e beautiful is it in a Convent Chapel, 
 with the whole community assembled to hail the 
 Nativity of the infant JESUS, one of the glorious 
 feasts for which they have renounced earth's 
 meaner banquets, one of the blessed days which 
 more than repay them for the brittle trinkets 
 they have resigned. Take the rapture of the 
 queen of beauty when the ball is at its height, 
 take the exultation of a true-hearted patriot, or 
 the feigned transports of a maudlin politician on 
 some time-honored national holiday combine 
 both, yet how poor, how false, how feeble are 
 they if contrasted with the calm delight felt by a 
 religious community when celebrating the grand 
 festivals of the Church ! Christmas is not the 
 time to pity the recluse ; and even the Colonel, 
 after an attentive perusal of the blissful faces 
 before him, "wondered how so much sweet con 
 tent, so much radiant joy, could lurk beneath a 
 sister's plain black cap, and had a better opinion 
 of the cloister. 
 
 The service was over ; the small congregation
 
 78 LORETTO J OB, THE CHOICE. 
 
 gathered round their pastor, who had a smile, a 
 word, a blessing for all ; for the aged men and 
 women who shook his hands ; for the young who 
 blushed as he saluted them ; for the urchins who 
 clung laughing to his cassock, begging for their 
 
 O O O ' OO O 
 
 pictures and their medals. 
 
 Nor was the Colonel forgotten. Deeply as he 
 bowed to the confessor, he was careful to pre 
 serve the demeanor of one who was conferring 
 quite as great an honor as he received. And oh ! 
 his air of inimitable, and well-nigh imperceptible 
 condescension, when patting his country friends 
 familiarly on the shoulder, he said in measured 
 syllables, as they approached him in regular file : 
 " I expect you all at Loretto." 
 
 During this scene, the confessor had beckoned 
 Agnes into the sacristy to say a few parting 
 words. When they came forth, Agnes was weep 
 ing, and Lei's keen eye could detect the ghost of 
 a tear, as she called it, wandering over the good 
 old father's cheek. 
 
 "Good-by!" It was soon said, but long re 
 membered. 
 
 "What's that on the porch ?" inquired Lei, as 
 they neared Loretto ; " and why are all these 
 people following us ? " 
 
 The Colonel smiled sagaciously. Lei, still star 
 ing in amazement, continued, " Uncle, upon my
 
 LOEETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 1 9 
 
 word, your cottage has been metamorphosed into 
 an admiral's flag-ship." 
 
 She sprang from the carriage as soon as it 
 stopped, and found a tall Christmas bush at each 
 end of the porch ; whilst shawls, cloaks, comforts, 
 blankets, swung in festoons from the ropes con 
 necting the columns. 
 
 "What in the name of all that's most myste 
 rious is the meaning of this?" ejaculated the be 
 wildered girl. " Do you mean to have a fancy 
 ball?" 
 
 But the mystery was soon unravelled, as the 
 whole population of the district, young and old, 
 seemed to pour itself into Loretto. It was the 
 Colonel's Christmas-srift to the neighborhood. 
 
 O O 
 
 The Colonel stood on the nicely gravelled 
 walk, his hand thrust blandly into his buff waist 
 coat, whilst Charley and Mrs. Cleveland unrobed 
 the bushes for the children, and presented the 
 more serviceable gifts each was labelled to 
 its owner. And here Charley and the Colonel re 
 versed their position in the trout season ; for 
 during the distribution, the Colonel spoke of 
 the crops, the weather, the country assizes, the 
 European news, the scarcity of partridges, with 
 out seeming to have the slightest interest in 
 
 O O 
 
 what was going on, whilst Charley claimed nil 
 the- thanks and smiles as pompously and perti-
 
 80 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 . 
 
 naciously as if he had been the real benefactor. 
 But in truth it was a spectacle worth contem 
 plating ; reminding one of the times when such 
 acts of benevolence were daily witnessed at the 
 abbey gates, which are now in ruins, or closed to 
 all who come in poverty instead of titled splendor. 
 "Whether through Charley or the Colonel, or 
 from Lei herself, it was soon ascertained that 
 Agnes would leave in the morning for the citv : 
 
 O O v ' 
 
 and all their joy was turned to sorrow. Tears 
 clouded the eyes which had been brightly beam 
 ing, and she could scarcely pacify them by prom 
 ising a speedy return ; for they loved her to 
 jealousy and feared to lose her. Lei, perceiving 
 from the dark looks cast on her, that she had 
 become an object of suspicion and dislike, re 
 treated into the parlor, saying to Melville, 
 
 "I shall be mobbed if I remain." 
 
 Nor did she venture forth until the crowd had 
 dispersed, and Charley was taking down the 
 bare ropes. 
 
 " Well ! " cried Lei, playing with her uncle's 
 ruffle, " if you are not original there's no eccen 
 tricity on the face of the earth. Am I in fairy 
 land ? When shall I forget this memorable visit 
 to Loretto ? " 
 
 "Never!" whispered a low voice in her ear, 
 and she felt her cousin's lips on her cheek.
 
 LORETTO ; OK, THE CHOICE. 81 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 . RS. CLEVELAND, Melville, and Agnes, 
 were at vespers ; Lei and her uncle had 
 
 the cottage to themselves. 
 
 " What ails you, pet ? " said the Colonel ; 
 "you are pale." 
 
 " I have a headache," replied Lei. 
 
 " Is that all ? I have a homoeopathic pill up 
 stairs that will cure you in five minutes." 
 
 " Stop, uncle," said Lei, detaining him, " have 
 you one that will cure the heartache, too?" 
 
 " Eh ! " whispered the old gentleman, with a 
 most knowing look, drawing closer to his niece, 
 "are you afflicted with the heartache? You, 
 my rattling, prattling, romping, laughing, merry, 
 mischief-making mistress ? Come. I'll cure 
 you in half an hour ; put on your bonnet." 
 
 "A walk!" cried Lei, who longed for the 
 fresh air. 
 
 Arm-in-arm they sallied forth. The afternoon 
 was as mild and bright as the spring, and the 
 horizon was wrapped in a deep, mellow haze. 
 They soon left the road for a path that wound 
 up the hill, and here, for better walking, they 
 had to part company. For a time the Colonel 
 led the way with more agility and ease than
 
 82 LORETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 one would imagine, plying his stick with the 
 dexterity of a Swiss mountaineer. Lei followed 
 quietly until near the summit, then at every 
 step her eye and cheek grew brighter and 
 brighter, and passing her uncle with a bound, 
 she sprang forward like a deer towards the high 
 rock that crowned the hill. While he was still 
 panting and puffing up the ascent Lei had 
 climbed the rock. There she stood, balanced 
 on a sharp splinter of stone, all glowing from 
 the exercise, her bonnet dangling from her 
 wrist, her hair breaking from its golden coil to 
 sweep over her neck. 
 
 " Now I can breathe," she exclaimed, extend 
 ing her arms as if to embrace the free air, and 
 glancing down on the wide circle beneath her, 
 " now I can breathe." 
 
 The Colonel was by no means poetical, yet it 
 cost him some minutes to persuade himself that 
 the aerial figure before him so clearly marked 
 against the flushing western sky was his own 
 niece Lei ; and he could not help believing that 
 had he been twenty years younger he would 
 have fled in terror and reported the hill as 
 sacred as Parnassus. 
 
 "How's the heartache, Lei?" he cried, climb 
 ing to her side. 
 
 "Better."
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE, 83 
 
 "And the headache?" 
 
 " Gone. But I .am ruined, ruined, utterly 
 ruined. I shall never love the city again; Lo- 
 retto has poisoned my home; my heart is among 
 these hills. See how the sun plunges into that 
 gorge, making those bare trees beautiful ; see 
 how it runs a race with your trout stream, caper 
 ing there through those velvet fields of young 
 wheat." 
 
 " So ho ! " shouted the Colonel, as she paused. 
 " My young enthusiast, methinks I see you iu 
 your father's parlor shaking off our dust from 
 your feet, and solemnly vowing never again to 
 visit our barbarous solitude. Isn't it so ? " 
 asked the Colonel, expecting an impassioned 
 negative, and he got it. 
 
 " But," continued Lei, dropping her head, 
 "in a few weeks I should forget you all and 
 have as keen a relish for morning calls and even 
 ing balls as I had before. I should have nothing 
 on my conscience ; and now and then a sweet 
 recollection of the cottage, the convent, or this 
 hill might steal over me and be a cordial for the 
 the heartache. But now " 
 
 " What's on your conscience now ? " said the 
 Colonel, playfully. 
 
 "Agnes," replied Lei. "Uncle, must I keep 
 the promise I have made you?"
 
 84 LORETTO; OB, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " No, certainly not," muttered the Colonel, 
 coldly. " I have no authority to compel you to 
 oblige me." 
 
 " But you have power," returned Lei, looking 
 him steadily in the face, "you have power to 
 compel me to sacrifice myself to save you." 
 
 " Then, far be it from me to exercise a power 
 in which I can take so little pride or pleasure." 
 
 "Let her stay, then, uncle, I beseech you. 
 Tell her that, at the last moment, you cannot 
 consent to part with her. Dear, dear uncle, do 
 this and save her, save me. You may have her 
 back a woman of the world, but never, never as 
 she is now." 
 
 " Nonsense," cried the Colonel. " Isn't it a 
 woman's business on earth to be a woman of the 
 world ? Do you want her to be a woman of the 
 sun, the moon, the stars? Do you want her to 
 stand apart from humanity, a cold, unfamiliar* 
 uninstructed, uncongenial thing, a being out of 
 place, an isolated unit ? Give me a woman who 
 possesses all the graces with which the refine 
 ment of centuries has adorned polite society ; 
 whose words, motions, actions are tuned to ease 
 and elegance ; who polishes her manners for the 
 delight of all, and instructs her heart for the 
 love of one. Such is a woman of the world, 
 and honored be the title."
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 85 
 
 " Such may be a woman of the world," said 
 Lei ; " but I would rather be a milkmaid, untu 
 tored and neglected, with one true friend to 
 love me, than shine as a woman of the world 
 from now till doomsday. Uncle, I have some 
 experience, and I arn inclined to think a woman 
 of the world one of the humbugs of the day." 
 
 "What are you, then?" rejoined the Colonel, 
 tartly. 
 
 " As complete a humbug as ever existed ; and 
 yet I'm only an approximation to a woman of 
 the world. Some years hence, if I remain 
 single, my education shall be perfected ; I shall 
 then have condensed into this little body of 
 mine the congregated graces of nineteen cen 
 turies ; I shall subdue impulse and be elegant 
 by rule, fascinate my friends by my manners, 
 and win a husband by my interior worth." 
 
 "You misrepresent and mock me, girl," said 
 the Colonel, sternly and sadly. 
 
 " Then forgive me,'' said Lei, kissing him. 
 " What I mean to say is this : that in the fash 
 ionable life to which I must introduce Agnes 
 there is such a decided preponderance of the 
 bad and silly over the good and elegant that she 
 will lose more than she gains. I admit that I 
 love the life I have been leading, that I would 
 not willingly resign it ; it is only at times that
 
 86 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 I feel, as now I do, the emptiness, the nothing 
 ness of our pomp and etiquette, but when the 
 feeling comes, I despise myself." 
 
 " Most unreasonably." 
 
 " Perhaps so. But Agnes is not made for this 
 w6rld." 
 
 " Is she made for a convent?" 
 
 "It seems to me that she is made to spend 
 her days at Loretto, and die as she closes your 
 old eyes." 
 
 "Lei," began the Colonel, with much hesita 
 tion, "be candid. Have you not some other 
 reason for wishing your cousin to remain here? " 
 
 " None ! " said Lei, as unsuspecting as a child. 
 
 "None?" repeated the Colonel, with a search 
 ing gaze. 
 
 " Look deep," said Lei, laughing, though her 
 neck arched slightly, "look deep and read what 
 you can see ! " 
 
 " I read," resumed the Colonel, in a whisper, 
 " that AOTCS Cleveland is beautiful that George 
 
 O <^> 
 
 Melville sees it that Ellen Almy fears it." 
 
 Lei's face was crimson in an instant, and then 
 pale as death, as she muttered indignantly, 
 
 " Fear it ! " and stood motionless, as if rooted 
 to the rock. Then, with a flashing eye and quiv 
 ering lip, she slowly raised her finger, and scan 
 ning the Colonel from head to foot, until he
 
 LOKETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 87 
 
 fairly quailed, exclaimed, half in pity and half 
 in anger, 
 
 "Oh uncle, uncle!" 
 
 "I was jesting, Lei," he said, approaching her. 
 
 " You were not!" she cried, as the warm 
 blood rushed back to her cheeks. " But let it 
 pass." And without another syllable she tied 
 her bonnet on and descended the rock, the 
 Colonel following sadly and silently. Not a 
 word passed between them until they gained 
 the road, though they walked side by side. The 
 Colonel was breathing heavily, as if unusually 
 fatigued, and he coughed almost incessantly. 
 Lei, remarking it, slackened her pace to watch 
 him as he passed her. She could not see his 
 face well, for his head was deeply inclined ; but 
 she could see his hand, ever and anon, nervously 
 applied to his eyes. Her very soul melted at the 
 sight, and stealing close to his side she laid her 
 hand upon his shoulder. He started as if stung 
 by a serpent, and catching the merciful gleam of 
 Lei's clear, loving eye, pressed her with a long 
 sob to his bosom. 
 
 " Oh, my child, my child, forgive me ! " was 
 all he could say. But this was enough, more 
 than enough for the generous girl. 
 
 " I was a fool to mind you," she said, " and 
 worse than a fool to fly at you like a blind bat."
 
 88 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 "I thought you a woman," he added, "but 
 you are move than a woman ! " 
 
 " Not more than a woman, uncle ; only more 
 than a woman of the world." 
 
 Thus Baying, she wound her arm around his, 
 and sang for him 'until they reached the white 
 palings of Loretto. 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland, Agnes, and Melville had re 
 turned from vespers and were grouped around 
 the fire. But it was no longer the same cheerful 
 
 O 
 
 group we have more than once described ; a 
 shadow had fallen on the hearth ; the note of the 
 crackling wood was more like a sigh than a song. 
 Lei made no attempt at merriment; she found 
 the silence so much more grateful than conver 
 sation. Now and then a trivial question and 
 answer was exchanged ; but it meant nothing. 
 Though each saw that the other was thinking of 
 the morrow, they kneAV that it required but a 
 word to conjure up the parting scene too vividly ; 
 so, in mutual charity, they carefully avoided the 
 subject. Agnes, herself, seemed to feel the least. 
 It may have been that she did not realize the 
 coming separation ; that to her, as to most young 
 persons, there was a vague sense of pleasure 
 in any change, or that resignation and hope 
 rendered her calmer. Thus passed a very long 
 hour.
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 89 
 
 We cannot dwell on an evening like this ; it 
 is better imagined than described. After tea 
 Melville and the Colonel played chess, whilst 
 Mrs. Cleveland sat between her daughter and 
 her niece. She addressed herself chiefly to Lei, 
 and, with all a mother's tenderness and minute 
 ness, described the course she wished her to 
 observe towards Agnes ; for though the separa 
 tion was to be brief, it was the first experiment, 
 and suggested a multitude of fears. And besides 
 this, Agnes was peculiarly circumstanced, and 
 might feel no inclination to participate in the 
 amusements Avhich others found so delightful. 
 She did not think it necessary to apprise Lei of 
 her daughter's intention ; most likely, as Agnes 
 believed, the Colonel had already told her. 
 
 Lei trembled as the anxious mother spoke of 
 the confidence she reposed in her judgment, 
 sincerity, and love ; of the sacredness of the treas 
 ure she was about to entrust her with. Her sole 
 reply was to press her aunt's hand to her lips 
 as Agnes and her mother rose to leave the room. 
 We shall not follow them. It is well at times, 
 like the ancient artist, to veil the workings of 
 a parent's heart. 
 
 Lei had a never-failing friend and comforter in 
 the piano. At home it served to clinse away 
 many a sad thought, and she found it equally val-
 
 90 LOBETTO ; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 uable at Loretto. She opened it, instinctively, 
 and began to play. Melville, by dint of constant 
 watchfulness and reflection, had contrived to let 
 the Colonel beat him. But, as may have been 
 noticed, Lei's music laid a spell on him. His at 
 tention was entirely withdrawn from the game, 
 and, playing without proper precaution, he made 
 such havoc with the old man's pieces as nearly 
 to cost him the Colonel's good opinion. 
 
 However, the night was wearing away; the 
 piano was closed ; the mimic armies slept peace 
 fully in the same tent. Lei had scarcely entered 
 her room when she heard a tap at the door. It 
 was the Colonel ; he held in his hand a string of 
 pearls which he threw around her neck. Many a 
 lady would have received it, many rejected it as 
 a bribe ; but Lei, with truer feeling, recognized 
 it as a peace offering, which it were false pride 
 or cruelty to reject. 
 
 " You have made me a promise, Lei," he said, 
 patting her on the head, " a promise which you 
 repent. I release you from it, and trust all to 
 your own good heart." 
 
 Before she could reply he had left the room. 
 A load was taken from her heart ; the thorn was 
 plucked from her pillow ; and long before Agnes 
 left her mother she was sleeping happily. 
 
 They breakfasted by candle-light, for the roads
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 91 
 
 were bad, and they had to take the stage at seven. 
 Charley's eyes swarn as he handed the coffee 
 around. 
 
 "Charley," said the Colonel, "I believe you 
 like Miss Agnes more than me." 
 
 "No, I don't, sir," stammered the boy; "I'd 
 cry more for her, but I'd do more for you." 
 
 " Then be sure you are in time for the stage." 
 
 The carriage was at the door. "Not a minute 
 to spare," cried the Colonel, tearing Agnes from 
 her mother's arms. " You are not parting for a 
 century. Let her go, sister, she's not going round 
 Cape Horn. Good-by, Melville, God bless you, 
 sir ; you know where to find us again. The trout 
 will soon be at us fine place this in spring and 
 summer; much pleasanter than now no com 
 parison, I assure you. Do come, do come. Good- 
 by, Lei ; good-by, Agnes ; be good girls. Take 
 care of 'em, Melville. There you are. Now, 
 Charley, off we go. Good-by ! " 
 
 The whip cracked, the carriage rolled away. 
 The Colonel stood on the porch until they were 
 out of sight, and then, embracing his sister ten 
 derly, led her into the desolate parlor, and, seat 
 ing himself by her side, whispered in her ear, 
 
 " Come, Mary, cheer up ! We are not too old 
 to be just as happy together, now, as we have 
 been for many a year."
 
 92 LOBETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 the breakfast-room of a large house 
 in the most fashionable part of a large 
 city sat Lei's father. He had just taken 
 tea alone, and was reading the evening paper by 
 the light of a well-modeled Carcel lamp. He 
 was a middle-aged man, small, but firmly knit ; 
 his keen gray eye, naturally quick, was so char 
 acterized by habit that a stranger might honor 
 him at sight for a shrewd, successful man of busi 
 ness. There was nothing repulsive either in his 
 face or person ; yet nothing positively attractive. 
 He lacked the Colonel's friendly air, his beam 
 ing smile of universal benevolence ; in fact, there 
 were no indications of philanthropy in Mr. Almy's 
 appearance. Yet, on 'change, no one was more 
 honored for his fairness and high-toned liberality ; 
 no one more respected for his accurate and ex 
 tensive information ; no one more envied for his 
 uniform success. Whenever blamed, it was for 
 too much indulgence to his friends, or too much 
 boldness in his operations. Yet a very close ob_ 
 server might have taken him for a mixture of 
 the miser and the cynic, artfully disguised be 
 neath a well-contrived surface of self-sustaining 
 dignity.
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 93 
 
 He had acquired great command over liis coun 
 tenance, which, usually, was composed, not placid 
 there is a vast difference. But now there 
 seemed to be something painful on his mind ; for, 
 at times, he dropped the paper and would lose 
 himself in thoughts, from which lie started with a 
 sigh. During one of these reveries a carriage 
 stopped at the front door ; he did not hear it. 
 
 " Here we are, Agnes ! " cried Lei. 
 
 Agnes found herself before a stately dwelling, 
 whose pillared entrance looked out upon a noble 
 city, stretching proudly away to thedistant river 
 glittering in the moonlight. The door flew open, 
 and Lei, darting into the breakfast-room, threw 
 her arms around her father's neck. He kissed 
 her gently to Agnes it seemed coldly on 
 the forehead, and then welcomed Melville so 
 cordially that our novice was surprised at the 
 contrast. He had seen Agnes few things 
 escaped his quick vision and, judging from her 
 plain dress and timid bearing, thought her a wait 
 ing-maid whom his eccentric child had imported 
 from Loretto until Lei thus undeceived him. 
 
 " My dear father, there is the sweetest creature 
 that mortal eye ever rested on, in your niece, 
 Agnes Cleveland." 
 
 Mr. Almy took a good long look at her, then 
 kissed her, saying,
 
 94 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 "You are most welcome, and we shall all try 
 to make you happy." 
 
 Accustomed to warmer language Agnes felt 
 her heart sink within her, yet she managed to 
 smile a reply. At this moment another was 
 added to the group. No one saw him enter; yet 
 there he stood amongst them. He was small, 
 delicately made, very pale and spare, and for one 
 so young seemed to have suffered much hard 
 treatment. He reminded Agnes of some one 
 who was familiar to her; but the person she 
 remembered, whoever it was, had a bright, laugh 
 ing face, and this stranger was sad almost to 
 severity. Still there was a striking resemblance, 
 which increased as he smiled on her. What his 
 relations were to the Almys never clearly ap 
 peared ; he w*as one of the household, with this 
 peculiarity, that he disappeared with Lei and 
 was sure to return with her ; but where he went 
 remained a mystery. 
 
 " I knew you would be here to meet me," said 
 Lei, taking his hand. 
 
 "I was nearly prevented," he replied; and 
 Agnes noticed that he spoke in a whisper. 
 
 "My cousin, Gabriel," resumed Lei, intro 
 ducing him to Agnes ; " he rarely speaks above 
 a whisper. You are now acquainted with the 
 whole family."
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 95 
 
 There was something interesting in Gabriel 
 which at once attached Agnes to him ; and when 
 ever lie looked on her she thought his expression 
 softened, thus increasing the likeness she had 
 remarked. Mr. Alrny was a little impatient of 
 his presence, and seemed to consider it an 
 intrusion ;- whilst Melville remained perfectly 
 indifferent. 
 
 Gabriel took no part in the conversation ; and 
 in the midst of it would doze soundly for some 
 minutes, then wake up and doze again. Once, 
 as his head drooped, Agnes touched Lei. 
 
 "Poor fellow! " sighed Lei, " they say he has 
 a disease of the heart. This drowsiness is one of 
 the symptoms. But come ; you must be tired, 
 for I can hardly keep 7ny eyes open. Excuse us, 
 gentlemen. Good night ! " 
 
 Gabriel left the room with them. 
 
 " Now for a chat, Melville," said Mr. Almy, 
 producing a decanter of gin ; " but first, what 
 sort of a girl is my niece ? " 
 
 " A very superior Avoman, I assure you." 
 
 "Glad to hear it," said the merchant; "I 
 thought as much. Plain looking, eh ? " 
 
 "Do you think so?" returned Melville, in 
 unfeigned astonishment. 
 
 " Well yes rather," pursued Mr. Almy, 
 sipping his toddy. "If she can take a polish,
 
 96 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 though, she is in good hands now. Have you 
 seen the news from Europe confoundedly 
 black ! " and no further allusion was made to 
 Agnes. 
 
 Mr. Almy had a sincere regard for Melville ; 
 he prized him for his generous nature, and 
 respected him as a man of the purest honor. He 
 was never happier than when talking with 
 Melville, Avhose strong, lucid mind cast a light 
 on every subject he touched, whether political, 
 social, moral, or commercial. After the labors 
 of the day it was delightful for Mr. Almy thus to 
 recreate himself, and gradually reduce his excit 
 able nerves to a pleasant repose by the united 
 efficacy of new ideas and old Schiedam. How 
 ever, Mr. Almy found very little entertainment 
 or instruction in Melville that evening ; he was 
 often guilty of the most provoking inattention, 
 the most absurd opinions ; and he confessed that 
 the train of his ideas, as often befel him in 
 travelling, was off the track. 
 
 As such dialogues are not very entertaining 
 we shift the scene, with this single remark : that 
 Mr. Almy did not mention himself unavoidably 
 once, and that Melville, though familiar with 
 his opinions, was not admitted within the well- 
 guarded circle of his feelings. Or more briefly 
 and more intelligibly, they were rather com-
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 97 
 
 panions than friends, in business and politics 
 communicative enough, but sileut about them 
 selves. 
 
 "The Colonel has his sanctum, and this is 
 mine," said Lei, as she ushered Agnes into a 
 room communicating with her chamber. Tho 
 room looked like Lei, and contained conveniences 
 and embellishments enough to make most girls 
 of fashion uninterruptedly happy. Yet it was 
 here, on that tempting lounge, that Lei spent 
 many a dismal hour. She was never so sad as 
 when she mused there all by herself, after break 
 fast or after an evening feast. Still, slie loved 
 her quiet sanctuary; for its very sadness was 
 refreshing and salutary. 
 
 Poor Agnes! the exquisite beauty and finish 
 of the apartment only served to picture more 
 vividly, in contrast, the plain parlor at Loretto. 
 She straggled hard against it, but nature was 
 too strong in her young heart, and she burst 
 into tears. To Lei, crying was as natural as 
 laughing; but Agnes rarely wept, and had 
 parted from her mother with only a sigh. This 
 natural, but sudden heart-break was thus so pain 
 ful to Lei that even the duty of consoling 
 that mainspring of the female heart could not 
 prevent her from mingling her tears with her 
 cousin's.
 
 98 LOEETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 "Xo wonder you cry, Ag," she said; "there's 
 no rejoicing fire here to welcome us with a merry 
 volley, or to bark at our feet like a faithful dog ; 
 but, instead of this, the hot air comes sneaking 
 up through those miserable apertures, breathing 
 a sickly heat, as if the winter had a fever. If I 
 live to see to-morrow I'll have a fireplace cut 
 somewhere, though we have to run the chimney 
 horizontally out of that window." 
 
 Lei soon succeeded in making Agnes laugh, 
 and when she thought the danger of a relapse 
 over, asked her with an air of inimitable droll 
 ery, 
 
 "What do you think of my father?" 
 
 This was too categorical for an answer. 
 
 "Very unlike the Colonel, isn't he?" 
 
 Agnes assented. 
 
 "Don't you find his manner cold and unpre 
 possessing?" 
 
 " How can I answer you, Lei ? " 
 
 " By telling the truth." 
 
 "But how can I know the truth in a glance?" 
 
 " Poh ! no evasion ; Melville would call yon a 
 special pleader. Were you not disappointed in 
 him?" 
 
 " If you must have it," said Agnes, laughing, 
 "I scarcely noticed him after Gabriel came into 
 the room."
 
 LOnETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 99 
 
 "Nevermind Gabriel now. Answer me, were 
 you not disappointed?" 
 
 Yes." 
 
 " I knew you would be. If I had met such a 
 man at Loretto without knowing him he would 
 have congealed me into an icicle in five min 
 utes." ' 
 
 " How can you speak of your father so ? " 
 said Agnes, whose fine organ of reverence was 
 
 o * o 
 
 shocked. 
 
 " How can I speak of him otherwise ? " re 
 turned Lei; "he's so much better than he looks 
 that I'm ashamed of his appearance. Agnes, I'll 
 bet you all the hair on my head against a lock 
 of yours that you love him in less than a fort 
 night. I could make you love him now if I 
 were to enumerate all his acts of devotion to me ; 
 I've forgotten more than half, but what I re 
 member would compel your affection." 
 
 " I'm sure of it," said Agnes, earnestly. 
 
 " Why," resumed Lei, warming as she spoke, 
 "he was left a widower at thirty; all his habits 
 and feelings inclined him to matrimony, and 
 he could have chosen from the proudest and 
 fairest in the land, for he was young, rich, and 
 gifted. But he did not marry, he repelled all 
 advances; why? because a wayward little girl 
 was left him, love's only legacy; because the
 
 100 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 spoiled child would have withered under a 
 new mother, because he prized the young crea 
 ture's happiness above his own, because he loved 
 his daughter better than himself. I am that 
 lejjacv, and I have seen the battle and the vic 
 tory." 
 
 " You have reason to love him," said Agnes. 
 
 " Indeed I have ! " exclaimed Lei, with fervor. 
 " But could I tell you how he abstained from all 
 a bachelor's amusements to spend the long even 
 ings with that motherless child ; how he appro 
 priated her first affections to himself instead of 
 permitting them to fasten on a nurse, as most 
 men do and ever will do j how he declined and 
 still declines all invitations to clubs, dinners, 
 matches, and to all the amusements he loves, 
 that he may stay at home and be what a father 
 ought to be ; oh, Agnes, the mere recital would 
 enchant you ! " 
 
 " Lei, dear Lei, I believe you." 
 
 "I am not overdrawing the picture, Agnes, 
 
 nor am I blinded by filial love. I might talk till 
 j 
 
 doomsday without doing him justice, and Avhen 
 I begin to speak of him I know not Avhen to stop. 
 But you must pardon me ; I would not utter a 
 syllable in his praise if his hypocritical face did 
 not compel me to give it the lie; it is eternally 
 Baying, * here is a cold-blooded, calculating spec-
 
 LORETTO J OB, THE CHOICE. 101 
 
 ulator,' when it ought to say, 'here is a self-deny 
 ing, generous, loving father.' I cannot account 
 for the variance between his disposition and ap 
 pearance ; I have been trying for five years, but 
 why his interior virtue has not some outward sign 
 is still a riddle. Why, mercy on me ! my own 
 little face is a passport to everybody's confidence ; 
 I hear more secrets than any body in town, yet 
 my heart is no more to be compared to my 
 father's than it is to your mother's." 
 
 " I won't take your bet, Lei," said Agnes, em 
 bracing her friend ; " you have made me love 
 him already." 
 
 " I don't want you to love him on my words, 
 but on your own careful observation. I have 
 great reliance on your sagacity, and you must 
 assist me to explain the contradiction between 
 his heart and his face. I have drawn all sorts of 
 pictures of him, and with the same set of features 
 I can give the expression he ought to have ; the 
 expression I have sometimes caught, flashing an 
 instant, then vanishing like a meteor." 
 
 "Do you think he will like me ?" Agnes asked, 
 " for I cannot study him to advantage unless he 
 does." 
 
 " He likes you already," cried Lei, " or ho 
 never would have said what he did." 
 
 " He could not have said less."
 
 102 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " But he might have said a great deal more, 
 and meant a great deal less." 
 
 Here the conversation ceased, and Lei thought 
 that Agnes must have fallen asleep on her knees, 
 her prayers were so unreasonably long. 
 
 CPIAPTER X. 
 
 JERE you ever at a concert, Ag? " 
 " Never." 
 
 " Wouldn't you like to hear Beethoven's 
 Symphony in C Minor ? " 
 
 " Yes ! " cried Agnes, joyously, who, until in 
 troduced by Lei to the great master, had reve 
 renced him only as a mighty shade, standing afar 
 off in the mist and majesty of distance like one 
 of Ossian's heroes. 
 
 "Come, then, we've no time to lose;" and 
 away they went to the boudoir. " What are you 
 going to wear, Ag?" 
 
 "Am I expected to wear anything more?" 
 "Why, you're not going in that dress; it 
 doesn't fit." 
 
 "It fits quite well enough; mother made it." 
 "Yes, mothers can do a great many things 
 for their daughters, but they can't make their 
 dresses."
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 103 
 
 " Then I'll stay at home. I thought Beethoven 
 might be heard without a ticket from a mantua- 
 maker." 
 
 " No ; that's a necessary preliminary," replied 
 Lei, without relaxing a muscle. " But I can fix 
 you in three minutes. Look here," she contin 
 ued, producing a cream-colored sack, or opera 
 cloak, and rapidly passing it on her cousin's 
 arms. "Now, a white japonica in your hair, 
 and you'll do." 
 
 " No, no," said Agnes, escaping from the sack. 
 " I couldn't listen with this mealy shroud around 
 me." 
 
 "It -is hard to civilize you savages," retorted 
 Lei, partially vexed at the cool contempt with 
 which Agnes disposed of her cloak. 
 
 Whilst talking, she had made her own toilet 
 as plain as possible, to avoid a contrast. 
 
 " Just one flower in your hair," continued Lei. 
 
 " No." 
 
 "Aggie, my dear, dear Aggie, for my sake, 
 just this teeny tiny bud," said Lei, kneeling in 
 irresistible humility. 
 
 " Well," and the flower rested lovingly on her 
 dark hair. 
 
 " Murder ! murder ! " screamed Lei, as Agnes 
 began to put her bonnet on, " you irreclaimable 
 barbarian ! "
 
 104 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " Are we going bareheaded ? " 
 
 "Of course we are. How else can we hear?" 
 said Lei, casting down her eyes. 
 
 " How else can we be seen ? you would say. 
 I will wear it." 
 
 "Then Pll stay at home. Agnes, listen to 
 me ; however much you may despise fashion, 
 yet your good sense will teach you that con 
 formity to an innocent custom is better than 
 unnecessary defiance. A bonnet in a concert- 
 room is as ridiculous as satin and tarletan in the 
 country." 
 
 " So be it, then," murmured Agnes, dropping 
 her bonnet in despair. 
 
 " That's a darling," cried Lei, kissing her and 
 throwing a white nubia over cousin's shoulders. 
 "There'll be a crowd ; come, or father and 
 Melville will suspect that mirror of detaining 
 us." 
 
 " Shall we walk or ride?" said Mr. Almy. 
 
 " Oh, walk, walk, by all means walk. What's 
 the use of wasting moonlight in a carriage," 
 replied Lei, about to take her father's arm. 
 
 "No, my dear," said Mr. Almy, offering his 
 arm to Agnes, and giving her a large bouquet, 
 " I prefer your cousin." 
 
 Lei's entrance created almost universal com 
 motion. " Therms Lei! Therms Lei!" passed
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 105 
 
 from mouth to mouth until every eye was on 
 her. Everybody seemed glad to see her old 
 ladies and young smiled a universal welcome. 
 Up sprang a score of rejoicing beaux, and our 
 party was soon advantageously seated in the 
 most select quarter of the hall. 
 
 Then another whisper, " Who's that?" be 
 gan to circulate, as Agnes became the object o.f 
 social curiosity. Hitherto we have seen Agnes 
 only amongst her native hills, with a becoming 
 background of stream and forest, of verdant 
 wheat piercing the snow, of blue mountains 
 meeting the sky in the distance. This m:vy 
 have made a difference; but alas, real beauty 
 and conventional beauty are essentially differ 
 ent ; the wild flower transplanted to a garden 
 may bloom as sweetly as beside its parent brook, 
 but how few will stop to view it. One thing, 
 however, is certain, that Agnes was not the 
 person to take the house by storm ; had she 
 appeared unsupported by Lei she might not 
 have occasioned a remark. Any one in the least 
 familiar with fashionable life must have ob 
 served that beauty is entirely an arbitrary thinf. 
 
 / J */ 
 
 It is ordained and criven out by the rulin<r 
 
 o * o 
 
 clique that a certain debutante is beautiful 
 beautiful in spite of the stars and all creation. 
 Whoever dares to dispute the edict is banished
 
 106 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 from the fairy land of the first circles ; and thus 
 the whole pack of timorous dependents and 
 hoping outsiders swell the cry until a duped 
 community is musical with her praise. Or 
 should some fair planet be spied in a lower 
 sphere, which threatens to eclipse the reigning 
 star, the innocent orb is so pelted and perse 
 cuted by all the satellites of the skies that, 
 shorn of her glory and her rays, she gladly de 
 scends beneath the horizon. Thus with Agnes; 
 it required but a word from Lei to make her a 
 paragon or a fright. 
 
 They were rather inclined to like her, but not 
 willing to hazard an opinion without a full 
 investigation of her claims. Her claims! Oh 
 
 O 
 
 hollow, heartless mockery. She might have 
 been as lovely as the masterpiece of Grecian 
 art, she might have spent her life in deeds of 
 glowing charity, she might have possessed every 
 virtue which adorns the soul, every grace which 
 encircles the mind, yet without the borrowed 
 attributes of birth and fortune of fortune at 
 least her claims would have fallen to the 
 ground as unnoticed and unfruitful as the tears 
 of poverty. Ay, more than this ; the very pos 
 session of these virtues would have diminished 
 her attraction ; the narrow vision of the world 
 below, deceived by the height of the column, 
 mistakes elevation for littleness.
 
 LOKETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 107 
 
 There sat our young rustic, just as if she 
 were in the quiet parlor at Loretto, unchanged, 
 undazzled, unawed by the splendor and bustle 
 around her. She had thrown off Lei's nubia 
 she was averse to any ornament. In her novel 
 position it was difficult to be natural and at 
 ease ; few- are proof against open embarrass 
 ment or a still more palpable effort to conceal it. 
 But Agnes was not thinking of the impression 
 she was to make ; she was merely amused and 
 entertained by her first glance at life. She was 
 still the same Agnes that sat before the wood-fire. 
 
 But Lei was in her element, a thousand times 
 lovelier than she had ever been; her eyes flashed 
 and sparkled like diamonds, and in all she said 
 and did there was a grace and elegance of 
 action never before revealed. Had Agnes been 
 inclined to jealousy there was ample cause for 
 it. Had Lei any defeat to revenge she would 
 have been amply repaid by her present triumph. 
 
 "Ag," whispered Lei, "do you see that lady 
 in the terrapin head-dress, with clusters of little 
 eggs all over her hair, a dish for an epicure ? 
 There she sits, looking right straight at you. 
 She is coming here in a moment to inquire icho 
 you are" 
 
 Agnes had already perceived the unpleasant 
 stare of the lady alluded to, who was, in fact,
 
 108 LOKETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 rendered so conspicuous by nature and art that 
 she might have been marked amongst a million. 
 She had all the pride, mannerism, and affecta 
 tion of wealth, without one symptom of good 
 breeding. But her person, in spite of advanc 
 ing age, was good ; and, on the whole, she was 
 rather a favorable specimen of metallic aristoc 
 racy. 
 
 "You must secure her countenance," con 
 tinued Lei; "she is one of the crowned heads, 
 without whose interference you will be cast into 
 exile." 
 
 "Ah, here comes Mrs. Hoity," muttered Mr. 
 Almy to Melville, " for my niece's pedigree. 
 I'll meet her." And, as the lady in question 
 rose, like a queen from her throne, he boldly 
 marched up the narrow avenue and intercepted 
 her advance. 
 
 Now, Mrs. Hoity was a widow, and had been 
 accused of more than one design on Mr. Almy's 
 independence. However this may be, she pro 
 fessed the most devoted friendship for Lei, who, 
 with exemplary filial humility, conceived herself 
 solely indebted to her father for the honor. 
 
 " I wanted a word with vour charming daugh- 
 
 w 1 ~ 
 
 ter, but I fear I shall not have time, as I see the 
 orchestra are entering now. Pray tell me the 
 name of that young stranger ? "
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 109 
 
 "Miss Agnes Cleveland," 
 
 " Cleveland, Cleveland ; who are the Cleve- 
 lands?" inquired Mrs. Hoity. 
 
 " Very good people, I believe. Her father's 
 dead." 
 
 " Ah ! an heiress ? " said the good lady, 
 brightening up and casting an approving look 
 on the debutante. 
 
 "Yes, her uncle has a snug little farm," re 
 plied Mr. Almy, gravely. 
 
 " A snug little farm ! " echoed the other, with 
 a dying smile. " Is that the sum and substance 
 of her expectations?" 
 
 "No, no," pursued Mr. Almy, quietly, "she 
 has very splendid expectations I believe, but the 
 bequest is unfortunately so limited as to take 
 effect only after her demise. The poor creature 
 has everything to hope from her own death, 
 nothing from that of her friends." 
 
 " Poor creature," sighed Mrs. Hoity, who ac 
 tually thought that Mr. Almy was alluding to a 
 peculiar will of some eccentric ancestor. " Is 
 she related to you ? " 
 
 " No ; a mere connection, a country cousin of 
 Lei's," added Mr. Almy, in a meaning whisper. 
 And with an arrogant toss of the head, a smile 
 to Melville and Lei, a cold stare at Agnes, this 
 admirable widow resumed her seat.
 
 110 LOEETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 "Have you scared off the cormorant?" whis 
 pered Melville. 
 
 "Did yoxi not see how she sailed away at the 
 first snuff of poverty and vitality?" answered 
 Mr. Almy, bending his head to indulge a laugh. 
 
 " Father has killed you dead ; Hoity's against 
 you," said Lei. 
 
 " I thank him sincerely," replied Agnes, and 
 the concert began with an overture by Lind- 
 paintner. 
 
 " Pshaw ! " muttered Lei, crushing the bill ; 
 "but we can talk if the music will let us. Let 
 us fancy ourselves on the walls of Troy ; I'll be 
 your Helen and point out the heroes and heroines 
 in the audience." 
 
 " Soon done," suggested Melville. " Point 
 where you will, you'll find a Menelaus, or a Paris, 
 or" 
 
 " A Thersites," added Lei, giving him a most 
 malicious look. 
 
 " Show me your friends first," said Agnes ; 
 '* I do not care to see the others." 
 
 " ^ly friends?" returned Lei, with an expres 
 sion of blank surprise that convulsed her father 
 and Melville with suppressed laughter, as, rising 
 deliberately from her seat, she carefully inspected 
 the room. 
 
 " Melville," she said at last, " you're taller than
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. Ill 
 
 I, will you take a look round for ray friends ! I 
 can't find one." 
 
 Happily, the overture terminated at that in 
 stant, and the boisterous applause drowned the 
 laugh they could no longer suppress. 
 
 After some mechanical waltzes of Lanner's 
 came the duett from Jessonda. 
 
 " Now," said Lei, " we'll listen, if the talking 
 will let us. You'll see one of my friends now." 
 
 Well might she call that exquisite morsel a 
 friend. Ever beautiful and ever new, growing 
 dearer and nobler by familiarity ; whoever has 
 heard it when the heart was heavy with sorrow, 
 when the brain was weary with thought, when 
 hope itself refused to cheer ; whoever has heard 
 it then will recognize it as a friend that whis 
 pered, " though the sky is overcast, the stars are 
 still as sweetly shining in their old places." 
 
 But a group of young ladies and gentlemen 
 near them kept up such an incessant clatter 
 that Agnes could scarcely follow the music. An 
 attempt was made to encore the piece, but it was 
 vigorously hissed clown for a new polka. 
 
 " Huzza for the nineteenth century ! " cried 
 Lei, her eyes flashing fire. " The mind may be 
 marching onward, as they say, but it doesn't 
 march to good music. This is awful." 
 
 " From the full house," observed Agnes, " I
 
 112 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 was inclined to think this a music-mad commu 
 nity." 
 
 "A musician-mad community," interposed 
 Melville. 
 
 "Xo, sir," resumed Lei, " a few come to listen, 
 and a few weak creatures to exchange smiles with 
 the performers, which ought not to make a ra 
 tional man jealous ; but the great majority come 
 to see and to be seen." 
 
 "You are too hard," said Mr. Almy; "that's 
 only a collateral pleasure." 
 
 " Ko, sir," replied Lei, " the principal attrac 
 tion." 
 
 "Of course it is," said Melville; " it is not 
 surprising that the first principle and ground 
 work of socigty should be the mainspring of a 
 concert." 
 
 The C minor symphony shared the same fate, 
 though insipidity itself was awed into silence 
 by the sublime Adagio, which must always lay 
 the spell of majesty on every human heart. 
 
 In the meantime it had spread all over the 
 room that Agnes was only " a country cousin;" 
 and when the concert was over, and Lei was 
 surrounded by her friends, Agnes was as un 
 noticed and unmolested as if the seal of her 
 vocation glowing on her forehead had been uni 
 versally intelligible.
 
 LOKETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 113 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 JHERE may be many who no longer 
 heed us because our unpretending story 
 seems light and frivolous, because it is 
 not sufficiently seasoned with moral reflections, 
 because we have not thought proper to insert 
 here and there a chapter of pointed theological 
 discussion to balance the ingredients of love and 
 folly, which must necessarily appear in a faithful 
 reflection of everyday life. In all humility we 
 entreat their patience. We do not elaim pro 
 found sagacity or varied experience ; but, after 
 all, there may be something beneath the glitter 
 ing surface of Loretto which even^the good and 
 wise need not utterly despise. At least we hope 
 so. Our books of devotion, dictated by learned 
 sanctity, are numerous and full of unction; our 
 catechism is within reach of the poorest ; our 
 treatises on theology, our works of controversy, 
 are able to carry conviction to every man's door. 
 In all our churches the words of faith, hope, and 
 charity are continually falling from anointed 
 lips. Go listen there, ye who seek instruction, 
 ye orphans who pine for a mother ! Waste not a 
 moment over these pages in the hope of a senti 
 mental conversion ! We only wish to show how
 
 114 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 the worm of the world may wither the fairest 
 leaf on he tree of life ; we only wish to caution 
 the young, ay, and the old, against the siren 
 songs they are singing around us, and to illus 
 trate that there is nothing so little valued by 
 society as the pleasures of religion, whilst nothing 
 is less prized by religion than the pleasures of 
 society. 
 
 Those who have accompanied us from Loretto 
 to the city must have been attracted by love for 
 the characters we have created, not by a relish 
 excited by the commonplace incidents through 
 which they have passed. It is but justice, then, 
 to examine more minutely the mutual relations 
 of our little group of friends, to explain some 
 things which have already been obscurely hinted, 
 to reveal others which may not be suspected. 
 
 Let us see what Lei thought that night. She 
 was not given to jealousy, but for some time she 
 had remarked a change in Melville's manner 
 towards her. He was quite as attentive, quite as 
 courteous, quite as agreeable; but he Avas no 
 more the same to her, the indescribable some 
 thing had passed away. But more than this, it 
 seemed to her that Agnes alone called up in his 
 face the very feeling she missed and no longer 
 inspii-ed. She feared that she loved him, but she 
 would not believe it, and repelled the thought
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 115 
 
 as an unworthy suggestion. Still she was a 
 woman ; she felt her superiority to Agnes in 
 the concert-room, and, perceiving, enjoyed it. 
 But now that she was alone, now that the mo 
 mentary triumph was over, now that her better 
 nature had returned with darkness and silence, 
 she abhorred herself for her weakness. For the 
 first time in her life she had departed from her 
 standard of feminine pride and magnanimity; 
 she had raised her hand against a friend, her heart 
 was bleeding to think that she had merited the 
 Colonel's cruel suspicion. 
 
 As for Agnes, she thought of the beautiful music 
 she had heard, of Mr. Almy's kindness; she re 
 flected long on Lei's misfortune in having so many 
 acquaintances without one friend, and then fell 
 asleep to dream of the Convent and her mother. 
 
 Mr. Almy, too, was thinking. lie thought 
 that Lei might soon be married to Melville, in 
 whom she would have a protector worthy of her, 
 that then he might feel at liberty to contract 
 new obligations. He thought of the strength and 
 purity displayed in Agnes, of her perfect free 
 dom from art and affectation, and became sud 
 denly solicitous about his age and appearance. He 
 congratulated himself on having prevented the 
 threatened persecution of Mrs. Hoity and her 
 tribe, and resolved to keep the young visitor at
 
 116 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 home, unmolested and to himself. Of course he 
 acted from the most disinterested motives ; for 
 it would be a fearful thing if this inexperienced 
 girl were entrapped by the wiles of some artful 
 adventurer. In short, it was much more prudent 
 to pursue a Castilian strictness iu her regard and 
 save himself from all responsibility. 
 
 Now, what thought Melville? "We have not 
 yet succeeded in clearly marking his character, 
 which is more faintly drawn than that of his 
 associates. It is not easy to distinguish him 
 from the multitude of real and fictitious youths 
 in whom young ladies see a hero or a sage. We 
 have said enough, though, to intimate that Mel 
 ville's charms were rather mental than physical, 
 and that, but for his fortune, few in Lei's place 
 would have loved him. There was a time when 
 Lei was all in all to him, when he thought of 
 no one else and hoped for no one else. But it 
 had passed away, passed away in spite of him ! 
 He. would give worlds to recall it, but it would 
 not come, it would not come ! He felt that he 
 was doing her injustice, that he was unjustifiably 
 abandoning a position lie had taken, that he had 
 gone too far to retract, that perhaps he had 
 inspired an attachment more permanent than 
 his own ; but reason and resolve alike failed to 
 make him retrace the lost ground over which his
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 117 
 
 inclination once carried him so lightly. He had 
 discovered Lei's noble nature, her firmness, her 
 truth, and he revered her in spite of her foibles. 
 She was worthier of love than any he had met. 
 But he met Agnes ! Here is something higher 
 and holier, the realization of his fondest hopes ! 
 As he -became better acquainted with her, Lei's 
 imperfections were magnified into faults, until he 
 wondered how he could have been fascinated by 
 such a giddy, tattling creature. Thus he fluctu 
 ated between self-reproach and self-congratula 
 tion. At the concert he had seen Lei at every 
 advantage, Agnes at every disadvantage, and 
 though delighted by the brilliancy of the one, he 
 was far more deeply moved by the noble repose 
 of the other. 
 
 His reflections naturally resolved themselves 
 into this one point : that he was still attached 
 to Lei, but that his solemn duty to himself de 
 manded that he should obey his mature judg 
 ment instead of blindly pursuing his juvenile 
 inclinations. No very serious consequences 
 could arise, because Lei was too generous not 
 to forgive him, too light-hearted not to forget 
 him. The matter must soon be decided things 
 had a hypocritical aspect as they stood he 
 hated deception and procrastination at all 
 events he would ask Agnes to ride with him 
 to-morrow afternoon.
 
 118 LOKETTO : OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 T was a bright, cold day ; Melville and 
 Agnes had gone out on horseback, Mr. 
 Almy and Lei were spending the after 
 noon at home. 
 
 "Lei,", said Mr. Almy, "I cannot tell you 
 how much your cousin interests me. I have 
 often followed little school-girls for squares to 
 watch their faces. Sometimes I find amongst 
 them one of those sweet young creatures won 
 dering sadly at the world, on whom the bung 
 ling earth has not laid a touch to spoil the pure 
 handiwork of heaven. I have wept as I fol 
 lowed them,; to think that they must live, for 
 they feel their exile. Agnes has one of these 
 faces." 
 
 " She is as happy as the day's long," said Lei. 
 
 " Happier than you or I, perhaps," continued 
 Mr. Almy ; " but ask her whether she is not 
 languishing for her home there, above the blue 
 
 o O ' 
 
 ether that bars the eagle's eye, and her answer 
 will be 'Yes!'" 
 
 " I believe it would," returned Lei, mourn 
 fully. 
 
 " Are we the tempters who must destroy this 
 beautiful hope, by substituting for it a clinging
 
 LORETTO; OB, THE CHOICE. 119 
 
 to the world, a false devotion to the artificial 
 life ice are leading? Oh, Lei, Lei, when I think 
 of the villains who approach you, who, steeped 
 in iniquity to the lips, yet have the privilege of 
 walking, talking, eating, and dancing with you, 
 I despise myself for permitting it. I had not 
 the Christian firmness to prevent it ; I lack the 
 Roman heroism which should remedy it." 
 
 Lei had often determined to inform her father 
 of Agnes' choice of life, and of the agony it 
 caused the Colonel. But in her heart, though 
 she knew it not, she prayed that Agnes might 
 adhere to her resolution and' not permit the 
 false glare of a brilliant season to melt her 
 heroic promise. She trembled at the responsi 
 bility of weaning the child of heaven from the 
 breast from which it drew its first pure nourish 
 ment. She feared that her father, out of earnest 
 sympathy for the Colonel, might employ every art 
 to win Agnes to the world. This had kept her 
 silent. But her father was speaking as he had 
 never spoken before ; his whole frame was work 
 ing as if he were giving vent to thoughts smoth 
 ered for years. 
 
 " Father," she began, " forgive my concealing 
 it ; I should have told you at once, Agnes Cleve 
 land is to be a nun." 
 
 " Of her own free choice ? "
 
 120 LORETTO J OB, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Thank God ! " cried Mr. Almy, and a light 
 broke over his face, amid which Lei saw the 
 expression he ought to have. " Thank God ! 
 But what is she doingr here ? " 
 
 o 
 
 Lei hung her head. 
 
 "Does her mother oppose it?" 
 
 " No ; her uncle does." 
 
 "The hoary old fool," thundered Mr. Almy, 
 clenching his hand. " And he sent her here to 
 be reclaimed?' 1 '' he added, bitterly. 
 
 " Yes," said Lei, " and I am his instrument." 
 
 " His instrument," repeated Mr. Almy, breath 
 ing deeply and drawing back from his daughter 
 with involuntary disdain, " his instrument to 
 seduce this vestal virgin from solitude and sanc 
 tity ; his instrument to pervert the purest aspira 
 tions of the human soul ; his instrument to 
 deprive her of eternal joy for the sake of mortal 
 life ; and what a life ! Xo, no, Lei, I will not 
 believe it, you are not sunk so low." 
 
 I am." 
 
 " Lei ! " exclaimed Mr. Almy, grasping her 
 arm, " I have been a cold, inconsiderate parent ; 
 I have but poorly played a father's part ; I have 
 neglected your soul, your immortal soul, because 
 I loved the world more than heaven. I shall not 
 speak of this now, not now. I love you, though,
 
 LOEETTO J OE, THE CHOICE. 121 
 
 with all the love of which I am capable; you 
 are dearer to me than all the earth. I would 
 sacrifice fortune, health, life, to save you from 
 one hour of the suffering that is my daily por 
 tion ; but though I must love you thus to the 
 day of my death, come what may, yet if you 
 attempt by any influence, direct or indirect, to 
 clip the Avings of this beautiful soul now flying to 
 its Maker's bosom, I shall cease to respect you." 
 
 "Oh, hear me, father. A good old man, with 
 trembling hands and gray hair, knelt to me, and 
 begged me, as I valued his peace and life, to 
 prevent his child for he loves her as his child 
 from taking this final step, without experience, 
 without reflection, without trial." 
 
 "And is she to be sacrificed because he is old 
 and foolish ? Oh, Lei, the whisperings of God 
 to a young heart undefiled by sin, and in constant 
 communion with him, trusting, living, exulting 
 in him alone, are worth ages of experience. 
 Fervent piety is more than wisdom, without 
 which reflection is nothing. And as for trial, 
 are we to test her with acids, like a lump of gold, 
 when our very touch is enough to change her 
 nature ? " 
 
 " I have riot soiled her yet," said Lei, hurt at 
 the insinuation ; " but if you think me an unfit 
 companion for her "
 
 122 LOEETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " I have touched your pride, my sweet Lei," 
 said Mr. Almy, drawing her to his side. "My 
 dear daughter, you have fine impulses, glowing 
 sentiments, correct notions of right and wrong, 
 as the world goes ; you go to church pretty reg 
 ularly, you say your prayers sometimes, you are 
 a loving, dutiful child, but oh, Lei ! you are not 
 what you might have been "what you might be 
 had I done my duty, had I consulted your true 
 interests, had I been true to your mother 's dying 
 charge ! " 
 
 At these last words, uttered in a hoarse whis 
 per, as if wrung by agony and remorse from his 
 lips, the proud merchant staggered to a chair 
 and buried his face in his hands, Avhilst Lei, pale 
 and trembling, knelt before him. 
 
 " Enough, enough, the fault is mine!" mur 
 mured the father ; ask me no more, not one 
 word more, as you value my repose. Will you 
 believe it, my daughter, that often when you 
 were attracting all eyes, and winning all hearts, 
 I have wished, prayed, ay, a thousand times, 
 prayed that you had died in your cradle before 
 your feet had left your mother's chamber, before 
 your lips had left your mother's breast. It was 
 a wicked wish, but I wished it, I still wish it." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Because I have a conscience ! " said Mr.
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 123 
 
 Almy, with bitter emphasis, and as he raised his 
 eyes lie encountered Gabriel's, who was smiling. 
 
 " You come and go like a ghost," continued 
 Mr. Almy, addressing him ; " I am glad you come 
 now with a smile. What's the matter?" 
 
 " Tea is ready," whispered Gabriel, " and Miss 
 Agnes and Mr. Melville are at the door." 
 
 We shall employ the time they are spending 
 at the tea-table by relating what happened dur 
 ing the ride. 
 
 Melville did not feel exactly happy as he 
 pranced so gayly beside Agnes; the future was 
 not clear enough, his hopes were too far from 
 f ullilment ; yet he felt the charm of her presence, 
 and was happier than he would have been any 
 where else. At times, indeed, when Agnes gave 
 full reign to the spirited creature that bore her, 
 when, leaving the city behind, she flew into the 
 country like an uncaged bird, or when, checking 
 their horses they paced slowly along some Avooded 
 ridge, conversing as freely and fondly as if they 
 had been friends from childhood, the sanguine 
 young man flattered himself that the cold obsta 
 cles to his happiness were melting in the warm 
 light of affection. 
 
 Away they went, as fleetly as happiness, 
 through the suburbs, over the main road, passing 
 from turnpike to turnpike by various winding
 
 124 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 lanes, new to Agnes, but familiar to her compan 
 ion. The horses stopped of their own accord 
 beside a little ice-bound brook, and then walked 
 most leisurely. The road Avas shut in by hills 
 and trees, and wound gradually from a hollow 
 up to a high point of land, commanding a fine 
 view of the city and the river beyond it. Melville 
 smiled sadly ; the intelligent animals were truer 
 to the past than he. Yes, it was Lei's favorite 
 ride ! There had she been day after day with 
 him ; in spring, when the first flowers were bloom 
 ing, when the loving leaves stretched forth their 
 tender cheeks to the soft kisses of the south 
 winds, and decked the reviving brandies for woo 
 ing birds; in summer, when the little brook bab 
 bled against the heat, when thirsting doves came 
 to drink and peck there, when the flocks and 
 herds slumbered in the cool shade of noble oaks, 
 when the bearded wheat and tasselled corn waved 
 in green and gold ; in autumn, when the mellow 
 fruit glanced in beauty through the orchards, 
 when every hill-top and every bottom glowed in 
 gorgeous livery of a thousand dyes, as if the 
 numberless leaves had caught and held fast the 
 colors of the sunset clouds. The horses had 
 always walked over that ground, and they re 
 spected it now. 
 
 No wonder then Melville looked grave, no won-
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 125 
 
 der lie hung his head. He knew the very stones ; 
 they preached to him most powerfully of mortal 
 inconstancy ; and as memory after memory re 
 turned, with a load of looks, words, and smiles, 
 his heart smote him, and he felt like a traitor. 
 
 Agnes was not entirely blind, yet up to this 
 instant she had never dreamed that Melville's 
 attentions to her meant anything more than 
 common friendship. To a pure, unsuspecting in 
 telligence truth comes like inspiration. All at 
 once it flushed upon her that Lei and Melville 
 stood a little farther apart, and that she herself 
 stood between them. And then, putting this and 
 that together, she rapidly came to a conclusion 
 from which she recoiled, unwilling to believe it. 
 "When Melville looked up, he met her calm, dark 
 eye searching his very soul, and he blushed and 
 trembled like a truant school-boy. His embar 
 rassment confirmed her suspicion, and a senti 
 ment resembling aversion arose in her mind. It 
 was but a transient shadow, yet, had he not looked 
 away, he could have seen, for once, that gentle 
 face administering a cold rebuke. 
 
 "Can we return by that road?" she asked, 
 urging her horse to a full gallop. 
 
 Melville muttered, "Yes." 
 
 " Let us take it, then ; the sun will soon be 
 down."
 
 126 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 There were pretty cottages strung along each 
 side of the road, some on the Barn, some on the 
 Gothic, but most on the Vandal order, with here 
 and there a dwelling of much pretension, its de 
 formity rendered more conspicuous by its size. 
 Agnes kept her companion busy telling her the 
 names and history of the owners. His answers 
 were not very entertaining or satisfactory, and 
 the good people described could hardly have 
 recognized themselves in the medley he made of 
 them. In short, he so confounded their births, 
 marriages, and deaths that it must have been the 
 most wonderful population on the face of the 
 earth. He still felt that calm, dark eye search 
 ing his very soul, and half his replies were at 
 random, until, to his inexpressible relief, they 
 reached the edge of the city, where she suspended 
 her queries, to observe the dirty, cramped, dingy 
 hovels through which they were passing. 
 
 " You must excuse my bringing you this very 
 uninteresting route," said Melville. "I scarcely 
 know where we are. However, it is easy to 
 escape these palaces of the sovereign people." 
 
 "Excuse me," replied Agnes, surprised and 
 pained by this heartless sneer ; " excuse me if I 
 find this the most interesting part of our ride." 
 
 Melville saw how far he had committed him 
 self. Poor fellow ! He was charitable or liberal
 
 LORETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 127 
 
 to a fault; but, like all of us, in trying, to appear 
 to advantage, he only injured himself. 
 
 " Palaces they may be," she resumed, " of vir 
 tues that might put us, whom the poor need not 
 envy, to the blush. Are these palaces ever vis 
 ited by the rich, or are they avoided, as the 
 Hindoo avoids a jungle which may conceal a 
 lion?" 
 
 "Perhaps they do conceal a lion," said Mel 
 ville. 
 
 "A very lean one, then," returned Agnes, 
 glancing at the meagre forms that were flitting 
 around them. 
 
 " Only the more desperate from hunger." 
 
 " And whose fault is that ? " cried the young 
 girl, with a flashing eye. " Were half the money 
 that is squandered applied here the danger would 
 be over." 
 
 " My fair friend is something of a Socialist." 
 
 " Xo," she retorted, with a smile. " If Chris 
 tian charity were more in vogue Socialism, which 
 only lives in its absence, would be out of fash 
 ion"" 
 
 " It is their duty as Christians to bear and 
 forbear." 
 
 "Most unquestionably. But if we neglect the 
 duty of relieving are we to be surprised if they 
 renounce the more difficult task of suffering;?
 
 128 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 A republic destitute of active Christian charity 
 wants the first principle of life." 
 
 At this moment they were attracted by a little 
 boy, who, darting through the door of an ill-look 
 ing shed, trotted along by their horses, hold 
 ing his tiny hands up to Agnes with a gesture 
 not to be mistaken. He could not have been 
 more than ten years old ; he was bareheaded, 
 and his light, flaxen hair curled over his temples 
 and cheeks. Though his clothes were tattered 
 and old, yet his face and hands were scrupu 
 lously clean. Agnes was enchanted with him as 
 he followed her, looking up with mild blue eyes 
 from which his very soul appealed. Young as he 
 was his smile was adorned with a touching 
 mournful ness it was like a star peering through 
 a watery sky. 
 
 "What do you want, my boy?" said Agnes, 
 stopping her horse. 
 
 "Help for my father," murmured the child, 
 blushing and hanging his head. 
 
 o o o 
 
 "Perhaps his confusion should be construed 
 into an admission of imposture," she whispered 
 to Melville, and then continued, " What ails 
 your father?" 
 
 " He has been very sick." 
 
 " Is he better ? " 
 
 " Oh yes, much better. He is getting well."
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 129 
 
 " What does he want ? " 
 
 The child was silent. 
 
 " Tell me ! " said Agnes, in a tone of such 
 heartfelt sympathy that the little fellow won 
 dered, smiled, and wept. 
 
 " He never asks for anything," answered the 
 boy, shaking his head, " he never asks for any 
 thing." 
 
 "Have you nothing to eat?" resumed Agnes. 
 
 " Yes, we have bread and meat enough for a 
 week ; but father won't eat it, and if he doesn't 
 eat you know he must die." Here his tears 
 flowed faster. " I thought that if I could 
 get money enough to buy him some nice things 
 to-night he would be better in the morning. 
 And when I saw you passing, something seemed 
 to say to me, ' there goes a lady who will give 
 you some oranges, and pineapples, and oysters.' 
 For oh ! you looked so good ! " cried the art 
 less child, looking into her eyes. 
 
 " Flattery, another proof of dishonesty. Shall 
 we encourage this vagabond, Mr. Melville?" 
 reaching down to pat the boy's head as she 
 spoke. 
 
 "He attracts me strongly," whispered Mel 
 ville, taking out his purse. " In spite of his light 
 hair and blue eyes I think he slightly resembles 
 you."
 
 180 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " "What is your name, my son ? " said Agnes. 
 
 " Clarence ! " 
 
 " Have you no other name ? " 
 
 " None." 
 
 "Where is your father?" 
 
 " In there," said the boy, pointing at the door 
 from which he had issued. 
 
 " Can I see him ? " 
 
 Again the round tears rolled over his soft 
 cheeks, again his golden head inclined. With 
 out a word he pressed her hand passionately to 
 his lips, then gazed at her in mute reverence. 
 
 " You are not in earnest, Miss Agnes," cried 
 Melville, as she was about to dismount. 
 
 " Indeed I am," and throwing him the reins, 
 and giving her hand to the child, she sprang 
 lightly from the saddle. Melville was instantly 
 at her side. 
 
 " My dear Miss Cleveland," he said, " I im 
 plore you not to expose yourself to the close at 
 mosphere of these cells, where you know not how 
 many forms of disease may be lurking. Remain 
 here ; I will make an examination and see that 
 the invalid is well nursed." 
 
 So saying, he beckoned a man to hold the 
 horses, and stepped before her. 
 
 "We will go together," said Agnes, noticing 
 Melville's concern for her and indifference to him-
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 131 
 
 self. But she could not be dissuaded by look, 
 speech, or gesture ; for not only did she long to 
 begin her mission at the bedside of suffering 
 poverty, not only did she think of bathing the 
 invalid's temples and moistening his lips, but the 
 man might be dying, an unshrived soul might 
 be speeding to its last account ! 
 
 Clarence led the way with his little hand fast 
 in hers. 
 
 After ascending a narrow, crooked staircase, 
 they entered a dismal chamber, uncarpeted and 
 vtnpapered. They could scarcely see each other 
 at first, for the room was badly lighted, and the 
 broken windows were hung with blankets to nour 
 ish heat at the expense of light. The wretched 
 ness of the scene, the imperfect ventilation, made 
 Agnes dizzy, as, guided by Clarence, she ap 
 proached a bed standing on a shabby piece of 
 matting in one "corner. 
 
 " He is sound asleep," whispered the boy; "he 
 has not slept before for three days and nights." 
 
 " Give me a candle, if you have one," said Mel 
 ville, drawing closer to the slumberer. Agnes 
 shuddered he was so still, his very breathing 
 inaudible it might be death! 
 
 Clarence hastily drew a match across the wall, 
 and the last candle, revealing all the evidences 
 of poverty and distress, deepened the wretched-
 
 132 LOBETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 ness of the scene. Shading the light with his 
 
 O O 
 
 hand Melville bent over the sick man. Agnes 
 saw a mass of black hair, a forehead white as 
 marble; she saw the closed eye, the motionless 
 lips, and clasping her hands knelt by the pillow ; 
 whilst Clarence, terrified at their deep silence, 
 crept close to her side. She looked again, did 
 not' the thin nostril move ? did it not rise and 
 fall regularly ? She looked earnestly at Melville. 
 
 " He is living," he said at last ; " his pulse is 
 weak, but true ; his breathing faint, but regular. 
 My son," he continued, in a tone of unwonted 
 tenderness, " your father will be much better 
 when he wakes." 
 
 " When will he wake ? " asked Clarence, with 
 tearful eyes. 
 
 "Probably not before to-morrow." 
 
 " But if he should not' wake then ? " 
 
 "So much the better. Let him sleep on." 
 
 Agnes turned to embrace the boy, and to her 
 surprise found the mysterious Gabriel amongst 
 them. 
 
 " How did you find us out ? " said Melville. 
 
 " I saw the horses at the door," whispered 
 Gabriel. 
 
 " This atmosphere is enough to kill any one," 
 resumed Melville, examining the windows. 
 
 Whilst he was improving the ventilation, Ag-
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 133 
 
 nes moved about the room, like a sweet spirit, 
 putting things in order. By her mere touch the 
 rubbish around her seemed to lose its chaotic as 
 pect. As Ave see a gentle, loving woman subdu 
 ing the ruggedness of poverty by a smile, and 
 reducing all to order, as if by the simple force of 
 her presence, we are reminded of the Eternal 
 Spirit that moved over the face of the waters, 
 creating life and light and order by his breath 
 alone. 
 
 Gabriel had taken Clarence on his knees. 
 One of his peculiarities was a fondness for chil 
 dren which he could not control. He was never 
 so happy as when he had them in his arms. And 
 they all loved him, and would run to meet him 
 and cling to him like young vines around the 
 prop by which they curl towards the sky. 
 
 "Let us go, Miss Cleveland," said Melville. 
 
 " Leave him ? " cried Agnes, in surprise. 
 
 " I will return and pass the night here ; I have 
 some skill in medicine. This is no place for 
 you." 
 
 Agnes felt that she had done Melville injus 
 tice, and a smile of gratitude and approval shone 
 on her face 
 
 "But should he want a confessor?" 
 
 " Leave that to me," interposed Gabriel. 
 
 " The man is in 110 danger, I assure you," said 
 Melville.
 
 134 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 "I shall return in half an hour," whispered 
 Gabriel to the child. 
 
 " Don't forget the oranges ! " said Clarence. 
 Gabriel smiled, and Agnes took the dear boy in 
 her arms. 
 
 "When are you coming back?" asked Clar 
 ence, clinging to her. 
 
 " To-morrow morning early. Will you not go 
 with me till then ? " 
 
 Clarence pointed to his father, and Agnes 
 kissed his clear, sunny forehead. 
 
 "Where do you sleep?" she said. 
 
 He pointed to a chair at the head of the bed. 
 
 Turning abruptly from him to hide her tears 
 she left the room. 
 
 " Make no noise, my son," said Melville. He 
 looked round for Gabriel, but Gabriel had al 
 ready disappeared. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 S we have seen, Gabriel reached the 
 house a minute before the equestrians ; 
 his celerity Avas so marvellous that he 
 might be called ubiquitous. At the tea-table 
 Agnes acquainted Lei and her father with what
 
 LOEETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 135 
 
 had happened. Mr. Almy immediately ordered 
 his carriage, and the girls busied themselves in 
 gathering all the delicacies of the house into a 
 goodly bundle. After this they selected a good 
 bed and abundant covering for Clarence. All 
 was put into the carriage in charge of Gabriel, 
 who set out at once, -Melville promising to fol 
 low soon. 
 
 The stranger was still asleep; Clarence was 
 sitting by his bedside, thinking of the sweet 
 looking lady who had been so kind to him. The 
 poor boy had heard of angels, and in his solitude 
 and sufferings he delighted to surround himself 
 with those blessed creatures with whom he be 
 lieved the air was peopled. They were his only 
 playmates, and so vividly had he pictured them 
 that he knew them by different forms and names, 
 and loved to sing to them by day and call them 
 to share his pillow when he was fortunate enough 
 to have one. But Agnes seemed to him prettier 
 than any of his invisible companions; and he 
 was wondering whether some one of them had 
 not stepped forth from the air to comfort and 
 cheer him, in mortal shape, as Gabriel entered 
 the room. 
 
 Without speaking, but smiling like another 
 angel, this strange being spread the bed on the 
 floor and made it up as nicely as a new chamber-
 
 136 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 maid could have done. He then deposited the 
 bundle in a corner, and took Clarence on his 
 knee, drawing the chair away from the bed. 
 
 " You see I have not forgotten the oranges " 
 he whispered, pulling some of the golden fruit 
 from his pocket. 
 
 But Clarence was looking at the soft bed, the 
 snow-white sheets, and spotless pillow-case. 
 
 " Is that for me ? " he murmured. 
 
 "For you," replied Gabriel, kissing him, as 
 the fair boy, leaning against his benefactor's 
 breast, wept as if his heart would break. It was 
 soon over ; the tears of childhood are like April 
 showers for every drop, a flower, a smile. 
 
 " What is your father's name ? " resumed Ga 
 briel. 
 
 Clarence shook his head. 
 
 " Where were you born ? " 
 
 " I do not know." 
 
 "Is your mother dead?" 
 
 " I never saw my mother," sighed the mother 
 less boy. 
 
 " Where have you been living ? " 
 
 " In England." 
 
 "All your life?" 
 
 " No," said the child after a pause, in which 
 he seemed lost in thought. " I remember an 
 other land where the sun was warmer, where
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 137 
 
 grapes and oranges grew on the hills. I remem- 
 *ber travelling far and crossing the water, and 
 feeling cold, and finding different fruits and 
 different people. I could not understand what 
 they said. Then we crossed the water again, 
 and found it still colder, and everything differ 
 ent again it was England." 
 
 O O 
 
 "How long were you there?" 
 
 " Oh, a long time, three or four years." 
 
 "Have you always been poor?" 
 
 " Yes, always poor, but not so poor as now ; 
 father, is sick so often." 
 
 "What does your father do for a living?" 
 
 " I don't know." 
 
