up. The very
first hint almost killed her, and no wonder. I did not think of it
before--so much kindness made me forget. But what am I? Who am I, to
dare equal myself with her son?"

"What are you, Lina!" said Ralph, and his fine face glowed with generous
feelings. "What are you! An angel! the dearest, best!"

Lina could not help being pleased with this enthusiasm, but she cut it
short, placing her hand upon his mouth.

"It is kind of you to say this, but the facts--oh! these facts--are
stubborn things. What am I but a poor little girl, who wandered from, no
one can say where, into your house, a miserable waif, drifted by chance
upon the charity of your parents! I have no antecedents beyond their
kindness--no name, save that which they gave me--no past, no future. Is
it for me to receive affection from their son--to climb ambitiously to
the topmost branches of the roof-tree that sheltered my happiness and my
poverty?"

And this was the girl he had dared to think coarse and forward in not
blushing at the liberties he had taken. This fair, noble girl, who, with
all her delicacy, could utter such true, proud thoughts. For the moment,
Ralph would have dropped on his knees, and asked her pardon in the dust.
But, beware, young man--he that doubts a beloved object once, will doubt
again. When you could, even in passing thought, judge that young
creature wrongfully, it was a break in the chain of confidence that
should bind true hearts together. Ralph! Ralph! a jewel is lost from the
chain of your young life, and once rent asunder many a diamond bead will
drop away from that torn link.

"Believe me," said the youth, burning with enthusiastic admiration of
the young creature before him, "These proud words slander the noblest
heart that ever beat in a woman's bosom. My mother loves you for
yourself. All the better that God sent you to her unsought, as he does
the wild flowers. Lina, the pride which reddens your cheek, would be
abashed in her presence."

"It is not pride, Ralph, but shame that such thoughts should never have
presented themselves before. I have dreamed all my life; up to this
morning, I was a child. Now, a single hour has surrounded me with
realities. The whole universe seems changed since yesterday."

Lina looked drearily around as she spoke. The hill-sides were indeed
changed. The boughs, twelve hours before, so luxuriously gorgeous, were
half denuded of their foliage. The over-ripe leaves were dropping