itants of a village on the borders of Wales, a place of some
importance in the time of the Roman occupation, but now a scattered
hamlet, of not more than five hundred souls. It is situated on rising
ground, about six miles from the sea, and is sheltered by a large and
picturesque forest.

Some eleven years ago, Helen V. came to the village under rather
peculiar circumstances. It is understood that she, being an orphan, was
adopted in her infancy by a distant relative, who brought her up in his
own house till she was twelve years old. Thinking, however, that it
would be better for the child to have playmates of her own age, he
advertised in several local papers for a good home in a comfortable
farmhouse for a girl of twelve, and this advertisement was answered by
Mr. R., a well-to-do farmer in the above-mentioned village. His
references proving satisfactory, the gentleman sent his adopted daughter
to Mr. R., with a letter, in which he stipulated that the girl should
have a room to herself, and stated that her guardians need be at no
trouble in the matter of education, as she was already sufficiently
educated for the position in life which she would occupy. In fact, Mr.
R. was given to understand that the girl was to be allowed to find her
own occupations, and to spend her time almost as she liked. Mr. R. duly
met her at the nearest station, a town some seven miles away from his
house, and seems to have remarked nothing extraordinary about the
child, except that she was reticent as to her former life and her
adopted father. She was, however, of a very different type from the
inhabitants of the village; her skin was a pale, clear olive, and her
features were strongly marked, and of a somewhat foreign character. She
appears to have settled down easily enough into farmhouse life, and
became a favourite with the children, who sometimes went with her on her
rambles in the forest, for this was her amusement. Mr. R. states that he
has known her go out by herself directly after their early breakfast,
and not return till after dusk, and that, feeling uneasy at a young girl
being out alone for so many hours, he communicated with her adopted
father, who replied in a brief note that Helen must do as she chose. In
the winter, when the forest paths are impassable, she spent most of her
time in her bedroom, where she slept alone, according to the
instructions of her relative. It was on one of these expeditions to the
forest that the fir