 " Does he work ? " 
 
 " I don't know. We travel about from city to 
 city. He is with me nearly all day, puts me to 
 bed at night, kisses me, tells me to go to sleep 
 and bids me good-by. When I wake in the 
 morning I find him lying beside me." 
 
 " You spoke of a warmer land," whispered 
 Gabriel. 
 
 " Yes, " said the boy, eagerly, his eyes glisten 
 ing with tears, "a land where I wish to die. I 
 should go to heaven if I died there, it seems to 
 be so much nearer heaven than any other place 
 on earth is." 
 
 "A land of hills and grapes! Are you a 
 Catholic?"
 
 138 LOEETTO; OB, THE CHOICE. 
 
 Clarence opened his jacket and showed a silver 
 medal hanging over his white breast. 
 
 " Your father too a Catholic ? " 
 
 "Yes; he hears me my prayers and takes me 
 with him to mass on Sundays." 
 
 During the conversation Gabriel had not for 
 gotten to refresh the child from the bundle, and 
 from his own deep, exhaustless pocket. Observ 
 ing that the lids seemed to droop over those 
 young eyes he forbore any further questioning. 
 Soon the untasted apple dropped from the boy's 
 hands he had fallen asleep on Gabriel's bosom. 
 
 " Sleep soundly, sweet child ! " but as he spoke 
 Clarence woke, gazing round for his father. 
 
 "Undress, my boy, I will watch your father 
 to-night." 
 
 " Will you ? " said Clarence, kissing his hand 
 and looking into his eyes. " Yes, you will ! I 
 will trust you. Wake me if he wants anything." 
 So saying, he knelt and said his customary 
 prayers with his head between Gabriel's knees ; 
 then timidly crept into his beautiful bed, and in 
 an instant went sound asleep. 
 
 Gabriel knelt some time over his young charge, 
 then rose and approached the sick man on tip 
 toe. The invalid for the first time moved, 
 his brow contracted, and a slight spasm passed 
 over his face. Then growing more and more
 
 LORETTO ; OK, THE CHOICE. 139 
 
 restless, he drew his arms from under the thick 
 quilt, his head began to rock, and finally he 
 turned on his side with his face to the wall, as 
 if oppressed by Gabriel's presence. Gabriel still 
 stood over him, with an expression of peculiar 
 solicitude and sadness. Suddenly he placed his 
 hand over the stranger's heart; a deep groan 
 answered the touch. 
 
 Melville's foot was on the staircase . Gabriel 
 fell back from the bed, and as he did so the sick 
 man returned to his former position and lay as 
 quietly as before. 
 
 "The carriage is at the door," said Melville; 
 "you had better return and report that all is 
 going on well. I shall keep watch to-night." 
 
 Scarcely had the door closed on Gabriel than 
 Melville, taking the candle from the hearth, ap 
 proached the sufferer. With a trembling hand 
 he pressed the matted hair back from the pale 
 forehead. 
 
 " Yes ! it is he ! " Pale as the sleeper himself, 
 lie replaced the candle, and throwing himself in 
 a chair, abandoned himself to the most harrow 
 ing thoughts. The scene itself, apart from asso 
 ciation, was calculated to impress him deeply. 
 There lay that beautiful boy, his cheek resting 
 on his hand, a calm smile playing around his 
 half-opened mouth ; there lay the father as stern 

 
 140 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 and still as death. The wind sighed mournfully 
 through the broken panes and loose sashes, and 
 rustled along the tattered hangings. Melville 
 was too much excited to think collectedly, and 
 the night seemed to him as endless as it does to 
 a wounded soldier on the battle-field. The candle 
 flickered in its socket, the formless shadows 
 danced over the wall and ceiling. Twelve 
 o'clock sounded, faintly tolled from afar off ; 
 the unwearying wheel of sin and pleasure is 
 spinning around; his brain is spinning too; he 
 feels tempted to rush from the room into the 
 open air. At first, anxious to gratify his curi 
 osity, he wished the sleeper to wake ; its was 
 too painful to watch that white, motionless form, 
 alive, but giving no sign of life, a stranger, and 
 yet perhaps something more than a friend. But 
 now, though not easily daunted, he trembled lest 
 he should awake, he prayed that he might sleep 
 on till morning light. And yet he could not 
 compose himself; in spite of his utmost efforts 
 he paced up and down the room. He lit another 
 candle brought by Gabriel ; its clear light relieved 
 the sepulchral aspect of the room, his spirits 
 rose, he laughed at his childish dejection, and 
 forced himself to hum over some of his favorite 
 songs. His back was turned to the sleeper; 
 there is a sudden start, a motion in the bed!
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 141 
 
 The song froze on his lips, a chill went through 
 his heart. Turning, as if he had been wrenched 
 round by a hand of iron, he saw the figure sitting 
 upright, he saw two unnaturally large eyes fixed 
 upon him ; it was as if a corpse had risen in the 
 terror and majesty of death, as if the soul had 
 returned from its last errand to drag the body 
 after it. 
 
 Melville, unable to speak, stood gazing at the 
 spectral stranger ; it was a pause of fearful 
 silence; the apparition was the first to speak. 
 
 " Who are you ?" sounded in a hollow voice. 
 
 " A friend," replied Melville, conquering his 
 awe and advancing. "You must pardon this 
 intrusion, it is kindly meant." 
 
 "Where is Clarence?" continued the other, 
 searching the room with a rolling eye. 
 
 o o j 
 
 " Asleep at the foot of your bed." 
 
 " Poor fellow, he has a hard time of it. Raise 
 me, let me see him." 
 
 Melville raised him in his arms until the boy 
 was in view. The stranger, clasping his hands in 
 mute thankfulness over his breast, sank back on 
 his meagre pillow and wept ; ay, that stern man 
 wept, and his face became as soft as a woman's. 
 
 "Am I indebted to you for this?" he said, 
 feebly pressing Melville's hand. 
 
 Melville shook his head and related the cir-
 
 142 LOKETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 cumstances that led to his discovery, bringing 
 Agnes forward in the beautiful relief she occu 
 pied in his o\vn fancy. 
 
 "And who is she, this angel of mercy?" 
 
 "Melville hesitated he felt himself on dan 
 gerous ground her name might excite an agi 
 tation fatal to the patient. 
 
 " My sister," he replied. 
 
 " And your name is" 
 
 "Melville." 
 
 " Melville ! " repeated the other, drawing his 
 fingers across his forhead, " Melville. " 
 
 " I think we have met before, " and as the 
 stranger searched his features, he began 
 
 "lam a wanderer!' 1 '' 
 
 "Indeed! The music store in London? 
 Has that Avretched, impious song served to con 
 nect me in sympathy with any human being. 
 Oh, Mr. Melville, I have changed since then ! 
 I am still a wanderer, still a prodigal, still a vil 
 lain, it may be, but that boy has bettered me, 
 saved me. These are almost the first tears I 
 have shed since childhood ; but long accus 
 tomed to hardship and neglect, your sister's 
 kindness at this moment makes me weep. I 
 might scorn it, if rendered to me alone, but 
 to that child Bless her ! bless her ! and the un 
 bidden tears coursed down his wasted cheeks.
 
 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 143 
 
 " Poor boy," he resumed, " he leads a lonely 
 life with me, and yet I have seen him, for 
 hours at a time, playing and talking with in 
 visible companions his angels, as he calls 
 them. And who will say that those blessed 
 spirits may not appear to a lonely, motherless 
 boy, clad 'in baptismal innocence that heaven 
 may not minister to such a child, deprived of 
 every earthly pleasure ! " 
 
 Much as Melville w r ished to hear more he 
 begged his patient, who was already exhausted, 
 to compose himself to sleep. He had prudently 
 brought some liquid nourishment, which he 
 prevailed on him to take there was no need 
 of medicine; the man was well, and only re 
 quired care. Whenever he attempted to speak 
 Melville imposed silence by laying his fingers on 
 his lips, saying, 
 
 " We will converse to-morrow." 
 
 At last the wanderer's eyes closed it was 
 no longer a dull stagnation of the body, but a 
 calm, refreshing sleep. Melville was compara 
 tively happy; happy in the consciousness of 
 doing good, happy that a new tie between him 
 and Agnes was spun. But a task full of diffi 
 culty, requiring the greatest prudence and deli 
 cacy, was before him. Agnes had promised to 
 return in the morning, and how to palm her off
 
 144 LORETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 
 
 for his sister without awakening suspicion as 
 strong as his own he knew not. Lei, too, 
 would be sure to call her cousin by name; 
 one word might cost the invalid his life. It 
 was necessary to make a confidant of Lei ; thus 
 he hoped, by practicing a harmless piece of de 
 ception, to obviate the danger. He felt that he 
 was adopting the best course under the circum 
 stances, and assured of the success of his plans 
 the night passed swiftly by. 
 
 Gabriel came with the sun, bringing a gla 
 zier's box and a pair of window curtains; he 
 had a knack of doing everything useful; and 
 during the evening before, detecting the ab 
 sence of three entire panes of glass, he deter 
 mined to replace them himself. 
 
 Melville could not repress a smile. 
 
 "Do not go to work until he is wide awake," 
 was his parting charge. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ARLY the next morning Melville pre 
 sented himself at Mr. Almy's door. 
 The " royal merchant " was on his way 
 to the counting-house, but the young ladies were
 
 LORETTO ; OK, THE CHOICE. 145 
 
 expecting him with their bonnets on, ready to 
 start for the scene of distress. 
 
 Lei stared at him in amazement. 
 
 " Remember " I am a wanderer ! ' ' They 
 exchanged a look of intelligence, and sepa 
 rated. 
 
 "Do you think he will recover?" inquired 
 Agnes. 
 
 " He has recovered, " replied Melville ; " all 
 he wants is proper nourishment. His mind is 
 a little disordered yet; for I noticed that he 
 persisted in calling you my sister, and that my 
 explanations, instead of correcting his unac 
 countable impression, only annoyed him. I 
 think it better for you not to contradict him." 
 
 " Of course not," said Agnes. " But let us 
 start." 
 
 " Do you mean to walk ? " said Melville. 
 
 " Certainly," cried Lei. " I never ride when 
 I can walk. If we walked longer, we'd wear 
 longer, all of us." 
 
 Gabriel had wrought a wondrous change ; the 
 broken panes are restored, the old ones washed ; 
 instead of being obscured by dingy blankets and 
 old clothes, the windows are now ornamented 
 with neat green curtains ; the floor is brushed 
 and sprinkled with water ; the chairs are sym 
 metrically arranged ; the trunk answers all the
 
 146 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 purposes of a sofa ; Clarence's bed is prettily 
 coiled up in one corner ; the light fumes of a pas- 
 tile are curling around the mantelpiece ; there is 
 an air of comfort and convalescence. 
 
 They found Gabriel washing his hands, the 
 stranger propped up in bed by pillows ; he was 
 quite as much changed as the room. His long 
 sleep and Gabriel's razor and linen had made 
 him another man. He was playing with Clar 
 ence's long silken hair as they entered. Clar 
 ence, who had been listening eagerly, no sooner 
 recognized Agnes than he flew to meet her like 
 a young bird to its mother's beak. 
 
 Already there may have been noticed in the 
 stranger's manner what the world calls breeding. 
 
 j O 
 
 Lei and Agnes were surprised to find every ap 
 pearance of gentility in the sufferer whom they 
 came to relieve. Melville and Lei both saw that 
 his eye was fixed on Agnes, and that although 
 he turned from her when replying to their in 
 quiries about his health it required an effort to 
 do so. 
 
 " I know not how to thank you, Miss Melville," 
 he said, " this little boy must do it for me. I am 
 perhaps incapable of gratitude, certainly unable 
 to express it, having rarely been called upon to 
 feel it." 
 
 Again they were surprised, not only at his Ian-
 
 LORETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 147 
 
 gttage, but at the cultivated tone in which the 
 words were uttered. 
 
 " I know not," he continued, "why you are so 
 kind to a friendless wanderer, nor will I ask ; the 
 only reward I can promise is the prayers of my 
 child." 
 
 " Reward enough for a Christian," said Agnes, 
 patting the golden head that was leaning against 
 her. 
 
 The stranger trembled ; her voice, her look, 
 her motion, all reminded him too painfully of one 
 whom she resembled. A deep flush passed over 
 his pale cheek, his bosom heaved, his eyes glowed 
 an instant with the unnatural light of delirium, 
 and after an inward struggle, the shadow of fixed, 
 familiar agony overspread his features. Melville 
 trembled too ; he feared lest they should discover 
 the likeness which existed between them, and 
 which was growing stronger every moment ; he 
 knew not how they could be blind to a resem 
 blance so evident to him. Agnes ascribed his 
 emotion to mental weakness, and fearing that 
 their j-resence might retard his recovery, would 
 have gone ; but she felt herself attracted to him 
 by a mysterious, overpowering influence. She 
 longed to stay and hear more from the singular 
 man in whom she took such a strange interest ; 
 his face, his voice, his manner touched her heart ;
 
 148 LOKETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 his evident refinement of person and feeling, his 
 miserable situation, inspired her with a wish to 
 communicate more freely with him a wish that 
 was not altogether female curiosity. It seemed 
 to her as if she could sit forever in the chair on 
 which Clarence used to sleep, sit there forever 
 and listen to him, pray for him, nurse him, and 
 console him. 
 
 In vain they endeavored to recall, by indiffer 
 ent questions, his former cheerfulness and com 
 posure ; something had passed within his soul 
 which forbade it. His eye no longer sought 
 Agnes; he seemed to avoid meeting hers; her 
 presence oppressed him. 
 
 "Let us be gone," whispered Lei. 
 
 Agnes reluctantly assented ; but first taking 
 Clarence by the hand, 
 
 " Trust me with your child until this after 
 noon," she said ; " I will return him safe." 
 
 " Take him ! " muttered the stranger ; " take 
 him ! " and with a look that startled her, he 
 pressed her hand to his lips. 
 
 " He is wandering," whispered Lei. ? 
 
 Clarence, blushing and hesitating, kissed his 
 father good-by, and taking his ragged hat, fol 
 lowed the young ladies into the street. 
 
 "Do not stay for me, Mr. Melville," said the 
 stranger after a long silence, " you have had no
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 149 
 
 sleep. I am but a poor chorus-singer, unworthy 
 your attention." 
 
 "A chorus-singer in an opera?" inquired Mel 
 ville. 
 
 Yes." 
 
 " Where is your company ? " 
 
 " They left me here unable to follow them. 
 Once it would have been otherwise, but I am 
 losing my voice and am no longer indispensable. 
 They were right in leaving me." 
 
 " Can you obtain a support in this way ? " 
 
 " Enough to live when I am well, enough to 
 die when I am sick. I should be contented but 
 for Clarence." 
 
 " I might," said Melville, respectfully, " I might 
 possibly obtain for you more becoming and lucra 
 tive employment. 
 
 " No ! " replied the stranger, with a touch of 
 pride; rny present life is my free choice, or I 
 could change it myself." 
 
 There was a long pause. 
 
 "Do you not love your sister? "he resumed. 
 
 Melville could say "yes," with a clear con 
 science. 
 
 " Then never let her marry. Who was that 
 bright young creature with her? she is made for 
 the world." 
 
 "Miss Ellen Aliny."
 
 150 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " The merchant's daughter?" cried the other, 
 shuddering. Melville, internally lamenting his 
 imprudence, nodded affirmatively. 
 
 Again the "Wanderer's face grew dark, and 
 with agony keener than before. 
 
 "Leave me, Mr. Melville," he said; "think 
 not harshly of my bluntness but I must be 
 alone, I must be alone. Come to-night, my 
 friend, come alone. 
 
 Clarence and his fair protectors had reached 
 the centre of the city. Agnes still held the boy 
 by the hand, and Lei, though sensible of the sin 
 gular appearance they were making, had not the 
 heart to remonstrate with her cousin. Whom 
 should they meet but the queenly Mrs. IToity, 
 sweeping the pavement with her satin skirts. 
 Glancing at Agnes with ineffable disdain, she 
 threw a side leer to Lei, and, when they had 
 passed, indulged a hearty well-fed laugh, and 
 raised her hands in majestic depreciation, ex 
 claimed, " La me ! so much for having country 
 cousins. Were it not for Mr. Alrny's sake I 
 would positively decline dining with her to-day." 
 
 L T nterrified by the apparition Agnes retained 
 her hold until they reached a first-class clothing 
 store. Clarence was placed in the shopkeeper's 
 hands, and reappeared in a handsome dress. 
 Dress makes many a fool pass current, and many
 
 LORETTO J OK, THE CHOICE. 151 
 
 a monster human. Few children in any station 
 of life, though perfumed and petted from the cra 
 dle, could compare with Clarence in his new suit. 
 Agnes did not see so great an alteration; but 
 to Lei the transformation was little short of the 
 miraculous. A handsome cloth cap completed 
 his equipment. 
 
 He bore his honors meekly and naturally, ap 
 pearing just as much at ease and quite as unaf 
 fected and self-forgetting as when adorning his 
 rags. 
 
 "He is made to be loved" thought Lei. "I 
 wonder what his life will be! Now, Clarence," 
 she continued aloud, " you must go home with 
 us and take a ride. After dinner you shall go 
 home." 
 
 " Home!" sighed Agnes, opening the door and 
 looking up at the clear blue skies. 
 
 Lei threw a cloak over the child's shoulders, 
 and ordered the bill to be sent home. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 R. ALMY had invited the elite of the 
 city, Mrs. Hoity amongst others, to dine 
 with Agnes. We need not describe the 
 various courses, or enumerate the delicacies pro-
 
 152 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 vided by epicurean waiters ; things exacting so 
 much time and health are better forgotten than 
 remembered. 
 
 If Agnes was amazed at the profusion and ele 
 gance of the table, what shall we say of little 
 Clai'ence, dazzled by the -flashing decanters, and 
 confounded by the majestic personages who ap 
 peared to be as much at home as wild pigeons in 
 an oak-tree? Poor boy! his only hope was in 
 Agnes. 
 
 Mrs. Hoity, upon whom Clarence had made a 
 favorable impression, at length deigned to ask 
 Agnes, next whom she sat, the charming urchin's 
 name. 
 
 " I know not," was the reply, "but he is the 
 ragged boy you passed this morning." 
 
 The proud widow's face turned to a deeper 
 crimson, as she cooled her quivering lip in a 
 glass of billowy champagne. It was insufferable 
 to be in contact with such innate, unblushing 
 vulgarity, and, had not respect for Mr. Almy 
 restrained her, she would have left the table. 
 
 Lei had guessed the conversation, her eye 
 sparkled with a wicked light, and quick as 
 thought, she interposed, 
 
 "It is only a habit he has of exchanging 
 clothes with the first beggar he meets. He is 
 the only son of Mr. Melville's sister, who, you
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 153 
 
 should remember, married Count de la Roche, 
 now dead." 
 
 " You could not deceive me, Miss Cleveland," 
 resumed Mrs. Hoity, with a bitter accent. " I 
 can always recognize blood" 
 
 Agnes, surprised at Lei's bold falsehood, paid 
 no attention to her neighbor's remark ; but Mr. 
 Almy and Melville could scarcely contain them 
 selves. 
 
 From that moment Clarence was Mrs. Hoity's 
 idol ; she overwhelmed him with her bland re 
 gards, throwing them across Agnes, who sat be 
 tween them, in such a manner as to fan her cold 
 by their rapid transmission. Agnes, unmindful 
 of jest and dainty, thought of the poor wanderer 
 on his clingy bed thought of the future await 
 ing the beautiful boy at her side, who looked as 
 though he were realizing the wildest pageant of 
 the Arabian Nights. 
 
 She was glad when the ladies had permission 
 to retire to the parlor, where they were to have 
 some music from Lei. During the performance 
 Mrs. Hoity, whose love for music was not excess 
 ive, employed herself in arranging Clarence's 
 curls, smoothing and twisting them to greater 
 symmetry. Once, with a praiseworthy gush of 
 tenderness, she actually kissed him on the fore 
 head. Clarence, whose soul was in the music,
 
 154 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 was annoyed and ashamed, especially as he 
 wanted confidence in his patroness. 
 
 It was growing dark the ladies were pre 
 paring to leave as Melville appeared. 
 
 " It is time for the boy to go home," he said. 
 
 " We will take him," said Lei. 
 
 ' No," replied Melville, " his father begs to be 
 excused until to-morrow; he was too much agi 
 tated this morning." 
 
 "His father!" muttered Mrs. Hoity to her 
 self. "There is a mystery here ; I have been de 
 ceived ! " But, haughty as she was, she feared 
 .to resent an insult offered by the daughter of 
 him she coveted, and smoothing her ruffled 
 feathers as well as she could, she said good even 
 ing, without so much as a parting look to the 
 young Count, who, a moment before, had been 
 so high in her heart. 
 
 "Oh! thou glorious sample of humanity!" 
 laughed Lei, when they were alone. 
 
 " I shall see you early to-morrow," said Agnes 
 to Clarence. 
 
 The child looked up in her face as if they 
 were parting forever. There is a presentiment 
 of separation sometimes felt, without our being 
 able to say why ; we have no reason to fear, yet 
 the event justifies the apprehension. It may be 
 that a young, sensitive soul is influenced and
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 155 
 
 forewarned by certain signs, of which the mind 
 takes no notice, or, noticing, rejects. Thus it 
 was with Clarence ; as he beheld her pure, lov 
 ing face shining on him, all he had ever known 
 of a mother, he heard a voice saying, " Linger ! 
 Linger ! Years must pass before you meet 
 again ! " 
 
 Agnes slipped into his pocket all that re 
 mained of her uncle's bounty; Lei increased the 
 sum. Completely overcome, the boy seized their 
 hands, and, kneeling before them, his uplifted 
 face pale with emotion and wet with tears, said 
 in a firm voice, 
 
 " O, God, reward them well ! " 
 
 It was ten o'clock ; Melville had not yet re 
 turned. Lei and Agnes were playing chess; 
 they could hear, now and then, the sound of rev 
 elry in the dining-room. At last it ceased, and 
 Mr. Almy presented himself. 
 
 "What's become of Melville?" he cried. 
 " Hang the fellow ! why did he cut us just when 
 we wanted him most ? It is bad enough for you 
 ladies to retreat, without enticing after you our 
 best men, our picked soldiers, our tentli legion." 
 
 " Mr. Melville," said Lei, keeping her eye on 
 the board, " went home with Clarence." 
 
 " Went to the devil ! " muttered Mr. Almy, 
 burying himself in a chair. "Oh, excuse me,
 
 156 LOBETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 Miss Agnes," he added, seeing her astonishment ; 
 "his Satanic Majesty is a right respectable fel 
 low after all." 
 
 Lei pressed her foot on her cousin's and bit 
 her lip until it was white. 
 
 "The idea," continued Mr. Almy, "the bare 
 idea of leaving such wine for the sake of a wan 
 dering brat ! I could excuse him," waving his 
 hand to Agnes, " if beauty had been the attrac 
 tion ; but to insult me in my own house out of 
 charity unnecessary, wanton, superfluous char 
 ity. Lei ! light my cigar." 
 
 Agnes could see him without turning her face, 
 So completely was her uncle lost in the object 
 before her that she caught herself hoping that 
 the real Mr. Almy would appear and expel the 
 creature that aped him. 
 
 They went on playing, Lei keeping her eye riv 
 eted on the board. Before the game was over 
 her father fell into a deep, heavy sleep. 
 
 "Come," whispered Lei, hearing his loud 
 breathing and taking Agnes by the hand. They 
 met Gabriel on the steps, but Lei paused not 
 until she reached her room ; then, locking the 
 door, she threw herself into Agnes' arms, sob 
 bing, " Oh, my father ! my father ! "
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 157 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 T break of clay Gabriel repaired to the 
 Wanderer's room ; it was empty ; the 
 old trunk was no longer there ; the beds 
 were tenahtless ; Clarence and his mysterious 
 father had disappeared ! He played with the new 
 green curtains, and looked through the clear new 
 panes which he had inserted with so much care ; 
 it was work thrown away, love's labor lost. 
 
 He waited half an hour ; they came not. He 
 inquired below, but learned nothing. Murmur 
 ing a prayer, he glided from the room. Lei and 
 Agnes were on the staircase. 
 
 " They have gone," he whispered, and passed 
 them like a spirit. 
 
 Two weeks have flown without tidings of the 
 "Wanderer and his beautiful boy. They made 
 diligent search, but in vain. Melville, the last 
 who saw him, said that he left him sitting up ; 
 that his departure was entirely unexpected ; that 
 he had no intelligence of his movements. The 
 stranger had made a deep impression upon Ag 
 nes ; his pale face haunted her, and appeared in 
 all her dreams. Clarence, too, had become so 
 dear to her that she wept when she thought of 

 
 158 LORETTo: OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 him. She was heartily tired of the city, notwith 
 standing Lei's affection, Mr. Almy's kindness, 
 and Melville's devotion. She longed for the soli 
 tude of Loretto ; for her mother, the Colonel, 
 the convent. , 
 
 Nor was Lei happier. Alas, poor Lei ! That 
 sweet singing-bird was drooping in the cage ; 
 light-hearted as she was, it did not require a mi 
 croscope to detect the worm of grief lurking be 
 neath the gayly tinted rind of merriment. She 
 saw that Melville loved Agnes ; she could not 
 help seeing it. Vanity of vanities ! "When the 
 eye that once sought us no longer seeks ; when 
 the cheek that once glowed no longer blushes ; 
 when the lips that once blessed no longer greet 
 us; when the hand that once trembled in ours is 
 cold and steady ; when the heart we held, like a 
 juggler's ball, has eluded our grasp, then, for 
 sooth, we are ready to die ; the world is desolate ; 
 the skies are sunless; there is no life on the plain, 
 no light on the hills, and friendship itself is no 
 longer welcome, because our pride is humbled, 
 because a human being has changed, though above 
 us and around us the unchanging love of God is 
 
 o o 
 
 beckoning on our souls to one who never disap 
 points, to raptures that cannot pall. Alas, poor 
 Lei! 
 
 Bitterly, bitterly did she feel it ; yet she
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 159 
 
 blamed him not, and least of all did she blame 
 Agnes, the innocent cause of her sorrow. The 
 wounded pride that caused her pain helped her 
 to conceal it, too. She had not to endure the 
 shame, the degradation of being supplanted by 
 an unworthy rival ; his choice of Agnes displayed 
 an elevation of soul that went far to excuse his 
 fickleness. Yet the wound was deep ; deeper 
 than it seemed. She tried to heal it with music; 
 but every chord was only musical of the past, of 
 the blessed past, from which she was forever 
 separated. How beautiful seemed that quiet 
 convent which the Colonel detested ! Had 
 religion a balm which even music could not 
 bestow ? 
 
 Melville was in a tumult ; he had had a con 
 versation with the Wanderer which disturbed 
 him ; Mr. Almy, at' Agnes' request, had in 
 formed him of her intention to be a nun ; she 
 meant to return to Loretto in a week her re 
 turn would confirm her resolution ; it was neces 
 sary, though their acquaintance had been brief, 
 to come to the point at once. 
 
 The moment at length arrived when he might 
 speak; he and Agnes were alone together in 
 the parlor, thanks to Lei, who, with feminine 
 delicacy, guessing and respecting his purpose,
 
 160 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 had prevailed upon her father to take a long 
 walk. 
 
 It is hard to say whether these vert/ particular 
 interviews are more embarrassing to the narra 
 tor or the parties themselves. 
 
 Melville, of course, like a popular orator, 
 began as far off from the real question as pos 
 sible. However, after some preliminary mean 
 dering, he innocently said, 
 
 " You have some idea of entering a convent ? " 
 
 " Who has told you'so? " replied Agnes, smil 
 ing. 
 
 "Mr. Almy. Is it so?" 
 
 " Not exactly so," pursued Agnes quietly ; 
 "'some idea of entering a convent' does not 
 express my deliberate, unalterable resolution to 
 do it." 
 
 Melville was frozen by her firm, unrelenting 
 tone, but, summoning all his courage, he pro 
 ceeded : 
 
 " Do you think, Miss Cleveland, that, instead 
 of leading a life useful to your fellow-creatures, 
 you are justified in immuring yourself in a cell, 
 where you can be of no service to them ? " 
 
 " What do you mean by ' useful to my fellow- 
 creatures?'" returned Agnes. "Is it by living 
 as your friends in this city do ? " 
 
 " By taking your proper place in society to 
 correct and adorn it."
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 1G1 
 
 "You do me too much honor," said Agnes, 
 "But if, instead of correcting and adorning it, 
 I feel certain that it will infect and deform me?" 
 
 "Ho\v can you be certain of this?" 
 
 " By the practice of my religion." 
 
 "Are there not some, at least, in the world 
 who by their virtues diminish its vices?" 
 
 " Certainly," she said ; " but I am not one of 
 the number." 
 
 " How do you know that you are not ? " 
 
 " By the practice of my religion." 
 
 He could not, for the life of him, help wishing 
 her a heathen. 
 
 " Does the practice of your religion permit 
 you to rob us of your good example ? " 
 
 " If the example I set in giving myself entirely 
 to God has no effect, I do not see how I could 
 well be a pattern." 
 
 "But do you give yourself entirely to God 
 when you sacrifice man ? " 
 
 " ./sacrifice man ! Why Mr. Melville, a great 
 statesman dies and is forgotten in three days; 
 cannot I enter a convent without slaughtering a 
 hecatomb?" 
 
 " But if all thought as you do what would it 
 end in ? " 
 
 " Heaven ! " cried Agnes, brightening as she 
 spoke. " It appears to me that you people of the
 
 162 LOKETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 world are very hard upon those who wish to 
 consecrate themselves to God, while you exact 
 no account from the vast majorities who belong 
 neither to God nor man I mean society. I tell 
 you, Mr. Melville, that the motives which keep 
 people in the world are infinitely inferior to 
 those which take them out of it into the cloister. 
 But to return : we are not all missionaries ; it is 
 enough to save ourselves without saving our 
 neighbors too. Our own salvation is the first 
 point; we cannot attain that without praying 
 for others, and prayers, believe me, do good. 
 But if you really want profitable instruction, 
 instead of idle discussion, study Kempis on 
 nature and grace." * 
 
 Melville shook his head sadly. 
 
 " So much for a life of perpetual contemplation 
 and prayer," continued Agnes ; " it is surely a 
 holy one ; nor do I see why I cannot embrace 
 it because the world don't choose to behave 
 themselves. If I felt a special mission to reform 
 them it would be otherwise. But have you 
 ever heard of a Sister of Charity?" 
 
 Melville smiled. 
 
 "You have heard of their prompt fearlessness, 
 when pestilence scares away your worldlings ; 
 you have heard of their numberless acts of unre 
 warded benevolence; but you never suspected
 
 LOnETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 163 
 
 that these virtues which attract attention and 
 applause are insignificant when contrasted with 
 the heroism they display by voluntary perseve 
 rance in obedience, year after year, until a sweet 
 death repays them at last. If such a life is not 
 useful to man, pray tell me what is? Most of 
 the orders in our church are what you would 
 call utilitarian. Have you any objection to my 
 becoming a Sister of Charity?" 
 
 "I can never believe," replied Melville, "that 
 heaven exacts such a sacrifice from any of us." 
 
 "Heaven always exacts a sacrifice the sacri 
 fice of the body." 
 
 "But not of the soul." 
 
 " Of the soul !" said Agnes, clasping her hands. 
 " Do I sacrifice rny soul when, by denying it 
 every natural gratification, I flood it with the 
 joys of grace?" 
 
 " Then you enter a convent for the sake of 
 pleasure ? " 
 
 "For the pleasure of living for God and doing 
 his holy will. You have changed your ground." 
 
 " Must we lose youthen?" pursued Melville, 
 forsaking argument for entreaty. "You will 
 make me hate your religion ! " 
 
 " I ought to make you love it ! " 
 
 "And, for your sake, I hoped and still hope to 
 love it," said Melville, seizing at the word.
 
 164 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 "Oh, Agnes," he continued fervently, "would to 
 heaven I had known your determination sooner, 
 or could change it now ! I love you too well to 
 lose you thus ! From the moment " 
 
 " Stop, sir ! Had I suspected your love you 
 should have known it sooner ; but I never 
 dreamed of it until our horses stopped at the 
 brook the evening we found the stranger. Since 
 then I have done all in my power to discour 
 age an affection so sudden, so hopeless, so un 
 just." 
 
 "So unjust?" echoed Melville, half petrified. 
 
 " Ay, so unjust" repeated Agnes. " Did you 
 not once love Ellen Almy?" 
 
 Melville hung his head. 
 
 "Did you not let her see it?" 
 
 He was silent. 
 
 "Did you ever declare your love?" 
 
 "Never ! " cried Melville, grasping at a ray of 
 hope. "I was always deterred by her levity and 
 apparent indifference." 
 
 " I could not suppose you base enough," re 
 sumed Agnes, " to break a solemn declaration, to 
 which the world attaches so much importance ; it 
 would cost you your standing as a man of honor. 
 But tell me, Mr. Melville, when eyes and actions 
 have attested an existing love, and inspired a 
 return, are we at liberty to break the bond
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 165 
 
 because there is no verbal compact? It is un 
 manly and ungenerous, to say the least." 
 
 "She cannot love me!" said Melville, stung 
 to the quick; "she is too reckless, too giddy, too 
 fickle to love any one longer than an hour." 
 
 "You do her bitter injustice," replied Agnes, 
 rising ; " she is a woman whose love would, 
 enrich a throne ! A light manner may accom 
 pany a strong, true heart, just as exterior dignity 
 may hide a weak one. And you know it ; you 
 know that there is not beneath the sun a bet 
 ter, a purer, lovelier, loftier nature than Ellen 
 Almy's." 
 
 "Is your resolution unalterable ?" said Mel 
 ville, with an accent of despair. 
 
 " Unalterable ! " and wishing him good even 
 ing, she left him in no very enviable condition. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 AM not surprised at it," said Mr. Almy 
 to Lei, during their walk, dwelling 
 upon a topic he had forced upon her 
 attention, "I am not surprised at it, nor do I 
 think the less of him. On the contrary, I honor 
 him for it. True love of what is really lovely is 

 
 166 LOEETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 so rare that in any shape, almost, it is highly 
 commendable. The bulk of mortals are blind to 
 the infinite beauty and majesty of God ; so the 
 more nearly we approach him the more AVC are 
 despised. In all matches where interest is out of 
 question chance and vanity predominate ; and 
 from the wa.y in which innocence is seen to 
 cleave to deprdvity, I am inclined to think there 
 is a sneaking fondness for the devil in the best 
 of us. No, no; I like Melville for this, it is a 
 beautiful trait." 
 
 " Do you think she will accept him ? " asked 
 Lei. 
 
 "Accept him?" said her father; "she cares 
 no more for him than I do for the glorious Mrs. 
 Hoity. That girl's aim is above this world ; she 
 cannot live for man without renouncing a mani 
 fest vocation, and renouncing that, she would 
 never be able to make a husband happy. Some 
 are made to marry and some are not. I can't 
 exactly express my meaning, but there's some 
 thing in what I've said, depend upon it." 
 
 "I think she would be happier with him 
 than in a convent," suggested Lei, fully believ 
 ing it. 
 
 "Xonsense! they \voiild both be miserable. 
 I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of a hid 
 den truth, but can't strike it fairly. Agnes
 
 LOKETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 167 
 
 married ! Ha ! " and he laughed " It's per 
 fectly ridiculous! Why, she would lose her 
 lustre like a cloud when the sun, that clothed 
 it in gold and purple, has set. Now she is as 
 much your superior as can be; though if any 
 one were silly enough to put you both in a 
 book, you would be the favorite by all odds. 
 Yet, let her marry, even I should cease to love 
 her, unless perhaps I were obliged to." 
 
 "I don't understand you at all," said Lei, 
 repeating his jumbled harangue. 
 
 " I don't expect to be understood," returned 
 Mr. Almy. " Oh, it's a fine trait in Melville to 
 love her! I thought the fellow an irreclaim 
 able infidel, but I've hopes of him now ; I might 
 even consent to let him have you." 
 
 "Would you ever have refused ?" 
 
 " Certainly, and most decidedly, unless I saw 
 you were breaking your heart about it, which is 
 too unfashionable for you to be guilty of. Why, 
 the man's not a Christian." 
 
 " Are you ? " inquired Lei, with mock gravity. 
 
 Mr. Almy, pressing her arm, earnestly replied, 
 " Your mother was ! " 
 
 Lei found Agnes in her room ; the meeting 
 was a painful one, but Agues determined to 
 make the best of it.
 
 168 LOBETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 ""What do you think, Lei? Mr. Melville has 
 been trying to persuade me not to enter the 
 convent." 
 
