ng tints of the pencil of Peter Paul."

But soon after its completion and occupation by its three
co-heiresses, Anne, the enthusiast, paid an afternoon visit to the St.
Quentins, at Harpham. On starting to return home about nightfall with
her dog, she had gone no great distance when she was confronted by two
ruffianly-looking beggars, who asked alms. She readily gave them a few
coins, and in doing so the glitter of her finger-ring accidentally
attracted their notice, which they at once demanded should be given up
to them. This she refused to do, as it had been her mother's ring, and
was one which she valued above all price.

"Mother or no mother," gruffly replied one of the rogues, "we mean to
have it, and if you do not part with it freely, we must take it,"
whereupon he seized her hand and attempted to drag off the ring.

Frightened at this act of violence, Anne screamed for help, at which
the other ruffian, exclaiming, "Stop that noise!" struck her a blow,
and she fell senseless to the earth. But her screams had attracted
attention, and the approach of some villagers caused the villains to
make a hasty retreat, without being able to get the ring from her
finger. In a dying condition, as it was supposed, Anne was carried
back to Harpham Hall, where, under the care of Lady St. Quentin, she
made sufficient recovery to be removed the following day to her own
home. The brutal treatment she had received from the highwaymen,
however, had done its fatal work, and after a few days, during which
she was alternately sensible and delirious, she succumbed to the
effects. Her one thought previous to death was her devotion to her
home, which had latterly been the ruling passion of her life; and
bidding her sisters farewell, she addressed them thus:--

"Sisters, never shall I sleep peacefully in my grave in the churchyard
unless I, or a part of me at least, remain here in our beautiful home
as long as it lasts. Promise me this, dear sisters, that when I am
dead my head shall be taken from my body and preserved within these
walls. Here let it for ever remain, and on no account be removed. And
understand and make it known to those who in future shall become
possessors of the house, that if they disobey this my last injunction,
my spirit shall, if so able and so permitted, make such a disturbance
within its walls as to render it uninhabitable for others so long as
my head is divorced from its home."

Her sisters promised to accede