nger
than Mrs. Hazleton knew. However, Mrs. Hazleton's first task was to
inform her fair friend and counsellor of the cause of Mr. Marlow's being
there; her next to tell her that all had been settled as to the claim,
by that tiresome man Sir Philip Hastings, without what she considered
due deliberation, and that the only thing which remained to be arranged
was in regard to the house, respecting which Mrs. Hazleton communicated
a certain portion of her own inclinations, and of Mr. Marlow's kind view
of the matter.

Now, strange to say, this was the turning point of fate for Mrs.
Hazleton, Mr. Marlow, and most of the persons mentioned in this history.
It was then that Mrs. Warmington suggested a scheme which she thought
would suit her friend well.

"Why do you not offer him in exchange--for the time at all events--your
fine old house on the side of Hartwell--Hartwell Place? It is only seven
miles off. It is ready furnished to his hand, and must be worth a great
deal more than the bare walls of this. Besides it would be pleasant to
have him in the neighborhood."

Pause, Mrs. Hazleton! pause and meditate over all the consequences; for
be assured much depends upon these few simple words.

Mrs. Hazleton did pause--Mrs. Hazleton did meditate. She ran over in her
head the list of all the families in the neighborhood. In none of them
could she see a probable rival. There were plenty of married women, old
maids, young girls; but she saw nobody to fear, and with a proud
consciousness of her own beauty and worth, she took her resolution. That
very evening she proposed to Mr. Marlow what her friend had suggested.
It was accepted.

Mrs. Hazleton had made one miscalculation, and her fate and Mr. Marlow's
were decided.

FOOTNOTES:

[17] Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by G. P. R.
James, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States
for the Southern District of New York.

CHARLES MACKAY'S LAST POEMS.

We always read the poems of Charles Mackay, who, though not of the
highest class, even of the living poets of England, is yet earnest,
sensible, and good-hearted, and has always a point, and generally some
happy fancies, in his least considered pieces. He has published two
collections of short poems, one entitled "Voices from the Crowd," and
the other and last, "Egeria, or the Spirit of Nature," &c. from which we
take the following specimens:

WHY THIS LONGING?

W