 " Did he succeed ? " 
 
 11 Not quite. After a long argument he told 
 me that lie loved me. " 
 
 " Was not that convincing ? " said Lei, avoid 
 ing her cousin's gaze. 
 
 " So far from it," replied Agnes, " that I fear 
 I treated him rudely." 
 
 " I hope not ; indeed he does not deserve it. 
 He would make you happy." 
 
 " No, my dearest Lei," said Agnes, embracing 
 her, "he would make you happy, not me." 
 
 They had never before alluded to the subject, 
 but they understood each other as well as if they 
 had spoken volumes. 
 
 Lei's eyes, already full, ran over Agnes had 
 divined her secret it was of no avail to conceal 
 her grief. We must let those sacred moments 
 pass in silence. 
 
 "But, when you leave me, Agnes? Tell me 
 you will not leave me I cannot live without 
 you ! " 
 
 " Can you not return to Loretto with me ? " 
 
 " No, no," said Lei ; " I shall not leave my 
 father again." 
 
 " You once asked me to explain your father's
 
 LOEETTO J OE, THE CHOICE. 169 
 
 face," returned Agnes, anxious to divert her 
 mind ; " I think I can satisfy you now. People 
 are apt to acquire that worst of all curses, a false 
 conscience. When we get this it answers all 
 the purposes of innocence, and makes us attract 
 ive; but when, though sinning on, we preserve 
 a true conscience, self-condemnation makes us 
 repulsive; wanting confidence in ourselves we 
 cannot obtain it from others. All your father 
 needs to render him benevolent-looking is a false 
 conscience." 
 
 " Yes, yes," said Lel^ interested in anything 
 relating to her father, " You are right. Mig- 
 non dies and Felix stays with us now, I un 
 derstand "VVilh elm Meister. Have you read it? 
 Oh, Agnes, don't be a, nun ! You have mind 
 enough for anything. If you'll only marry Mel 
 ville, so that I may have you near m?, that I 
 may run in and see you when I please, plague 
 you, play for you, sing for you, I shall be happy. 
 I'll love some one else, and marry just to keep 
 you from being jealous, and then " but her eyes 
 again ran over as she spoke. "Won't you stay 
 with me a week longer?" she resumed. 
 
 " Make up your mind to return with me," 
 replied Agnes. 
 
 "No, no, I'll stay here; I shall have enough 
 to laugh at in Mrs. Hoity, enough to work at in
 
 170 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 Listz, enough to idle at in ne\v poems, and 
 enough to sleep at in the congressional de 
 bates. I understand m v father now blessings 
 
 ml O 
 
 on your insight! and come what may, I care 
 not. Must I change my nature because another 
 has changed his mind ; must I imitate his fickle 
 ness by playing false to myself ? Never while 
 my name's Lei ! " 
 
 Words, words, words ! the eagle soars with 
 the arrow in its side the shaft must be in 
 awhile before the wing closes. 
 
 Now for Melville. If we follow him to his 
 rooms we shall find him surrounded by com 
 fort and elegance. His mantelpiece is adorned 
 with choice castings brought from abroad, the 
 walls are gemmed Avitli rare paintings and en 
 gravings, selected with judgment and taste. 
 But there he sits dejectedly before his grate ; he 
 tried to read absurd; lie tried to write im 
 possible ; he tried to caress a noble Newfound 
 land dog, who appeared to have some sympathy 
 for his master contemptible. In the blank 
 despair of the first shock he felt like poor Glos- 
 ter, as if another Regan had plucked his eyes 
 out, as if curse of love had doomed him to 
 wander, like Yathek, with his hand forever upon 
 his heart.
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 171 
 
 Too well remembering her manner, it seemed 
 to him cold, disdainful, masculine; and flatter 
 ing himself that he had been wasting his sun 
 light on an obstinate icicle, he suffered from that 
 worst arrow 'in Cupid's quiver devotion to an 
 unworthy object. But, before midnight, his 
 senses partially returned. Had he not been 
 unjust to Lei, had he not thus merited the 
 rebuke so unmercifully administered by Agnes 
 had she not evinced her superiority of mind 
 and feeling by detecting and reproving his in 
 constancy ? But there was the rub ! Might not 
 the knowledge of this might not the suspicion 
 of a lingering affection for Lei prevent her love ? 
 Alas ! what excuse will not the human heart 
 invent to shield itself from admitting that its 
 want of success is its own fault! The wind 
 ings, turnings, twistings of disappointed love 
 are too pitifully comic for analysis. A w.oman, 
 in this condition, invites a tear; a man, a 
 laugh. 
 
 Melville was not imaginative; his affections 
 were always guided by his reason ; yet Shak- 
 speare himself could not have suffered more 
 then he did then. A warm fancy is often mis 
 taken for a warm heart, because it has all the 
 language of sorrow when feeling is dumb. 
 
 We shall try not to laugh at him, since he
 
 172 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 grew humbler towards morning. How could 
 she'love me, lie said, what have I to attract 
 her besides Avealth, that gilded bait which a 
 noble nature scorns ? I have no accomplish 
 ments, no social qualities, no beauty, no grace 
 I never have been loved never will be 
 never will attempt to be again! If anybody 
 wants me they must court me, propose, run off 
 with me, and marry me ; otherwise, I and my 
 dog forever ! And he said all this as seriously 
 as could be, with a burning, beating forehead 
 and a cold hand. 
 
 Poor Melville? in enumerating his deficien- 
 cicncies he omitted, "I have no religion;" he 
 did not consider the absence of this a blemish ; 
 and how few do in all the written and unwrit 
 ten tragedy and comedy of human love. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ELTILLE felt like an orphan worse 
 than an orphan. Sensitive creature, 
 he had not the courage to present him 
 self at Mr. Almy's his temerity and fickleness 
 had deprived him of the society of that delight 
 ful house, his only home. To relieve his spir 
 itual desolation he was tempted to seek forget-
 
 LOEETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 173 
 
 fulness in the sparkling Lethe of dissipation. 
 But Gabriel, the ever-present and all-seeing 
 Gabriel, failed not to visit him in these moments 
 of despondency, and whisper words of strength 
 and consolation. This meek, benevolent being 
 was the only link between him and the charm 
 ing family from which lie was forever exiled. 
 Some words that fell from the Wanderer kept 
 perpetually recurring to him "Do you love your 
 sister Agnes ? then never let her marry" What 
 could the man mean ? Did lie mean anything ? 
 When tired with vain attempts to solve this 
 difficult problem he was naturally led to corn- 
 template Lei, the briyJtt yonny creature who was 
 made for the world" and his meditations gen 
 erally terminated with this remarkable wish, 
 
 " Oh, if Lei had only a little more of Agnes in 
 her!" 
 
 One morning, as he was trying hard to read a 
 newspaper, Mr. Almy presented himself, and, 
 slapping him on the shoulder as cordially as ever, 
 said : 
 
 "Melville, what in the deuce do you mean by 
 treating me in this way ? We are to have some 
 music to-night, the German will be there, and if 
 you don't come beware of me in future." 
 
 Melville, greatly relieved, thanked him, prom 
 ising punctual attendance, and the generous mer 
 chant departed.
 
 174 LORETTO ; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " What a happy man !" sighed Melville; "he 
 does not seem to have a care on his mind." 
 
 At that moment there were cares enough on 
 Mr. Almy's mind to break clown three Melvilles, 
 unschooled in affliction. 
 
 "Yes, I will go!" mused Melville, in sup 
 pressed heroics ; "I will go, if only to show that 
 I am calm ; I will have no eyes to count the 
 spasms of my mouth, or note the changes of my 
 cheek, and least of all shall Agnes behold the 
 ruin she has made ! " So saying, he finished his 
 breakfast with something of an appetite. 
 
 "Do you mean to have a ball to-night?" in 
 quired Agnes of Lei, as they were sitting to 
 gether. " Tell me frankly, for if you do, I shall 
 not be present." 
 
 " A ball ! Nonsense," replied Lei ; " it will be 
 nothing more than one of our old Thursday 
 evenings, with a supper. Father made me put 
 t musicale' > in every invitation, that the ladies 
 might dress decently on your account." 
 
 A waiter interrupted them with letters from 
 the Colonel. They were models of. brevity, if 
 nothing else : 
 
 " DEAR AGXES, All well, including Charlie. 
 We don't miss you more than we did when you 
 were at the convent. Respects to Aliny. Ever 
 yours, etc."
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 175 
 
 " DEAR LEL, How goes the game ? Are not 
 your knights an overmatch for her bishops?" 
 
 The cousins looked up at each other and 
 smiled, without exchanging letters or making any 
 comments on their contents. 
 
 " Do vou think Melville will come ? " resumed 
 Lei. 
 
 "Of course he will," replied the other. 
 
 "Now, mark me, Agnes; if I betray what I 
 feel by the slightest symptom I promise to enter 
 the convent with you. The storm in my heart, 
 the thunder on my brow, the lightning in my 
 eye, the rain on my cheeks, the gale on my lips, 
 shall all be covered by a cloudless sky and sun 
 shine without a shadow ; and if you never saw a 
 woman who looked as though she knew not grief, 
 nor ever could know it, you shall see her counter 
 feit this evening in me ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 HE parlors are lighted, the lamps are 
 glowing. Lei is in pink, Agnes in 
 white, Mr. Almy in black. The guests 
 are coming, the rustling of satin an,d silk begins, 
 the rooms are filling. Close by the open piano,
 
 170 LORETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 toying with his violoncello, known but unnoticed, 
 sat a middle-aged man, with true German impen 
 etrability. Hard-featured, thick-set, apathetic, 
 he looked like anything but a genius. Yet, to 
 Agnes, Mr. Almy excepted, he was the most in 
 teresting person in the room. 
 
 " Shall we commence ? " said Lei to the musi 
 cians, as she took her seat. A moment's pause, 
 and away they went at the first movement of 
 Mendelssohn's first trio. Rapid and subtle as 
 light, the earnest melody leaps from instrument to 
 instrument, while unflagging and unceasing the 
 motherly piano underlies, connects, and blends 
 the whole. But^wlien they reached the Adagio 
 a light overspread the German's broad face, his 
 soul shone through its unworthy casing, the 
 living notes seemed to ooze, like Bob Acre's 
 courage, through his fingers' ends, his hand was 
 endowed with tones more eloquent than speech. 
 Who that saw him then anticipated such a close 
 to so much genius so sudden, so piteous, so 
 terrible ! Like many before him of equal gifts, 
 he has gone ignobly and unrewarded to the 
 grave his life wasted, his hopes blasted, his 
 soul neglected. Like many who Avill follow him, 
 he has withered like an uprooted flower in the 
 hand that only prized it a moment, and cast it 
 off as soon as it began to droop. How few that
 
 LOEETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 177 
 
 loved to hear him strove to help him! 'Twas 
 his own fault sleep soundly, sweet world, sleep 
 soundly ! 
 
 Yet never to be forgotten by some, arc those 
 rare moments that come, like wind from another 
 clime, laden with choicer perfumes than ours! 
 They Avill sometimes think of the master who 
 sleeps far away from his fatherland, and some 
 times pray for him. No stone marks his grave, 
 not a tear was shed for him ! It is singular that 
 those who neglected him in life do not honor 
 him in ashes ; for if he did not live like a genius 
 surely he died like one. 
 
 .Again the spell of music was laid on Melville. 
 He could not remove his eyes from Lei, who ap 
 peared to float with the magic sounds, as if she 
 were the muse who had first inspired the beauty 
 she was reproducing. Who can say what passed 
 in his heart, what years were revived and re-en 
 joyed in those delightful and all-powerful min 
 utes? Was there not a little more of A gnes in 
 her than he had lately imagined? During the 
 playful Scherzo a childlike smile hovered around 
 her mouth, and during the fairy-like finale her 
 eyes swam in dreamy lustre. 
 
 It was over; the rooms were full. Mr. Almy's 
 friends are there sober-looking men, with the 
 weight of the world on their shoulders ; their 

 
 178 LORETTO ; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 faces screwed up by habit, rather than marked 
 by thought, with calculation lurking in the spot 
 less folds of their white cravats. Lei's friends 
 are there ; fair young girls absorbed in their first 
 impressions, whose brains seem to have been 
 consumed in nourishing their cultivated hair ; 
 others, a little older, who rejoice in candle-light 
 as a blessed invention to contradict the lies which 
 the garish sun might tell of them : others decid- 
 
 O ~ 7 
 
 edly old, yet firmly persuaded that dignity is 
 superior to grace, amongst whom let her not be 
 forgotten towered the immortal Mrs. Hoity. 
 
 " If these people," thought Agnes, " come here 
 for music's sake I am much mistaken." 
 
 She was not mistaken. During the first piece 
 they had given signs of enjoyment, if not of ap 
 preciation ; but their patience gave out in the 
 second Trio, which was too elaborate to afford 
 them even a pretext for a smile. They could 
 have danced for joy when it died off like a shabby 
 friend or a poor lover. But did they dance ? 
 
 Music of another kind was heard mus'ic from 
 bells, and clarionets, and flutes, and fiddles. 
 How infinitely inferior ! how much more grateful ! 
 
 Like veterans answering the trumpeter, they 
 fell into order ; two quadrilles were instantane 
 ously formed. Agnes, professing her inability 
 to dance, retreats behind Mr. Aliny, and enters
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 179 
 
 into conversation with the German. Lei kept 
 her promise well. Light and graceful as a fawn, 
 she glided through every figure ; her face beam 
 ing, her eye sparkling, her arms waving. The 
 life and 'soul of the room, her clear laugh rang 
 
 / O O 
 
 like morning music on the hill-tops, when shep 
 herds and shepherdesses arc greeting the rising 
 sun. Not once did she falter ; not once did she 
 droop ; not once did she betray, by over-acting, 
 that beneath all this there was a silent sorrow. 
 
 But Melville, poor Melville, was not so suc 
 cessful. He could have stood anything but Lei's 
 merriment and indifference, but that broke him 
 down. " I knew she never loved me," he mut 
 tered, "but now she despises me!" Dark as 
 death, he moved over to the German, and through 
 him renewed his acquaintance with Agnes. But 
 Agnes was icy cold and slid off with Mr. Almy. 
 A desperate purpose crossed him, to break ab 
 ruptly from the company but this was too much 
 like Sylvius, and he was too much of a gentleman. 
 Then he resolved to devote himself to the pret 
 tiest and richest girl in the room; but his heart 
 failed him. He couldn't talk ; he could only look 
 at Lei, lamenting that she was just as fickle as 
 himself. 
 
 All is bright, all is beautiful, all is" joy, all is 
 gladness ! It is so dreamlike, so enchanting, so
 
 180 LORETTO; OB, THE CHOICE. 
 
 alluring, so ensnaring! The world is doing its 
 best; all its ornaments are on; all its rags are 
 off! Eyes are glancing; cheeks are glowing; 
 whispers flowing! The walls shut out earth; 
 the ceiling shuts out heaven ! 
 
 Agnes, Agnes, beware ! A fatal stream is 
 rushing by thee ; its banks are blooming, its 
 waters sweet! Beware! beware! Thy feet are 
 in it; it will sweep thee out to a stormy sea! 
 May not the ermine perish in the snow? May 
 not the camel falter in the desert ? 
 
 For a time she remained alone with Mr. Almy. 
 It took them hours to see her beauty, but they 
 gathered round her at last, and she stood the 
 centre of a brilliant circle. Excited by conver 
 sation, her dark eye flashes, the rose mantles 
 proudly in her cheek. Introduction follows in 
 troduction, compliment follows compliment. Her 
 praises are sounding through the room,' in those 
 terrible whispers which are meant to be heard. 
 She is dealing with men and women of wit and 
 information ; boys and girls are listening in re 
 spectful silence. Then, 'all she had read and 
 thought came thrilling to her tongue, and gushed 
 forth like the first waters from a long sealed 
 fountain. 
 
 Lei trembled ; she scarcely recognized the 
 timid lily of Loretto in the splendid woman be-
 
 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 181 
 
 fore her. Where was Agnes? Was she dead; 
 was the chrysalis soaring on these golden wings? 
 Was she exchanging her immortal pinions for 
 these fleeting feathers of an hour? 
 
 Who could have guessed that all this was 
 sleeping in Agnes, till the breath of admiration 
 should awake it ? Had she not known it ? Had 
 she not feared it? Yes! yes! But was she 
 not enjoying it? Docs not the eaglet exult 
 when, trusting to its untried wing, it finds the 
 air its own ? 
 
 "I knew it was in her," said Mr. Alrny to him 
 self; "I knew there Avas burning gold impris 
 oned within that cold marble." 
 
 The music is sounding; Mr. Almy, offering 
 his arm to Agnes, leads the way to the suppcr- 
 roorn. 
 
 All is bright, all is beautiful, all is joyous ! 
 The table is as luscious as a Moslem's paradise ! 
 
 There are ices to cool the mouth arid wines to 
 fire the brain ! Away with the past ! Away 
 with to-morrow ! The blessings of a lifetime are 
 crowded in to-night. Oh! how dream-like ; oh! 
 how dove-like ; oh ! how winning ! 
 
 Agnes is still in the ascendant ; she wields the 
 sceptre of empire, as if she Avere born to it. 
 Emulous youths are striving for her smiles and 
 treasuring her words ; transported merchants are
 
 182 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 unbending ! in the buzz of admiration even jeal 
 ousy is mute. 
 
 " Oli," thought Lei, "could the Colonel sec. her 
 now, how his old heart would leap for joy ! Here 
 is the woman of the tcorld lie wishes." 
 
 Mothers arc asking her expectations, daugh 
 ters her age. Sons arc speculating on the state 
 of her affections. Again the foaming wine kisses 
 the rirrr of her glass, again she raises it ! The 
 flashing eye, the arched lip, the quivering nostril, 
 the haughty brow, were all there ! 
 
 "Look," whispered Melville to Lei, "behold 
 the Wanderer ! " 
 
 The likeness was painful; but as they looked 
 it vanished. 
 
 The glass almost fell from her hand. Alone 
 in a corner stands Gabriel, unnoticed until then. 
 !N"o longer smiling, his brow is sternly knit, 
 though from his steady eye, which pierced her 
 very soul, tears of anguish were falling fast. 
 Brushing his tears away, he quietly approached 
 Mr. Almy and drew him into the passage. 
 
 What has happened to Agnes? The queen of 
 the room is mute and sad. As the thunderbolt 
 shivers a blossoming tree, Gabriel's look had 
 struck her to the ground. All she wanted from 
 earth was a place to lie down and weep, alone, 
 the rest of her life. But they are crowding her
 
 LORETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 183 
 
 still, with a thousand questions, a thousand so 
 licitations, a thousand persecutions. Where was 
 the light that dazzled her ? It is but a dismal 
 flame that blisters ! Where was the music that 
 enchanted her? It is but sharp discord that 
 offends. 
 
 And now from the supper-room troop the 
 gentlemen, in wine refulgent. The scene is 
 changing fast from mirth to madness, from folly 
 to revelry, from a parlor to a bar-room. 
 
 Sickened, shamed, and dispirited, Agnes rose 
 to retire, but met Mr. Almy. White as her 
 dress, he grasped her arm, 
 
 " You are not going, Agnes ? " 
 
 O O' O 
 
 Yes." 
 
 " Stay, for God's sake ! " and he mingled with 
 the crowd. She watched him anxiously. His 
 laugh still rang, but it was forced and hollow; 
 his jests were wild and bitter, and when he 
 pledged his fellow merchants, he drank so deeply 
 and stared so strangely that they knew not what 
 to make of him. 
 
 Lei, whose heart was in her mouth, ventured 
 to ask him what the matter was, for in spite of 
 his utmost efforts to conceal his agitation it was 
 too apparent. 
 
 " Xothing, nothing ! " was his only answer, as 
 he flitted like a spectre from group to group, 

 
 184 LOKETTO J OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 bidding them to enjoy themselves, in tones inspir 
 ing anything but happiness. 
 
 The company have gone, the last lingering 
 drunkard has staggered off. Mr. Almy is lying 
 on the sofa, Lei and Agnes are kneeling beside 
 
 * o o 
 
 him. 
 
 " Speak ! speak ! I can endure the worst ! " 
 cried Lei, raising him in her arms. 
 
 " So can I ! " said Mr. Almy, starting up and 
 pacing the room. " So can I endure the worst ! " 
 
 He stood still and clutched the back of a chair 
 convulsively, the veins swelled in his temples, a 
 groan burst from his lips, his head fell on his 
 breast. 
 
 "Father!" screamed Lei, "in God's name, 
 speak, or I shall die ! " 
 
 He seemed not to hear her ; she repeated it 
 again and again. He placed his hands on her 
 shoulder, he threw back her hair from her face, 
 lie fixed his eyes on hers. There they remained 
 gazing at each other, the one in terror, the other 
 in vacant anguish. At last his tears rained down 
 upon her uplifted face, and falling on her neck, 
 he cried, 
 
 " My daughter, I am a ruined merchant / I 
 must fail to-morrow ! "
 
 LORETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 185 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 BRIGHT rose the sun of the morrow. 
 The sun that so often sympathizes with 
 us showed no concern then. Ahny lias 
 failed, was in every mouth. Impossible, said 
 some ; 'strange, said others ; very likely, said the 
 wise ones, shrugging their shoulders with a know- 
 
 7 O~ O 
 
 in" 1 look. Oh ! when a house is falling ho\v the 
 
 ~ <J 
 
 world scampers off. "Away! away! Beware 
 of the ruins ! " Stand off, ye coward herd, the 
 tiles are coming down, remember Pyrrhus! 
 Yet there are a few, be it said for* the honor of 
 human nature, who step forward to solace with 
 affection, if not to prop with courage. There 
 are some who rejoice in having an opportunity 
 to prove their magnanimity. They come with 
 sweet words and bland manners, to fling some 
 verdure around the ruins, and pardon the proud 
 ingratitude which a reverse of fortune so often 
 produces. 
 
 Melville could not believe it. Yet he had no 
 ticed Mr. Almy's manner, his counterfeit gayety, 
 his pallor, his unnatural laugh. Could it be ? He 
 fle\v to learn the truth from the lips of his friend. 
 
 Mr. Almy was in bed breathing heavily, his 
 pulse bounding like a lute-string. The report
 
 186 LORETTO ; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 was true, for Lei and Agnes were in tears. The 
 royal merchant held out his hand to Melville, 
 who pressed it fervently. Xot a word was said, 
 until Melville whispered, 
 
 " Why did you not tell me last night?" 
 
 " It was useless," and the merchant shook his 
 head. "The crash in England has done it. A 
 hundred thousand will not cover me! " 
 
 " Oh that you had told me last night ! " re 
 peated Melville, burying his face in his hands. 
 
 A generous purpose leaps forth like a meteor 
 from the sky. Melville rose from his seat and 
 silently pressed Lei's hand in his. Moments, 
 moments, how' ye govern years ! He gazed awhile 
 on her pale, tearful face, then hurried from the 
 room. 
 
 He hastened to the counting-house ; the clerks 
 were in consternation ; heavy payments to be 
 met that morning, and the master of the house 
 in bed. Melville seated himself at the desk; it 
 was like a rush on a bank, but he met it. He 
 entered the store a rich man and left it penniless. 
 But no one else had lost a cent ; and, as he 
 retraced his steps, he felt that he had a right to 
 look Lei once more in the face, and he would 
 not have taken millions for the feeling. 
 
 Imagine Mr. Almy's surprise when his head 
 clerk appeared with a balance-sheet, showing a
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 187 
 
 trifle over all his liabilities. But alas ! his notes 
 had been protested ; his credit, that aegis of 
 mercantile honor, was gone ; his house was 
 tainted. 
 
 " Go on with the house," he muttered. What 
 would lie not have given to rise and take the 
 helm. But his head was fastened to his pillow 
 as with an iron bolt. He grew worse and worse. 
 He must wrestle for his life with a malignant 
 fever. 
 
 Where was my lady Hoity then ? Pained, 
 beyond a doubt, but pained for herself, not for 
 him. She kept at a prudent distance, lament 
 ing the fate which had deprived her of a certain 
 prize ; for, good woman, she fancied herself 
 irresistible. Happily, her nature was of the 
 most elastic constitution ; she soon recovered 
 from her misplaced attachment, and actually 
 wondered how she could, in the name of com 
 mon sense, have cared one fig for a merchant 
 on the verge of bankruptcy. He was no beauty, 
 certainly ; he was addicted to gin and water, 
 too ; his conversation was rather coarse, and his 
 manners decidedly inelegant. She could not 
 account for it; all his imperfections were so 
 glaring. It must have been one of those myste 
 rious infatuations, produced by Lapland witches, 
 or some other horrible cause. She determined
 
 188 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 to frown clown a family which had always held 
 a questionable position, and which was now con 
 signed to merited obscurity. AVise Mrs. Hoity. 
 Amidst all the sickness, loss, and desolation 
 Gabriel moved about merrily. He had never 
 been so happy; there was almost a glow on his 
 white face, and his large eyes were radiant with 
 
 joy- 
 Lei never left her father's bedside ; neither 
 remonstrance nor entreaty could entice her 
 away. There, through the long, long nights of 
 delirium, she knelt, calm and tearless, watching 
 every motion, noting every wild word muttered 
 by the invalid. The most practised nurse could 
 not have attended him so tranquilly, so firmly, 
 so judiciously. And when the crisis came, 
 when the sick' soul fluttered between life and 
 death, when an hour might make her an orphan, 
 her hand was steady as she bound the ice to his 
 forehead and wiped the water from his face. 
 
 "Leave me, Agnes," she would say, "I can 
 do without you." But Agnes, equally inflexible, 
 kept her post. Many and bitter were her tears 
 bitterer as she thought of the dancing and 
 music which ushered in the blow the asp 
 in Cleopatra's basket. She looked back upon 
 her former self-confidence as wicked presump 
 tion ; the han:l of God had opened her eyes to
 
 LOKETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 189 
 
 her -weakness, and in humility and sorrow, 
 deeper than she had ever known, she threw 
 herself in spirit at the foot of the cross, putting 
 all her trust in Him who died there. 
 
 There was something of more than mortal 
 splendor in Gabriel's sweet smile as he moved 
 about from Agnes to Lei, from Lei to her father. 
 
 The physician was standing doubtfully over 
 the fallen merchant, his finger on the thrilling 
 pulse, his eye on his watch. 
 
 " Is there danger ? " asked Lcl, firmly. " Tell 
 me the truth." The man hesitated. 
 
 "As you value a human soul, tell me the 
 truth," she repeated, in a voice stern with 
 emotion. 
 
 "There is," was the faint reply. "But the 
 case is far from being desperate.'* 
 
 " Agnes," continued Lei, as firmly as before, 
 though a tremor passed over her, " send for 
 whom you wish." 
 
 At a sign from Agnes Gabriel dai-ted like an 
 arrow through the door, followed by the physi 
 cian. Agnes fell on her knees, praying that, at 
 least an interval of consciousness might be 
 granted. The priest was not long in answering 
 the sick call. 
 
 "He is delirious," he said; "we must wait 
 awhile ; there is no immediate danger. You
 
 190 LOKETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 should have sent for me sooner ; death is a 
 pretty serious matter." 
 
 Lei reproached herself for not having yielded 
 to Agnes in the beginning; she thought it might 
 irritate and terrify her father. Now, her only 
 hope was in that diminutive old man, with short 
 gray hair and small gray eyes. Oh, for a mo 
 ment's reason ! 
 
 " Pray for him ! Pray for him ! " said Lei to 
 the priest, seizing his hand. They all knelt 
 together. 
 
 Had their united prayer been heard ? Was 
 there not a change for the better? Had the 
 body triumphed by its own force ? 
 
 Two days went by two days of uncertainty 
 and anguish. Lei left him not a moment. 
 Firm, collected, unrepining, she seemed en 
 dowed with supernatural strength. But when 
 her father once more recognized her, when he 
 called her by name, when he answered her kiss, 
 when he placed his shrunken fingers on her head 
 and blessed her, when the physician pronounced 
 him out of danger, then, indeed, she gave way, 
 fainting in her cousin's arms; then the over 
 tasked body drooped and languished, then her 
 subdued spirit quailed, then came forth the tor 
 rent of tears from her bursting heart.
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 191 
 
 It was a Sunday morning. Agnes was at 
 mass. Melville found the merchant asleep. 
 Lei, too, had fallen asleep on the lounge at the 
 foot of the bed. Then could be seen the rav 
 ages which grief and watching had made. Her 
 golden hair no longer met a bloom equal to its 
 own on her cheek; her eyes were hollow, her 
 lips almost bloodless. But amid the wreck was 
 a loveliness infinitely more touching than the 
 glow of health and vigor the loveliness which, 
 like the flowers " on dreamland graves," only 
 spring from tears. It was " the little more of 
 Agnes " that lie had sighed for. 
 
 In spite of himself his eyes filled with tears. 
 Lei, the weak mourner, Avas something precious 
 and holy to him ; with all his faults, he was one 
 of the princely few to whom the loved are 
 doubly endeared by poverty and affliction. 
 
 He knelt at her feet, a half smile was on her 
 face; he prayed that She might awake, forgive 
 him all the past and promise him all the future. 
 How infinitely nobler is she now than when she 
 sparkled pre-eminent on the crown of fashion. 
 "And over this pure spring," he prayed, "let 
 me be the tree that, taught by her to bloom, 
 may shade and shelter her forever with its arms."
 
 192 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ILL any of our readers imitate the good 
 world, and abandon Mr. Almy because 
 the house is falling? Heartily tired of a 
 tedious tale,- will they leave our frail creatures of 
 an hour to take their chances with poverty, and 
 remain perfectly indifferent to the result? But 
 in books, if not in life, persons become so much 
 more attractive in adversity all our affections 
 are enlisted, we wish we had it in our power to 
 assist them, we would do anything in the wide 
 world die for them, if necessary; for our 
 sympathy costs us nothing beyond a tear, soon 
 shed and sooner dried. 
 
 Agnes had written to her mother for permis 
 sion to stay and nurse Mr. Almy and comfort 
 Lei. We need not say that this permission was 
 granted, nay, enjoined. The mother's heart was 
 yearning for her daughter, and full of tender fears 
 for her safety ; but she wrote : 
 
 " Stay, my child, and do your duty." 
 Hers was the meek heroism of a self-denying 
 heart, the heroism of which earth is silent and 
 heaven musical. Agnes saw with real pleasure 
 Melville's returning love for Lei ; she saw with a 
 smile his complete indifference to herself. She
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 193 
 
 had wounclccl his pride deeply and bitterly ; and 
 wounded pride must revenge itself in some way, 
 though it be in forgiveness. Melville, of course, 
 felt no resentment ; but he could not help think 
 ing that Agnes had been too dictatorial ; that, in 
 short, she wanted that feminine gentleness which 
 Lei possessed in such an eminent degree. She 
 had spoken to him like a pedantic school-girl, 
 whose mouth was full of set phrases ; who firmly 
 believed her wise stereotype sentences an answer 
 to every argument, revolting cannon adapted 
 to repel, no matter what or where, the attack. 
 lie was tempted to laugh at the patronizing air 
 with which she had referred him to Kempis on 
 Xnture and Grace ; it could not have been in 
 humility. And then the parrot-like repetition 
 of " By the practice of my religion, by the 
 practice of my religion" as if a person could be 
 any wiser by a participation in the sacraments? 
 as if God would give us light to know our voca 
 tion when we employ all the means He has 
 appointed to obtain His grace and direction; as 
 if a young heart could gather wisdom and ex 
 perience from constant self-examination and the 
 confessional. But worse than this, Agnes had 
 been the cause of pain to Lei ; he could not for 
 give this. She had been the cause of his own 
 fickleness ; he could not forgive this either.
 
 194 LORETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 If any are disposed and there must be many 
 to frown Melville down as an insignificant 
 fellow in spite of his generosity, we pray them 
 to examine well their own hearts before they 
 pronounce sentence. There is a time when we 
 think we love, and a time when we do love. 
 Melville only thought he loved Lei, for she was 
 so gifted, so beautiful, that it was impossible to 
 resist her fascination ; but her levity and wilful- 
 ness kept him from being really in love. Is he 
 to be despised for this? Millions have the reck 
 lessness, nobleness, selfishness, folly, call it what 
 you Avill, to sacrifice wisdom for love ; hut not one 
 in ten thousand can reverse the case. But there's 
 very little love alive, and less that's worth men 
 tioning. It was only when Lei displayed that 
 mis:ht of firmness and affection around her 
 
 O 
 
 father's bedside ; it was only when she was an 
 outcast from fashion and fortune, when her cheek 
 was pale and wasted, when she needed assistance 
 and comfort, when others were deserting her, 
 when the house was falling; it was only then, 
 that Melville began to love. Let him be honored 
 for it; such things are rare. 
 
 Mr. Almy was recovering very slowly; his 
 constitution had been almost fatally shattered; 
 the physician hoped to restore him by summer. 
 He was well enough, however, to look into the
 
 LOBETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 195 
 
 affairs of Ins house and to resume operations as 
 well as could be done from his pillow. And it 
 must be said that his brother merchants, with 
 scarce an exception, were ready to extend a 
 helping hand. There is a touch of professional 
 pride in almost every department of life, which, 
 though not a Christian virtue, is still a manly 
 laurel, whose leaves adorn the desert through 
 which we journey. 
 
 How changed was Lei ! A deeper change 
 had taken place than Melville dreamed of, a 
 change produced by suffering and Agnes. On 
 the fly-leaf in her cousin's prayer-book Lei had 
 written in pencil. these unpretending lines, which 
 express more than we could do in as many 
 pages : 
 
 Who shall comfort, who shall cheer me 
 
 Who shall bid my sorrows cease ? 
 Is there not a spirit near me, 
 
 Pointing to a land of peace ? 
 When the tender heart is shaken 
 
 By the hands that blessed before, 
 When by all the world forsaken, 
 
 Is there nothing, nothing more ? 
 
 Who will shelter, who will love me, 
 
 Who will dry the lonely tear ? 
 Is there not a voice above me, 
 
 Sweetly whispering, ' ; I am near !
 
 196 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 I will ever watch beside thee, 
 
 I will be tby faithful friend; 
 Love me, and my love shall guide thee ; 
 
 Kneel, and let thy sorrows end ! " 
 
 Lei had music of her own for this ; a simple, 
 mournful melody, such as pious peasants dream 
 of. She was humming it over one evening at 
 at the close of spring in her father's chamber. 
 Mr. Almy was still unable to leave his room ; he 
 was sitting in an easy-chair, near the open win 
 dow that overlooked his garden, and he could 
 once more see the blessed sun and feel the light 
 south winds ; he could once more look out upon 
 the green grass and gay flowers below. Agnes 
 had gone to vis-it some poor people ; the father 
 and daughter were alone. 
 
 " Gome closer to me, Lei," said Mr. Almy ; " I 
 will tell you a story." He took her hand in his. 
 "You scarcely remember your mother; I have 
 rarely spoken to you of her. Perhaps you 
 thought I had forgotten her ; but no, no, I 
 remembered her too w T ell for my own peace. 
 She was the sweetest and best of human beings ; 
 I love Agnes because she reminds me of her." 
 
 The fallen merchant paused and pressed his 
 daughter's hand more closely. 
 
 " She was a pious, practical Catholic ; she 
 never missed mass, not even on the cold winter
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 197 
 
 mornings, when she had to go shivering through 
 the streets before sunrise, whilst I clung to the 
 warm blankets, pitying my good wife's fanati 
 cism. 
 
 "When her last lingering illness came she 
 bore it without a murmur. I wish all the phi 
 losophers in the universe had seen the meek, 
 patient," joyous fortitude of that Christian woman. 
 I had been an infidel ; at least I took pride in 
 passing for one, but my faith in atheism was 
 shaken by the spectacle ; for I saw that visible 
 support which humility obtains from heaven ; I 
 saw that the God in whom she trusted did not 
 fail her. 
 
 " She called me to her deathbed ; she placed 
 your hand in mine, as I hold it now, and charged 
 me, with her last breath, to bring you up a Cath 
 olic ! " 
 
 The merchant shuddered ; he seemed not to 
 see Lei, she was kneeling with her head on his 
 lap, bathing his hands with her tears. 
 
 " I made the promise. Lei, I made the prom 
 ise, and, O God, how have I kept it ! When I 
 remember that solemn moment, the smile she 
 gave, when on my knees I made the pledge she 
 asked, that smile which was still on her face 
 when they buried her, it seems like a frightful 
 dream, that I could have broken my word,
 
 198 LOEETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 because I was sneered at, because I wished you 
 to enjoy all the standard follies which Catholicity 
 forbids, because I had doomed you in my heart 
 to be a brilliant woman of the world ! Am I 
 not a villain? Go home with Agnes, and forget 
 the coward traitor to his wife and his conscience, 
 whom you have loved and honored as a kind, 
 good parent." 
 
