hat could render me repulsive, and hastened to correct it.

Ah! if Alice would then have married me, all the horror, all the
wretchedness which has ensued might have been avoided! But I must not
anticipate.

Eighteen months passed thus, and again I urged Alice to listen to my
prayers for an immediate union. She replied:

"The time has now arrived when I can express to you the scruples which
still fill my mind. Your perceptions are now so correct that I believe
you will feel with me that it is wrong for you to retain the wealth your
father's pursuit enabled him to accumulate."

"I have thought of this," said I; "but how could it possibly be returned
to its rightful owners? Besides, much of it is legally the right of
those who rescued it from the ocean at the risk of life. All was not
purchased at so fearful a price as when you--"

She interrupted me gently: "It matters not how obtained, Erlon; its
possession will bring with it a curse. I can not consent to enjoy
property the loss of which, perhaps, consummated the ruin of its
rightful owners. You might think, perhaps, that for nearly two years
past I have very quietly submitted to this; but the object I had in view
in rescuing a human being, capable of better things, from such a life,
was my motive; and to my mind it seemed good. But now we must leave this
place. Your duty leads you to a higher sphere, where you must seek the
means of a more honorable support. While you do this, I will obtain a
home among the Sisters of Charity in Dublin, and in acts of mercy and
kindness pass the time until you are in circumstances to claim me as
your wife."

"No, no! dear Alice, you must not expose yourself to such privations as
are endured by those excellent women. I will go forth and seek
independence, but you must remain with my good Elspeth; she loves me as
a mother, and will watch over you for my sake."

"I can not remain when you leave," said Alice, quietly, but decisively.

I pressed her so earnestly for her reason, and opposed her wish to go
so strongly, that she at length said, with great reluctance:

"If you will not be satisfied without a reason, I must give you the true
one, Erlon; but promise me that you will not give way to anger."

I gave the desired promise, and she then said in a low tone:

"I should not feel quite safe here in your absence. The nephew of
Elspeth, in spite of his knowledge of our engagement, often intrudes
himself in my presence, and speaks