quite refreshing after all this screeching."

"Oh!" said Miss Calista, rising from the instrument, and casting up her
eyes at Mr. Harrington, "my dear old papa has the _oddest,
old-fashioned_ taste!"

But as soon as Agnes began to sing, it seemed as if Mr. Harrington's
taste was quite as "odd" and "old-fashioned" as that of the "dear old
papa" himself; for he was guilty of the impropriety of not hearing what
Miss Evelina was saying to him, and soon rose and took his stand by the
piano, where he showed very plainly that he had no ear for any other
sound than that of Agnes' voice.

Agnes went to bed with some very pleasant thoughts that night; for,
though tongues may be silent, _eyes_ can tell their story very soon; and
it _is_ a pleasant thing to find one's self an object of interest to
some noble heart; and particularly grateful was it to Agnes, in her
present lonely, toiling life. And she needed all the inward peace and
comfort she possessed, to enable her to bear the increased ill-nature of
Mrs. Fairland and her daughters; for the "mamma" was no less displeased
than the young ladies themselves at the prospect of the failure of one
of their cherished plans.

And now, when Mr. Harrington called, there was generally some excuse
contrived for sending Agnes from the room, and for keeping her busy in
some other part of the house; and though Agnes was indignant at this
evident desire to get her out of the way, by putting upon her labor
which they had no right to require of her, yet, at the time, and in Mr.
Harrington's presence, she would not contest the point, but quietly left
the room. This never happened, however, when Mr. Fairland was present,
as the good man, if he had fully seen through all the plans of his wife
and daughters, could not have discomfited them more surely than he
always contrived to do.

In the meantime, the ladies Calista and Evelina never for a moment
relaxed their efforts, or ceased to practise their arts, upon the
wealthy and agreeable stranger.

"How _charming_ your place must her Mr. Harrington!" said Miss Evelina
one evening; "I do delight in these old haunted mansions; there is
something so delightfully romantic about them."

"And have you really heard any of these strange noises at night?" asked
Miss Calista.

"Noises?--enough of them," he answered; "I have sometimes been so
disturbed, that I could not sleep at all."

"And what _did_ you do?" asked the young ladies in a breath, their