have the worth in gold, in bright yellow gold, and the interest.'

"The property was willed to her, you know.'

-

"I don't care if it was, I will have it! It would have been all mine, if it had not been for that bloody villain, that robber. O, I should like to tear out his eyes! I'll break the will, for she is not the daughter of Mrs. Stewart. I can prove that she is Means' child.'

"I then went on to tell him the whole story, when he growled and raved still more. He ordered me out of the house; and, not wishing to stay any longer, I came away."

"He is a beautiful character," I remarked.

"Beautiful! so is old clump-foot beautiful. Well, well; the devil will have the picking of his bones, one of these days, that 's some comfort."

"Why, Mr. Edgarton!" said my aunt.

"He is a horrid creatur', Mrs. Eaton, and that's the truth. I should like to give him one walloping for his abuse of Lelia."

"Leave him in the hands of his Maker," said Mrs. Stewart. "Shall not the Lord of all the earth do right?""

The next morning news came that Deacon Webber was crazy. In company with my uncle and Mr. Edgarton, I went to see him. He had become so raving in the night that it was necessary to chain him. After being

chained, he tore every rag of clothing from his body. I have never seen such a hideous, frightful object, as he was on that morning.

"It is mine, all, all mine," he said; "and I'll have it! Ha ha ha ha! the white silver and the yellow gold is all mine. They thought to rob me of it, did they? They can't do it. I'll have it, I'll have it! Will they keep it all? No, no! by the gods. Justice! justice! See! there's a robber after my gold,- my yellow gold. Back! back with ye, you bloody villain! Let me get hold of him! I'll break his bones, tear his heart out, and let the swine feast upon his flesh! Let me go! let me go, I say! they are robbing me! 0 God! O God! There! there they are, stealing all my treasures. Stand back! away! I-I-know you now. The demons-the black demons-hold me fast! Don't, don't take it all! I am a poor old man. I sold my soul for my gold;-it's all I have. You will not take it all, good people? Leave the old man a little! I pray you, I beg! I shall starve, if you take it!

Could

I but break these chains, I'd tear ye! Beware, ye bloody fiends! O! what is burning at my heart? Hell is in my bosom! O, my head! my head! Don't you see the devils? Look! see their red jaws, long teeth, and flaming tongues! How they hiss! Down with ye, damned spirits! down to hell! Where is my gold? I know; I hid it all last night.

Ha! ha!

He

Search, search for it, ye villains! but you can't find it, — you never can find it. Ha! ha! ha! ha! "I'll have him yet. He cannot escape me now. shall not always baulk me. Let him look to it,-look to it, or I'll tear out his dastard heart! I'll bite out his eyes! Don't take it,— the poor old man will starve. I shall die! Laugh, ye horrid monsters! Ha! ha! ha ha!"

In this strain he continued, with scarcely any intermission; and before many days had passed away he was a corpse. His property amounted to thirty thousand dollars, and he had willed it, with the exception of two hundred dollars, to Hezekiah and Hannah. After his death, Mr. Edgarton felt some remorse, lest what he said to him had been the cause of it. But I told him that most likely the result would have been the same when the story reached him, and I did not doubt but that he was more than half crazy before. These suggestions were abundantly satisfactory to him, and he was as ready to laugh and joke as

ever.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

MY FATHER'S DIARY.

THE reader will remember that my mother, on her death-bed, requested me to read my father's diary. My mind had been so much occupied with other subjects that I had hitherto neglected to do so. I took it out of the drawer while Uncle and Aunt Eaton were visiting us, and, after reading it to myself, at their request read the most of it to them. Some brief extracts may not prove uninteresting to the reader:

"It has ever been my boast that I was heart-whole, "but I can utter that boast no more. I was fated, today, to behold a being of such entrancing beauty that my heart surrendered at once. One glance from those "killing black eyes, and it was all over with me; for I "felt as helpless as a captive bird. Well, Mr. Eaton, what's to be done now?' A pertinent question, and "Mr. Eaton must answer it. I do not know who she is. "I do not even know her name, but I will learn it, I "make no doubt; and, what's more, I'll learn her heart too, and win it to myself, to be all my own, if so be "the gods but aid me."

"I am happy and sad to-night; happy because I have seen the beautiful angel again, and sad lest I should "fail to win her. But it must not be so. I'll study "the lexicon of my heart, and, if I find any such word "there as fail, I will expunge it before I sleep. Mary

Flanders, that's her name, and it is a good name too; "but how would it look changed to Mary Eaton? I "like the latter best. I always did think that Mary was "the sweetest name in the universe, and now it is ten "thousand times sweeter than ever. A friend asked me, to-day, if I thought her handsome.

Handsome! she

"is more than that, for she is perfectly beautiful. Every "feature of her face is charming, and her eyes are soul"full of thought, eloquent, and big with hope, light and "joy. But her form is enravishing,—full, round, almost voluptuous; but I would not have it other than it is, "for it is perfect."

"O, this suspense is killing, and I cannot endure it! "I must see Mary; see her, ay, I must know her "well. Who is coming to disturb my revery now, I "wonder? The intruder is not welcome. A letter,

"no, a note;

"Mr.

an invitation to an evening party at go, and

-'s. I will

may I be so fortunate as to

meet her who is so dear to this unquiet heart!"

*