h was of inky
blackness, fell on her shoulders in long, straight locks, without a
ripple or a wave in them. She looked like an elf, but still this
elfish little creature was redeemed from the hideousness which else
might have been her doom by eyes of the most wonderful brilliancy.
Large, luminous, potent eyes--intensely black, and deep as the depths
of ocean, they seemed to fill her whole face; and in moments of
excitement they could light up with volcanic fires, revealing the
intensity of that nature which lay beneath. In repose they were
unfathomable, and defied all conjecture as to what their possessor
might develop into.

All this Guy noticed, as far as was possible to one so young and
inexperienced; and the general result of this survey was a state of
bewilderment and perplexity. He could not make her out. She was a
puzzle to him, and certainly not a very attractive one. When she had
finally adjusted herself on her father's knee, the General, after the
fashion of parents from time immemorial, asked:

"Has my darling been a good child since papa has been away?"

The question may have been a stereotyped one. Not so the answer,
which came out full and decided, in a tone free alike from penitence
or bravado, but giving only a simple statement of facts.

"No," she said, "I have not been a good girl. I've been very naughty
indeed. I haven't minded any thing that was said to me. I scratched
the ayah, and kicked Sarah. I bit Sarah too. Besides, I spilt my rice
and milk, and broke the plates, and I was just going to starve myself
to death."

At this recital of childish enormities, with its tragical ending, Guy
burst into a loud laugh. The child raised herself from her father's
shoulder, and, fixing her large eyes upon him, said slowly, and with
set teeth:

"I hate you!"

She looked so uncanny as she said this, and the expression of her
eyes was so intense in its malignity, that Guy absolutely started.

"Hush," exclaimed her father, more peremptorily than usual; "you must
not be so rude."

As he spoke she again looked at Guy, with a vindictive expression,
but did not deign to speak. The face seemed to him to be utterly
diabolical and detestable. She looked at him for a moment, and then
her head sank down upon her father's shoulder.

The General now made an effort to turn the conversation to where it
had left off, and reverting to Zillah's confession he said:

"I thought my little girl never broke her word, and