 In a paroxysm of tears she sprang to his 
 breast, and threw her arms around his neck. 
 
 " And I thought I was making some amends 
 by staying at home with you, by inventing 
 amusements to make you happy, by indulging 
 you to excess, and accomplishing your mind 
 and person ! Can you forgive me ? Can you 
 forgive me, my own dear, injured, martyred 
 child?" 
 
 She pressed his head to her bosom, she gave 
 him a long look of unutterable love. 
 
 What are all the vows, the sighs, the caresses 
 of chronicled lovers to that holy kiss coming in 
 mercy and love from a daughter's lips ? 
 
 " Hear me out," he resumed. " I studied Cath 
 olicity to justify myself by detecting its errors, 
 and I found its truth. I feared to own it, even 
 to myself ; I feared to confess it to the world ; 
 the confession would have injured my business, 
 would have made me ridiculous ; and so I risked
 
 LOEETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 199 
 
 my salvation and yours for that bubble, human 
 esteem, and sought to drown my conscience by 
 nightly potations." 
 
 " Thank God, you did not succeed ! " cried 
 Lei, embracing him again and again. 
 
 "I did not succeed," said Mr. Almy. "If 
 ever a man toiled for a false conscience I did ; 
 but I did not get it because an angel in heaven 
 Avas praying for both of us ! " 
 
 Until then the fallen merchant had not shed 
 a tear ; but they came, at last, blissful, blessed 
 drops, that washed away the agony and shame 
 of years. And amid them, though his face was 
 white and haggard, though his eyes were sunk 
 en, though the lines on his high forehead were 
 deeper, Lei saw the expression he ought to have 
 the very look she had dreamed of and prayed 
 for. 
 
 He folded her to his heart, he dried his tears 
 on her hair, and said, in a voice broken with 
 emotion : 
 
 " We will meet your mother in heaven ! " 
 
 Agnes, who had just entered the room, seeing 
 their agitation, was about to retire, when Mr. 
 Almy called her back. 
 
 "You are one of us, Agnes," he said. "Lei 
 will tell you all that has passed between us. 
 There was a time," he continued, smiling,
 
 200 LOBETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " when I was foolish enough to think that you 
 might be one of us in name as well as in spirit. 
 But you have chosen the better part. How 
 tired you must be of helping to nurse me, of 
 gratifying all my whims, of hearing all my com 
 plaints, of seeing all my misery. It is a shame 
 for us to keep you here we can do without 
 you now at least we have no right to expect 
 you to remain, merely because we would miss 
 you so much." 
 
 " I scarcely expected," replied Agnes, " to be 
 dismissed so unceremoniously ; but I am deter 
 mined not to go back to Loretto until your 
 daughter goes with me ; and abuse me as you 
 please, I will not stir a step befoi'e she is ready." 
 
 "It is hard," pursued Mr. Almy, "to keep 
 from hating you, you make such large demands 
 on my gratitude. As for Melville, I shall cer 
 tainly hate him, unless I become able to repay 
 his magnanimous kindness. It is just like him : 
 there never was a knight in all chivalry equal to 
 him. I do believe he has given me every dollar 
 he has, and is selling his pictures and trinkets to 
 maintain himself from day to day. My house 
 and furniture will bring something; and if I 
 could get amongst my clerks once more I might 
 make a living yet, and do something for Lei." 
 
 " Never mind your clerks or me either," said
 
 LOKETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 201 
 
 Lei ; "make up your mind to go to Loretto with 
 Agnes as soon as you are able to move about. 
 I will stay here and teach music" 
 
 ' ; Under Airs. Hoity's protection ? " interposed 
 her father. 
 
 " Under God's protection?" cried Lei; "and 
 with these little fingers will build you a cottage 
 near the convent, where we may spend the rest 
 of our lives together." 
 
 " Will those little fingers pay off Melville, 
 too ? " said her father. 
 
 "One finger of her right hand alone would 
 more than pay him," answered Agnes. 
 
 A blush passed over Lei's face, succeeded by 
 the most painful thought. There was a struggle 
 going on in that young heart, to which few so 
 young, so impulsive, so capable of love are 
 equal. Melville had too much delicacy to de 
 clare himself so soon after a refusal from 
 Agnes ; the misfortunes of her father, and her 
 own altered position, in which a lover, equally 
 generous, but less refined, would have seen an 
 excuse for precipitation, only served to deter 
 him from a step which might seem forced by 
 compassion, or taken in the hope that if he had 
 been fickle, she was poor and desolate enough 
 now to forgive and gratefully welcome him. 
 back.
 
 202 LOEETTO J OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " Was Gabriel with you ? " said Mr. Almy to 
 Agnes, breaking the awkAvard pause. 
 
 "I have not seen him since morning," she 
 replied. 
 
 We must here remark a change in Mr. Almy 
 towards Gabriel. Formerly the proud merchant 
 regarded him with ill-concealed aversion ; he 
 seemed to think him an impertinent intruder, an 
 officious busybody, always blundering and al 
 ways out of place. Whenever he spoke to him 
 it was with a scowl, full of hatred, yet not un- 
 mingled with fear. But as soon as the fever 
 left him it was different; he loved to have 
 Gabriel near him ; he welcomed his pale face to 
 his bedside, and was never happier than when 
 Gabriel would come and sit by him and smile 
 him to sleep. Perhaps the young man's kind 
 ness had won his heart, perhaps adversity had 
 taught him forgiveness, perhaps there was ano 
 ther reason. Be this as it may, Mr. Almy and 
 Gabriel were friends. This meek, benevolent 
 creature had never resented the merchant's in 
 sults; at times he would disappear, for weeks 
 and then return as humble, as charitable, as un 
 complaining as ever. !N"o Avonder, then, he re 
 plied to advances so Avarmly made ; he scarcely 
 knew the meaning of revenge, and no one ever 
 appealed to him in affliction Avithout finding a 
 friend.
 
 LOEETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 203 
 
 It is the bright month of June ; Mr. Alray is 
 nearly well. Again that good priest, that dimin 
 utive old man, with short gray hair and small 
 gray eyes, is in the house. He had been there 
 more than once ; he had brought books there ; 
 he had been alone with Mr. Almy hours at a 
 time. 
 
 It is a Sunday morning in July ; the bells are 
 ringing for early mass it is the feast of St. 
 Vincent of Paul. The good priest is at the 
 altar, and, at the communion railing, Agnes, 
 Gabriel, Lei, and Mr. Almy are kneeling side 
 by side. 
 
 There are two more stanzas pencilled in the 
 prayer-book : 
 
 I have sought thee, I have found thee 
 
 Lamb of mercy, holy guest ; 
 Thy eternal love has bound thee 
 
 Captive in a mortal breast. 
 Oh, that I had sooner tasted 
 
 Joys I never knew before ! 
 Oh, had I the youth I wasted, 
 
 Back again, to live it o'er! 
 
 Oh, that I had sooner known thee* 
 
 Oh, could I the past recall 
 Yet thou wilt not now disown me 
 
 Father of the Trodigal !
 
 204 LOEETTO J OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 To my breast, thy Son, descending, 
 
 Sweetly there appeals for me; 
 Let me then, thus humbly bending, 
 
 Pledge the rest of life to thee ! 
 
 Mr. Almy's conversion was by no means 
 great an event as bis failure. 
 
 " It is very natural," observed Mrs. Hoity, 
 "that a falling family sbould cboose an unfash 
 ionable religion. And as for Lei," she said, "she 
 Avould turn Turk or anything else to please her 
 father." And these wise remarks embodied the 
 opinion of the world in general. In a few days, 
 however, the world ceased to have an opinion ; 
 and Mr. Ahny was permitted to go to his count 
 ing-room without being cross-questioned or stared 
 at. 
 
 The dwelling-house and furniture were adver 
 tised for public sale ; Lei and Agnes were pre 
 paring to revisit Loretto. 
 
 Melville determined to speak ; it was Lei's last 
 day in town"; he could not part from her without 
 an explanation ; she was so frail, so spirit-like, he 
 mitjht never see her again. 
 
 O O 
 
 The moment came ; his elaborate excuses, his 
 long professions all failed him. He knelt to the 
 injured girl, and uttered the single words, "I love 
 
 you." 
 
 Lei was calm and smiling; the struggle had
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 205 
 
 taken place, the victory was gained before she 
 went to communion. 
 
 " You tell me that you love me," said Lei ; " it 
 may be, and my weak heart is willing to believe 
 it. I thought so once before ; you know how 
 much I was mistaken. I need not say that the 
 gift of your fortune 'to my impoverished father 
 lias not diminished my regard. If I do not ad 
 mit that I love you, I confess that I shall never 
 love another. But I cannot accept your addresses 
 for a year, and not then' 1 '' her voice faltered 
 "unless you are a Catholic!" 
 
 While the words were ringing in his ears she 
 hurried from the room and threw herself into 
 Agnes' arms. Lei ! Lei ! thou tender girl, there 
 is not a hero in history with a soul like thine. 
 Yet the world has cast thee off; it has forgotten 
 thee even Ae, the first and last choice of thy 
 heart, may forget thee too, for thou hast re 
 nounced him. But weep not, weep not, Lei ; 
 the angels are around thee, and all the saints of 
 heaven are smiling, as thy heavenly Father ac 
 cepts and records the sacrifice thou hast made ! 
 
 And that night Lei had a dream the same 
 she had at Loretto. She dreamed that she was 
 in the convent chapel, alone, at midnight ; that 
 as she was kneeling there a lady, whose face was 
 concealed by a white veil spangled with stars, ap-
 
 206 LOEETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 peared upon the altar. Slowly and noiselessly 
 the figure moved towards her and stood over her 
 the veil was uplifted is was her mother! 
 Not the pale, cold body she had seen in the coffin, 
 but the mild, warm, bright being, whose breast 
 had once been her home the living mother of 
 other days. Still more radiant was her smile 
 when she stooped and kissed her, saying, " Now 
 you are mine ! " 
 
 There is another figure on the altar another 
 Mother, but infinitely more beautiful, infinitely 
 more tender ; and from her hands and forehead 
 are streaming rays of glory that bathe the sanc 
 tuary in light. And as she stood, a child ap 
 peared upon her breast, whose lustre eclipsed her 
 own ; a halo trembled around his head, and he 
 stretched forth his little hands to the sleeper, and 
 she awoke with a prayer on her lips and her 
 heart full of joy and hope. 
 
 The morning was just beginning to break ; 
 Agnes was kneeling over her friend, her face 
 wet with tears. 
 
 ""What," said Lei, glancing at her cousin's 
 undisturbed bed, " have you been up all night?" 
 
 " I have been thinking of my past presump 
 tion," replied Agnes ; " it is enough to keep me 
 awake. In the pride of my heart I came here 
 thinking that I was an angel commissioned to
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 207 
 
 save and instruct you ; I regarded you with a 
 sort of compassion, lamenting that you had not 
 the heart to love God as I did. Oh, Lei, our 
 Father in heaven has vouchsafed me a glance 
 into my o\vn heart, and I tremble at the knowl 
 edge of what evil I am capable. Had my edu 
 cation been like yours I should be a victim and 
 a scourge. Even now, I might not relinquish 
 human love, as you are doing. You have been 
 dreaming sweetly; let me kiss this pure temple, 
 in which God is dwelling." 
 
 "My own Agnes," said Lei, returning her 
 embrace, " I owe all that I am to your example, 
 and so does my father. Had my mother lived, 
 I might have escaped many a sin, but I never 
 should have been what you are. Dear, dear 
 Agnes, you have more to 1 contend Avith in one 
 hour than I in a lifetime." 
 
 The sun had risen, and the two friends went 
 forth to communion. Never had Lei felt such a 
 transport of joy and peace ; and if Agnes was 
 pale with watching, her face was calmer and 
 nobler than it had ever been. These are the 
 morning walks that give health and bliss, that 
 lead to a country of perpetual green and unfad 
 ing flowers, where the spirit never sickens or 
 languishes, where all is freshness, light, and 
 music.
 
 208 LOEETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 The carriage was at the door to perform its 
 last family service ; it was to be sold that morn 
 ing. Mr. Almy silently folded Agnes and Lei 
 to his breast, mutely blessed them, and walked 
 away, leaving them in charge of Melville. The 
 old black coachman drew his rough sleeve across 
 his eyes and drove off. Lei watched the old 
 house, the old house where she was born, where 
 her mother died, where she had first wept and 
 smiled, where she had learned to love her father, 
 where she had frolicked as a child, romped as a 
 girl, danced as a woman ; the old house where 
 she had first met Melville, and lost and regained 
 him ; where little Clarence had dined and won 
 dered ; where so many a match was made, so 
 many a vow spoken and broken ; where her 
 little fingers had first trickled as aimlessly as 
 rain-drops over the piano; the old house immor 
 tal with Beethoven's Sonatas and Mendelssohn's 
 trios ; where Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Weber, 
 Meyerbeer, Heller, Thalberg, Schuberth, Schul- 
 hoff, Listz, clustered like familiar genii around 
 Aladdin's lamp, awaiting the touch of its mis. 
 tress ; the old house endeared by so many years 
 of joy, consecrated by so many months of pain; 
 whjere she had nursed her father, where she had 
 heard his story, where they had taken together 
 the first blessed draught at the well-spring of
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 209 
 
 Catholicity, where they had breakfasted after 
 communion, where she had dreamed of her two 
 mothers and the divine babe on the altar. She 
 watched it with a swelling heart as long as it 
 was in sight, for she loved it as if it lived. 
 
 Gabi'iel met them at the cars. 
 
 " Do not leave my father," said Lei. 
 
 "He does not need me now," whispered 
 Gabriel. "I serve another master," he added, 
 looking at Melville. 
 
 Before leaving the carriage Lei had taken a 
 silver medal from her wrist and thrown it over 
 Melville's neck. 
 
 "Wear it," she said, "and say the prayer 
 whenever you think of me. I shall be happy if 
 I serve to remind you of heaven." 
 
 The cars are gliding off. Farewell ! 
 
 At ten o'clock Melville wandered up to Mr. 
 Almv's ; a red flag is waving from Lei's window. 
 
 w y ~ 
 
 He shuddered, his knees shook, the dreary, 
 blank existence before him was worse than 
 death. But he had a duty to perform ; sad as 
 it was, there was hope and consolation in it. 
 Lei he had not, but no other had her, and no 
 other should have her piano. 

 
 210 LOEETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 SAY, Charley," chuckled the Colonel, 
 " These are fine birds, fine birds. I 
 don't think I missed a single shot." 
 
 The old gentleman had spent the afternoon 
 woodchuck shooting, and his bag was handsomely 
 filled. Though a poor angler, as we have seen, 
 he was a capital shot ; in fact, he shot well 
 enough to be called Colonel without any other 
 pretension to the title. 
 
 He was returning home, a little fatigued, but 
 flushed with success, and longing for some good 
 friends to partake of the supper he promised 
 himself that very night, when he saw a carriage 
 passing along the road towards Loretto. He 
 could see it plainly although hidden from it by 
 the woods. All at once the dogs, who were 
 ranging ahead, set up a bark and scampered 
 after the carriage. Xeither Charley nor the Col 
 onel could whistle them back. Away they went, 
 like those faithful hounds in Burger's ballad. 
 
 " That's strange," muttered the Colonel. 
 
 " I'll bet it's Miss Agnes ! " shouted Charley. 
 
 Taking fire at the suggestion, the Colonel 
 bounded forward and cleared the fence as though 
 a bullet had never made a hole in his leg. Agnes
 
 LOKETTO ; OK, THE CHOICE. 211 
 
 ought to have written word the very day she 
 meant to arrive instead of leaving it uncertain. 
 
 And now, my dear reader, you are again at 
 Loretto. The forest trees are in leaf, the or 
 chards heavy with fruit, the spring flowers have 
 passed away, and the busy bees have exhausted 
 the honeysuckles wreathing the white porches. 
 Agnes is in her mother's arms, and all those 
 anxious moments, all those trembling fears, all 
 those sleepless nights and weary days are for 
 gotten as the tearful widow strains to her heart 
 her only child. What matters it that she is 
 thinner and paler, that there is no longer a par 
 ticle of the girl in her face, that she is no longer 
 young? she had her back again, safe and sound, 
 and in the joy of the moment she asked no 
 more. 
 
 Lei, too, was in her arms no longer the 
 thoughtless, merry girl ; no longer buoyant with 
 life, health, and hope, darting here and there like 
 a butterfly ; no longer the flattering tease, the 
 spoiled favorite of fashion ; but Lei the mourner, 
 Lei the Catholic. Yet, to the mother's eye, 
 Agnes had changed most; for Lei was happy in 
 her faith, and her joyous soul, though rudely 
 shaken, was still ready to leap up again, as the 
 young tree resumes its place when the storm that 
 bent it is over. It was not so with Agnes. Why?
 
 212 LOKETTO ; OB, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " When I left you" she said to her mother that 
 night, " I felt sure of heaven; now I do not" 
 The Colonel embraced Lei and Ao-nes, and 
 
 O t 
 
 Agnes and Lei. He could not tell, for the life 
 of him, which he loved most. They had come 
 just in time for his woodcock; and Charley, 
 with the big drops of delight dancing in his 
 eyes, put forth all his skill on the precious 
 birds. 
 
 After tea they took a walk down the road 
 Agnes with her mother, Lei with the Colonel. 
 Lei had never seen Loretto in summer; the hand 
 of a fairy seemed to have passed over the place ; 
 all round her was beauty and repose. The lark 
 was gliding lazily to bed ; the night-hawk was 
 wheeling and darting through the air ; the cows 
 were soberly walking home " as if conscious of 
 human affection;" the sheep were lying down 
 in white groups for the night ; the trees sighed 
 in the evening Avind ; and the distant spire of 
 the convent was colored by the crimson clouds 
 on which the sun was still shining from beneath 
 the horizon. There was a holy calm in Lei's 
 breast, as beautiful and profound as the repose 
 of the scene on which she gazed. 
 
 " Why did not Almy come?" exclaimed the 
 Colonel. " We would have made him a boy 
 again."
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 213 
 
 "Why could he not?" thought Lei; but she 
 was silent. 
 
 And when the stars stole out, when the whip- 
 poor-will was heard in the woods, when the 
 frogs began their nightly serenade to their parent 
 stream, our four friends betook themselves to 
 the porch. 
 
 " Why didn't you bring Melville with you," 
 said the Colonel, darting his cigar at a perse 
 vering gnat, " or some other young gentleman, 
 instead of returning like two old maids ? " 
 
 "As we are," added Lei. 
 
 " Nonsense!" simpered the Colonel, confound 
 ing his little persecutor with a prodigious puff. 
 " What do you think of the world, Agnes ? rather 
 a nice place after all, eh ? Oh, I have had my 
 time in it ! " 
 
 "And so have I," said Agnes. 
 
 "You ought to see more of it, my girl." 
 
 " No, thank you, I have seen quite enough." 
 
 " Why, you jade, you, what have you seen in a 
 month ? It takes one years to see the world as 
 it is in all its majestically accumulating glory 
 and versatile interest. Poh!" continued the 
 Colonel, " what have you seen ?" 
 
 "I have seen," returned Agnes, with provok 
 ing calmness, "that its standard of morality is 
 not God's standard ; that wealth and impru-
 
 214 LOEETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 dence are its virtues; poverty and modesty its 
 vices ; that money is its god, its grand govern 
 ing principle, to which all else is subservient; 
 that happiness is measured by the purse, and 
 that a comfortable if not luxurious settlement in 
 life is the grand goal, in the chase of which eter 
 nity is lost sight of." 
 
 " Poh ! " ejaculated the Colonel. 
 
 "I have seen Catholics almost universally 
 ashamed of the first principles of their faith, and 
 artfully smoothing them over to attract their 
 dissenting brethren. I have seen them dressing 
 
 o o 
 
 so indecently, even when priests are invited, that 
 their pastors are put to the blush." 
 
 " That's the priests' fault," mumbled the Colo 
 nel. 
 
 "I have seen," continued Agnes, smiling at 
 the interruption, " that your happy, merry men 
 and women are only so because they have a false 
 conscience which has ceased to accuse them ; I 
 have seen all who have virtue enough to feel 
 living in perpetual fear of the temptations by 
 which they are surrounded. I have seen that 
 society is but a hollow farce, in which there is 
 neither love nor friendship. I have seen the 
 idol of a thousand worshippers left without a 
 single friend when touched by poverty." 
 
 The Colonel groaned and looked away from 
 Lei.
 
 I.ORETTO; Oil, THE CHO1CK. 21") 
 
 " And I have seen," said Agnes, taking her 
 uncle's hand and modulating her voice to a 
 whisper, " I have seen, that in spite of all this, 
 the world is dazzlingly beautiful, winning, en 
 chanting. And oh, my dear, good uncle, it is 
 not God that makes it so ! I have felt, its insidi 
 ous fascination. I tell you, uncle, that I have 
 been wandering along the brink of a precipice ; 
 that I could no more live in the world than can 
 the moth live in the candle ; that my only salva- 
 vation is in that convent ! " 
 
 The old man knocked the ashes carefully from 
 his cigar, slowly brushed a tear from his eye? 
 and put his arm around Lei's neck. 
 
 "Thank God, you are not a Catholic!" he ex 
 claimed. "There are no Protestant convents to 
 take you from me." 
 
 With tears streaming down her cheeks, Lei 
 leaned her head on his shoulder. A horrible 
 suspicion ran through the Colonel's mind. He 
 raised her head in the clear moonlight, and 
 mutely questioned her, with such a fearful, timid 
 gaze, that her heart bled for him as she said: 
 
 " Yes, uncle, I am a Catholic ! " 
 
 The cigar fell from his hand, his cane rolled 
 on the porch, his broad chest swelled as if his 
 heart was bursting ; had they both been dead at 
 his feet he could scarcely have shown more grief
 
 216 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 than at this overthrow of all his plans, this defeat 
 of his best diplomacy. 
 
 " Checkmated ! " he sobbed, in uncontrolled 
 agony, repulsed them sternly from his side, and 
 then, spreading his arms, snatched them both to 
 his bosom. " Checkmated ! Checkmated ! " 
 
 One word; the sermon just preached by Ag 
 nes against the world has nothing new in it ; 
 Solomon put it all in a nutshell long ago; it 
 will be found better expressed in every prayer- 
 book. To the Colonel it was perfectly puerile, 
 the same old song which saints and misan 
 thropists have been singing together from time 
 immemorial. Only by constant meditation do we 
 comprehend that life is but a preparation for 
 death ; and unless this great truth is realized 
 where is the folly in living as if time were the 
 main thing and eternity a trifle? The visible 
 present, though brief, and bounded by the grave, 
 is apt to be more important than the invisible 
 future. Without strong faith men must live as 
 they do ; and all who reprove them for neglect 
 ing their souls, in over-devotion to their bodies, 
 will seem only fools, or very good people who 
 have not weighed well the difficulty of what 
 they propose. Every day we witness the same 
 spectacle, a world, for whom God died upon the 
 cross, devoting all their time, all their thoughts
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 217 
 
 to obtain material comfort and avoid sorrow, 
 a prayer at night, an ejaculation in the morning 
 the rest of the day sacred to the body. "We see 
 this every day ; we do not wonder at it, it is all 
 right, all in the order of Providence ; the only 
 mystery is, that some weak, pious souls are 
 absurd enough to quit the world and devote the 
 greater part of their lives to religious exercises ; 
 this is the singular part of it. It would be an 
 unnatural state of things, indeed, if all mankind 
 were to make business secondary to religion, and 
 spend as much time in praising God as they do 
 in making money. 
 
 Why, the best instructed, the most edifying 
 Catholic parents cannot help preferring an aus 
 picious alliance with man for their daughters to 
 an eternal union with God in the solitary clois 
 ter ; and how can we expect the worldly-minded 
 Colonel, who has not seen a confessional for 
 forty years, to consider the choice made by 
 Agnes as anything else than a burning shame, a 
 living death? How many of us have realized, 
 by prayer and meditation, that heaven is all and 
 earth nothing? How many of us are truly sick 
 of the vanity of life, much as we pretend to be, 
 and do not sagely conclude that our neighbors 
 and ourselves are all doing our duty, taking our 
 share of enjoyment with sufficient gratitude, and
 
 218 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 bearing our just proportion of affliction with 
 exemplary resignation ? 
 
 There was a time when monasteries and 
 chapels were as numerous as castles, when the 
 Christian world seemed ambitious to live a 
 Christian life, when self-denial and self-castiga- 
 tion were honored, when the consecration of a 
 Cathedral was of more moment than the open 
 ing of a railroad, when there was something 
 nobler than science and dearer than profit, when 
 the security of government was in the humility 
 of the people, when the security of the people 
 was in the firmness and purity of the church, 
 when there was not, as now, a groundwork of 
 ignorance, pride, and envy, which is either a 
 withering master or a dangerous slave. Yes, 
 there was a time when all this was, and when 
 Agnes might not have been laughed at, but it 
 was in the dark ages, reader, in those terrible 
 nights before the sunlight of newspapers had 
 illumined the earth. ' 
 
 Must it be told that within a month after her 
 return from the city Agnes entered the convent 
 as a candidate ; that three months later her long 
 hair was cut to suit the brown cap of the nov 
 ice? Until her hair was cut the Colonel had 
 cherished a hope that she would repent her 
 girlish haste ; but when he saw the ruin caused
 
 LOBETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 219 
 
 by those envious shears he could not help saying, 
 "It is all over, all over." And ye who have 
 clung to Agnes in the hope that she would be 
 induced to marry Melville, or incline to 31 r. 
 Almy, or that some romantic young gentleman 
 would appear upon the carpet, invested with 
 every virtue and every grace, between whom 
 and our young novice a sweet sympathy might 
 be established which should ultimately lead to 
 better things than the cloister, and supply a 
 chapter or two of delicious sentiment, leave us, 
 we beseech you, for her CHOICE is made, though 
 the vows are not yet taken. Yes, she is lost 
 to the world, that sweet, beautiful girl, who 
 laughed so merrily with her load of premiums 
 in her arms; the milk-white lamb amongst those 
 green hills ; the friend who had gone to change 
 Lei, and who did change her, though she nearly 
 perished in the effort ; the kind protectress who 
 had comforted little Clarence and the Wanderer; 
 the keen-sighted woman who had penetrated 
 the secret of Mr. Almy's face, who had con 
 quered Melville and reigned supreme in the 
 ball-room, eclipsing all the practised belles of 
 the season. She icas lost to the world, that 
 sweet, beautiful girl, who was so well fitted to 
 delight and adorn it, lost before the first bloom 
 of youth had passed from her cheeks, before
 
 220 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 experience had dried the first bright waters of 
 hope and trust that are born in our hearts ; lost 
 before there was any need to seek a refuge from 
 the ills of life in that last resource, a convent. 
 She is lost to the icorld, and what matters it 
 what she has gained, what heaven has won. So 
 thought the Colonel. 
 
 Yet what was his love for Agnes compared 
 to her mother's, the mother who remembered her 
 baptism, her first cries, her first words, her 
 first caresses ; who had counted her first smiles 
 and treasured them in her heart ; who remem 
 bered every incident of her youth, her first lisp 
 ing prayers, her first songs, her first visit to 
 mass, her first confession, her first communion, 
 her confirmation. What was his bereavement 
 to hers ? Agnes was her only child, her only 
 companion in prayer, her jewel, her treasure, 
 her all on earth ; a thousand uncles could not 
 have loved her as she did ; their lives had been 
 one, and now they are called upon to live apart. 
 Oh, not apart! Who shall say apart? When 
 they are repeating, day after day and night after 
 night, the same dear litanies, when they are 
 appealing to the same sainfs, the same angels, 
 the same Blessed Mother, the same Father, Son 
 and Holy Ghost, when they are living together 
 in God, who shall say they are living apart?
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 221 
 
 And thus thought Mrs. Cleveland, and she 
 missed not her daughters long, dark hair ; and 
 if she shed floods of natural tears it was not 
 because her daughter was clad in the plain 
 livery of heaven. And so thought Lei, and she 
 was glad of the CHOICE, though she had now to 
 sit and sew alone, though she had to walk alone, 
 though "she had to watch the sun rise and set, 
 and play Beethoven, and listen to the birds and 
 pluck wild flowers and muse under the old oak- 
 trees without Asmes at her side. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 HO shall say what passed in Agnes' 
 heart after that memorable Thursday 
 evening? What visions of worldly 
 happiness crowded on her soul, outshining and 
 eclipsing the silent convent to which she had 
 pledged herself? Before her first visit to the 
 city she had wondered how others could be so 
 thoughtless as to abandon themselves to the 
 insignificant pleasures which she despised, and 
 which had not brilliancy enough even to tempt 
 her. But on a sudden her soul had risen up 
 in arms against her. The triumphs and the
 
 222 LOEETTO J OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 joys which had been contemptible now danced 
 before her eyes in fearful fascination. They 
 beckoned her on through a lovely vista, opening 
 into sunshine and soft splendor, where roses 
 were blooming, where trees were bending over 
 glittering fountains, dropping luscious, golden 
 fruit. She had measured herself with those 
 who had sneered at the country girl ; she had 
 overtopped them and moved amongst them like 
 a queen. She had perceived her superiority 
 it had been tacitly admitted she saw a bril 
 liant career before her, she had only to step for 
 ward and enjoy it. 
 
 Was this not a temptation ? We have written 
 to no purpose if Agnes is still considered a cold, 
 calm, passionless creature. We have written 
 tp no purpose if the likeness to her father has 
 not been detected by more than Lei. Few minds 
 could spin such glancing, silky webs for the 
 winged soul ; few hearts could feel the enchant 
 ment of fancy so deeply. Yet how little did she 
 know this, when she knelt for her confessor's 
 permission to save Lei, feeling certain of her 
 own salvation ! 
 
 She recalled the haughtiness with which she 
 had referred Melville to Kempis on Nature and 
 Grace, as if she were pei-fect in that sublime 
 chapter. Oh, Agnes, Agnes, was there not pride,
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 223 
 
 presumption, in thy self-confidence? was there 
 not too much contempt for others, whom thou 
 didst believe weaker than thyself ? She admitted 
 it in tears before the cross. 
 
 And the world, the world which thou hast 
 scorned, is it not rather to be feared than dared? 
 is it not rather to be pitied and prayed for than 
 spurned- and denounced ? Didst thou not exempt 
 thyself from the censure which thou didst pass 
 on that same world, and think thyself better 
 than the rest of mankind ? Ay, even during the 
 conversation with the Colonel on the porch, when 
 the moon was shining, the evening of thy return, 
 didst thou apply to thyself the condemnation so 
 liberally bestowed on thy neighbors? 
 
 What would she not have given for that per 
 fect repose, that calm delight she felt before 
 leaving Loretto ! Would it never return ? Yet 
 why so covetous of spiritual enjoyment, so rest 
 less under that spiritual desolation with which 
 the saints themselves are visited ? But in the 
 tumult of leaving her mother and such a 
 mother! there could not be that fulness of 
 joy to which she had looked forward so eagerly. 
 Not until the moment of parting did Agnes know 
 how much was due that meek, uncomplaining 
 guardian of her youth. How imperfectly had 
 she returned that mother's tender love, how often
 
 224 LORETTO ; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 had she been wanting in affection, how little had 
 she done to console, to amuse, to reward tier for 
 faose early lessons of piety without which her 
 life might have been a warning ! 
 
 Oh no ! it was not on entering the convent 
 that the voung candidate's soul was at rest. A 
 
 v O 
 
 week's retreat ! She had proved her own noth 
 ingness ; she had discovered that all her strength 
 came from God ; that, without humility, she was 
 powerless; that the finger of heaven had pointed 
 out her vocation, not as an honor due her virtue, 
 but as a mercy granted to her weakness. She 
 looked up with reverence and love to the old 
 sisters around her, who were preparing to die as 
 they had lived, and begged them to pray that, 
 like them, she might persevere to the close. 
 But that perfect repose, that calm delight, would 
 not return ! That spiritual desolation would 
 not pass away ! As the traveller in the desert 
 pants for the palm-tree's shade and running 
 waters, as the weary schoolboy sighs for a 
 Christmas holiday, as the wanderer longs for 
 the sweet home he left behind him, so Agnes 
 had sighed and longed for the beginning of her 
 religious life, as if every aspiration would then 
 be instantaneously gratified, as if the unspeakable 
 rapture of that moment would exceed all the 
 transports of youth and innocence. But instead
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 225 
 
 of this it is a time of tears and trial, a time 
 of doubt and fear, in which not one of these 
 bright promises was fulfilled. Oh, could she 
 flint* herself once more on her mother's breast 
 
 O 
 
 and die! Is heaven so hard to win? Is it not 
 easy to be a Sister of Charity? Courage, thou 
 noble girl ! 
 
 The fe'rvor that carried thee so joyously to 
 communion when thou wast a girl ; the devotion 
 that led thee to the city to save thy young cou 
 sin, this is something, but something more must 
 thou have to be a Sister of Charity. Let the 
 long hours of meditation pass heavily; let thy 
 thoughts wander painfully to thy dear mother ; 
 let thy bosom ache even in the chapel ; let thy 
 pillow be steeped in nightly tears ; a day of con 
 solation may come, when the sand in the hour 
 glass shall glide away unnoticed; when thy 
 Blessed Mother in heaven shall absorb thy 
 thoughts ; when thy breast shall swell with joy 
 before the altar ; when thy pillow shall have no 
 thorn. 
 
 Whilst Agnes was thus advancing in the 
 
 O ~ 
 
 school of the cross, Lei undertook to accomplish 
 herself in all the departments of country life. 
 She rose before the sun, and (gentle reader, 
 wince not !) fed the chickens, pigeons, geese, 
 ducks, and turkeys ; she learned that corn was
 
 226 LOKETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 planted and wheat sown ; she was initiated into 
 the mysteries of milking, creaming, churning, 
 curds, and cheese ; and her rural ambition en 
 deared her to every hand about the place, to the 
 dairymaid in particular. She knew the names 
 of all the birds, and could distinguish them by 
 their notes; the lark, the plover, the robin, the 
 quail, the woodcock, the flicker, the blackbird, 
 were no longer strangers, but familiar friends. 
 
 O O ' 
 
 She loved to take the shade with the reapers at 
 nooning, and laugh and jest with them ; and 
 there, with her green sun-bonnet cast carelessly 
 aside, and her back against the rough tree, few 
 would have recognized in our Lei the admitted 
 leader of fashion, the reigning star of many a 
 Winter. 
 
 Her daily rides, her daily rambles over the 
 fields in search of new flowers, had embrowned 
 her clear cheeks and forehead ; and, cheered 
 and reinvigorated by exercise and these inno 
 cent pastimes, the lightness, fulness, freshness 
 of health returned, and her step was once more 
 as free as air, and ' her figure rounded to its for 
 mer symmetry. 
 
 But if she loved to stray over the farm with 
 the Colonel and listen to his piscatorial exploits, 
 still more did she love to accompany Mrs. 
 Cleveland through the neighborhood, until she
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 227 
 
 knew the road to every cottage that needed 
 charity. And the people testified their grati 
 tude by saying she was another Agnes: they 
 knew no higher compliment. There was another 
 pleasure ; once a week, not ofteaer, she went 
 with her aunt and uncle to see Agnes, and the 
 two friends would visit that dear old confessor 
 who had inside the name of Ellen Alrny a house 
 hold word in the convent. And Lei wrote so 
 many sweet, simple hymns, and was so good and 
 kind, that the sisters loved her too, and their 
 prayers were still offered up for her peace and 
 happiness: 
 
 And, twice a, week she received letters from 
 her father long letters, letters that she might 
 read and read again, and then file away in her 
 little desk as so many treasures. He was well 
 and doing well. He promised to come soon and 
 spend a fortnight with her. Was she not 
 happy? Did she never languish for that bril 
 liant circle which was still moving without her, 
 and sigh for her place there? Never never. 
 If, at times, a fear would cross her mind, that 
 the world might regain its fatal hold on her 
 father his next letter drove the thought away. 
 True, she longed to be with him ; she begged 
 him to let her return and stay at his side, no 
 matter where he was, or what might happen ;
 
 228 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 that her health was restored ; that she would be 
 happier with him. But' he forbade it, and she 
 submitted. It was better to be away from Mel 
 ville, and she tried not to think of him, save 
 when she prayed for that generous friend. 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland could ill have spared this kind 
 and loving girl ; the Colonel could not have 
 existed without her. The loss of Agnes did not 
 grieve him long, for, with the facility of old 
 age, he transferred his love to Lei, and thought 
 that Agnes had never taken half the interest in 
 his tackle, guns, and hounds that Lei did ; and 
 Charley, unconsciously following in his master's 
 wake, boldly pronounced out of his mistress' 
 hearing, however that Miss Lei was worth 
 two of Miss Agnes. Most of our readers will 
 side with Charley. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIY. 
 
