it. When the two young sailors came home they made a point of insisting
on carrying water for any young girl they by chance saw at the
fountain, hence they increased their popularity and were sought after
for that reason as well as for the fact of their being rollicking
sailors. In fact, it seemed as though the little circle were of one
family. The day following the home-coming from any given voyage was
spent in formally calling upon their friends, and in the evening all
the young people gathered up at their home to have tea, and afterwards
dancing, singing, talking, and all kinds of games. Of course the
sailors were called upon to do some step-dancing, and so the happy days
and evenings sped on until the time came to prepare to set off on a
long voyage. Then for several days previous to their departure the
house was full each afternoon of voluntary helpers, washing, making
shirts, knitting stockings, and making all kinds of underclothing.
Things were kept moving in such a lively way when these young seafarers
were about, that a feeling of desolation depressed the whole village
for many days after they had left it.

Yet amid all the simple charm of the people and the natural beauty of
the place there came a period of sorrowing and grief. The motherless
daughter of an official of the Lord of the Manor, a beautiful girl who
was the idol of her family and loved by everybody, fell a victim to the
villainy of her father's assistant to whom she was engaged to be
married; he betrayed her and then left the village, and no one could
trace his whereabouts. When her condition became apparent, her father
alone failed to realize her true state until he received a note from
his master to have her removed from his estate, and with brutal
severity the squire insisted that she should never be allowed to stain
the purity of his grounds by her presence again, nor could he permit
any intercourse whatever between her and any of his servants either
male or female, direct or indirect. The father was brokenhearted, and
indeed the whole community were stricken with grief for her and for
him. She was removed to a town a few miles away and then gave birth to
a male child. The father in his thoughtless anger left her to the
callous mercy of an inexperienced person, and through want of proper
care consumption set in, and the shadow of doom swiftly encompassed
her. A burning remorse was charring her to pieces. She craved the
forgiveness of her par