A. L. O. E.

“ That tall boy with the dark eyes, and nut-brown complexion, and large heavy frame, is Tom; and there is his more lithe and active brother Willy, with his great earnest eyes now open wide with attention, now sparkling with merriment and fun. Julia Merton is their cousin, an only child, but one who finds brothers and sisters in every boy and girl who knows her. Her smile tells of a light and joyous spirit, a cheerfulness not readily to be damped, a temper not easily provoked—she is the darling and plaything of all. ”

“ There is yet a bar—a weak woman's arm is thrust across—Catherine Douglas has sacrificed herself for her king!
"O ruthless men! Can ye force a bloody entry. Should not devotion like hers form a firmer defence than bar of iron or brass! Who shall tell the terrors of that moment—that brief awful moment of unutterable agony? It yields—it breaks—the weak barrier of love—and the murderers force their way to their victim, over the senseless form of Catherine Douglas!"
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"Did they kill the king?" inquired Willy.
"He died by the daggers of the traitors!" replied Bella. ”

“ Presgrave in a solemn tone of voice.
"O sir! O uncle!" exclaimed all the children at once.
"May not the burning vessel be considered as a type, an image of a world lost by sin, speeding on to death and destruction? The first spark that kindled the flames may have appeared small, but the evil spread, until the whole ship seemed destined to become a prey to the devouring element. What mattered it that the sky was clear above, what mattered it that no rocks opposed her course, how fearful was the fate of that doomed vessel, that carried the destroyer within herself with her!" ”

“ I tell you what, Willy, I've a mind to be a hero like Outram or Nesham, and I'll never be afraid of anything or anybody!"
"I should rather like an adventure myself," said Willy, "if it all ended well, and was not at night, and had nothing to do with tortures or fire."
"I long to have my courage tried!" cried Tom, throwing himself back in the carriage with an air of great firmness and determination. ”

“ Percy continued to pour out the fulness of his burdened heart. "I hardly ever speak with a being but my uncle and Deborah; and my conscience is always reproaching me with my conduct to them. Towards my uncle I am ungrateful, positively ungrateful. I eat his bread, I sleep under his roof, and yet I cannot love him! O Willy! There must be something very wrong in this heart of mine!"
Willy knew not what answer to make.
"Then poor old Deborah, to whom I gave so much trouble, I am so impatient, so irritable with her! Her infirmities, instead of exciting my pity, only stir up my temper. ”

“ In a moment sport would have been exchanged for anger—perhaps for blows—when the door was gently opened, and an aged gentleman with silvery hair, and a stoop which told of years and weakness, but a bright cheerful smile, like sunshine in winter, entered the room and joined the party. In a moment the angry voices were stilled, young Willy pushed aside his drum, Bella sprang from the table, and all joyfully welcomed the old man. ”

“ Poor Willy felt as he might have done if marching up to a battery, and instinctively slackened his pace as he approached the house through the shrubbery.
"I seem beset with difficulties wherever I turn," thought he, "and there is no one to help me out of them. I only hope that the storm has blown over with Ned, and that the name of poor Percy may never be mentioned. I really feel very uneasy about it. Why, what a coward I am!" he exclaimed half-aloud. "If I am doing what is right, and obeying my Heavenly Master, why should I fear what man can do or say unto me?" ”

“ At these words of Julia's there rose a little storm of entreaties, for Uncle Presgrave was famous for his tales and adventures.
He waved his hand to command silence, and replied: "By all means let us have stories, but you would not have me begin one now at ten o'clock in the morning! We will have them in the evening, and in the meanwhile, as a cure for idleness, why should you not each prepare one yourselves? You shall be given a common subject, and each shall collect an anecdote or a tale, to add to the amusement of the rest." ”

“ Often things happen that will remind me of Nesham," cried Louis. "Depend upon it, when he was a schoolboy, he never suffered a little chap to be bullied."
"Nor was afraid to say his prayers," subjoined Percy.
"It's so easy to speak about being brave," said Tom; "to talk of dashing amongst cannon and bullets, but to go one way when all the world goes another."
"To stand up for the right when every one else is hunting it down."
"This needs a desperate deal of courage," said Louis.
"It is often difficult even to reprove sin by example," remarked Mr. Presgrave. ”