 INY one who has derived his chief 
 pleasure from the society of one family, 
 ffigife' instead of relying on himself or on the 
 everlasting many, and has been suddenly de 
 prived of this sole dependence, will sympathize 
 with Melville. For years he had seen Lei,
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 229 
 
 almost daily, but lie knew not, until they parted, 
 that she was more than half his existence. He 
 could easily understand why Lei should reject 
 his addresses for a year, for lie had given her 
 reason to suspect his constancy ; but not to hear 
 him then unless he was a Catholic amazed and 
 confounded him. He knew that the Catholic 
 Church discouraged mixed marriages, and lie 
 would not have been surprised at such a decla 
 ration from an Italian peasant girl, but such 
 bigotry in the high-bred, accomplished, and 
 beautiful Lei was a mystery. Had she fallen a 
 victim to those Jesuitical doctrines by which the 
 noblest minds in the world have been perverted ? 
 Had she stifled the sweet voice of nature in her 
 soul at the bidding of a black-go Avned priest of 
 Rome ? It must be so ! There is an insuperable 
 barrier between them ! Lei was in earnest ; he 
 could trust her word as an infant trusts its 
 mother's smile. There was no change in her 
 love, and the knowledge of this was another 
 pang, for he never could be a Catholic. It was 
 out of the question absurd impossible. 
 
 He had her piano there was some comfort 
 in that and would sit for hours brooding over 
 the finger-board, strumming fragments of Lei's 
 favorite pieces ; but the instrument was dead ; the 
 animating spirit was gone, gone forever ! In the
 
 230 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 evenings he was reasonably happy in Mr. Almy's 
 society they lodged together but the long, 
 cheerless days were almost insupportable. Feel 
 ing the necessity of employment, to save himself 
 from constant despondency, he resumed, with a 
 view to practice, the study of medicine, in which 
 he had already taken a diploma ; not that he 
 wanted money, for Mr. Almy had partially re 
 paid him with half the sales of the house and 
 furniture. His generosity to the Almys was 
 known Mr. Almy had taken no pains to con 
 ceal it but this was not much to his credit with 
 the world. The world is never well pleased when 
 called on to admire virtues it does not practise. 
 Indeed, Melville was looked upon as a tender 
 hearted, credulous mortal, who had been duped 
 out of a large fortune by the wiles of an old mer 
 chant and the blandishments of an artful voting 
 
 v <j 
 
 girl. They respected him, however for being 
 prudent enough not to marry Lei, and detected 
 in this wise resolve a glimmering of o-ood sense 
 
 O O O 
 
 ainidst his folly. So powerfully had his insane 
 behavior operated on society that his former in 
 timates were disposed to cut his acquaintance, 
 and it was only when they heard he still had 
 something left that their disgust melted into 
 patronizing pity. 
 
 Under these auspices Melville might hope to
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 231 
 
 start in his new profession with tolerable success. 
 His manners were pleasing; his attainments con 
 siderable ; and, with proper patronage, he was 
 still a desirable match. If the silly fellow would 
 only give up the Almys all might go well with 
 him, and he might even aspire to Mrs. Hoity's 
 occasional notice. This majestic and good- 
 hearted "soul never met him without sneering at 
 Lei, until he wished the portly widow a man, 
 that he might dash her to the ground and set his 
 foot on her neck. Once, in speaking of Lei, she 
 said to him with a wink : 
 
 " Poor little creature, how hard she tried to get 
 you ! " 
 
 " It is false, madam," cried Melville, " I tried 
 all I could to get her, and failed ! I would give 
 more for one hair of her head than for your 
 parlor full of the proudest and richest of this 
 city." 
 
 This reckless and unpai'donable speech sealed 
 Melville's fate. There was no hope in the upper 
 circles after that ; his practice must come from 
 the lower classes. 
 
 Melville found abundant occupation in his 
 medical books ; but occupation is not always 
 consolation. There was a void in his bosom that 
 pathology could not fill. As for Gabriel, he was 
 a poor companion, with his pale face and uneasy
 
 232 LOKETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 whisper. Almy was his main stay for did not 
 Lc4 write long letters to her father every week ? 
 and did not her father read some passages from 
 rustic life to a very attentive listener ? 
 
 One evening, to Melville's consternation and 
 regret, Mr. Almy brought home to tea the dim 
 inutive old priest with short gray hair and small 
 gray eyes. Melville could scarcely salute him, 
 with ordinary civility ; he regarded him as the - 
 author of all his anguish, the thief who had stolen 
 away his Lei. Mr. Almy had never seen such a 
 bitter cloud on his room-mate's brow ; there was 
 something dangerous in it. Our friend, the 
 
 o o * 
 
 priest, did not seem to notice it; or, if he did, 
 was not visibly moved by the gathering storm, 
 having probably encountered rougher weather in 
 his lifetime. 
 
 " I have been trying," said Mr. Almy, " to 
 make this young gentleman a Catholic, and as 
 my success has not been very flattering I am 
 disposed to hand him over to you. He is a good 
 scholar, and could easily read the fathers of the 
 church." 
 
 "Yes," said the old man, "very good reading. 
 But you don't want to be a priest, do you, Mr. 
 Melville ? " 
 
 " Not exactly, sir,"-replied Melville, haughtily. 
 
 " No," said the other. " Then, I think the little
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 233 
 
 catechism would be better than the fathers. Do 
 you know anything about us, Mr. Melville?" 
 
 "Something," returned Melville, Avith startling 
 bitterness. "I know that you have rendered me 
 hopelessly miserable, by depriving me of a bless. 
 ing that I might now enjoy, but for the- heart 
 less tyranny you exercise over all who are weak 
 enough to admit your power." 
 
 "Is that all you know?" asked the priest. 
 
 " It is all I wish to know ! " thundered 1 Mel 
 ville, incensed at his antagonist's calmness. 
 " Have you a right to plunge two, who love 
 each other, into an abyss of despair that the 
 predilections of the pope maybe gratified? I 
 tell you, sir, that all the bishops in Christendom 
 cannot love as I do that sweet victim of their 
 superstition ! " 
 
 " You do seem to be quite in love," s^aid the 
 priest. 
 
 " Had you a right," continued Melville, " to 
 dissuade her from marrying me because I was 
 not in your communion ? Have I ever done any 
 thing unbecoming a man or a Christian ? Am 
 I not as honest as thousands Avho seek your con 
 fessional?" 
 
 " These question's are rather hard to answer," 
 began the other with a smile. "I believe you 
 are a very good man, though you are in a sad
 
 234 LORETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 passion now. I claim a right to advise in all 
 these cases, and hold myself accountable to God 
 alone. I have been accused of beino; a match- 
 
 O 
 
 maker, but this is the first time I have be,en up 
 braided as a match-breaker." 
 
 "You mean to sny, sir," answered Melville, 
 " that you never had so much reason to save a 
 young lady from such a villain as I ! " 
 
 "I mean to say nothing of the kind. How do 
 I know whether you are a villain or not ? All 
 I know is that you are not a Christian, and that 
 Lei is too good for any heathen on the face of 
 the earth." 
 
 " She is indeed," muttered Melville, white 
 with rage. "If your persecution were confined 
 to me alone, I could endure it, and console my 
 self with despising you. But are you not well 
 aware that you are exacting a sacrifice from her 
 which must be fatal to her happiness. 
 
 The old man smiling in his face, replied : 
 
 " Don't you think she can live without you?" 
 so innocently, that Mr. Almy laughed outright. 
 
 Goaded to madness, Melville turned on Mr. 
 Almy, gasping between his teeth, " I little ex 
 pected to be mocked by you^ 
 
 The significant emphasis of you brought a 
 deep blush to Mr. Almy's cheek, and he shaded 
 his eyes with his hand.
 
 LORETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 235 
 
 "Gentlemen," continued Melville, rising, "if 
 you expect to make a convert of me by practis 
 ing upon my love you are sadly mistaken. The 
 game you are playing may break my heart, but 
 it shall never make me the hypocritical proselyte 
 of a faith I despise." 
 
 So saying he left the room, followed by Ga 
 briel. He went to his bedroom, and, trembling 
 in every limb, threw himself on a chair. An 
 even temper like his, when fully roused, is ter 
 rible; his lips were white as death, while his 
 cheeks and forehead burned like fire. Lei would 
 not have known him as he sat there, glaying at 
 the candle with a steady glazed eye. 
 
 "They shall find," he said, clenching his hand, 
 "that I am not a lump of mere dough to be 
 moulded according to the whim of a weak-minded 
 girl, or a cold, calculating priest. 'And then, to 
 be laughed at ! By heaven, they shall see that 
 my patience, like my fortune, has an end ! " 
 
 " He felt a hand laid on his shoulder ; it was 
 Gabriel's. 
 
 " Have you too come," he shouted, springing to 
 his feet. " Have you followed me here to heap 
 insult on insult, and gloat over the shame of an 
 injured man? Leave me!" and, seizing the 
 youth by the throat, he strove to hurl him 
 against the wall.
 
 236 LOKETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 Melville was a man of great strength, and the 
 quivering sinews rose like whip-cords in his arms. 
 But witli all his power, doubled by nervous ex 
 citement, and put forth to the utmost, he could 
 4iot force that pale youth an inch from his place, 
 or wrench that white hand from his shoulder. 
 
 Gabriel was another being. As a storm 
 gathers in the sky, which lias been tranquil all 
 the summer, instead of that sweet, unchanging 
 smile there was a withering frown, before winch 
 the boldest might tremble. Melville quailed 
 under his indimiant eve. 
 
 O *f 
 
 %" You make me blush for you," said Gabriel, 
 turning away from him. " Be calm ! " 
 
 "Calm!" echoed Melville, with a harsh laugh. 
 " Did you not see how that hoary old badger 
 exulted over the wreck of the life which he has 
 blighted? Did you not hear him call me a vil 
 lain, and did you not hear that thankless mer 
 chant, for whom I have offered up my last cent, 
 and for whom I would have staked my life 
 did you not hear him Mr. Almy; her father, 
 applaud his deliberate malice with a fiendish 
 laugh?" 
 
 " Xo, said Gabriel, his breast heaving as he 
 spoke. "But I heard you, without cause or prov 
 ocation, insult a feeble old man, too wise and 
 too weak to resent your abuse ! I heard you,
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 237 
 
 without cause or provocation, turn against a 
 friend and upbraid him for receiving a favor 
 which you have cancelled by this untimely and 
 ungenerous boasting. If you have a spark of 
 manliness left you should go down on your 
 knees and beg pardon of that old man, whose 
 heart is full of love for you, and of that friend 
 who would have done as much or more for you 
 without making it a reproach and a theme of 
 self-glorification ! " 
 
 Melville resumed his seat and leaned his head 
 on the table. As Gabriel watched him the 
 frown vanished, the smile returned. Melville 
 held his hand over his eyes; presently he 
 stretched it out to Gabriel, who pressed it be 
 tween both of his it was covered with tears. 
 
 " Come closer to me ! " said Melville. 
 
 The smile on that strange being's face bright 
 ened as he advanced, and with feminine tender 
 ness threw his arm around the mourner's neck. 
 Melville caught the pale stripling to his breast, 
 and, as he did so, a load of sorrow seemed to 
 glide from his heart, and he wept like a repent 
 ant boy. Happy are those who have a friend in 
 whose arms they can indulge, -without fear or 
 shame, the outpouring of a wounded soul, through 
 whom the torrent of grief can pass away, which 
 must else ravage the breast within which it is
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 bound ! Then an hour suffices to dismiss the 
 agony which years could not conquer ; and after 
 ward the rainbow conies, and the sun of promise 
 breaks forth, and the drops that have fallen turn 
 to verdure and flowers ! But one has seen the 
 storm, and all may see the sunshine and wonder 
 how it can be so. Such friends are few, but 
 Gabriel was one of them. 
 
 Melville turned from Gabriel to his dear piano, 
 which was consecrated by all the blessed past ; 
 he thought that Lcl sat there and watched him. 
 
 O 
 
 He drew her medal from his breast and kissed it ; 
 then kneeling for the first time, lie remembered 
 his promise, he repeated aloud , 
 
 " Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us 
 who have recourse to thec ! " 
 
 When he rose he hesitated for an instant it 
 was but an instant with his hand on the door, 
 then disappeared. 
 
 The old man had risen to go, his hat in one 
 hand, his cane in the other. His small gray eyes 
 
 began to twinkle as Melville introduced himself 
 
 
 
 evidently with peaceful purposes. 
 
 " I recall all that I have said I knew not 
 what I was saying," said Melville, pronouncing the 
 words with difficulty. "I have played but a poor 
 part before you, and beg you to forgive me and 
 pray for me."
 
 LOEETTO J OE, THE CHOICE. 239 
 
 Those small gray eyes began to twinkle more 
 and more ; perhaps a slight film overspread 
 them. He put down his hat, then his cane on 
 top of it, and extending both arms, shook Mel 
 ville's hands warmly in his. 
 
 "My dear friend," he said, "I forgive yon and 
 will continue to pray for you. You have lost a 
 treasure which I am glad to see you prize, and I 
 confess that I am in part responsible for the 
 loss. I am not surprised that you do not rank 
 me amongst your friends, after an act of duty } 
 which may well provoke one so uninstructed as 
 you are in the first principles of our holy faith. 
 Do come and see me. I will tell you all I know 
 about the church which Lei has joined. Good 
 night" he took his hat and cane, "Good-night; 
 God bless you ; good-night, Mr. Almy." And so 
 this simple, pious man took leave of our two 
 friends. 
 
 They sat together in silence, which Melville 
 first interrupted. 
 
 "Almy, I am a love-sick fool, and -you must 
 treat me as you would a spoiled child. But tell 
 me one thing, do you approve of the stand which 
 Lei has taken against me?" 
 
 "I think she is right," replied Mr. Almy. 
 "You must be well aware that there is no one to 
 whom I would so gladly yield my daughter as to
 
 240 LORETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 you. But I have experienced myself that com 
 plete confidence, without which married life is 
 always more or less painful, cannot exist unless 
 the parties practise the same faith. Men may 
 talk as they please about common interests, 
 tastes, and affinities, but a common religion is the 
 only enduring tie. So much for opinion. But 
 our church refuses her blessing to a mixed mar 
 riage, and I should be sorry to see Lei make any 
 contract without her benediction." 
 
 " It is hard, it is hard," mused Melville. 
 
 "I know it is ; hard for you and hard for us 
 all ; but let ns wear the badge of sorrow cheer 
 fully. Since I have been a Catholic I have en 
 joyed a peace of mind of which you have no 
 conception, and of which I- had none. Believe 
 me, Melville, that Young, Shelley, and a host of 
 others were groping after the Catholicity which 
 the Schlegels found, and which Goethe was too 
 proud, Walter Scott too timid to profess. The 
 Catholic Church, in her unchanging grandeur, is 
 worth any man's notice, and I recommend her to 
 your careful study." 
 
 Melville was too much excited to sleep. Lei's 
 happiness afflicted him. He wished her misera 
 ble to convince him of her love. Yet what 
 could make her happy ? Had Catholicity a 
 recompense for every sacrifice it asked? He
 
 LORETTO J OR, THE CHOICE. 241 
 
 thought of the change in Mr. Almy; of the 
 change in his face; of his abstinence from old 
 Schiedam ; of his tranquil resignation. What 
 had produced it ? He thought of Agnes, as lie 
 -first saw her, and as she left him ; of that strangely 
 beautiful expression, so different from all he had 
 ever seen or fancied. Whence did she obtain it? 
 He thought of Lei's heroic self-denial. Was it 
 sheer fanaticism ? 
 
 With these questions he easily kept himself 
 awake for hours, and then went to sleep, de 
 termining to find out what Agnes meant by the 
 practice of her religion, and what Thomas il 
 Kempis had to say in the chapter on Nature 
 and Grace. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 RTJR story has reached that placid point 
 when a year may be skipped without 
 our missing much incident. Agnes is a 
 pious novice, Lei a sweet country girl, Mr. Almy 
 is regaining his mercantile importance. His fel 
 low-merchants had been civil so long as he needed 
 their assistance, and were courteous when he did 
 not. They could not but respect the industry,
 
 242 LORETTO ; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 honesty, and ability which had almost restored 
 him to his former position. It requires much to 
 reach the point from which Mr. Almy had fallen ; 
 it requires much moi'e to regain it. But this 
 accomplished merchant had a fund of dauntless 
 energy which astonished even those who were 
 best acquainted Avith his resources. No one 
 could tell how he managed to rise so rapidly, but 
 rise he did ; and if Catholicity made the ascent 
 more rugged, she doubled his strength, thus 
 lightening the task. 
 
 o o 
 
 Must we see how Melville studied Catholicity? 
 The converts to our faith, who publish neat little 
 treatises or sweet little novels, the fruits of their 
 experience, are perhaps surprised that the rea 
 sons, so convincing to them, are so unsatisfactory 
 to others. Do they ever remember that the 
 grace of God came in some silent, unrecorded 
 moment of humility and contrition, and that their 
 good intentions availed quite as much as their 
 theological researches. 
 
 We have seen, in the passage at arms with 
 Mrs. Hoity, that Melville lost his first chance of 
 being a fashionable practitioner. It did not 
 grieve him much ; he had never respected the 
 illiterate, ill-bred, low-born, purse-proud aristo 
 cracy of his native city, and was glad of an op 
 portunity to meet poverty at home.
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 243 
 
 He might have been seen one winter night, 
 when Mr. Almy was in bed, seated before his 
 office table, on which medical books and con 
 troversial works were piled alternately, like the 
 spots on a chess-board. Melville had long been 
 a free-thinker, and the prejudices of a lifetime 
 are not easily eradicated. Affluence and happi 
 ness are- very favorable to skepticism, and infi 
 delity had laid a strong hold on him. Xor must 
 we suppose, from his reconciliation with the 
 priest, that he was disposed to accept his kind 
 offer of instruction. Having sufficient pride of 
 intellect and some common sense, that most 
 uncommon of all the senses, he had purchased 
 quite a theological library, in which he was 
 far enough advanced to admit a revelation ; 
 still considering himself the infallible inter 
 preter. 
 
 ' He was pursuing a treatise on the sufficiency 
 of private judgment when the bell rang. A 
 little girl, poorly clad, was at the door. 
 
 " Is your mother worse ? " he said. 
 
 " Oh, yes, sir ; father says she is dying." 
 
 Melville took his hat and followed her to a 
 small frame house in an alley. He found the 
 poor woman suffering from extreme nervous 
 excitement after morphine. Having done all lie 
 could to calm her, he directed that the utmost
 
 244 LORETTO J OB, THE CHOICE. 
 
 silence should be observed, as the least agitation 
 would be fatal. 
 
 The little girl whispered to her father, "there's 
 Father John at the door." 
 
 "Thank God!" muttered that honest Irish 
 man, whose faith was worthy of the isle that 
 nursed him. Melville's ejaculation was slightly 
 different. He stepped into the front room to 
 meet Father John ; and Father John was no 
 other than our friend, the diminutive old priest. 
 
 " You cannot see her," whispered Melville. 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " Because the least excitement will kill her." 
 
 "Excitement," said the priest, "I am going 
 to compose, not to excite her." 
 
 "I have often witnessed," returned Melville, 
 " the composing effect of religious ceremony on 
 the sick ; it is too apt to compose them into the 
 sleep of death." 
 
 " Have you ever known in your experience, 
 Mr. Melville, a patient of yours injuriously agi 
 tated by the presence of a Catholic priest?" 
 
 "Never," replied Melville, after a pause. 
 "But if other ministers disturb, I do not see 
 how you can fail to annoy." 
 
 " We will talk about that another time," and, 
 with this, he was about to enter the chamber 
 when Melville interposed.
 
 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 245 
 
 "Pier life is hanging now by a thread," lie 
 muttered; "will you insist on depriving her of 
 her only chance perfect quiet?" 
 
 " She has been a pious woman," said Father 
 John, his eyes flashing as he spoke, " and if her 
 life is hanging by a thread she shall have ex 
 treme unction." 
 
 "Ay, that she shall," interposed the husband, 
 who, overhearing the conversation, suddenly 
 presented himself. " She shall have it in spite 
 of all the doctors on earth ; " and darting a ter 
 rible look at Melville as he spoke, the brawny 
 laborer clenched his hands until his finger nails 
 were buried in the palms. Melville, then more 
 alarmed for his patient's sake at the prospect of 
 a fray, resigned himself to the worst. 
 
 He saw that poor woman's face lose its an 
 guish as her confessor bent over her ; he saw the 
 oil applied, he saw her lips moving in prayer. 
 When the rite was concluded, he felt her pulse, 
 the nervousness had decreased, and before an 
 hour she was asleep. And the good priest smiled 
 to Melville and walked away with him, arm in 
 arm. 
 
 From this moment his intimacy with Father 
 John began ; and before long he was called upon 
 to witness many such scenes. The arguments 
 for Catholicity are scattered thick around us,
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 not only in books, but in everyday life ; and a 
 physician, whose walks are amongst the lower 
 classes, is surely the last who can put in the 
 plea of invincible ignorance. When we behold 
 so many Catholics neglecting their religion, and 
 living year after year out of the church, we are 
 disposed to think that others are kept from join 
 ing her rather from love of sin than want of 
 knowledge. And with this remark we leave 
 Melville in the hands of Father John instead of 
 multiplying or repeating reasons, as if it were 
 strange that men become Catholics, and quite 
 natural that they do not. 
 
 But Melville was rising in his profession, and 
 already his skill in surgery was mentioned hon 
 orably in the first circles. He had only to give 
 up the Catholic Almys and take a seat at the 
 top of the ladder. Or, even with the Almys, for 
 the royal merchant was emerging from the cloud, 
 it might be done if he avoided poor practice. In 
 spite of all these allurements, the young man 
 was blockhead enough never to refuse the peti 
 tion of poverty, no matter how dangerous, how 
 unprofitable ; and this " grovelling propensity" 
 as Mrs. Hoity defined his charity, threw a 
 singular light upon his theological researches.
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE 247 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 had been nearly two years in the 
 convent ; and for t\vo years, Mrs. Cleve 
 land, Lei, and the Colonel have con 
 tinued to visit the young novice once a week. 
 
 Lei and Melville had not met since that 
 morning when the red flag was waving from her 
 window. But she had seen her father often 
 he had spent whole weeks with her delicious 
 weeks of rambling, and riding, and love, and 
 joy. The expression he ought to have was 
 indelibly stamped upon his face, and a few days 
 in the country always brought it out in such 
 perfection that she begged him to close his 
 counting-room and turn farmer. 
 
 During her walks, she had noticed the pro 
 gress of a new dwelling-house, built of good, 
 solid logs, handsomely weather-boarded. She 
 heard that a rich gentleman from town was 
 going to live in it, and she often wished that 
 her father had such a home ; for when fin 
 ished it looked so neat and pretty, with its white 
 walls glancing through the cherry-trees around 
 it. And from the porch, which fronted the 
 south, a broad, rich meadow swept down to a 
 green strip of woodland ; and above the tree-
 
 248 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 tops, on the hills beyond, the yellow grain was 
 waving; and looking to the west, you could 
 see the sunset in the gap of the mountains, and 
 the sun lingered longest there, and the after 
 glow too. The convent was not in sight, yet it 
 was a beautiful place the very place Lei would 
 have chosen for her father. 
 
 And near it was her favorite retreat, where 
 the running stream had formed a deep pool 
 under the roots of gigantic trees. It Avas a 
 
 o o 
 
 lovely spot, so shady, so cool, so still. There on 
 the grassy knoll, watching the motionless water- 
 lilies, or reading, or singing, or rolling smooth 
 white pebbles into the clear basin, she seemed 
 to be apart from the rest of the world. 
 
 She was sitting there one summer afternoon, 
 thinking of Agnes, who was to take the vows on 
 that day week. Absorbed in thought, she knew 
 not that any human eye was on her she knew 
 not that a man, tearful and smiling, was standing 
 close behind her, watching her as she twisted 
 the long grass between her fingers, watching 
 her golden hair as it floated in the wind. She 
 knew not that the moment of all others had 
 come, that in another instant the bright hopes 
 of her youth, which had faded, were to be 
 revived; that her prayer had been heard, 
 that
 
 LORETTO J OK, THE CHOICE. 249 
 
 She heard her name pronounced by a voice 
 that made her tremble, and, turning as she 
 started to her feet, saw George Melville before 
 her ! He took her cold hand and pressed it to 
 his lips. 
 
 " I am a Catholic, Lei," was all he said ; and 
 they knelt together on that green grass and 
 thanked the God who had been so good to them. 
 
 And a moment after that prayer of thanks 
 giving it seemed but a moment she found 
 herself in the parlor of that new house, pressed 
 to her father's heart. What! could it be! Her 
 own dear, long-lost piano! She flew to it the 
 lid was raised. One chord! her heart gave 
 Avay, and, leaning forward, she wept with, her 
 face buried in her arms. 
 
 They went to Loretto to spend the night, and 
 the Colonel, though a little jealous of Melville, 
 was the happiest of mortal men, alternately 
 laa&hing, crving, and coughing, until Mr. Almy 
 
 O O 7 * O ' J 
 
 suspected his sanity. Mrs. Cleveland testified 
 her pleasure by a blessing full of tenderness and 
 love. And that evening, whilst the Colonel was 
 chatting with Almy, Lei learned from Melville 
 how her medal, Gabriel, and Father John had 
 conquered his stubbornness, how he had been 
 to confession and received absolution, and how 
 lie was permitted to make his first communion
 
 250 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 with her. He told her that her father had 
 returned him more than half his advances, and 
 had bought the farm and built the house, which 
 he had rented, and which Lei was to name; 
 that he had given up his practice in the city, to 
 spend the rest of his life, if it were the will of 
 heaven, under the shadow of those blue moun 
 tains. 
 
 And on the porch, between those pillars that 
 could tell of so much joy and pain, it was 
 ordained by our little group of friends that 
 Melville should make his first communion at the 
 convent chapel on the morning Agnes took the 
 TOWS, and that, after communion, a marriage 
 should be solemnized between George Melville 
 and a certain Ellen Almy. 
 
 " So, Lei," said the Colonel, " it has come to 
 this. You are going to give up the old man 
 who has loved you so long for that young scape 
 grace ! " 
 
 "And am I not serving you right?" replied 
 Lei. " Did you not know perfectly well that 
 father was building that new house, and that he 
 would be here to-day; and did you not tell 
 George Melville where to find me ; and did you 
 not thus permit me to be surprised into saying 
 all sorts of foolish things to him ; and after this, 
 are you not a deceitful old dear, not fit to be 
 trusted ?
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 251 
 
 "Ah, Melville, Melville," sighed the Colonel, 
 " from the bottom of my heart I pity you ! With 
 a tongue so keen now, what will it be when 
 sharpened on the matrimonial strap?" 
 
 " Blunt ! " cried Mr. Almy, " if the strap is of 
 the right sort." 
 
 And thus, after the first deep calm and silence 
 of reunion, the evening passed playfully away ; 
 though under all those glittering bubbles there 
 was a strong current of deep feeling. For how 
 could they help recalling that Avinter night, 
 when the sleigh stopped at the gate, and the 
 bright Christmas morning that followed, and the 
 long, sweet evenings spent around the crackling 
 Avood-fire; and all the changes Avhich had come 
 to pass since then ! And how could they help 
 thinking of Agnes, Avho was no longer there, 
 Avith her long dark hair, and white temples, and 
 calm, deep, powerful eye. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 HE carriage driven by Charlie had left 
 Loretto ; the convent bells were ring 
 ing for early mass, and Mr. Almy saw 
 Agnes ! 
 
 As if it were a dream, she advanced from the
 
 252 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 Sisters and repeated the words which were to 
 bind her to God. Oh God, how beautiful must 
 the soul be when entering heaven ! The plain 
 est face Avhen lit with sanctity is sublime, and 
 prince and peasant bow down before it, or if 
 they smile, it is in envy. Xo rouge shall ever 
 tinge thy pale cheek, Sister Agnes ; no ring 
 shall ever glitter on thy white hand ; thy hair 
 shall never be entwined into lockets ; thy foot 
 shall never twinkle in the dance ! Thou art the 
 child of God, Sister Agnes ! And who will dare 
 to claim thee for the world as thou kneelest there 
 before the altar, or say that thou wert made for 
 man ? Who would snatch thee hence, thou young 
 companion of the angels, as if thou were to be 
 pitied and saved ? There is the likeness to God, 
 which the children of earth have lost, and who 
 would bid it vanish ? 
 
 As if it were a dream, Lei and Melville ad 
 vanced. They too had made their choice and 
 taken their vows. AH had been to communion 
 except the Colonel ! A pang went through his 
 heart; he thought of his innocent youth; his 
 sister was next him in prayer, his niece, just 
 consecrated to heaven before him ; a young in 
 fidel knelt reclaimed and regenerated at his side! 
 Tears of shame burned on his cheeks; he felt 
 separated from all he loved by a terrible abyss.
 
 LOKETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 253 
 
 Repent, old man, thy heart is true, and kind, and 
 warm ; repent whilst them hast time ! As the 
 Colonel raised his eyes he saw a stranger on his 
 left ; it was Gabriel. 
 
 Silently they returned to Loretto ; not a word 
 was spoken, unless to welcome Gabriel, when he 
 unexpectedly appeared at the church door to 
 salute the -bride. The day would have hung 
 heavily had it not been for Gabriel. This 
 strange being laughed and sang as he rode 
 aloiif, whilst the rest were in tears ; he did 
 
 O' * 
 
 not seem to comprehend or to share their de 
 pression. And when they reached Loretto his 
 face beamed so brightly, and there was such 
 contagion in his smile, that even the Colonel's 
 brow relaxed. 
 
 The afternoon was spent in receiving the con 
 gratulations and presents of the neighborhood ; 
 presents which Lei, provided by the Colonel's 
 foresight, was able to return with interest. 
 
 When the sun was setting in the gap of the 
 mountains they might all have been seen on the 
 porch of the new house. A table was spread in 
 the dining-room with fruits and ices. 
 
 "Come, Lei," said Mr. Almy, "it is time to 
 give our local habitation a name." 
 
 He drew a decanter from the cooler and 
 wiped the dew-drops from its polished surface.
 
 254 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 The glasses were filled and quaffed to Mrs. Mel 
 ville. 
 
 "N"ow for the name," said the Colonel, replen 
 ishing the bride's glass and his own. "Beat 
 Loretto if you can ! " 
 
 "I cannot beat it, uncle," replied Lei; "I 
 should be glad to equal it. I am not experienced 
 in giving names; and, as I have this morning 
 relinquished my own, I will only suggest a 
 name, which you may reject or adopt at pleas 
 ure. Shall it be Mount Gabriel!" 
 
 *' MOUNT GABRIEL!" was echoed Avith one 
 accord ; and Gabriel, little dreaming that he was 
 honored in the name, joined in the applause that 
 hailed the selection, and drained his glass with 
 out a blush. 
 
 After a sufficient time had elapsed to admire 
 the name which Lei had chosen, and to wish 
 all imaginable peace and happiness to Mount 
 Gabriel, Melville, pressing a fair hand that was 
 resting in his, and looking at Gabriel, who sat 
 next the Colonel, said, with a full heart and 
 brimming eye : 
 
 " There is one who must not be forgotten to 
 night, and but for whom I should not have the 
 
 O ' 
 
 treasure I now possess. Father John ! May 
 God reward that blameless priest ! " 
 " Charlie ! " whispered the Colonel.
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 255 
 
 The boy stooped and drew a black bottle from 
 a cooler, which, unnoticed by Mr. Almy, he had 
 placed at his master's side. 
 
 " I kept this bottle for another marriage," 
 said the Colonel, " and it is worthy of this. 
 Forty years has it lain in my cellar, the last 
 representative of a noble stock. I have looked 
 upon it as my own blood, as the liquid that kept 
 kept me alive ; and when it is gone I know that 
 I must soon follow. However, the time has 
 come! Charlie, bring the glasses!" 
 
 With a trembling hand the old man inclined 
 the bottle in silence, that was only broken 'by 
 the gurgling and trickling of the wine. When 
 every glass was jewelled to the rim, he rose and 
 leaned upon the back of his chair. 
 
 " I kept this bottle for another marriage," he 
 began ; " it cannot fulfil its destiny. Yet " the 
 glass shook and ran over in his hand " yet I 
 have kept it for one, and to her must it still be 
 pledged. I propose the memory of" 
 
 " SISTER AGXES ! " said Mr. Almy, as the 
 Colonel, unable to utter the name, applied the 
 glass to his lips. They rose in silence and sym 
 pathy "Sister Agnes ! " 
 
 Before ten o'clock the new house had heard 
 all about the past, and began to feel like a home: 
 the chairs and matting looked nearly as kind and
 
 266 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 knowing as the old piano, which gave tone to 
 everything around it. 
 
 " Our cup of happiness is full," said Mr. Almy, 
 " and vou might search the earth without finding 
 
 I 
 
 a family in possession of that peace and confi 
 dence we now enjoy. But there is one to whose 
 happiness ours is nothing. Could we see the 
 heart of Sister Agnes, blessed as we are, we 
 might envy her." 
 
 He was right. That depression, that spiritual 
 desolation had passed away; that calm delight 
 and loving trust had come ; the aspirations of 
 her young soul had been fulfilled, ay, more than 
 fulfilled ; she was sleeping the smiling sleep of 
 baptismal innocence under the eye of God. 
 
 " What an argument for the church was in her 
 face this morning," said Melville. "And lam 
 now convinced," he whispered in Lei's ear, " that 
 2 icas seeking Catholicity when I sought Agnes" 
 
 The Colonel rose to go, Gabriel to accompany 
 him. The old man had a necklace for Lei, more 
 beautiful than the first, and as he threw it around 
 her neck, he kissed her glowing forehead. 
 
 " Is she not a daughter to be proud of," said 
 Mr. Almy, drawing her to his side. " Oh, my 
 dear Lei, if all our Catholic girls had faith and 
 firmness enough to follow your example ; or, if 
 they were only taught to prefer an humble match
 
 LOEETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 257 
 
 in the church to a brilliant alliance out of it, 
 how much misery would they escape, and how 
 many a precious soul be saved ! " 
 
 Good-night ! The Colonel departed, followed 
 by Charlie and Gabriel. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 R. Almy did not remain long in posses 
 sion of Mount Gabriel. Soon after her 
 marriage Lei discovered a deed in her 
 drawer, making her absolute mistress of the 
 property. 
 
 " It would never do," he said, " for me to be 
 the master of the house while Melville is master 
 of you. We should be at sixes and sevens before 
 many months. All I want is a good room when 
 I come to see you ; for, mind, you'll have quite 
 as much of me as you care to have." 
 
 " Upon my word, sir," remonstrated Melville, 
 "our calculation was to have you always with 
 us." 
 
 "And we'll have more fights without you than 
 with you, won't we, Melville?" 
 
 " God bless you both ; but it can't be yet. 
 You keep the country-house, and I'll keep the
 
 258 - LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 town-house ; give me your winters and I'll give 
 you my summers, or as much of them as I can 
 spare from business." 
 
 " Oh, hang business, pa, haven't you had 
 enough of it, and money enough, too, for any 
 sensible man ? If you keep on with business 
 you'll be an old miser yet." 
 
 " Well, suppose I am, if it's all for your sake ? " 
 
 "No one ever makes money for one's own 
 sake," said Lei, smiling. " It's always for some 
 body else's sake." 
 
 Mr. Almy laughed, and took her hand. 
 
 "You may live to see me a rope-dancer or a 
 politician, but you'll never live to see me a miser. 
 I'm too young to stop business; I should rust 
 and mope here amongst your milk and meadow?;, 
 and get tired even of your mountains. There's 
 nothing so hard on an old merchant as the 
 country when administered in large doses. Lit 
 erary men can stand it ; physicians can stand it ; 
 I am even told that lawyers can sometimes stand 
 it ; but with merchants it's invariably fatal. I 
 never knew of an instance to the contrary. So I 
 don't mean to make a mummy of myself, even for 
 you and Melville." 
 
 When farther pressed by Lei alone he still 
 held his ground. 
 
