red not against the hand that chastened her; but as one by one
was snatched from her warm embrace, she poured out the depth of a
mother's love on the remaining two.

One stroke of fortune reduced her, in a day, from affluence to
comparative penury; and leaving his luxurious home, Mr. Carlton
resolved to seek his fortune in the Western World. Hither she
had accompanied him, encountering, without a murmur, the numerous
hardships, which those who have not endured can never fully realize.
They had preceded Mr. Hamilton but a few months, and joyfully welcomed
him as an agreeable acquisition to their little circle.

Mrs. Carlton found in Mary a real friend; one who sympathized with,
and assisted her in her many benevolent plans for ameliorating the
condition of the destitute Mexicans around them.

With Florence, the former had little affinity, and, consequently,
little intercourse. Their tastes were directly opposite, and though
they often met, there was no interchange of the deep and holier
feelings of the heart.

Frank Bryant was the orphan-brother of Mrs. Carlton, and almost as
dearly loved by her as her own darling Elliot. A few months before
St. ----'s day, he reached San Antonio, on a visit to the sister, from
whom he had been separated several years. Soon after his arrival, an
epidemic made its appearance among the lower order of Mexicans; and as
there was no resident physician at that early time, his services
were speedily in requisition. The Padre, who numbered among his
many acquirements a tolerable knowledge of medicine, viewed with
indifference the suffering around him; and was only roused from his
lethargy by discovering the flattering estimation in which Frank was
held. Fearing so formidable a rival in the affections of his people,
he left no means untried to undermine the popularity so deservedly
acquired. But gratitude is a distinguishing trait of Indian character;
and though apparently obeying the injunctions of their Padre, to
follow no directions save his own, they reverenced Dr. Bryant as a
being of superior order.

It was beside the bed of a dying friend that Inez first met him. One
long weary night they watched together, and when at last death freed
the sufferer, with mingled emotions of admiration and gratitude she
thanked him for the attentions conferred with such disinterested
benevolence. She could not avoid contrasting the conduct of the cold
and calculating Jesuit with the warm-hearted kindne