do for her if you were rich, and yet never
offering her that which you have to give her."

"What have I to give her?" asked Tamar.

"Much," replied the old man; "much, very much. You have strength, and
activity, and affection to give her. With forty pounds a-year, a house,
and a little field, which is all your adopted parents will have, can
they, think you, keep a servant? Will not the very closest care be
necessary, and should not one who is young, and faithful, and attached,
rejoice to serve her benefactors at such time as this, and to render
their fall as easy as possible; and where, I ask you, Tamar, should they
find such service as you can render them?"

They were walking side by side, the old man and the beautiful girl,
among the heather of the moor; and he was looking up kindly and
animatedly to her,--for he was a remarkably short, thick-set man,--but
she was looking down on the ground, whilst a bitter struggle was passing
in her mind. She had been filled up by her guardian with wild fancies of
her own greatness, which was hereafter to be made manifest; and it would
have been too strong for unaided nature, to bring herself to submit to
such drudgeries as duty seemed now to require of her; her bright-brown
cheek was flushed with the inward contest, and her bosom seemed to be
almost swelled to suffocation. But the assistance required was not
withheld in the hour of need, and Shanty was soon made aware of the
change of feelings which was suddenly imparted to the orphan by the
change of the expression of her countenance; the tears had already
filled her eyes, when she turned to her old friend, and thanked him for
his reproof, expressing her conviction, that his advice was that of a
true Christian, and begging him always to tell her, in like manner,
when he saw that she was going wrong. A more general discussion on the
subject of true religion then followed, and Shanty assured Tamar, that
all high notions of self, whether of birth, talents, or riches, were
unpleasing in the sight of God, and utterly inconsistent with that view
of salvation by Christ, which is independent of all human merit. Such
was the nature of the lessons given by the old man to Tamar. His
language was, however, broad, and full of north-country phrases, so much
so, as to have rendered them inexplicable to one who had not been
accustomed to the Border dialect. From that day, however, through the
divine mercy, the heart of Tamar was given to the du