 " You can hardly comprehend," he would say,
 
 LOEETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 259 
 
 " how a merchant loves his house. It is both his 
 mother and his child ; they exist only through 
 each other. We have been through ninny a gnle 
 together ; once, as you know, we nearly sank ; 
 but we are having smooth seas and fine winds 
 now, and it would be silly to give up the ship 
 just as the promise of the voyage is brightening. 
 I think it a just ambition to excel in any honor 
 able career. A few years will more than make 
 my house what it was before you sold your 
 piano. And then, Lei, if I were to turn farmer 
 now it would puzzle me to pay off Melville." 
 
 "What a poor excuse, father," answered Lei; 
 "you have paid him nearly all as it is." 
 
 "And am quite able, with a very little effort, 
 to pay what remains. Suppose he were to turn 
 out a ruffian, and beat you before my eyes ! 
 How could I ever knock him down with a clean 
 conscience if I owed him money? Xo, darling, 
 I'm not saint enough to owe a cent to a son-in- 
 law when I have it in my power to stand square. 
 Xor am I sinner enough ever to pain you by fall 
 ing back into any of my old habits. And since 
 Agnes has turned nun there's little danger of my 
 ever relapsing into married lifb. Are you satis 
 fied now, or do you still doubt me, my bright- 
 eyed unbeliever?" 
 
 Lei looked very sad and uncertain. But pros-
 
 260 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 scntly a dreamy light stole into her eyes like a 
 melody one of her old inspirations. A strange 
 swift smile passed over her face, followed by a 
 blush, swift and strange as the smile. Both blush 
 and smile were new to her father. 
 
 " You ought to know best," she said, turning 
 away, "at all events I find my influence over 
 you at an end." 
 
 The sharp accent on my was unlike Lei, but 
 Mr. Almy thought no more of it at the time. 
 
 And so the autumn parted them. Mr. Almy 
 took rooms in town, and they saw no more of 
 him till" Christmas. He was -a week with them 
 then, but more or less restless and anxious to be 
 back at his desk. He was doing an enormous 
 and prosperous business. Xo one knew how rich 
 he was, but the knowing ones all said that Almy 
 was making money very fast. He certainly spent 
 it very fast, for almost as fast as he made it it 
 was transferred to Lei. Before spring he had 
 paid off all his obligations to Melville, with in 
 terest. Lei could scarcely take up a newspaper 
 without observing some allusion to his prosperity 
 and public charities. But instead of making her 
 happy it made her afraid. She had long, loving 
 letters from him once or twice a week, but it did 
 not satisfy her. She was afraid to trust him 
 alone in the world. He needed daily love and
 
 LORETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 261 
 
 care and domestic beauty to fill his heart and 
 absorb all other craving. She determined to see 
 for herself ho\v he was behaving, and spend part 
 of the winter with him if she could accomplish it. 
 It was a little difficult, inasmuch as Melville, hav 
 ing just been employed as physician to the con 
 vent, could not well accompany her. But, as 
 there were no longer any secrets between them, 
 he would accede at once to any leave of absence 
 she might ask. 
 
 So when Mr. Almy paid them the Christinas 
 visit it happened that Lei wanted a hundred 
 things from town which she had never thought 
 of before, and which he could not possibly send ; 
 things which men know nothing about, and which 
 
 O O i 
 
 women only are competent to buy. 
 
 "In fact," she said, "although you're slow 
 about inviting me, pa, I'll run down with you, 
 for a week or so, if you'll give me a room next 
 yours at the hotel." 
 
 He Avas delighted, as every father is whose 
 daughter leaves her husband behind to go off 
 with him, and they went away together. She 
 was happy, too, in returning more distinctly to 
 the old sacred relationship again, and did not at 
 all reproach herself, for being a spy in disguise. 
 On the contrary, she consoled herself in having 
 made many important discoveries. He was even
 
 262 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 richer than she thought. Some bold and vast 
 adventures had been terribly lucrative, and 
 made him more than ever the first merchant of 
 the city. He had become, for the first time in 
 his life, very fond of dress. He was growing 
 handsomer as he grew older. He kept a car 
 riage and fast horses. He saw very little of 
 Father John. His apartments were superbly 
 furnished ; one of them to her horror was a 
 card-room. 
 
 The night after her arrival quite a number, of 
 her father's old friends came dropping in. At 
 first she thought it very kind of them to call on 
 her so soon, very kind indeed. But when, after 
 some little fidgeting and hesitancy, the card- 
 table was brought out, and she found herself 
 gradually forgotten in the game, her eyes were 
 opened to the true state of the case. This 
 scared her more than anything else. It was a 
 new feature. He had never cared for cards be 
 fore. It was a late development and therefore a 
 dangerous one. Follies at his age are fatal. What 
 was to be done ? She must act at once, now or 
 never. Her clear duty as a lady was to retire 
 forthwith, and leave the enemy in possession of 
 the field. It was evidently expected of her she 
 was a drag on the game, an obstacle to all honest 
 betting. Some of the veterans already legan
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 263 
 
 to eye her viciously and exchange winks. Un 
 fortunately the game was not whist ; it was a 
 rapid, five-card game, quite new to her, with 
 what they called a " pool " in the middle. It 
 was a game in which she could not with any 
 propriety ask for a hand ; it was not by any 
 means a ladies' game; she had not the shadow 
 of an excuse for staying. But stay she did, in 
 spite of sundry imploring glances from her 
 father. They might throw her out of the win 
 dow, it was very likely they would ; but she would 
 never leave by the door. The game closed at 
 twelve with a supper. It was one before she and 
 Mr. Almy were alone with each other. 
 
 " Gracious goodness," said Lei, " do you mean 
 to keep me up this late every night?" 
 
 " Which means," replied Almy, smiling, " that 
 you will do your best every night to spoil my 
 card-party ? " 
 
 "I spoil your card-party," exclaimed this 
 young innocent. " When did I ever spoil any 
 sport of yours in my life ? It's too late to begin 
 now. If your friends object to my looking on, 
 I'll find some other way to amuse myself; but 
 as to going to bed before you in this big, lonely 
 house, to be robbed or murdered, I won't do it. 
 I'd go home at once and be out of the way if 
 the dentist was only done with me ! "
 
 264 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 Mr. Almy laughed. It seethed as if the den 
 tist would never be done with her, so many of 
 her teeth wanted fixing. 
 
 " It's no laughing matter," she gravely con 
 tinued, " to live fifty miles away from a decent 
 dentist. And I intend having my mouth put in 
 perfect order if it takes a year." 
 
 She was trying hard to be very angry; but 
 her father saw through the whole conspiracy. 
 He crossed his hands and laid back in his chair 
 with the air. of a man resigning himself to his 
 fate. 
 
 " I never knew the day," he said, " when your 
 mouth was not in perfect order. Kiss me and 
 go to bed." 
 
 "Good night, pa. I trust that I'll not be in 
 the way to-morrow night." 
 
 He did not exactly know what to make of her. 
 Would she leave him to his little amusements in 
 peace, and retreat in offended dignity ? It was 
 not like her. She most probably had a masked 
 battery somewhere in reserve. But what would 
 it avail her against his banded veterans ? They 
 were too many and too strong for her. He was 
 determined to remain neutral and keep his tem 
 per if he could. It was very impertinent of her 
 to interfere, but she was doing it for his own 
 good. A man could not stand late suppers and
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 265 
 
 late play forever. But when one is obliged to 
 create a home without wife or child after one 
 has lived long with both, one surely has a right 
 to make it as jolly as possible. It is somewhat 
 provoking to be dictated to by a daughter who 
 is having her own way in her own house, and 
 who is jealously averse to having a rich father 
 incline to anything or anybody else. But he 
 would keep his temper until driven to the Avail, 
 and then bring Lei to her senses with a word. 
 Meanwhile he was curious to see how she would 
 contrive not to be in the way at their next ses 
 sion. 
 
 After dinner the next day they went to 
 the card-room together. Lei begged not to have 
 the gas lit, so they sat and talked in the beauti 
 ful twilight talked over old times, and Mrs. 
 Iloity, and Sister Agnes, until, one by one, the 
 same set began to drop in and the room was 
 lighted. Then, for the first time, Mr. Almy ob 
 served an addition to the furniture. Lei had 
 ordered a piano on trial ; her old one was wear 
 ing out at last ; Chickering's grands were said 
 to be so much better than hers. It was a noble 
 instrument, and stood pretty well out in the room 
 so as to have its finger-board well under the ac 
 tion of the gasolier. She had also bought a 
 quantity of new music to play over for Melville,
 
 266 LORETTO; OB, THE CHOICE. 
 
 and it lay menacingly on the card-table. But 
 she swept it away as soon as the gentlemen ap 
 peared, and, after exchanging compliments with 
 them, began to try it over with the soft pedal 
 down. She had kept her word, and found some 
 other way to amuse herself, as she had promised. 
 This was her masked battery. 
 
 She touched the keys very lightly at first 
 just a note here and there a little spirit of 
 melody and then silence. She seemed disposed 
 to respect the sanctity of their game ; she would 
 doubtless go to bed soon. But two of the prin 
 cipal players were two of her oldest adorers; they 
 had petted her when she was a child, and made 
 her sing and play for them as soon as she could 
 strike an octave or turn a tune. They were two 
 bachelor brothers, very fond of good living and 
 good music very fond of cards, too, subordin- 
 ately. Lei remembered perfectly that Sam, the 
 elder, had a weakness for " God save the King." 
 He considered " God save the King " the great 
 est mortal composition. He could whistle a 
 light opera through after one hearing, but he 
 stuck to " God save the King " for all that. 
 After trifling with her new music an hour or 
 more she threw it aside and began to improvise. 
 She began a very long way from the English 
 anthein, but Sam instantly pricked up his ears
 
 LOKETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 267 
 
 he scented the melody afar off. He looked once 
 or twice askant at his Brother Barnard. Now 
 and then a dreamy suggestion of the strain came 
 sweeping by in a swift, smothered minor, and 
 Sain was all at sea, mistook too pairs for a full, 
 and got well laughed at in the bargain ; but Bar 
 nard, although he controlled himself better, got 
 nervous too, and forgot to pass the knife and 
 anti, much to the disgust of several ancient gen 
 tlemen who could not account for such absurd 
 behavior. Presently, however, the full phrase was 
 enunciated, and Lei carried the theme straight 
 and simply through with her left hand. Then 
 all was chaos again, with a vague purpose glim 
 mering through it with only a feeble, broken 
 spiral of sunshine on the troubled waters. And 
 then a grand let-there-be-light prelude, as she 
 swept the scale with both hands, lashing the 
 powerful instrument into orchestral fury, and 
 looking herself like an inspired priestess of song. 
 After much coughing and choking, after sev 
 eral suppressed indications of joining in the air, 
 after manifold fatal discardings, and serious 
 losses, Sam threw down his hand and burst in 
 with the words at the top of his voice. They 
 tried to stop him, but it was no use; he went 
 through to the end. 
 
 The veterans were indignant; but they were
 
 268 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 gentlemen of the old school, and could overlook 
 a single indiscretion. 
 
 " It shan't occur again," apologized Sam ; 
 "though the girl plays like an angel. Play 
 something else, Lei ; keep that for some other 
 time ; I can stand anything but that." 
 
 Barnard said nothing, but catching Lei's eye, 
 winked aside at her. The intimation was need 
 less. Lei had anticipated his desire. He was as 
 much wrapped up in "Annie Laurie" as Sam in 
 " God save the King." She approached the air 
 remotely. Barnard's ear was subtler than Sam's. 
 She tormented him with hope deferred, long be 
 fore any of the others suspected what she was 
 about. He was tender-hearted, and the tears 
 were in his eyes every now and then as if he had 
 a cold. He was unmanned long before she 
 reached the air ; his hand trembled as he sipped 
 his whisky and water ; his voice was thin and 
 husky ; he finally begged them to go on without 
 him, and went and sat by the piano, listening 
 contentedly to the beautiful air, and looking way 
 back through the mists of the past to a fond face 
 that was gone forever; to the white hand from 
 which he had taken the thin gold ring still worn 
 on his finger. 
 
 Supper was ordered earlier than usual, and 
 did not last as long.
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 269 
 
 "I say, Almy," mumbled one of the oldsters, 
 at parting, " we'll have to drop our game till 
 your nightingale goes back to her mountains. 
 There's no use of our trying to play against 
 her." 
 
 " Nonsense, man," said Almy, " we'll make 
 these silly brothers behave themselves better 
 to-morrow." 
 
 But the silly brothers could not be coaxed or 
 bullied into behaving any better, and Lei could 
 not be induced to give up her music. 
 
 "I must do something to amuse myself, or I 
 shall die," she said to her father. "But you'll 
 be rid of me as soon as my teeth are fixed." 
 
 The result was that one by one the card-party 
 diminished, until Sam and Barnard were the 
 only survivors. 
 
 "Now, pa," cried Lei, when she first found 
 thc-mselves reduced to four, " let's have whist, 
 and I'll bet as high as you like." 
 
 So, ever after that, as long as Lei stayed in 
 town they had their whist and music, instead of 
 bluff and supper, and Mr. Almy got to like it 
 quite as well. If she could only have kept her 
 ground, those routed veterans could never have 
 reassembled in force. As it was, she feared, and 
 with too much reason, that as soon as her back 
 was turned the whole jolly set would be back
 
 270 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 in force. How she would pray for him ! How 
 she would set Sister Agnes to pray for him ! 
 And, all the while, a bright hope in the distance 
 went through her heart like a ceaseless song. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Lei's visit to her father a 
 stranger had come to Mount Gabriel. 
 A beautiful boy, with light hair and 
 blue eyes. It was Clarence. Lei remembered 
 him at sight, but wondered how he came there. 
 Melville had kept the track of the Wanderer. It 
 was the only secret not yet confided to his wife. 
 Professional lies are said to be very venial, and 
 generally very successful. Yet it was in vain 
 that he sought to evade her questions by plead 
 ing a vague interest in the youth and his musical 
 father. The neighbors, including the household 
 
 O ' O 
 
 of Loretto, were content to accept the boy as a 
 patient entrusted to the superior skill of Dr. 
 Melville. And Clarence's appearance gave color 
 to the story. His life of privation and exposure 
 had been too much for him. The shadow of the 
 other world was on his youth, and not even the 
 skill of Dr. Melville could remove it.
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 271 
 
 Lei was maturing into a diplomatist. She 
 rerceived that her husband was hiding some 
 thing from her, and felt it her solemn duty to 
 nip all such insane proceedings in the bud. 
 
 " A charming boy," she kept saying, " but 
 who is he?" 
 
 "Why, don't you remember, Lei, that poor 
 chorus singer and his son?" 
 
 " Certainly, I remember. But who is the 
 chorus singer ? " 
 
 "Why, the Wanderer, of course the man 
 who interested me so much in London. He 
 seems to think he has some claim on m." 
 
 " Indeed. Corresponds with you occasionally, 
 I presume." 
 
 " Occasionally." 
 
 " Do you know his present address ? " 
 
 " I know what his future address will soon 
 be. The same as his son's." 
 
 " You mean the grave" said Lei, wincing, and 
 almost silenced. 
 
 "Exactly," said Melville, "I mean the grave." 
 
 "But, doctor, pursued Lei, rallying, "if the 
 dear boy should die on our hands it would be 
 awkward to bury him without knowing his last 
 name. Has he any last name?" 
 
 Melville smiled. His solemnity had failed to 
 repulse her. And why, after all, should there
 
 272 LOEETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 be any mystery between them? His promise of 
 secrecy to the Wanderer was made as a bache 
 lor, not as a married man. And, moreover, she 
 had a clear right to know. Since she had driven 
 him into a corner it was wiser to surrender 
 without a battle than with one. It was only 
 from his instinctive and inveterate reticence 
 that he had hesitated to enlighten her. 
 
 " You know, Melville," she resumed, " if any 
 thing happens I'd like to pray for him by his 
 last name as well as his first, if only to prevent 
 mistakes." 
 
 " Can't you guess his last name ? " 
 
 " Indeed I can't," she said, after a moment's 
 reflection. 
 
 " Do you see no likeness between him and a 
 friend of yours ? " 
 
 Clarence had grown more like Agnes than 
 ever, but Lei did not catch the resemblance; 
 the color of the hair and eyes was different. 
 
 "A friend of mine? " 
 
 " Of yours and mine. Really, Lei, you have 
 less penetration than I gave you credit for. I 
 may well get obstinate when my wife grows 
 stupid." 
 
 Her eyes were opened at last. It all flashed 
 upon her like lightening. The figure of the 
 Wanderer had lost its significance in the two
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 273 
 
 eventful intervening years ; the bitter story was 
 one which a pure woman's heart is ever the last 
 to realize, but she could be blind to its full mean 
 ing no longer. She grew pale as death as she 
 hesitatingly asked : 
 
 "Do you mean that his name is Cleveland?" 
 
 " Yes." And he rose to leave the room. 
 
 " Stay awhile," said Lei. " Does Sister Agnes 
 know of this ? " 
 
 "No. Do you think she ought to?" 
 
 " Where is the Wanderer ? " He told her. 
 
 " Has he recovered health ? Is he well ? " 
 
 " From Clarence's account, and his own, he 
 can scarcely survive this winter. In fact, I 
 should not be surprised at any moment to hear 
 the worst." 
 
 " Gracious heaven, Melville, what a pretty 
 Catholic you are. You converts never seem to 
 think of saving any souls but your own, except 
 controversially. The man must see his daughter, 
 and see her at once ; she may save him." 
 
 "They won't let her go, will they?" asked 
 the bewildered physician. 
 
 " Won't let her go ! " repeated Lei, in loving 
 scorn." " She'll be sent there to-morrow morn- 
 ing." 
 
 "Then you want the carriage ordered?" 
 
 " Immediately."
 
 274 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 "Am I to accompany you? 7 * 
 
 "No. No one but Clarence. Order the light 
 wagon. I'll drive myself." 
 
 " Has your ladyship any more orders before 
 her departure ? " 
 
 " Yes. Never keep anything from your wife 
 again. The sooner men learn this lesson the 
 better." 
 
 In a very few minutes more Lei was driving 
 Clarence to the convent. She asked to see the 
 Mother Superior, and leaving the boy in the par 
 lor was shown into the adjoining room. It did 
 not take her long to explain, nor did it take the 
 Mother long to decide. A sister servant was 
 going south in the morning, and Sister Agnes 
 could go with her. It would answer exactly. 
 "Would Mrs. Melville like to see Sister Agnes 
 now ? The Mother would bring her. 
 
 Lei returned to the parlor, where they were 
 soon joined by Sister Agnes and the Superior. 
 
 Agnes started at the sight of Clarence. She 
 knew him at once, and took a 'seat beside him, 
 saying, 
 
 " So we have met again, my young friend. 
 Don't you remember me ? " 
 
 He gazed at her with a puzzled expression. 
 
 "Have you forgotten the lady who used to 
 give you pineapples and oranges ? "
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICT 275 
 
 He knew her then. 
 
 " Is it you ? " exclaimed the boy, and burst 
 into tears. " I've never forgotten you, night or 
 day. I've looked for your face wherever we 
 went, for it seemed to follow us in all our travels. 
 I thought, perhaps, you were in heaven, and all 
 the while you were a nun." 
 
 "Which is nearly the same thing," said Lei. 
 
 " Where is your father ? " asked Agnes. 
 
 " Somewhere in the south with the Company." 
 
 "Does he still sing?" 
 
 "When he can." 
 
 "Is he no better?" 
 
 " I am afraid not, but Dr. Melville can tell 
 you." 
 
 " Why did he part with you ? " 
 
 " He said the life was too hard on me." 
 
 " Are you sick yourself ? " 
 
 " Sometimes," said Clarence, smiling. 
 
 " And, if our Lord wills it," said the Mother, 
 " you would not mind His taking you where you 
 thought He had already taken Sister Agnes, 
 would you, Clarence?" 
 
 " Not if He'd take us both together," replied 
 Clarence, with amusing simplicity. 
 
 "Why, the little Wanderer," laughed Lei, 
 though tears were for an instant in the eyes of 
 all of them. "I fear your poor father will be
 
 276 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 the first to leave us,'-' she resumed, more seriously. 
 " His last letter to Dr. Melville was dated from 
 the hospital." 
 
 " Then it is not unlikely that Sister Agnes may 
 soon see him," said the Mother. 
 
 Agnes looked up with the subdued, resigned 
 curiosity of a Sister. 
 
 " She starts on her first mission to-morrow 
 with Sister Seraphine," continued the Mother, 
 "and as their way lies south they may possibly 
 come across your father." 
 
 " I hope so," murmui'ed Clarence. " He re 
 members her as well as I do. He is always talk 
 ing about Mr. Melville's sister." 
 
 " Mr. Melville's sister ! " exclaimed the Mother. 
 
 "A delirious reminiscence," explained Lei, 
 '' occasioned by the fever through which they 
 nursed him." 
 
 Sister Agnes sat like a statue, her eyes on the 
 ground, and a smile on her lips. 
 
 "I will show Clarence over the house myself," 
 resumed the Mother, rising, " while you two old 
 friends say good-by to each other. Come, Clar 
 ence." 
 
 Lei and Agnes walked out into the open air. 
 It was a bright, warm, February day, " a strag 
 gler from the files of June." The gravelled
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 277 
 
 walks were hard and dry. The two friends 
 could talk better with no walls around them, and 
 only the blue sky above them. They could see 
 Loretto, too, on the mountain side, and there was 
 a charm in that, a common point for both their 
 hearts to rest on. 
 
 "My poor uncle will never get over my being 
 a Sister," said Agnes. " The greatest trial I now 
 have is in remembering the pain I caused him. 
 Pray for him, Lei, he is so good and noble." 
 
 " On one condition, Agnes that you pray for 
 my father." 
 
 " I always pray for him," said Agnes, while her 
 cheek flushed ever so little. 
 
 " But pray twice as hard," insisted Lei. " He's 
 in the hands of a set of Philistines, who threaten 
 to bind him hand and foot, and would have done 
 so but for me." 
 
 Agnes laughed. 
 
 "It's no laughing matter, Sister Agnes Cleve 
 land, and if you don't pray your best for him he'll 
 go back to his old habits. He's no longer fit to 
 take care of himself; that's the plain fact. At 
 his age fathers are only fit to be grandfathers." 
 
 Agnes was gazing intently at Loretto. She 
 did not notice the crimson blush which flashed 
 from Lei's cheeks, as if she had said more than 
 she meant to.
 
 278 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " Clarence is dying," said Agnes, -without re 
 moving her eyes from Loretto. " He will never 
 see his father again." 
 
 " But you will." 
 
 " I know it. It is for that I am sent with dear 
 Sister Seraphine." 
 
 " How do you know ?" 
 
 Agnes smiled the old smile of the past, and 
 threw her arm around her cousin as in days gone 
 by. 
 
 "How do I know everything?" she answered. 
 " Is it so hard to interpret the kindness of our 
 noble Mother, and the officiousness of little Ellen 
 Almy? Ah, Lei, your touch is a golden one; 
 I should know it in ten thousand. But here 
 comes our Mother with Clarence. She has been 
 telling him of heaven." 
 
 It was true. The boy had of course been en 
 chanted with the loveliness of the place, and the 
 Mother had of course improved the opportunity 
 by instilling into his mind the superior glories of 
 the after-world. The Mother excelled in preach 
 ing these little sermons. She knew how to carry 
 every word straight to the heart. She lived so 
 much in God herself that she had little difficulty 
 in bringing others home to Him. Lei had never 
 seen him look so sweet and happy.
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 279 
 
 " You must say good-by, now," said the 
 Mother, "for Sister Agnes will have to work 
 hard to get off." 
 
 "Don't make her mission a long one, Mother," 
 said Lei. " Good-by, Agnes." 
 
 " Good-by, Lei. And you, Clarence, remember 
 all our dear Mother has said to you. Most likely 
 we shall never meet again on earth, but you will 
 soon have better faces than mine to follow you. 
 Pray for Sister Agnes, and she will pray for you. 
 If I meet your father I'll take care of him as 
 though he were my own." 
 
 Lei watched her like a hawk, as these last 
 words were uttered, to see if her manner or 
 accent betrayed any deeper consciousness of 
 their significance ; but Agnes was impenetrable. 
 There was nothing to discern more than the sim 
 ple promise of a good Sister of Charity. 
 
 Clarence wept so he could not speak, and in 
 spite of Agnes' resistance kissed her hand at 
 parting. lie was silent all the way home, arid 
 only smiled when Gabriel rushed out to help Lei 
 to the ground. 
 
 "It is upward, not downward, you desire to 
 go," whispered Gabriel, as he held her poised a 
 moment in the air. " Never mind, you will go 
 there yet." And he led her into the house with 
 the triumph of a guardian angel in escort of a 
 soul that's saved.
 
 280 LOEETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " How's Sister Agnes ? " cried Melville, from 
 his office. 
 
 " Very well. She starts on her first mission 
 to-morrow, as I told you," she added, as he 
 appeared. 
 
 " Then I'll have to forgive your keeping 
 dinner waiting." And George Melville humbly 
 and silently thanked heaven for having given 
 him the hand of Ellen Almy. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 AR to the South, a thousand miles away 
 from Loretto, at the single window of 
 his chamber, sat the Wanderer watch 
 ing the people passing carelessly below. Little 
 thought they of the grave to which he was has 
 tening. The spring of that soft climate has 
 already begun, but he will never see the sum 
 mer. He is emaciated almost to a shadow. He 
 has fought manfully for life, but it is leaving 
 him. His thoughts are not of the city around 
 him, or even of the world beyond this ; they are 
 w r ith the boy who may survive him, with the dis 
 tant inmates of Loretto. 
 
 As the sun set a Sister entered with the even 
 ing meal. This was not the Sister who had
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 281 
 
 hitherto served him, but a stranger. It was the 
 same to him ; he scarcely looked at her, although 
 she seemed to linger longer around the table 
 
 ^ * 
 
 than others did. Only once their eyes met, and 
 had the light been stronger he must have seen 
 her cheek whiten and her eye dilate. But when 
 she left the room her face remained with him, 
 and began to connect itself with another face, 
 ever present in his mind. Her strange emotion 
 strengthened the likeness. Surely he had seen 
 her before but where? The red spot on his 
 cheek deepened ; in vain he strove to calm him 
 self; his hand shook as lie raised the untasted 
 cup to his lips. There must have been some 
 powerful memories at work within that wasted 
 frame to nerve it so ! He started up, rang the 
 bell, and when Agnes reappeared, the invalid, 
 who had crept to his chair, was pacing the room 
 with a firm, steady step. 
 
 "Tell me, Sister," he began, holding the light 
 to her face, " have I not seen you before ? Were 
 you not Miss Melville?" 
 
 "You mistook my name, sir," replied Agnes; 
 "it is not Melville, but Cleveland ; Agnes Cleve 
 land." 
 
 The word had frozen him. He clutched her 
 wrist; then reeling back would have fallen but 
 for her quick support.
 
 282 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 She guided him to his bed. His hand was 
 still on her wrist, he spoke not, he scarcely 
 seemed to breathe, but kept gazing into her eyes, 
 as if he had not power to end the long", fixed, ter 
 rible look. 
 
 Oh heaven, how her young heart throbbed ! 
 Will he not end that awful silence and call her 
 
 "Daughter?" "Father!" the word was 
 trembling on her lips ; she read the secret in 
 his eye. She was leaning forward ; she felt his 
 breath on her cheek ; she had almost touched his 
 marble forehead ! He turned from her with a 
 groan, and, dropping her- hand, buried his face in 
 the pillow. 
 
 Then came a fearful doubt across her mind 
 
 he might not be her father! 
 
 She turned her face away ; she pressed her 
 hand against her heart ; she signed the cross on 
 her breast, and stood upright awhile, motionless 
 as a statue. She had not power to move, such 
 was the recoil of disappointed hope ; until, 
 gathering all her strength, she broke the spell, 
 as a river breaks its fetters of ice. One glance 
 more at that prostrate, deathlike figure, and she 
 walked hastily towards the door. 
 
 " Agnes ! Agnes ! " She turned. The voice 
 went thrilling to her soul. She saw the Wan 
 derer bending towards her, his arms flung wide
 
 LOEETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 283 
 
 to receive her. Trembling and murmuring, her 
 hands clasped and straining, she shrank cower 
 ing back against the wall. The figure danced 
 before her eyes ; it seemed as if she could never 
 reach those outstretched arms, an iron chain 
 seemed to hold her back. 
 
 " Agnes ! Agnes ! behold your father ! " One 
 wild leap -brought her to his bosom ! And at 
 last she said the word "Father! Father!" 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 HE night had passed the morning sun 
 was shining. 
 
 " Yes, my child," said Mr. Cleveland, 
 "I was once as good and guiltless as you are 
 now. At college I was noted for piety my 
 sole ambition was to be a good priest. To this, 
 however, my parents would not listen, and I 
 was forced into society. At first I loathed, at 
 last I loved it. I became enamored of a young 
 lady who had no wealth, and whose pretensions 
 were inferior to mine. I wished to marry her, 
 but my parents sternly forbade the match, and 
 I had reverence enough left to obey them." 
 
 He paused for breath ; it required all her 
 attention to keep pace with the deep meaning 
 he poured into every word.
 
 284 LORETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 "Your grandfather and your grandmother 
 were good, worthy people ; but, as I had some 
 little eloquence, they wished me to shine at the 
 bar. They were fashionable Catholics, and did 
 not care to have their son a priest. But remem 
 ber, Agnes, I was more to blame in resigning 
 than they in opposing my vocation." 
 
 He smiled it was the first smile she had 
 ever seen on his face. " Thank God ! you are a 
 Sister of Charity," he said, running his eye over 
 her black habit. 
 
 ""Well," he resumed, "your mother" he 
 bent his head reverently at the name "was 
 selected as a proper person for me, though a 
 few years older, and I was married to her at 
 twenty-four. During the few years we lived 
 happily together I contrived to abandon my 
 profession, spend my fortune, and fall in debt. 
 Your uncle, the Colonel, was my fast friend in 
 all financial difficulties, and so loaded me with 
 obligations that I hated him. Agnes, before I 
 proceed, let me say that no human love can 
 content the soul that, called to give itself en 
 tirely to God, refuses; it wanders on unsatisfied 
 forever." 
 
 And this was the truth which Mr. Almy could 
 not reach, when he styled himself in the neigh 
 borhood of a hidden truth. A change came over 
 the "Wanderer's face he no lonsrer looked ?*.
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE, 285 
 
 his child and turned away from her as he 
 continued : 
 
 " I found that I wag still loved by the poor 
 girl whom I unwillingly deserted ; and I ceased 
 to love your mother, pure and beautiful as she 
 was. I made no secret of my aversion, and was 
 unmoved by her grief, her gentleness, her dignity. 
 I was steeled even against your infant smiles and 
 caresses 
 
 "Your uncle, who had patiently endured my 
 contempt of him, was maddened by my heartless 
 treatment of his sister ; and once when I insulted 
 her in his presence, before I could defend myself, 
 he felled me with his cane. Here is the scar," 
 he said, lifting his black hair from his temple, 
 and Agnes remembered Melville's song and her 
 mother's groan. 
 
 " That blow sealed my fate ! I will not ask 
 you, my pure, noble girl, to follow me through 
 my dark career of ingratitude and crime. It 
 Avill be read against me where all the living and 
 the dead shall hear it ! " 
 
 He threw her arms from his neck. 
 
 " Oh God ! " he said, "that I should suffer this 
 young innocent to approach me ! Agnes, my 
 lips are steeped in blasphemy, and I have let you 
 kiss them ; my head is bent with curses, and I 
 have let you press it to your bosom ; my hands
 
 286 LOKETTO; OB, THE CHOICE. 
 
 are red with iniquity, and you have held them ; 
 I am an outcast, and you call mt father ! " 
 
 He shuddered as he spoke. 
 
 " There is but one redeeming trait to plead 
 for me in the ear of God, and that is Clarence. 
 For him I relinquished the delight of death and 
 despair. I taught him his prayers, I counter 
 feited virtue, that he might never look on vice, 
 and I sent him away I yielded up my child 
 that he might not know my dark and bitter 
 end." 
 
 Agnes trembled, but she saw a solitary tear 
 start from his eye, and in that single drop there 
 was comfort and hope ! 
 
 "Why should 1 wish to be saved?" he cried. 
 " It would be asking too much of heaven ! I 
 have been tempted lately to see if life will last 
 me to Loretto, that I might again behold your 
 mother. I know she would receive me I 
 know she would save me but it is too much 
 blessedness!" 
 
 " Father ! " whispered Agnes, but he was not 
 listening. 
 
 "Oh, Mary ! " he said, " instead of branding me 
 as a traitor you have been filling heaven with 
 prayers for me ; you have offered up your vir 
 tues, like sweet victims, for my sins ; you have 
 trained my daughter for her God; you have
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE, 287 
 
 permitted her to love and embrace me ; you 
 have devoted your life to save me! " 
 
 " And not in vain ! " cried Agnes, not in in 
 terrogation or entreaty, but in exulting accents 
 of confidence and command, as, rising to her full 
 height, she caught his hand, and, pointing to the 
 crucifix on the wall, repeated, 
 
 " Xot in vain, my father ! " 
 
 lie was awed by the sublimity of her attitude 
 and expression. She had assumed his repent 
 ance, and the impossibility of it no longer 
 occurred. 
 
 " You are young and sinless," he said ; " you 
 know not how suffering and guilt, how years of 
 sorrow received and inflicted, how scorn and 
 hatred, and want and woe, and crime, can 
 harden the heart." 
 
 " But I know," returned Agnes, " that heaven 
 is merciful, and that its grace can penetrate the 
 hardest heart, and that you have been penitent 
 for years. Oh, my dear, long-lost father," she 
 continued, falling at his feet; "when I first 
 heard that you lived, and when your image re 
 turned from oblivion -when mother and I were 
 weeping together, she promised that we should 
 all meet in heaven, and I dried my tears and 
 believed it. Tell me, father, shall it not be so? 
 can you disappoint her without one effort to
 
 288 LOEETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 That proud lip quivered an instant ; and then, 
 and not till then, in the agony and rapture of 
 repentance that followed, had Agries truly found 
 her father. 
 
 They are journeying to the North two Sis 
 ters and the Wanderer. Agnes had conquered 
 he had tasted the Lamb that redeems the world, 
 he was on his way to Loretto. But will he 
 reach it ? His face is wan and wasted, his 
 shrunken limbs scarcely sustain his weight; hour 
 after hour that fatal cough, that incessant drain 
 on life, continues. He makes no moan, no mur 
 mur, but humbly and patiently sits beside his 
 child, hearing the story of her life, or filling up 
 the outlines of his own. And as Agnes listened, 
 and watched his bright, splendid eye, and beauti 
 ful head, she saw what power and strength had 
 once been lodged in that crumbling wreck of 
 genius and virtue. 
 
 They are half way to Loretto. Oh, will he 
 reach it? Alas, the Wanderer is in his berth 
 he can no longer sit on deck beside his child ; it 
 oppresses him to speak he can only smile and 
 look at her. How could he endure the jolting 
 stage and racking car ? 
 
 There was strong will and strong hope within 
 that wasted frame. 
 
 " Oh, God ! " he prayed, " grant me life, that I
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 289 
 
 may see her once more, that I may hear the voice 
 of pardon from her lips. I ask it not for my 
 sake, but for hers ! Let me see her again ;' let 
 her see that her life of prayer has not been in 
 vain; let her hear me bless her with my last 
 breath!" 
 
 The grace of God, and the determination to 
 live, kept him alive. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 HE world had changed for Clarence. It 
 was no longer either a prison or a play 
 ground. His privations and pastimes 
 were both at an end. He knew that he was to 
 die. Sister Agnes and the Mother had intimated 
 it too clearly for misapprehension. Although 
 reconciled to his lot, he could not escape the con 
 sciousness of submission. It saddened and 
 haunted him. He would sit dreaming over his 
 books, listening to Lei's music, with tears in his 
 eyes, and a far-off gaze into futurity. He sought 
 the quietest corners of the house where he could 
 sit or kneel alone. For the fields and the flowers 
 he had ceased to care ; his chief earthly love was 
 for the moimtains, their misty summits and shaded 
 gorges. He longed to be upon them, to peer 
 beyond them. They lay like a barrier between
 
 290 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 him and the unknown region toward which he 
 was drifting. He longed to sail with the clouds, 
 above them, behind them. He was glad when 
 day was over and the stars came out, each with 
 its golden declaration that there were other 
 worlds millions of others besides this. 
 
