er uncle's family, who would have considered
it a privilege to keep her always with them. About this time, a distant
relative of Mrs. Wharton's, a Mr. Fairland, in passing from his Western
home to the city, stopped to make them a visit. He was a plain,
kind-hearted man, and seemed to take a particular interest in Agnes,
with whose father and grandfather he had been intimately acquainted. Mr.
Fairland had made quite a fortune by successful speculation, in a large
Eastern city; but the extravagance of his wife and daughters, who were
not willing to be outdone in dress or establishment by any of their
neighbors, made such rapid inroads upon his newly-acquired wealth, that
Mr. Fairland soon became convinced that it was leaving him as rapidly as
it came. So he thought it the part of prudence to beat a retreat at
once; and, in spite of the tears and remonstrances of his wife and
eldest daughters, he removed the whole family to the beautiful village
of Wilston, near which place he owned some fine and flourishing mills.

It was while speaking of his new home, and its many beauties, at Mr.
Wharton's breakfast table, that Mr. Fairland mentioned the only
drawback to his happiness there, which, he said, was the want of the
advantages of education for his younger children, who were running wild
without any instruction, as their mother was unwilling to allow them to
attend the village school. He had long been looking, he said, for a
governess for them--one who would bring them up with right habits and
principles, at the same time that she was instructing their minds.

Agnes seized the first opportunity in which she could find Mr. Fairland
alone, to propose herself as governess to his children. This was more
than Mr. Fairland had dared to hope for, and her proposal was hailed by
him with gratitude and joy. He wished her to return immediately with
him; but Agnes had some preparations to make, and her uncle was not
willing to part with her quite yet: he promised, however, to bring her
himself in the course of a month. A serious illness, however, deranged
all Mr. Wharton's plans and as soon as he was able to travel, business
of the utmost importance called him to the city; so that Agnes, who
disliked to keep Mr. Fairland waiting for her any longer, wrote to him
when he might expect her, and, much against Mrs. Wharton's wishes, set
out alone in the stage for Wilston.

XIII.

NEW SCENES FOR AGNES.

"The stranger's heart! oh,