tained the address of the sailor, who, they were told, was very ill, and not expected to live. They entered a low dirty street in the vicinity of the docks, and turning up a dark narrow passage, stood before the door to which they had been directed. An old woman with a grisly beard was crouching near a fire smoking a pipe. They made her acquainted with their errand, and then requested an interview. "the "He's nearly done for," said the woman, vind to-day has been in the heast, vich is bad for hinvalids. This vay-mind the steps." She led the visitors up stairs, and at the top of the house, in a room, the noisome smell of which was almost unbearable, lay the dying man. Stretched on a pallet of straw, with scanty covering, reclined the once hardy mariner, who had braved many a tempest and topped many a wave. Unscathed by the fury of the elements, he had fallen a victim to his own indiscretions,-cut down in the flower of his manhood. Death was clasping him in his clammy embrace when the strangers entered the apartment. "Ho, Jack!" shouted the crone, in a voice from which human sympathy had long been divorced, "this gem'man and lady wishes to ax you a thing or two." The announcement thus abruptly made startled the dying sailor; nature was unequal to the shock. A sigh was heard to proceed from the straw,-the head fell back,—and the spirit winged its way to the God who gave it! CHAPTER XIV. What are the falling rills, the pendant shades, So the struck deer, in some sequestered part, РОРЕ. "Put away your drawing, dear Isabel, and let us take a ramble together. It is a lovely afternoon, and I feel so much stronger that we shall perhaps be able to reach our favourite glen. I see you are anxious to transfer the delicate tints of that passionflower to paper, knowing that it must fade before night-fall; but never mind the poor flower; many of its kindred will unfold their bright petals for to-morrow. Alas! dear Isabel, it reminds me of my own sad fate. I, too, am doomed speedily to perish. Will you as easily supply my place ?" you The young and beautiful girl who was thus addressed, had arisen with alacrity at the first words of the speaker, but the cheerful smile changed, as he proceeded, into an expression of melancholy interest. A mere stranger, indeed, might have read in the countenance of the youth a justification of his sorrowful forebodings. The flushed and hollow cheek, the unnaturally brilliant eye, the attenuated form, all spoke of that dire disease that generally hurries away its victims at an age when life is fresh and full of charms, when the world, which they have scarcely entered, appears as a paradise, ere the heart has been seared by sorrow, neglect, and contumely. 66 66 Supply your place, Edward!" said she, at length, while her dark eyes filled with tears, You, who have been a brother to me, to whose affectionate regard I am indebted for every thing I possess— education, station, even my very name! How could your place ever be supplied, Edward, an only son, the last hope of your fond parents ? Come, come, let us walk forth and banish these gloomy thoughts in the contemplation of such scenery as can be found only in this bewitching island.” She threw on a long lace veil, which partially shrouding her abundant tresses, and enveloping the upper portion of her figure, formed a sufficient outdoor covering in that delicious climate, and offering her arm to assist the invalid, they proceeded leisurely on their way. The path they chose abounded in picturesque and cultivated beauty; sheltered by luxuriant vines that were trained on arched trellises over head, their rich foliage interspersed with tempting branches of purple fruit, it wound gently round the side of a hill, and each opening in the leafy canopy disclosed some gem of landscape glit tering in sunshine. The view varied in character at almost every turn of the road. Sometimes it was a quiet valley dotted over with pretty white cottages, each snugly ensconced in its grove of feathery bananas, and displaying a garden gay with flowers of the most brilliant colours; sometimes a noisy waterfall surrounded by lofty and precipitous crags, whose highest summits, covered by the tapering pine, reminded the young ramblers of rugged, romantic Switzerland; a little further, and a placid bay lay at their feet, beyond which a dark headland jutted out into the ocean. The youth sat down for a short time to recruit his strength, and while his eye rested on that vast expanse of waters, imagination sought the distant western world. "My poor sisters sleep yonder," said he, musingly, "and my last resting place will be far from theirs. I shall be left here alone. And yet, dear Isabel, it is a pleasant thought that the home of my childhood will then be your home; that you will visit the spots we have so often talked of together; and above all, it is consoling to know that the generous father who would sacrifice all his worldly wealth to add one year to my brief term, and the tender mother, who is anxious to anticipate my slightest wish, will not be lonely in their grief. They will still be blest with a daughter's soothing care." "What can be the matter to-day, Edward? I have never seen you so desponding. Do not nurse such fancies. Hope and cheerfulness, remember, are the best physicians. Come, we are very near the sweet glen where we have spent so many happy hours, and where I trust we shall spend many more. The wild strawberries must be ripe now. I will gather some while you rest, and they will refresh you after this unusual exertion." They resumed their walk and soon arrived at the entrance of a valley surrounded by richly wooded hills, the different heights displaying every variety of colouring, from the dark green foliage of the mahogany tree peculiar to Madeira, to the heath that clothed the highest peaks, imparting to them a crimson blush, like the glow of a summer sunset. Numerous small rivulets escaping from the mountains, flashed and sparkled as they leaped from rock to rock, to join the stream that pursued its winding course through the valley. Groups of magnificent chesnuts threw their shadows on the short soft grass, and a little knoll under one of these offered a welcome resting place to the companions. How like, and yet how different they looked, as they stood there for a moment, side by side! Nearly of the same feature, but the one age, and strikingly similar in blooming with health,-tall, finely proportioned, and though of the weaker sex, supporting the bent and wasted form of the other. They sat down together, and soon a light merry laugh was heard echoing from the hills, as the girl strove with innocent artifice to raise the drooping |