he city of P. His visits there
were always regarded by the Lansdownes as especial favors. The two
families had frequently interchanged visits and had grown into habits
of the closest intimacy.

Having been in the city several hours and dispatched the affairs which
drew him thither, he had now come to look in upon his friends for the
night, expecting to hasten away at day dawn.

There was something in his situation this evening, thus housed in
warmth, light, and comfort, protected from the darkness and the storm
without, and ministered unto by a lovely young maiden, that reminded
him of a like scene, that had occurred, twenty years ago. He vividly
recalled the evening, when, after a day of toil and travel on the
banks of the distant Miramichi, he reached the house of Dubois, and
how while the tempest raged without he was cheered by the light and
warmth within, and was ministered unto by another youthful maiden, in
form and feature so like her, who had just left him, that he could
almost imagine them the same. A glance around the apartment, however,
dispelled the momentary fancy. Its rich and beautiful adornments
afforded a striking contrast to the appointments of that humble room.

He was roused from his meditations by the ringing of the street bell,
and in a moment Mr. and Mrs. Lansdowne came forward to welcome their
early and long-tried friend.

The good man, who loved them with an affection akin to that which he
felt for his own family, had preserved a watchful care over their
earthly and spiritual welfare. Sometimes he feared that their wealth
and fame might draw away their hearts from the highest good and impair
the simplicity of their religious faith.

After the first cordial greetings, in accordance with his habit on
occasions like this, he indulged in a careful scrutiny of his two
friends.

Time had in no wise impaired the charms of Mrs. Lansdowne. Experience
of life, maternal cares, and religious duties had added a softer light
to her once proud beauty, and her old friend might well be pardoned a
thrill of admiration as he gazed and thought within his heart, that
Mrs. Lansdowne, robed in black velvet, Mechlin lace, and the diamonds
of the house of Rossillon, surpassed in loveliness, the radiant Adele
Dubois, arrayed in the aerial garments of girlhood.

When also his keen eye had wandered over the face and figure of John
Lansdowne, it returned from its explorations satisfied. No habits of
excess had impa