_Blue_--she had not the most remote
idea of being considered a literary lady. She sang as the birds do in
the bushes, for the mere pleasure of singing, and she was perfectly
unconscious that others listened and admired her songs.

Independent of her love of music and poetry, she had many valuable
mental and moral qualities. Not among the least of these was a deep
sympathy in the wants and sufferings of the poor, which she always
endeavored to alleviate to the utmost of her power. The selfish fear of
infection never deterred her from visiting the abodes of her poor
neighbors--administering to their comfort when sick, and not
unfrequently watching beside the pillow of the dying. In the performance
of these acts of charity, she was greatly encouraged and assisted by her
worthy father.

When aunt Dorothy, in her cold egotism, raved about her niece
endangering her life, and the lives of those around her, by going to
infected houses, the Captain's general answer was--"Let the child alone,
Dorothy; a good angel watches over her--God will take care of his own."

"So you said of her mother, Captain Whitmore, yet she lost her life by
obstinately persisting in what she was pleased to call _her duty_."

"If the good ship sunk while endeavoring to save the drowning crew of
another," said the poor Captain, wiping the dew from his spectacles,
"she went down in a good cause, and a blessing has descended from above
upon her child."

One day, when Anthony had been remonstrating with Juliet for incurring
so much danger while visiting the poor during a period of epidemic
sickness, she replied, with her usual frankness,

"This from you, Mr. Anthony, who have devoted yourself to be an
instructor of the poor, a friend of the friendless, a minister of
Christ!--how can I better employ my time than in striving to alleviate
the sorrows that I cannot cure? To tell you the truth, I cannot yield
more to pleasure without spoiling my heart. It is not that I am averse
to innocent amusements, for no person enjoys them more. But were I
constantly to gratify my own selfish inclinations, I should soon lose my
peace of mind, that dew of the soul, which is so soon absorbed in the
heated atmosphere of the world."

"If such devotion is what the worldly term enthusiasm, may its blessed
inspiration ever continue to influence your actions!"

"Enthusiasm!" repeated the girl. "Oh that I could convey to you in words
what I feel to be the true definition of