in this case, at least. There must be many
vessels passing among the keys of the West Indies, and nothing seems to me
to be easier than to send letters by them. I am quite sure Roswell would
write, if in a part of the world where he thought what he wrote would
reach us."

"Not he--not he--Gar'ner's not the man I take him for, if he let any one
know what he is about in them keys, until he had done up all his business
there. No, no, Mary. We shall never hear from him in that quarter of the
world. It may be that Gar'ner is a digging about, and has difficulty in
finding the place; for Daggett's account had some weak spots in it."

Mary made no reply, though she thought it very little likely that Roswell
would pass months in the West Indies employed in such a pursuit, without
finding the means of letting her know where he was, and what he was about.
The intercourse between these young people was somewhat peculiar, and ever
had been. In listening to the suit of Roswell, Mary had yielded to her
heart; in hesitating about accepting him, she deferred to her principles.
Usually, a mother--not a managing, match-making, interested parent, but a
prudent, feminine, well-principled mother--is of the last importance to
the character and well-being of a young woman. It sometimes happens,
however, that a female who has no parent of her own sex, and who is early
made to be dependent on herself, if the bias of her mind is good, becomes
as careful and prudent of herself and her conduct as the advice and
solicitude of the most tender mother could make her. Such had been the
case with Mary Pratt. Perfectly conscious of her own deserted situation,
high principled, and early awake to the defects in her uncle's character,
she had laid down severe rules for the government of her own conduct; and
from these rules she never departed. Thus it was that she permitted
Roswell to write, though she never answered his letters. She permitted him
to write, because she had promised not to shut her ears to his suit, so
long as he practised towards her his native and manly candour; concealing
none of his opinions, and confessing his deficiency on the one great point
that formed the only obstacle to their union.

A young woman who has no mother, if she escape the ills attendant on the
privation while her character is forming, is very apt to acquire qualities
that are of great use in her future life. She learns to rely on herself,
gets accustomed to think and