t trifling events, and from every object about him; he
seemed to discover rich treasures of happiness, by a faculty analogous
to that of the witch-hazel, which points to hidden gold where all is
barren to the eye. His airy gayety, coming to him from a thousand
sources, communicated itself to the family, and Ilbrahim was like a
domesticated sunbeam, brightening moody countenances, and chasing away
the gloom from the dark corners of the cottage.

On the other hand, as the susceptibility of pleasure is also that of
pain, the exuberant cheerfulness of the boy's prevailing temper
sometimes yielded to moments of deep depression. His sorrows could not
always be followed up to their original source, but most frequently they
appeared to flow, though Ilbrahim was young to be sad for such a cause,
from wounded love. The flightiness of his mirth rendered him often
guilty of offences against the decorum of a Puritan household, and on
these occasions he did not invariably escape rebuke. But the slightest
word of real bitterness, which he was infallible in distinguishing from
pretended anger, seemed to sink into his heart and poison all his
enjoyments, till he became sensible that he was entirely forgiven. Of
the malice which generally accompanies a superfluity of sensitiveness,
Ilbrahim was altogether destitute; when trodden upon, he would not turn;
when wounded, he could but die. His mind was wanting in the stamina for
self-support; it was a plant that would twine beautifully round
something stronger than itself, but if repulsed, or torn away, it had no
choice but to wither on the ground. Dorothy's acuteness taught her that
severity would crush the spirit of the child, and she nurtured him with
the gentle care of one who handles a butterfly. Her husband manifested
an equal affection, although it grew daily less productive of familiar
caresses.

The feelings of the neighboring people, in regard to the Quaker infant
and his protectors, had not undergone a favorable change, in spite of
the momentary triumph which the desolate mother had obtained over their
sympathies. The scorn and bitterness, of which he was the object, were
very grievous to Ilbrahim, especially when any circumstance made him
sensible that the children, his equals in age, partook of the enmity of
their parents. His tender and social nature had already overflowed in
attachments to everything about him, and still there was a residue of
unappropriated love, which he yea