THE Amhersts had decided to go to England by way of the Black Sea and the Danube, and by noon on the day appointed for their departure they found themselves on board the steamer which was to bear them away from the lovely spot that had so long been their home. Swiftly it glided over the calm sunny waters of the Bosphorus amid the exquisite scenery which was so familiar to them, until they reached the gate of the Euxine, where a strange and unwelcome change of scene awaited them. This narrow entrance is formed by two promontories, each crowned with a fortified castle, which at a little distance seem almost to meet, although the one is in Asia and the other in Europe, and when the steamer had passed through they closed to all appearance so completely that the Bosphorus and all the fair landscapes of which it is the centre, were totally shut out from view while the vessel plunged suddenly into a fierce tempestuous sea, whose dark waters well befitted the ominous name they bear. The Black Sea is indeed at all times remarkable for the perpetual turbulence and unrest of its inhospitable waves, and the contrast it presented to the sunny beauty of the scene which lay on the other side of its rocky gates, was so startling that it almost seemed as if the vessel had passed in one half hour from summer to winter; the serene blue sky had given place to a heavy pall of dark and lowering clouds across which a chill blast was sweeping in violent

gusts, and instead of bright gardens and sunlit waters, nothing was to be seen but a wilderness of boiling surge bounded by a far off range of hills lying low on the horizon and dimly discerned through a curtain of dense mist. The captain of the steamer told Mr. Amherst that there was every reason to expect they would have a stormy night, such indeed as nights in the Black Sea generally were, and Mrs. Amherst declared that she would go to her berth at once before she became too ill to move, which she well knew was the fate that awaited her. Frances went down with her to do all she could for her comfort, and she was very soon followed by Mr. Amherst who was to share the little state cabin with his wife.

Nearly the whole of the deck is given up to the Turks who are to pass the night there," he said, “and I prefer your society, my dear, só much to theirs that I have resolved to enjoy it even at the cost of going to bed in daylight, especially as I do not care to stay on deck when there is not room to walk about; but I do not mean you to be victimized by staying below, Francie, and I have asked the captain to clear a little space for you on the роор where you will be able to stay comfortably enough for some hours to come."

"Thank you so much, dear father, I am such a good sailor that I think I shall rather enjoy the storm if we have one, and considering that I am to sleep in the general ladies' cabin, I am sure the longer I can stay out of it the better."

"No doubt of that," said Mr. Amherst, "I heard a chorus of screams proceeding from it as I passed just now, raised by some Greek children and their mother who were demanding that the engine should be stopped, as they did not like the movement."

"I am inclined to sympathize with them," said Mrs. Amherst laughing a little dolefully, "but go and enjoy the fresh air as long as you can, my Francie, the good old captain will take great care of you I am sure, he has been acquainted with us all for so many years.”

Oh yes, I shall be very safe with him," she said and then she kissed her parents as she had done every night of her life as long as she could remember, for she had never been parted from them even for a day, and went up on deck where she found the captain had placed a pile of cushions ready for her at the upper end of the poop. He saw her comfortably settled on them and having wrapped her up in various shawls and told her that he had established barriers beyond which the Turks, who were all deck passengers, would not be allowed to pass, he

left her to attend to his duties elsewhere. Frances looked round on the dark waste of waters where there was not a gleam of light save from the white foam that crested the angry waves, then raised her eyes to the black flying rack over head where the sun, still far from its setting, seemed blotted out altogether, and thought that never in her life had she looked on a scene so wintry and desolate. She recalled, almost wondering if it could have been real, the vision of radiant softly smiling beauty which had been around her only that morning in her vanished home, and involuntarily her lips gave voice to the words and melody of the old fashioned song of the Greek exile,

"Where is the summer with her golden sun?

That festal glory hath not passed from earth,
For me alone the laughing day is done.

but there Frances broke off dismayed by a sudden startling question which arose in her own heart, "Ah! is it indeed done for me?" she thought, "have I parted not only with the orient sun but with the happy spring-tide of my days?-what-what is life going to be for me now? is the outward aspect of this change from loveliest summer to dreariest winter but the type of that which has taken place in my own destiny? the years that are past lie as bright and sunlit in my memory as ever did the glowing scenes on which I looked this morning, and is the future to be dark and stormy as these gloomy waters, sunless and sad as those mournful heavens ?" For a time her mind dwelt on these thoughts, not unnaturally suggested by the depressing influences round her and then she took herself to task for indulging in such sinister forebodings, "they are senseless, they have no foundation," she said to herself, "I have my own dear parents still and there may be bright years in store for me though they have to be spent under the pale English sun, and in any case I am in the hands of GOD, He will do with me as seemeth Him good, only let me hold fast by the faith and walk on fearless and trusting." She shook herself free of the mournful associations which had oppressed her, and turned towards her Mohammedan fellow-passengers who were seated cross-legged within space enclosed for them, tolerably sure to find some amusement in watching them. Just at the same moment a fresh pleasant voice suddenly sounded so close behind her that she imagined the words she heard must be addressed to herself, unceremonious as they were. "Do look there; is not that a triumphant solution of the problem as to what may be the most hideous spectacle this world can contain? we

the

have it before us at last! a compact mass of Turks with every individual man amongst them frightfully seasick, we need go no further, earth can offer nothing worse to our gaze."

Frances started round, thinking that she had been spoken to, and looked up into the clever merry face of a young lady standing close by her side. She was a somewhat remarkable looking person in every way; of average height, with a figure more unwieldy than might have been expected at her age, for she did not seem more than three or four and twenty, she had unmistakable tokens of good birth and high breeding, "des signes de race" as the French term it, notwithstanding that the uncouth nature of her habiliments might have tended to disguise them. These were the days when it was the fashion to wear long flowing dresses sweeping the ground in graceful folds, but this lady was clad in a thick woollen gown, very narrow and very short, revealing strong boots garnished with nails in the soles which could not however conceal the fact that her feet were small and well formed. Her abundant fair hair was brushed fiercely away from her face as if her one object had been to get rid of it as best she could, and it was carelessly twisted into a disordered mass under a black hat which was poised in a very battered condition on the back of her head; but her countenance, without being in the least beautiful, was most striking and attractive: her wide prominent forehead spoke of an almost giant intellect, if there be any truth in the opinion that the outward form of the skull betokens the quality of the brain within, and her animated expression was eloquent of talent and vivacity, while her eyes riveted the attention of all who looked upon her: deep set and by no means large, they seemed in repose to be unfathomable wells of thought, while in intercourse with others they had a gaze so keen and penetrating that no one could apparently escape their scrutiny. There was nothing formidable in her appearance, however, despite the marked evidence of unusual powers of mind, for there was abundance of playful humour in the curve of her laughing lips, and her voice sounded gleeful and frank as that of a child. A fair-haired young man stood by her side sufficiently like her to show that he was her brother, but with a much handsomer face and less indication of intellectual power. It was to him that she had really been speaking, when Frances had turned round with parted lips about to answer under the impression that she had been addressed, and the lady at once understood her mistake; for a moment she scanned the girl's face with her piercing eyes, and then as if well satisfied with