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such stress upon the words which implied a possibility of the wanderer's return, that her uncle turned and looked into the little serious face of his niece, and there he saw for the first time an expression which indicated a kind of far-reaching thought, beyond what is usually found in the happy heedless countenance of childhood.

Margaret indeed was already past the age of absolute childhood. She had attained the dignity of a little maiden of twelve years' experience; but she had never, up to this time, distinguished herself by saying or doing anything very remarkable, either at home or at school. Nobody thought much about her beyond the few kind relatives who regarded her with compassionate interest as an orphan child. Amongst these, her Uncle and Aunt Anderson were the practical caretakers. They had, in fact, adopted the child into their family, and having no children of their own, were prepared in all respects to supply, to the best of their ability, the loss of her own parents.

When first left motherless, Margaret was too young to understand her loss; but on the death of her father, a few years later, she was for some time inconsolable. She and her father had in a manner grown together, as a widower and his one child sometimes do; and being a man of amiable as well as truly Christian spirit, the father had imparted many of his own opinions, and even principles, to his little daughter, almost unconsciously to himself, and at the time entirely so to her.

Could the mind of the child have been examined, and rightly understood, at this period of her life, it would have been found to be the subject of strong and indelible impressions in relation to things as yet dimly, if at all, comprehended. The impressions The impressions themselves were true and deep, but their real meaning and their just application remained to be explained by the after-circumstances of life. They were like the alphabet of a language which can only be truly read in the book of experience. Thus it was that the child would sometimes appear old beyond her years; while at other times her thoughts appeared to be confused, incomprehensible

even to herself, and consequently such as admitted of no definite expression to others.

When labouring under these fits of bewilderment, Mrs. Anderson was apt to grow impatient with her niece, thinking her both silly and stupid, and, what is very provoking to practical people, absent, wandering, and dreamy. Certain subjects, too, would sometimes take entire possession of little Margaret's mind for days and weeks together; and as these were often such as her aunt did not consider worth thinking about at all, many vain endeavours were made to call her mentally into the business occupations of the moment, and to drive away altogether those absorbing matters upon which she would still ponder in secret, after she had found them annoying and vexatious to her aunt. Such proved to be the case with the old woman watching and waiting for her son, and waving her signal to every passing ship, however distant it might be.

"My dear," Mrs. Anderson was obliged to say at last, "don't tease me any more about that poor crazy woman. I am tired of her very name. Everybody knows she is only a stupid, silly old creature. Her son will never come now. How should he? He was shipwrecked and drowned long ago."

And then little Margaret would again ask, though in a low quiet way, "Does anybody know, so as to be quite sure, that he really was drowned?" Indeed, she would not give the matter up; and in spite of all that her aunt and people generally said about the poor woman and her crazy notions, a kind of mysterious reverence for her grew in the mind of the child, who, on some occasions of dispute, even showed symptoms of leaning to the idea that old Peggy was the wise woman, and her accusers foolish.

Altogether life was becoming, about this time, a great mystery to little Margaret. She found it impossible to reconcile people's sayings and doings with those rules which her father had impressed upon her mind as the right rules to live by. About faith he had said a great deal to her, and had endeavoured to make her understand not only

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