o was the
gentleman for whose society Miss Clinton was, a few nights since, so
ready to forego the music of Alboni, the crowded hall, and the smiles of
a train of adorers?"

Willie said, "I remember!--That, then, was one of the causes of
suspicion. I was then a messenger merely, to summon Miss Isabel to the
bedside of her father, by whom I had been watching for hours, and who,
on awakening from a lethargic sleep, which alarmed the physician,
eagerly inquired for his daughter, that I did not hesitate to interrupt
the pleasure of the evening and call her to the post of duty in the
cottage occupied by Mr. Clinton, at the extremity of the grounds, to
which I accompanied her by moonlight."

Mr. Amory laughed, cast upon Willie that look of benignity which became
his fine countenance, and exclaimed, "So much for watering-place gossip!
I must forbear speaking of any further evidences of a tender interest
manifested by either of you. But believe, dear Sullivan, that though the
young lady's heart be still, like her fortune, in the united keeping of
herself and her father, there is nothing easier than for you to win and
claim them both. You possess business talent indispensable to the elder
party; if, with your handsome face, figure, and accomplishments, you
cannot render yourself equally so to the younger, there is no one to
blame but yourself."

Willie laughed. "If I had that object in view, I know of no one to whom
I would so soon come for encouragement as to you, sir; but the
flattering prospect you hold out is quite wasted upon me."

Mr. Amory said, "I cannot believe you will be so foolish as to neglect
the opportunity of taking that stand in life to which your education and
qualities entitle you. Your father was a respectable clergyman; you
profited by every advantage in your youth, and have done yourself such
credit in India as would enable you, with plenty of capital at command,
to take the lead in a few years among mercantile men. A man just
returned from a long residence abroad is thought to be an easy prey to
the charms of the first of his fair countrywomen into whose society he
may be thrown; and it can scarcely be wondered at, if you are subdued by
such winning attractions as are rarely to be met with in this land of
beautiful women. Nor can it be possible that you have for six years
toiled beneath an Indian sun without learning to appreciate the
looked-for but happy termination of your toils, whose crowning bless