patience will not be worn out by its length," he replied, "you shall hear the tale of woe. But come," said he, rising as he spoke, and gently taking my arm, and leading me to another part of the church-yard, "I must conduct you to the spot, from which the sounds you have referred to arose."

At the western extremity of the ancient pile, I perceived another seat, constructed after the same Spartan order as the one we had just left,and on this we took our sittings in silence. After a few seconds, at the end of which the old man observed, as he dashed a tear from his eye, and pointed to a grave full in front of us, done up with more than ordinary care, "There, sir, is the place of poor Emma's mournful vigils; there, sir, on that grave she strews fresh-gathered flowers each returning evening, and beside it chants her lays of sorrow, and then harmlessly and pensively returns to her lonely chamber." I perceived, as he spoke, the withered tokens of poor Emma's regard, half covering the raised clods of earth. The old man again dried the moisture from his cheeks, and then proceeded. "There repose as worthy a pair as ever died of a broken heart. Forty summer suns have visited this our once happy village, since first I knew Egbert Harlow;-he was then but a youth of about twelve or fourteen years of age; a merry, curled-headed boy; the darling of his affectionate parents; and, ere we had thought of it, Egbert had become a man,- -a young man it is true, but old enough, he belived, to marry. That indispensible

requisite to happiness, or fruitful source of misery, a wife, was wished for by him, nor was it long before he had found a maiden every way worthy so worthy a young man. They were married; and well I remember that day; it was a village jubilee. They were the pride of the circle in which they moved all esteemed, and most loved them. Many were the healths that were with sobriety drunk, and sincere the wishes that were expressed on the occasion, for the welfare of Egbert Harlow and his lovely bride.

"The summer sky of prosperity was flatteringly bright above and around them; they did not even dream of ever knowing a sadder day than their wedding-day, and a happier one they could not know. Egbert's father, who had been some time before this, a widower, soon after died, and left him a comfortable property, which, together with a few hundreds which his wife had brought, as her marriage portion, placed them in easy circum

stances.

'One year after their marriage, saw them the happy parents of a lovely son,-who, at the proper period, received the name of his father, Egbert. With a fondness, such as parents can only conceive of, they contemplated their first-born, muchloved boy. The fond mother beheld in his bright eye the sparkling intelligence of his father;-while he, with equal sagacity, discovered in his artless smile the amiable and attractive spirit of his mother: he possessed, in short, their undivided

affections. Yes, he who soon became the cause of the almost first uneasiness they felt after their happy union, was, almost, if not altogether, the idol of their hearts. No sooner had he learned to run alone, than enterprise became his delight; nor did a week pass but some juvenile misdemeanor of the infant Egbert filled the village with disquiet, and his mother's heart with uneasiness. He had attained his fourth year, when a portion, at least, of his parents' affections was transferred from him to a brother, by the birth of a second son. The joy which even children partake of at such an event, was scarcely felt, and but a short time enjoyed, by the first-born. The dissimilarity of the tempers and pursuits of the brothers became obvious, as the character of each developed itself in their growing years. Alfred, so the second son was named, was gentle as the shorn lamb, and unassuming as the violet of the valley. His soul appeared all affection; the very element in which he lived was kindness. Noble, generous, courageous, and manly even in childhood, he won, insensibly, the hearts of all who knew him. Egbert, with the keen eye of the bird of the sun, saw the growing virtues of his brother, and learned to hate the "excellencies he could not reach." There was a morosity and surliness stamped upon his forehead, which lowered in arching wrinkles of disapprobation at Alfred's growing favour. Like another Cain, his soul brooded over imaginary

wrongs, and he determined revenge on his unsuspecting rival.

"Egbert had reached his sixteenth year, when one night-the recollection brings a sickening influence over me-the wind howled dreadfully; it rose to a perfect hurricane ;-occasional cracking peals of thunder seemed to threaten some fearful destruction. The storm drew nearer and nearer, until the bursting cloud, perpendicularly above us, shot forth streams of forked lightnings,whizzing in zig-zag fury. It struck the tower of our church, and carried in its course a considerable portion of it to the ground. On that night the brothers were missing; servants were dispatched in all directions in search of them. That wood, which darkens in its shade the paddocks on our right, was scoured by myself and the distressed parent. We hollowed, and were answered by the bellowing thunders. We listened, and the roaring winds or mimic echoes mocked our anxieties. The storm gradually subsided, and the moon broke forth in splendour. An appalling stillness succeeded the raging tempest. Still we continued our apparently fruitless search, when, as we drew near the edge of the wood, where the swelling river, now almost overflowing its banks, wound along, a faint moan reached the listening and halfdistracted father's ears;—another, and another was audible. We called, but received no answer; and, while half suspended in our progress by our agitation, the glancing beams of the moon, bursting

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suddenly from behind a clump of trees (the torches we had employed had gone out), fell full on a man figure, prostrate on the ground. We rushed eagerly towards it, and beheld, covered with clotted blood, which had flowed from a deep wound on the left cheek and forehead, the youthful Alfred. But Egbert was no where to be seen. How to act we scarcely knew: the sight had almost unmanned us. A call brought to our aid some servants, and the insensible and cold Alfred, with scarcely any signs of life, was carried home, followed by his weeping father, while I continued my search for Egbert.

"To attempt a description of the fond mother's feelings, would be folly in the extreme, while she gazed upon the bloody form of her beloved Alfred, and found, to aggravate her misery, that Egbert was still missing. Medical aid was soon procured, and the danger was pronounced to be much less than had at first been anticipated. Other small wounds than those on the cheek and forehead, with several bruises, seemed to intimate that considerable violence had been exercised upon the unfortunate youth. He was not in a fit state however to give information, and, therefore, questions were not put to him.

"The night had passed away, and morning's light peeped from the grey mist of the east, and still I could discover nothing of Egbert. I had taken a long circuit, and was returning by the way of the river, when, just as I reached the spot