nt gardener, with a flowing beard as white as snow
and scanty locks of the same spotless hue, aided by two or three
assistants almost as ancient as himself, attended to the lawns and vast
flower-beds, the latter being kept constantly filled with plants of
gorgeous bloom and exquisite fragrance. The picturesque appearance of
the garden contrasted strongly and strangely with the rigid and staid
aspect of the convent edifice, and this garden was the one spot where
the pupils felt at home and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They were
allowed to walk there at noon and towards twilight in the evening, under
the supervision of Sister Agatha, a sharp-sighted and vigilant nun, who
never failed to rebuke and correct her vivacious charges for even the
slightest infraction of discipline. Still, the girls enjoyed themselves
in the garden, for its extent and the fact that Sister Agatha could not
be everywhere at once enabled the frisky and light-hearted pupils to
indulge in many an escapade.

One noon Zuleika, who was in an unusually despondent frame of mind,
strayed from the rest of her companions and strolled beneath the
centenarian trees. Unconsciously she approached the lofty wall of the
garden. She seated herself at the foot of a gnarled old elm, the leafy
branches of which descended to the ground and effectually screened
Monte-Cristo's daughter from view. At least, so she thought, but though
she could not be seen by any within the garden enclosure she was plainly
visible from the wall and the trees looming above it without.

As Zuleika sat pondering on her lot and sadly thinking of her separation
from her lover, she heard or imagined she heard a singular noise amid
the thick boughs of an immense chestnut tree immediately outside the
garden wall. She started up in affright, but could discern nothing
unusual, and the singular noise was not repeated. The strangest part of
the whole affair, however, was that the noise had sounded like her own
name uttered by a human voice. This increased her terror and confusion,
and she was about to flee from the spot when an oblong pebble to which
something white was attached fluttered over the wall and fell at her
feet. She was now more alarmed then ever and took several steps
backward, the while regarding the white object that lay where it had
fallen, motionless and fascinating.

Finally her curiosity obtained the mastery, and, approaching the
suspicious object with the utmost caution, she ben