 When Gabriel was not with the Colonel he 
 was with Clarence. Much as the boy was at 
 tached to Lei and Melville, he clung most to Ga 
 briel. For Gabriel knew such beautiful prayers, 
 and could tell such charming legends of saints 
 and hermits, and talk of angels until their white 
 wings seemed to ' rustle in the room ; and he 
 knew how to picture heaven so very brightly 
 that the crystal doors appeared wide open as he 
 spoke. He was seldom sad when Gabriel was 
 with him. And when Gabriel discovered his 
 wish to be among the mountains, and saw he had 
 not strength to walk there, he begged from Lei, 
 too glad to give it, her little wagon. Day after 
 day they drove from slope to slope, from gap to 
 gap, from spring to spring ; and day after day 
 Clarence would expect some other landscape to 
 open at his feet, some glimpse at least of the 
 fair fields of the hereafter. 
 
 More than once on their rambles they stopped 
 at Loretto. But Mrs. Cleveland, so gentle to all 
 else, seemed stern with Clarence. Once, when 
 he chanced to clasp her hand, she shrank from
 
 LORETTO ; OB, THE CHOICE. 291 
 
 him as if a serpent stung her. And the look she 
 gave him made Clarence wonder, and ask Ga 
 briel what it meant. 
 
 "If you were to live," said Gabriel, " you would 
 meet many such looks." 
 
 " From her ? " 
 
 " From all." 
 
 " Then, it is better to die ? " 
 
 " Our Father in heaven seems to think so." 
 
 " What have I done to deserve such looks?" 
 
 " You ? Nothing." 
 
 " Who, then ? " 
 
 " Your father." 
 
 " My father ! Clarence only knew his father 
 ns an invalid and benefactor ; as the guardian Avho 
 had instructed him for first communion and con 
 firmation ; as a lonely, uncomplaining martyr. 
 The idea of his father's having done any wrong, 
 or, more than all, of having brought shame upon 
 his son, was something incomprehensible and 
 monstrous. " My father ! " was all the boy could 
 say. 
 
 " Why should I reveal a story that your own 
 eyes will soon read without help of mine," said 
 
 Gabriel. " And yet . Do you remember 
 
 your mother, Clarence ? " 
 
 " I was too vounsj to remember her. I remem- 
 
 w O 
 
 ber her picture." 
 
 " Was her picture like Mrs. Cleveland ? "
 
 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 "Oh, no. They are very different." 
 " And yet Mrs. Cleveland is your father's wife." 
 The boy was silent. He sat in a maze. A 
 sudden gleam of light overspread the past, and 
 made all plain that had been obscure. What 
 had he to live for now ? Why had he ever 
 wished to live ? And suddenly the grave, from 
 which he had shrunk, grew beautiful. For he 
 remembered, even in Lei, a strange reserve at 
 times, and a faltering more than once when she 
 stooped to kiss him ; and there was a deliberate 
 pity in Mr. Melville's glance which was now 
 accounted for. He felt and comprehended all. 
 He blessed God in his heart for taking him from 
 a world in which he was misplaced. And then 
 a horrible fear crept over him like a chill. 
 Would God and the angels look coldly on him 
 too? In his sudden panic he clung trembling 
 to his companion's arm. 
 
 "It will make no difference there, will it 
 Gabriel?" 
 
 "Not more than it makes with me," said 
 Gabriel, clasping the child to his heart. And 
 had one passed them then, he would have taken 
 it for one angel embracing another. 
 
 There was one peak which they had not yet 
 visited the highest. Clarence had often begged 
 to go there, but Gabriel was afraid of overtasking 
 him; for it involved a little climbing afoot as
 
 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 293 
 
 well as a loner drive. But one afternoon, a 
 
 o * 
 
 month or more after Agnes' departure, he was 
 so bent upon going there that Gabriel yielded, 
 not without misgiving, although the boy seemed 
 brighter and stronger. Clarence sang as they 
 passed the graveyard and the church on the hill. 
 lie was on his way at last to the purple, thunder- 
 riven rocks of which he had heard so much. He 
 would see at last where the sun set, and his eye 
 flashed and his cheek brightened at the thought. 
 
 They tied Lei's pony beneath the huge bould 
 ers that formed the summit. Gabriel would 
 have carried him up the steep, but the boy 
 sprang before him as if he had never known 
 either sadness or fatigue, and stood gazing at 
 the sun, which was opening through the nearest 
 gorge a pathway of purple and scarlet, and shin 
 ing around himself in a wide aureola of gloiy. 
 He was holding communion with something he 
 saw, something visible to him alone, and he 
 spoke not even to Gabriel. But Gabriel stand 
 ing beside him knew the sign, and whispered : 
 
 " Are they calling you ? " 
 
 The boy's lips grew crimson, a crimson deeper 
 than the sunset, a crimson that fell at last in 
 drops at his feet. And this was his only answer. 
 
 "This is sudden," said Gabriel, lifting him in 
 his arms. " Look for it as we may, it is sure to 
 make us tremble when it comes."
 
 294 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " It does not make me tremble, Gabriel. Take 
 me to Loretto." 
 
 It was Gabriel's own wish. The same thought 
 was in both their hearts. Loretto was farther 
 off than Mount Gabriel, but they drove there 
 slowly and in silence, and met the Colonel at 
 the door. He had just returned from trout- 
 fishing with Charlie. The Colonel frowned when 
 he first caught sight of the pair, and muttered 
 something unpleasantly between his teeth. But, 
 on nearer view, the deadly pallor of the boy 
 startled him. 
 
 " Great heaven ! what has happened ? " he 
 exclaimed. 
 
 " The beginning of the end," said Gabriel. 
 
 And Clarence looked up at him with dark 
 shadows under his eyes and a fresh blood-stain 
 on his lips that had not yet been quite removed. 
 
 " A hemorrhage," ejaculated the Colonel. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Why did you bring him here? "Why not 
 take him home at once, where he would have 
 Doctor Melville's constant attendance?" 
 
 " His home is here, for awhile at least," replied 
 Gabriel. " He will not trouble you long, Colonel 
 Cleverton." 
 
 The Colonel winced at this rebuke. He felt 
 that he had been cruel. He was glad when his 
 sister Mary appeared on the scene to relieve
 
 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 295 
 
 him. Mrs. Cleveland comprehended the situa 
 tion at a glance. She still shrank from the boy, 
 but her duty was clear. She conversed a mo 
 ment apart with her brother. 
 
 " Of course," said the Colonel, " we are Chria- 
 tians, and can't do otherwise. But don't put 
 him in her room, Mary, not in her room." 
 
 " It is the only one ready." 
 
 " Give him my room, your room; but not her 
 room." 
 
 The pale woman thought a moment, and then 
 answered : 
 
 " If God will let him into His rooms forever, 
 brother, don't you think we might admit him 
 awhile into ours, even into that of Sister 
 Agnes?" 
 
 The Colonel shrugged his shoulders, and Clar- 
 
 OO ' 
 
 ence soon found himself in the quiet chamber 
 which had been preserved as Agnes left it. He 
 divined at once whose room it was, and whis 
 pered to Gabriel : 
 
 " I know where I am. I shall die here." 
 " So, my little man," said Dr. Melville that 
 evening, " you have been over-exerting yourself 
 witli that restless Gabriel, and must be punished 
 accordingly. I forbid any more walks and 'any 
 more talks. You are to lie abed for a week 
 and not speak above your breath. Then we'll
 
 296 LOKETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 take you home, if you are well enough, as I hope 
 you will be." 
 
 " I am home," said Clarence. " This is Sister 
 Agnes' chamber. Doctor, will I live till she gets 
 back?" 
 
 " I hope so." 
 
 " Will she bring my father with her ? " 
 
 " I think so." 
 
 " Keep me alive till then, Doctor, if if it is 
 in your power." 
 
 "I will try, Clarence. We doctors can't do 
 as much as they think we can, but we can still 
 do something, with God's help. I shall be al 
 most constantly with you until you are bet 
 ter" 
 
 Or worse," added Clarence, smiling, for there 
 was a cadence in the doctor's voice which im 
 plied a reservation. 
 
 Clai-ence grew worse. It was a rapid decline, 
 a vanishing away. He was dying of sheer loss 
 of blood. Xothing could stop it. The Colonel 
 grew fond of the uncomplaining boy, and some 
 times wept a little to see how fast the handker 
 chief changed from white to crimson. Mrs. 
 Cleveland was always at the bedside unless re 
 lieved by Lei or Gabriel. But Clarence missed 
 a something in her look he longed for, and fan 
 cied she still shrank from him. Once when they
 
 LOEETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 297 
 
 were alone, and she had propped him on the 
 pillows so that he could see the convent spires, 
 he said to her : 
 
 " I want to ask you something, but I'm afraid 
 to." 
 
 "Afraid of what?" 
 
 " Of offending you." 
 
 " I slnill not be offended, Clarence. Ask me." 
 
 " Will you kiss me when I'm dead ? " 
 
 She started and trembled. 
 
 "Why do you ask?" 
 
 " Because the stain will be off me then." 
 
 He thought she was offended, for she rose and 
 
 O ' 
 
 turned hastily away. But the next instant she 
 had fallen on her knees at the windo\v, with her 
 face buried in her hands. And this guarded, 
 undemonstrative lady sobbed as though her 
 heart would break as the one temptation which 
 threatened her gentle heart disappeared forever. 
 And in her deep contrition, she kissed the feet of 
 the crucifix and prayed aloud that she mii;ht be 
 
 L v O 
 
 forgiven her coldness to the motherless boy. The 
 door opened and Gabriel stood over her with the 
 triumphant smile of a seraph. But she saw him 
 not, or heeded him not. She went straight to 
 Clarence, bent over him, kissed him, and laid his 
 head on her shoulder. There was no shrinking 
 after that. She was all tenderness and love. 
 Her very touch was different, and Clarence
 
 298 LORETTO; OB, THE CHOICE. 
 
 would fall asleep with his hand in hers, as happy 
 as though the grave were not so near him. It 
 was so to the end. 
 
 But the end was near ; nearer than they 
 thought. After being anointed by the con 
 fessor of the convent, he rallied so that it was 
 hard to realize that he was dying. 
 
 " I should like to live," he said to Gabriel, " to 
 see Sister Agnes and my father." 
 
 " They will be here to-morrow." 
 
 "I shall see them, then," exclaimed the boy, 
 half rising in his bed. 
 
 "As God wills," answered Gabriel. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 CARRIAGE stood before the white 
 palings of Loretto. The house was 
 closed, the windows barred. It was all 
 so still that you could only hear the humming of 
 the bees. Charley came running to meet them, 
 his eyes full of tears, his hands full of white 
 roses, which he had just been gathering. 
 
 "Too late," murmured Agnes to herself, as 
 she caught a glimpse of Lei's sad face in the 
 doorway, and as Gabriel and Melville advanced 
 to receive the Wanderer. 
 
 " Shall we assist you, sir,." said Melville.
 
 LOKETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 299 
 
 " You are very kind. I think I can walk with 
 a little support. Let me try." 
 
 After a few steps toward the house he stopped 
 as if to compose himself, and raising his eyes 
 looked steadily around him. Twenty years 
 since he saw that scene ! He smiled to think 
 how little it had changed. The sharp roof, the 
 double portico, the red honeysuckles, were still 
 the same. The double curve of the mountains 
 was still there, like a Greek bow bent by a giant. 
 It was a scene that had haunted him in all his 
 wanderings the home which his heart had 
 never utterly forsaken the solitude in which 
 he had prayed to God to accord him a grave. 
 
 Yet how should he face the inmates of that 
 silent house ? He was nerved for trial, schooled 
 by adversity, absorbed in the opening afterward, 
 but he shuddered at the ordeal before him. It 
 was not till Agnes whispered, " Courage, father," 
 that he could ascend the steps. 
 
 " Is Clarence here ? " he said to Melville. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 The tone in which this was uttered revealed all. 
 
 "Let me see him," said the Wanderer, with 
 a firmer voice, and walking without their aid. 
 
 It was but a step or two. The hall opened 
 into the front parlor, and there lay Clarence 
 between the lighted tapers of the dead, watched 
 by Mrs. Cleveland and the Colonel. Long and
 
 300 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 
 
 tender was the gaze of the father at his son, and 
 then raising both hands to heaven, he said, with 
 an energy that thrilled them all : 
 
 " I thank thee, O my Saviour, for this crowning 
 mercy ! It is thus I wished to meet him. "Will 
 you leave me here a moment with him and his 
 watchers," he added, glancing at the Colonel and 
 Mrs Cleveland. 
 
 The three were hardly alone with the dead, 
 before a deep voice, in its last wail, was heard 
 even in the hall: "My wife my friend for 
 give me, in the name of God ! " And with the 
 kind answer came a falling spxmd that brought 
 them all back into the room. The Wanderer 
 was lying at Mrs. Cleveland's feet, the Colonel 
 vainly trying to revive him. Nor did he answer 
 when Agnes called him " Father." 
 
 "It is all over," whispered Melville to Lei. 
 
 And Gabriel, stooping over Clarence, as though 
 the boy could hear him, whispered : 
 
 " You will see vour father now." 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 HERE were two more graves on the 
 hillside. Clarence and the Wanderer 
 were sleeping side by side. Xor was 
 their last resting-place forgotten or unadorned ;
 
 LOKETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 801 
 
 and when All Souls' Day came no other spot 
 was richer in wreaths and flowers. 
 
 "It makes no difference even here," mused 
 Gabriel, as he laid an ivy cross over the remains 
 of his young friend. And looking up he saw 
 Mr. Almy beside him. 
 
 "I was expecting you," continued Gabriel. 
 " When did you arrive ? " * 
 
 " Last evening." 
 
 " Do you remain ? " 
 
 " Awhile." 
 
 "Why not always?" 
 
 " I cannot be in two places at once. 
 
 " Clarence is " 
 
 Mr. Almy started. The attack was so sharp 
 and sudden. 
 
 "But I I must be in town, or let my busi 
 ness go to the dogs." 
 
 "So you prefer letting your soul go there?" 
 
 "Not quite that, I hope," said Almy, smiling. 
 
 "Quite that, I khow" answered Gabriel. 
 "Are you not rich enough yet?" 
 
 "Who is?" 
 
 " They / " he pointed to the graves at their 
 feet. 
 
 The leaves were falling around them, and 
 light gusts of snow drifting over the mountain. 
 
 " And so the Wanderer died a happy death," 
 resumed Mr. Almy, after a long pause.
 
 302 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " Let us hope so," said Gabriel. " He will not 
 be asked to pass through the eye of a needle, Mr. 
 Alrny. His temptation was love, not money." 
 
 "Do you mean that money's mine?" asked 
 Almy. 
 
 " One of yours." 
 
 "The other?" 
 
 "Wine." * 
 
 " Is there any other ? " 
 
 "Not whist," said Gabriel, remembering Lei. 
 And then as Almy laughed, he added : " You 
 are too old fcr such follies as these. You will 
 soon cease to be respectable if you pursue them, 
 and I, for one, am already ashamed of you. 
 Don't shrivel up into a wretched old worldling ; 
 I'd almost as soon see you an exemplary hypo 
 crite. Give' up- the world and stick to your 
 daughter." 
 
 " That's easier said than done." 
 
 "Don't you love your daughter better than 
 the world?" 
 
 "Possibly. But I want a new affection. I 
 can't have it, I know; but the world affords 
 variety at least. A daughter married is a 
 daughter lost." 
 
 "And yet parents are always glad to lose them 
 until they are lost. I thought you were above 
 such common canting, but you turn out no bet 
 ter than the rest of them. And Providence id
 
 LORETTO; on, THE CHOICE. 303 
 
 going to humor you like a spoiled child, and 
 give you your neio affection. Let us see what it 
 will do for you." Aud frowning half playfully, 
 half scornfully, over his shoulder as he went, 
 Gabriel passed through the gate and swept down 
 the hillside. 
 
 " Such a famous rating I never yet received," 
 said Almy to himself, " and the worst of it is 
 that the fellow's right. Hang him, he's always 
 right,, I was half inclined to choke him, though, 
 when he had the impudence to talk of Providence 
 humoring me like a child; I wonder what he 
 means ? I think I can guess. Ah ! these 
 dead ! I don't like our last home, or the way we 
 get there. If it Avere only all safe beyond it ! 
 But it's not all safe by a good deal, and there's 
 the everlasting rub." 
 
 And Mr. Almy mused among the decorated 
 tombs until the quiet graveyard was white with 
 snow, and the late dinner-call of the horn at 
 Mount Gabriel summoned him back to his place 
 among the living. 
 
 That very night a new soul was added to the 
 number of the living whom he knew, and Mr. 
 Almy found his new affection. To be a parent 
 is the consummation of maturity ; to be a grand 
 parent is the mysterious rejuvenescence of age. 
 Just when the world is well found out, and the
 
 804 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 heart has run the round of most human emotions; 
 when friends have passed or dropped away; 
 when children are absorbed in other loves and 
 other cares, arid we find ourselves journeying 
 alone into the decline of life, comes this voice 
 from the cradle, sounding the resurrection of 
 our youth and assuring us of a new partnership 
 with the future. 
 
 Mr. Almy was not a sentimental man, not 
 addicted to idols of any sort. He had been 
 devoted to Lei, but it was in a rational, deliber 
 ate way. He had never been the passive slave 
 of any affection. He had laughed his full share 
 at the grand-parental mania. He remembered 
 how he had himself been adored in his day, to 
 his own serious detriment. He was amazed at 
 finding himself so deeply and incomprehensibly 
 interested in this second advent. She was a 
 beautiful child, to be sure, this girl of Lei's, but 
 not entirely without some resemblances to other 
 children. Very much like her mother at her 
 age, but then there was a halo round lier head 
 which Lei had never worn. The mist of age, 
 like the morn of youth, makes its own aureole 
 but he never thought of this. He considered 
 himself as young as ever, and so he was for all 
 practical purposes; but the heart is generally in 
 its dotage long before the head. His mind was
 
 LORETTO ; OK, THE CHOICE. 305 
 
 unimpaired, but his soul was already in its second 
 childhood. It was wandering back in spirit 
 from the confines of the coffin to the regions 
 of the cradle. 
 
 The worst feature in his case was a growing 
 jealousy of the parents. The girl properly be 
 longed more to him than to them ; he had the 
 first right to her. They didn't, they couldn't 
 love her as he did ; they did'nt see the halo round 
 her head as he did ; they couldn't bring her up 
 as he could; they certainly hadn't as much 
 money to give her as he had. Why on earth 
 wouldn't they make him her guardian on the spot, 
 and renounce all interference henceforth and for 
 ever? Why wouldn't they both go away and 
 leave her to him, it was the least they could 
 do. One thing he was bent on, however. They 
 might be as selfish and despotic as they liked, 
 and as parents are apt to be with another man's 
 grandchild, but he would have the naming of 
 her. 
 
 Melville had already fixed upon the name. 
 She was to bo called after her mother, of course; 
 anything else would be monstrous. It was a 
 name that nobody could or should object to. As 
 for opposition from Mr. Almy, it never once oc 
 curred to him. 
 
 Mr. Almy knew this, and the evening before
 
 306 LOEETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 the christening, when he and Melville were alone 
 together, began his attack. 
 
 " What are you going to call her ? " 
 
 " Lei, of course." 
 
 "Isn't one Lei enough? I don't like dupli 
 cates." 
 
 " It's a pity to let a family name die." 
 
 " You may have other opportunities of perpet 
 uating it." 
 
 " What name would you like, sir ? " 
 
 " Oh, it's not for me to decide. It's no affair 
 of mine. I never meddle where I'm not wanted." 
 
 Melville smiled. Had the sharp merchant 
 changed so ? Was he such a baby already ? 
 
 " Mrs. Melville wishes to see you, sir," called 
 a servant. Lei had partly overheard the conver 
 sation and guessed the drift of it. She was 
 laughing when her husband joined her. 
 
 " Let him have his own way, Melville." 
 
 " But really, Lei, I think that I might at least 
 have the privilege of " 
 
 " Being a sensible father instead of a goose of 
 a grandfather. Grandfathers are always geese, 
 Melville." 
 
 " But who knows what he may call her. Soph- 
 onista, may be." 
 
 " Oh no, not Sophonista " 
 
 "Cunegunda, then?"
 
 LOKETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 307 
 
 " Nor Cunegunda, either." 
 
 " What then ? " 
 
 "Just what I would call her if I had my 
 way." 
 
 " Don't you want her called Lei ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 "The deuce you don't. Well, madam, if 
 not too inquisitive, may I venture to ask what 
 you and your father would like to call her ? " 
 
 *' By a name that you have often admired." 
 
 " I admire none as much as yours." 
 
 " But I do ; one name at least." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " Don't you know the softest spot in my 
 father's heart?" 
 
 " There it lies," pointing to the sleeping child. 
 
 " One softer than that ? " 
 
 No, I don't;" 
 
 " Sister Agnes. Mind you, Melville, he's 
 never said a word to me, but I'll bet you a hun 
 dred dollars he wants her called Agnes." 
 
 " And you want her called Agnes, too ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Agreed, though I don't." 
 
 Mr. Almy took no notice of Melville's return. 
 He spoke of the graveyard, of the wheat-fields, 
 of the Colonel, of Gabriel, of everything else 
 than the baby.
 
 308 LORETTO ; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " Well, sir," said Melville, " I surrender. My 
 wife wishes you to have your own way." 
 
 " She is very kind, very," was the dry answer. 
 " It is alwavs charming in a daughter to let a 
 
 o o 
 
 father have his own way." 
 
 Melville laughed again. He was a father, too, 
 and yet the pair of them wouldn't let him even 
 name his own child. 
 
 "I wish to do nothing contrary to your 
 wishes," continued Mr. Almy, with increasing 
 dignity. 
 
 "I daresay you will name your granddaughter 
 quite as prettily as you named your daughter. 
 Lei is not the only pretty name in the world. 
 Who will stand for her?" 
 
 " Why not Mrs. Cleveland and the Colonel ? " 
 
 " An excellent idea." 
 
 "And why not, in compliment to them, the 
 Colonel would enjoy it so, why not call her 
 Agnes ? I'm sure we all loved her." 
 
 " You have chosen the very name, sir." 
 
 " Shall it be Agnes, then ? " 
 
 "With all our hearts, sir." 
 
 " Thank you, Melville." Mr. Almy wrung his 
 hand and turned away to mount the stairs and 
 have a look at his idol. He was satisfied. He 
 had paid tribute to a holy thought that had 
 crossed his heart like a bird of passage, crossed
 
 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 309 
 
 it without resting there. It had passed like a 
 dream, but the idol of his later days should per 
 petuate a memory that stood starlike in the past, 
 faint, pure, and sacred. 
 
 And so they called her Agnes, although her 
 eyes and hair were like her mother's, and she 
 promised to be Lei all over again. Mr. Almy 
 could not persuade himself to leave her. His 
 new affection enslaved him. Every post brought 
 letters urging his return, which he would throw 
 in the fire, always without answering, often 
 without reading. 
 
 "I must go, Lei," he said at length, "and 
 shan't be back till Christmas." 
 
 "We shall miss you dreadfully. What will 
 Aggie do without you?" said this artful woman. 
 
 " What shall I do without her, you mean ? 
 The little humbug doesn't even know who I am. 
 Lei, I am making a great ass of myself over this 
 blooming little brat, but I'll be hanged if I can 
 help it." 
 
 "And so you'll not be back till Christmas?" 
 
 " Not till Christmas." 
 
 But Mr. Almy was back in a fortnight, saying, 
 by way of excuse, 
 
 "Those old fellows bore me so with their bluff 
 that I've had to run from them. Can't we have 
 a whist party here ? I'm sure the Colonel will
 
 310 LOEETTO J OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 join. They are lonely enough at Loretto, and 
 we're not s?o very far apart." 
 
 The Colonel was only too glad of the chance, 
 and so even was Mrs. Cleveland, for the shadow 
 had been swept from her life, and with its 
 departure the capacity for joy revived. Mr./ 
 Almy began to find himself contented in the 
 country, and considerably weaned from town. 
 He even hinted at retiring from business. But 
 he was determined not to .be precipitate. He 
 tested himself first with the Colonel. They were 
 both good shots, and there was no end of par 
 tridge and pheasant, or quail and partridge. He 
 had been fond of shooting once, and soon found 
 out that he was fond of it again. They were 
 both wretched anglers, and that was another 
 bond between them, as they both fancied them 
 selves proficients. Charley often had a sly laugh 
 at the pair as they sat beneath the hemlocks. 
 
 By the time Christmas came the Colonel and 
 Mrs. Cleveland were so thoroughly domesticated 
 at Mount Gabriel that they determined to have 
 their Christmas celebration there instead of at 
 home. The presents were arranged for distribu 
 tion to all comers, and the porches festooned 
 with spruce and pine and cedar in the most 
 artistic way. Almy was expected the day be 
 fore, and kept his word, bringing with him two
 
 LOKETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 311 
 
 trunks full of toys for the unsuspecting and 
 unthankful young Agnes. The snow was a foot 
 deep, and there was but an hour of daylight 
 when he arrived, yet he and the Colonel sallied 
 out together, afoot, on what was evidently a 
 mysterious and important errand. In one of 
 their recent hunts they had noticed a superb 
 young hemlock spruce, and devoted it in their 
 heart of hearts to a Christmas Bush. They 
 felled the beautiful creature between them, and 
 away they went, staggering through the snow 
 and the bitter wind, dragging their prize after 
 them, as happy as two boys. Such a Christmas 
 bush was never seen in all that country. And 
 when it was all decked and lighted, and the room 
 was thronged with girls and boys from leagues 
 around, on Christmas night, and the cake and 
 egg-nog were passed around, little Agnes crowed 
 and laughed as if she really enjoyed the festival. 
 
 "When another Christmas came, and Mr. Almy 
 arrived, with three trunks this time, Miss Aggie 
 had been trained to walk to meet him, and say, 
 "Gan'pa." 
 
 " Confound it," said Almy, " can such non 
 sense make a man cry? Did you teach her to 
 say 'Gan'pa,' Lei, or did she take to it natu 
 rally?" 
 
 " Oh, naturally, of course," said Lei, dropping 
 her eyes.
 
 312 LOBETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " Don't laugh at me, Lei. I know I'm ridic 
 ulous, but with all that it's a splendid sensation- 
 May you live to enjoy it." 
 
 And that evening he said to her, " You gave 
 me a surprise to-day, so I shall give you one. to 
 night. I have turned over my house to my part 
 ners, and withdrawn absolutely. It is what I 
 have been aiming at for two years, and is now 
 accomplished. I'll live with you, if you'll let me, 
 and if we get tired of each other we'll go abroad 
 once in a while." m 
 
 Lei delayed her answer, the tears were running 
 down her cheeks so fast. 
 
 " This is a Christmas gift," she said, at length. 
 *' You have given me yourself, you grand old silly, 
 splendid father, and if I ever let you take back 
 the gift" 
 
 "May he never have another new affection," 
 chimed in Gabriel. " Ah, Almy, if I could only 
 manage the Colonel as easily as your grandchild 
 manages you ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 HE death of the Wanderer had made a 
 deep but not a lasting impression on 
 the Colonel. He was hale and hearty ; 
 there was many a good, quiet year before him;
 
 LORETTO; OK, THE CHOICE. 313 
 
 he had time enough to make his peace with God, 
 and die as good a Catholic as any of them. The 
 Wanderer had profited by the last moment; why 
 need he he in a hurry ? He had no crimes on his 
 conscience. He had never been a scandal like 
 Cleveland, or a worldling like Almy. 
 
 But that very winter the admonition came. A 
 sudden shock passed over him at night, and he 
 rose a changed man in the morning. He tried 
 to conceal it, but the ruin would not be hidden. 
 One afternoon, as he lay dozing before the fire, 
 Charley came rushing in with glistening eyes. 
 
 " Oh, sir, what a flock of partridges I saw ! If 
 I'd only had the gun I could have killed twenty 
 at a shot. They were all huddled up in a bunch 
 
 in the fence corner by the quarry. And " 
 
 Charley stopped short, for a tear was rolling down 
 the old man's cheek. 
 
 " Come, Charley, we'll have a look at them, 
 anyhow. I think a walk will do me good. "We'll 
 give them a i-ound to-morrow." 
 
 And so they sallied forth together, without the 
 gun, however ; it would have puzzled the Colonel 
 to carry it, although his pace was so rapid that 
 the boy stared in amazement. The Colonel was 
 not thinking of the birds. His eyes were bent 
 on the ground ; but occasionally he raised them, 
 and they rested awhile on the slender spire of tho 
 convent, towards which he was hastening.
 
 314 LORETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 " Now, sir," cried Charley, as t^iey drew near 
 the quarry, " I'll show you where they are." 
 
 " To-morrow," said the old man, raising his stick, 
 and pointing to the spire. " This way, now." 
 
 They kept on their way in silence. In vain 
 the ploughman bowed and the red-cheeked dairy 
 maid curtsied to the Colonel as they passed ; he 
 heeded them not, he saw them not, he knew them 
 not. They were puppets, nothing more ; things 
 apparently near, but really at an infinite distance. 
 Charley, amazed at such unusual abstraction and 
 discourtesy, began to suspect him of sudden in 
 sanity, and trembled. They reached the gate; 
 they stood by the church. It was Saturday after 
 noon, and sweet voices were singing the Litany 
 of Loretto. The Colonel paused awhile, as if to 
 inhale the melody and the keen, fresh air. The 
 sun was just behind the mountain, and all along 
 the west the graceful outlines of those blue ridges 
 were marked in crimson and gold. 
 
 " The service is over," muttered the Colonel, 
 as the organ ceased. " I must lose no time." He 
 crossed the sloping terrace and rang the bell. 
 " Wait for me, Charley." 
 
 " My niece," said the Colonel to the portress. 
 " I wish to see her for a few minutes." Sister 
 Agnes soon appeared, smiling. A year had 
 changed her much; she was thinner and paler
 
 LORETTO J OR, THE CROICE. 315 
 
 than before, but every feature and every action 
 expressed perfect peace. Whatever had been 
 the struggle, it was over ; there was nothing left 
 but the Sister of Charity, the meek servant of 
 God. From the moment she entered the room, 
 the Colonel's eye never left her ; and though she 
 had not at first remarked his agitation she soon 
 saw that lie was almost supernaturally excited. 
 
 "Agnes," said the Colonel, "I am breaking 
 to pieces, crumbling away, I cannot last much 
 longer. I am going to leave you, Agnes, going 
 to leave you forever. I am near the end of a 
 long, unworthy life ; and while I can yet speak, 
 I have a duty to perform which I must now 
 discharge. I cannot rest until I have said that 
 my opposition to your choice was the miserable 
 result of selfishness and folly; and that I now 
 thank God, and bless you, for the defeat of my 
 most unmanly schemes ! " 
 
 The old man rose from the chair, as if light 
 ened of some crushing weight. 
 
 " But to leave you, Agnes you whom I have 
 loved so blindly that I was envious even of Him 
 to whom your soul belonged, to part for all 
 eternity from No! no! Agnes, Agnes! tell 
 me, have I yet time to meet you in Heaven?" 
 
 She said not a word, but grasped his hand and 
 led him into the church. There on the cold 

 
 316 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 marble aisle knelt the old man, trembling and 
 sobbing, his head bowed to the step of the sanc 
 tuary, whilst kneeling like an angel beside him, 
 his Agnes whispered, 
 
 " Think not of me, but of God ! " 
 
 She left him an instant, and passed into the 
 sacristy. A moment and she reappeared, followed 
 by a figure in black and the priest waited in 
 the confessional. Three paces off stood the 
 tribunal of remission and the minister of absolu 
 tion! 
 
 "Xot now!" said the Colonel, shuddering, 
 and refusing her mute petition. "Xot now 
 to-morroic 1 '" 
 
 "To-morrow may never come!" replied Ag 
 nes ; " falter not at the foot of the altar ! " 
 
 He rose and wavered the sisters were com 
 ing "To-morrow, to-morrow, I am unworthy 
 now!" and as the confessor advanced towards 
 him lie shook off Agnes, who still clung to him, 
 and left the church. 
 
 The Colonel walked more rapidly than before, 
 and as he passed the quiet graveyard the leaf 
 less branches seemed to creak, " Like a thief in 
 the night! Like a thief in the night!" Once 
 more he turned towards the convent, and a 
 figure like Gabriel's stood an instant in the road, 
 beckoning him back. But he sighed to himself
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 317 
 
 "to-morrow, to-morrow," and at last the spire of 
 the convent sank behind the trees. Then the 
 road grew dark at his feet ; but when he looked 
 up the moon Avas shining, unprofaned by a single 
 cloud, and all the stars were joyfully twinkling. 
 
 "Are you tired, sir?" asked Charley, as they 
 opened the white gate of Loretto. But before 
 there was time for a reply Gabriel overtook 
 them. 
 
 " So you have really been folloAving me," said 
 the Colonel. " I thought I caught a glimpse of 
 you." 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland, who had been anxiously watch 
 ing in the porch, came to meet them. 
 
 "Sister," said the Colonel, "I thought myself 
 a good, blameless man, but on reviewing my life 
 I find myself a traitor to my faith and a slave 
 to sin. To-morrow shall find me once more in 
 the bosom of the Catholic Church. One night of 
 preparation is all I ask. I have been Avith 
 Agnes ! " 
 
 The delirious strength that had hitherto sus 
 tained him began to give Avay, and he leaned 
 heavily on his sister's arm. The secret was 
 soon unfolded to Lei, Melville, and Mr. Ahny ; 
 and, revived by the happy group around him, 
 the Colonel looked and felt better than he had 
 done for many a day. Mrs. Cleveland was over-
 
 318 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 
 
 whelmed with joy at this sudden and unexpected 
 change, and the last open wound of her heart 
 was healing. Gabriel alone was sad and restless. 
 He sat in a corner playing strange airs upon a 
 guitar, with which he loved to give music lessons 
 to the boy. They could distinguish at times, 
 words like these, 
 
 A woodman said to a snow-white flower, 
 " Lily, I'll pluck thee in an hour! " 
 So merrily, merrily hied he on, 
 And came in an hour the lily was gone! 
 
 And Gabriel sang other songs, mournful and 
 slow; but the words \vere of some strange lan 
 guage, which none of them understood. 
 
 After an hour, which passed in congratulation 
 and prayer, the Colonel excused himself and 
 retired to his room. Gabriel, unseen, glided in 
 after him. Through the open window he could 
 see the cross on the convent spire gleaming in 
 the moonlight ; he remembered the morning that 
 Lei stood at that same window, wfyen he tempted 
 her to win Agnes to the world, to the world 
 which he had exhausted, which left him nothing 
 but tears and shame, which might separate him 
 from Agnes eternally ? Separation from Agnes 
 was the point of his contrition. He was tempted
 
 LORETTO; OR, THE CHOICE. 319 
 
 to return and complete at once the work he had 
 begun ; but it seemed so childlike and cowardly 
 to be hurrying after a confessor, as if afraid of 
 darkness. So, with a resolute effort he closed 
 the shutters, saying, " To-morrow!" 
 
 The next morning he came not down to 
 breakfast. They heard a shriek from Gabriel, 
 and rushed up-stairs. The Colonel was lying 
 dead on the floor. 
 
 Oh, what a change had come over Gabrk-1 ! 
 His smile was gone a sad, unearthly light 
 shone in his blue eye he was worn away to a 
 skeleton. He rarely spoke, but, when they 
 questioned him, mournfully pointed to his 
 heart and they knew that the disease of which 
 he had often complained, if one so gentle could 
 be said to complain, was carrying him off. 
 Once they heard him singing a strange song, 
 which Lei remembered : 
 
 I hear a sweet voice, like the voice of a bird, 
 The softest and sweetest that ever was heard, 
 And it comes from the sky, from the blue, blessed sky, 
 And it warbles " Prepare, for the hour is nigh ! " 
 And that voice is meant for me 
 Far away, far away, 
 Ere another day, 
 
 Shall I be!
 
 320 LORETTO; OE, THE CHOICE. 
 
 I see two sweet wings that are not of the earth, 
 That shall bear me aloft to the land of my birth, 
 Yes, two glittering wings of the purest white, 
 With each feather enshrined in a circle of light! 
 And those wings are meant for me 
 Far away, far away, 
 Ere another day, 
 
 Shall I be! 
 
 The blossoming stars were my playmates of yore, 
 I shall walk the bright fields where I've sported before; 
 And I know a sweet spot where the angels are, 
 That is high above th v e highest star! 
 
 And that spot is meant for me 
 Far away, far away, 
 Ere another day, 
 
 Shall I be! 
 
 And, after singing this, he seemed stronger, 
 and more cheerful ; his old smile returned, and 
 he went forth alone. 
 
 The sun was down behind the gap in the 
 mountain, the moon was shining on the porches 
 of Loretto and Mount Gabriel, yet the pale 
 youth returned not. 
 
 In the morning they searched the fields and 
 hills for him in vain ; until, at last, guided by 
 little Charley, they found him dead on the Col 
 onel's grave I
 
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