nnot help feeling hatred rising in my bosom, and
then I loathe myself in dust and ashes. Oh! let me go somewhere, where I
may be at peace--anywhere in the world where I shall be in nobody's way.
Ask father to send me back to school--I am young enough, and shall be
years yet; or I should like to go into a nunnery, that must be such a
peaceful place. No stormy passions--no dark, bosom strife."

"No, my dear, we are not going to give up you, the joy and idol of our
hearts. You shall not be the sacrifice; I will shield you henceforth
from the violence of this lawless girl. Tell me all the events of this
evening, Helen, without reserve. Let there be perfect confidence between
us, or we are all lost."

Then Helen, though with many a painful and burning blush, told of her
interview with Clinton, and all of which Mittie had so frantically
accused her.

"When I rushed down stairs, I did not know what I was doing--my brain
seemed on fire, and I thought my reason was gone. If I could find a
place of shelter from her wrath, a spot where her eye could not blaze
upon me! that was my only thought."

"Oh! that this dangerous, and I fear, unprincipled young man had never
entered our household!" cried Mrs. Gleason; "and yet I would not judge
him too harshly. Mittie's admiration, from the first, was only too
manifest, and he must have seen before you arrived, the extraordinary
defects of her temper. That he should prefer you, after having seen and
known you, seems so natural, I cannot help pitying, while I blame him.
If it were possible to accelerate his departure--I must consult with Mr.
Gleason, for something must be done to restore the lost peace of the
family."

"Let me go, dear mother, and all may yet be well."

"If you would indeed like to visit the Parsonage, and remain till this
dark storm subsides, it might perhaps be judicious."

"Not the Parsonage--never, never again shall I be embosomed in its
hallowed shades--I would not go there now, for ten thousand worlds."

"It is wrong, Helen, to allow the words of one, insane with passion, to
have the least influence on the feelings or conduct. Mrs. Hazleton,
Arthur, and Alice, have been your best and truest friends, and you must
not allow yourself to be alienated from them."

Helen closed her eyes to hide the tears that gathered on their surface,
and it was not long before she sunk into a deep sleep. She had indeed
received a terrible shock, and one from which her nerves woul