evously he cried, sobbing out, "What will you do
without me? You can't see the boats at sea well now; and soon, perhaps,
you will hardly be able to see them at all. And I was to have helped
you: and now what will you do?"

"And papa would not let us come sooner," said the weeping Kate, "because
we had to pack all our things in such a hurry. He said we need not come
to you till he came to bid you good-bye. But I made haste, and then I
came."

"But, my dears, when are you going? where are you going?"

"Oh, we are going directly: the steward is in such a hurry! And papa
says we are not to cry; and we are not to come back any more. And we
shall never get any of those beautiful shells on the long sands, that
you promised me; and--"

Here Mr Ruthven entered. He had no time to sit down. He told the
children that they must not cry; but that they might kiss their friend,
and thank her for her kindness to them, and tell her that they should
never see her any more. There was so much difficulty with the sobbing
children on this last point, that he gave it up for want of time,
threatening to see about making them more obedient when he was settled
on the mainland. While they clung to Annie, and hid their faces in her
gown, he explained to her that his residence in this island had not
answered to his expectation; that he did not find it a congenial sphere;
that he was a man of peace, to whom neither domestic discord, nor the
prospect of war and difficulty without, were agreeable; and that he was,
therefore, taking advantage of the steward's vessel to remove himself to
some quiet retreat, where the pastoral authority might be exercised
without disturbance, and a man like himself might be placed in a more
congenial sphere. He was then careful to explain that, in speaking of
domestic discord, he was far from referring to Mrs Ruthven, who, he
thought he might say, however liable to the failings of humanity, was
not particularly open to blame on the ground of conjugal obedience. She
was, in fact, an excellent wife; and he should be grieved to cause the
most transient impression to the contrary. It was, in truth, another
person--a casual inmate of his family--whom he had in his eye; a lady
who--

"I understand, sir. If you will allow me to go home with you--"

"Permit me to conclude what I was saying, Mrs Fleming. That unhappy
lady, in favour of whose temper it is impossible to say anything, has
caused us equal uneasin