I fear much that something has befallen
her."

"She will never return," said he; "she is
lost to us for ever."

"Nay, nay," replied Mrs. Frampton; "she
hasn't run away, for all her things are
upstairs."

"She will never return!" he repeated.
"She has been tempted, and has fallen; and
I knew this, and might have prevented it:
but I left her to her fate!"

"The ungrateful girl!" said Mrs. Frampton,
wiping the tears from her eyes, "to
leave us all in such trouble; and you, too,
who were so kind to her!"

The young basket-maker paced to and fro
several times, and then turning to his old
protector, said—

"What proof was she, poor child, against a
villain who had discovered her unsuspecting
nature? Brought up with those who have
been ever kind and gentle with her; cut off
from life in her solitary home, and guarded
from all knowledge of the evil of the world,
what wonder that she readily believed some
artful tale, and fell into the snare?" Then
taking his hat, he continued, "I alone could
have saved her; but I let the moment go,
and I alone will seek for her. My uncle will
be here to-morrow; let him know what has
happened, if, meanwhile, you have no tidings
of her. As for myself, I may be some days
before I return. I know not where I go;
but I must go somewhere, seeking her
continually."

Then shaking hands with his old guardian,
he left her crying and bewildered, and ran
out into the street.

THE SONG OF THE SABRE.

I HAVE leapt from the sheath in the hand of the
brave,
To dig for whole armies a measureless grave;
I have sated my thirst in the life-blood of man,
When along the red plain in broad rivers it ran.

Mine eye sparkles brightly to think of the tear
That is shed by the wife in her vigils of fear,
When she tremblingly prays to the God of the lorn
For the husband who left her in secret to mourn.

And well may she weep! for my edge is too keen
To be blunted by pity for sorrow, I ween;
I swear by my might that her husband shall fall,
Where the smoke of the cannon will spread him a
pall!

And when I return from the triumphs of war,
Indented with blows, and empurpled with gore,
I love to peep forth from my scabbard of steel,
And gloat o'er the pangs that the fatherless feel.

For it gladdens my heart when I hear them bewail
Their sire, who with thousands lies tainting the
gale;
And I chuckle to think that ere long they may yield
A rich banquet for me on some now battle field.

Then, beware of the sabre, the first-born of Death,
More potent to slay than the plague's noisome
breath;
Lest it mow down strong nations that tower in
their pride,
And sweep them from earth on a red-rolling tide!

THE "MOUTH" OF CHINA.

TILL lately, the only entrance to the Celestial
Empire vouchsafed to us Western
barbarians, was the "Bogue," or mouth of
the Canton river. Macao, Hong-Kong, and
Canton were the only places Europeans were
allowed to profane with their presence. The
ship in which Madame Ida Pfeiffer, whose
Voyage round the World we have before
mentioned, was conveyed from Tahiti to this place,
not being a Phantom Ship, only introduced her
to those places. On the 9th of July, 1847, she
cast anchor in the roads of Macao. A throng
of Chinese, she tells us, speedily made their
appearance on the deck of our ship, whilst
others, without quitting their boats, offered for
sale, fruit, cakes, and other articles—all very
prettily arranged; in short, we were speedily
surrounded by a sort of floating fair.

The captain ordered a boat to be got ready,
and we eagerly went ashore. Each individual,
on landing, was required to pay half a dollar
to the mandarin—an exaction which I was
informed would speedily be abolished. We
proceeded to the house of the Portuguese
merchants resident in Macao; and on our
road thither, we passed through a great
part of the town. Europeans, women as well
as men, may freely travel the streets of Macao
without fear of being stoned—a danger to
which they are not unfrequently exposed in
other Chinese towns. Those streets
exclusively inhabited by Chinese, presented a very
animated aspect. Groups of men, seated out of
doors, were engaged in playing at dominoes,
whilst the occupants of the shops, carpenters,
tailors, and shoemakers, were working, gossiping,
or taking their meals. I saw but few
women, and those few belonged to the lower
class. I was greatly amused by the mode of
eating practised by the Chinese. They use
two pieces of stick, by the help of which they
raise the food to their mouths, with extraordinary
dexterity. When eating rice, the
vessel containing it is raised to the widely-
expanded mouth, into which the rice is
thrown by help of one of the little sticks
above mentioned. When partaking of dishes
of a more fluid kind, they use round spoons
made of porcelain.

The houses present nothing remarkable as
to style of building. They are usually fronted
by a court-yard or garden. I visited the
Grotto in which the celebrated Camoens
wrote some portion of his "Lusiad." The
umbrage created by the satirical poem entitled
"Disparates na India," caused Camoens to be
banished to Macao, where he remained in
exile for several years. The Grotto is built