the face of the elder was an expression of sorrow
tempered with patience, but on that of the younger, an air of
melancholy was mingled with resentment, that heightened almost into
majesty a form and countenance of extraordinary and statuesque
beauty. From time to time her companion regarded her with a look
of anxiety and tenderness; and at length, seeing her still abstaining
from the suspended meal, exclaimed:

"Eat, child, eat: fasting is bad for the young."

"I have no appetite, except for information," was mournfully replied;
and the elder again regarded her affectionately; then with subdued
earnestness, and in an expostulatory tone, rejoined:

"Be pacified, Amanda; for curiosity often brings us care. Let well
alone, and it will continue to be well with you; but why should
you thus persist to peer into the bottom of your past; as it were,
asking the fashion of your swaddling clothes? Fie! you are too
impatient; too importunate. Pray, no longer question me against my
will, making enquiries that may not be answered. Live without asking
why you live. No more of this. Does not your guardian love you as
though you were his child; and is he not wiser than yourself; to
judge of what knowledge is for your welfare? You ask me, why this
mystery about your birth. Amanda, we move midst mystery from birth
to death, and they who seek to solve it seek for sorrow."

"These words disturb me more than your past silence," exclaimed
the younger. "What horror is there to reveal touching my origin,
that you yet dare not shew me?"

"I dare not break your guardian's command," replied the elder,
firmly.

"Neither can I control a natural desire to know what so nearly
concerns me," retorted the other. "I beg of you to solve this
mystery of my birth. It is my right, my birthright, to know who
gave me birth. It is said that I was found--where was I found? by
whom? how have I been confided to your care? by whose appointment
have I had given to me this guardian? and why is he so kind, and
wherefore are you so faithful? Tell me, nurse, why has he caused
me to be educated with such care; from what motive has he caused
me to be furnished with accomplishments that seem to reach beyond
the bounds of my prospective sphere? Nurse, I charge you,--if you
indeed have nursed me from my birth, as you declare you have
done,--tell me, I pray you tell me: it is not much to ask: the very
poorest child yet knows its parentage; the meanest beggar knows
wh