“ Tears rolled fast down his cheeks as he spoke.
"But the Lord loves, and is always watching over you."
"Yes," replied Percy very gravely, "but He must see in me so much to displease and offend Him. Remember, Willy, that He is a just and a terrible God!"
"All of us do wrong often; but, Percy, I should think that few offended so seldom as you do."
"Ah! You do not know," replied the boy, rocking himself backwards and forwards us if in pain. "I have plenty of time to look at my own heart, as I lie day after day, and night after night, with nothing to amuse or to distract my attention. ”

“ Presgrave, "Mercy found a way for our escape! Sufferings beyond what mere man ever endured were borne for us, and for our salvation; and now the bright shore of heaven is before us, safety and bliss freely offered to all, to all who do not wilfully choose death rather than life, and remain in the burning vessel!" ”

“ Presgrave. "There are many who act upon prompt and noble impulse, who trample, as it were, on the sin that besets them, but fail when their trial is lengthened and tedious, when their courage has time to cool and their hope to flag. And we all need the apostle's exhortation—'Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season ye shall reap if ye faint not.'"
"Ours must be a lifelong keeping down of the serpent," said Percy, rather as if thinking aloud than as if addressing himself to his companions. ”

“ A warmer glow of gratitude than he had ever felt before towards his uncle arose in the bosom of Percy. Deborah seemed to lay the table for breakfast with a more kindly air, and brought him the foot-rest without being asked. Even these trifles gave a feeling of solace to the sufferer; for the love of God shed abroad in our hearts sweetens all our relations with our fellow-creatures. ”

“ But to a spirit like hers, the illness of a loved one was a trial peculiarly severe; while her tenderness of conscience and dread of evil rendered her painfully anxious for her sons. "One may bear personal trials firmly," said the tender mother, sitting down and resting her head on her hand, "but to see those whom we love suffer, and not be able to relieve them—to see them in peril, and not be able to succour them." ”

“ Who dare interpose to rescue the citizen from death? One man did dare, and that man was an Englishman! I never heard if he were impelled by feelings of friendship, or only a generous desire to help the defenceless, but with a courage that defied all danger, Nesham, a young officer of the British navy, who then happened to be near the spot, arrested the Jacobins in their murderous course, declared that their victim should not die without a trial, and that if they proceeded it should be over his body! ”

“ No, he came alone, not a soldier near him, alone in the midst of his bloody foes. He placed himself in the hands of the Bheels, the fierce robbers whom our troops were hunting down, with no defence but his own calm spirit, and God's Providence watching over him!"
"Even savage hearts are touched by a proof of generous and undeserved confidence. Outram lived among the Bheels, and they harmed him not; they began by admiring, they ended in loving him. He hunted with them, and they wondered to see a courage yet more daring than their own. ”

“ The king was off his guard—the dagger was raised; with self-devoted loyalty, Lilla threw himself between his sovereign and the assassin, received the descending blow, and expired!"
"There is something noble and glorious in dying for one's king!" exclaimed Louis. "I could half envy such a death!"
"I have that feeling, too," said Bella. "But one has no chance in these days of doing anything that is wonderful or glorious!"
"But think of the danger and the pain," suggested Amy. "It is easy to talk of sacrifices, but difficult to make them." ”

“ Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.'"
With noiseless step, he reached the sick-room—with trembling hand, he unclosed the door, and listened for a moment ere he ventured to enter. After the clear sunshine which he had left, how dark and gloomy appeared that chamber! Drawn curtains shut out the cheerful day, the air felt heavy and oppressive, cooling drinks and lotions lay on a table by the bedside, no sound was heard but the ticking of a watch, which seemed numbering the few moments of departing life. ”

“ David will not be sorry now that he was hunted and pursued, nor Job that he suffered so much sorrow and pain. Only try to think now as you will think in heaven, and you may thank the Lord even for the trials that He sends you! Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth. Oh! Think what it is to be loved by the Lord!"
Percy pressed Willy's hand within both his own; for a short time his heart was too full for speaking. "You will pray for me," he then murmured. "Pray that I may have courage to bear manfully whatever my Lord sees fit to inflict, without one impatient word or even a thought of repining. ”

“ Louis coloured and looked at Mr. Presgrave, who smiled. "How much better to win one foe by kindness, than to slay ten thousand with the sword! How different would the feelings of Outram have been, had he stood as a conqueror on the hills of Candeish, with his victorious sword red with blood, and his enemies dead and dying around him, to what they must have been when he glanced along their ranks, and thought from what he had raised them by his courage and his mercy!"
"And I have heard mamma say that he narrowly escaped a death by poison," said Tom. ”

“ I should not be much surprised either," added he, smiling at Amy, "if some of these examples should be afforded by women."
"Are our stories to be true ones?" asked Jessy.
"Oh! I hope they are to be true!" cried Julia, "for I never could make anything out of my own head!"
"True let them be, my little lamb," said Mr. Presgrave, patting her rosy cheek. "I like everything better for being true."
"Shall we give real names? Perhaps our heroes might not like it," observed Willy thoughtfully. ”

“ The fire, which the exertions of all the men could not keep under, soon raged with ungovernable fury, and keeping the engine in violent action, the vessel, at the time one of the fleetest that had ever been built, flew through the water with incredible speed. All the passengers were gathered to the bow, the rapid flight of the vessel keeping that part clear of the flames, while it carried the fire, flames, and smoke backwards to the quarter-gallery, where the self-devoted pilot stood like a martyr at the stake. ”

“ O dear uncle! You are ever ready to comfort others, even when you must most need comfort yourself. I know, too well I know, what you must be suffering now; but you are so firm, so full of Christian courage! ”

“ Presgrave as heavily as upon their mother. The feebleness and infirmities of age rendered him less able to struggle against care, whilst the heaviest, to him, of all earthly afflictions, the loss of the wife whom he deeply loved, seemed hanging over his head like a thundercloud ready to burst. Much need had the aged man of the sustaining power of his faith—again and again, he repeated to himself as he feebly and slowly mounted the stairs, "'Why art thou cast down, O my soul? ”

“ The seeds of a wasting, fatal malady had been sown in his breast by severe exposure and extreme exertion, and he passed from this world in the prime of his days, a martyr to humanity."
"But come," resumed Mr. Presgrave, after looking around him, and then glancing at his watch. "We must not go to the ladies with weeping eyes, and I see that we may soon expect a summons to the tea-table. We have concluded the stories of our dear little girls, and they have given us much food for reflection. ”

“ Her delicate features, her gentle, sweet smile, bore impress of goodness which even strangers could not mistake; but those who knew her best were alone aware of the firmness, the self-devotion, in the character of one whom religious principle, like a guiding star, directed in the path of life. Gentle in manner, timid in nature, duty or affection could nerve her to courage ”

“ He struck his fist on the table, upsetting a glass, and entered into a loud excited account of all that he had done, and all that he had wished to do, to prevent such an unheard-of annoyance—concluding, in language with which I shall not soil my pages, by declaring that all might have been well if it had not been for that fellow Manners, a mean, sneaking attorney, who, added the knight with an oath, "shall live to repent it yet!"
"Has Mr. Manners a nephew?" whispered Willy to Ned.
"Yes," replied Ned, with a contemptuous smile. ”

“ Presgrave, laying his hand on the shoulder of his nephew. "The bank-notes shall be replaced."
"Oh it is not the paltry money!" cried the knight impatiently. "I would not take it—it is not worth a thought! What are you all standing here for!" he exclaimed, angrily addressing the servants, who instantly retired, too glad to escape from his presence.
"Is my aunt better?" whispered Willy to his uncle.
"Ah! How is your good lady?" exclaimed Sir Hugh, glad of any change of conversation. "I hope that your coming here is a good sign of her improvement. Has her fever turned out to be typhus?" ”

“ How can we want a motive, my dear child? The weakest child has an enemy to struggle with, more formidable than any power of man—his own traitorous heart. Angels witness the conflict—Heaven sends aid, and victory is—glory eternal! ”

“ The signals were not misunderstood by Maxwell, whose feet were already roasted on the deck! The fierce fire still kept the engine in furious action, impelling the vessel onwards; but this could not have lasted above another minute; and during the interval, he ran her into the open space, and alongside a ledge of rock, upon which every creature got safe on shore—all unscathed, except the self-devoted one, to whom all owed their lives! ”

“ Well done, Jessy!" cried the children.
"Oh! I deserve no credit at all," said she, colouring. "I confess that I copied every line almost out of 'Chambers's Journal.'"
"You have the credit of having chosen well," observed Willy.
"Might I suggest," said Mr. Presgrave, "that in reading our stories we should abstain from either praise or blame? The one might discourage, the other foster vanity, to which we are all but too prone."
"There is one thing in the story which I can hardly think true," exclaimed Amy; "and that is, that those whom the pilot had saved could ever be ungrateful to him!" ”