little of the beauty of the surrounding
country; but the public buildings of the
town (if it might be called so), and the
harbour, and the little pier, were executed with
apparent fidelity and exactness. The church
itself, though small, was a very pretty one,
with the massive grey tower, which becomes
so well a mountainous district. The market-
house for fish might rival that of St. Peter's,
at Guernsey; and there were also two other
well-built edifices, whose use I could not at
all discover. When Mrs. Aprhys returned,
with her rather less comfortable legs, I
interrogated her on this matter. The rows of
cottages, with porches and gardens, were
almshouses, she said, for the widows and
families of men who had been lost at sea (an
accident which happened often on that
dangerous coast); as pretty and pleasant places
to end one's days in as one would wish to
have; and, thinking that to be more in my
line, perhaps, she added: ''There's a bittock
of Latin over the outer gateway: In
memoriam, R. O., ob. eighteen hundred and twenty-
five. Miss Davies built it; and the little
house at the pier-head, she built that also;
and night and day there were fires kept in it,
and brandy, and blankets, and what not, to
recover, if it might be, any of those that were
found droundèd."

"Dear me! " said I, coolly; for I was out of
temper with Penlanrhyndoldovey, and didn't
think the people much worth saving, "she
must be a worthy person."

"You may say that, sir, indeed; and we
should never have had church or market if
it had not been for her."

"Bless me, my dear Mrs. Aprhys," for I
was a raw bachelor at that period, and quite
prepared to run the risk of matrimony for
an adequate consideration, "why, this Miss
Davies must be very rich?"

"No, sir, not very; for when folks spend
no money on themselves, and only live for
other people's good, it is surprising what may
be done in thirty years."

"Thirty years," said I, little interested
again. "O dear me, she must be oldish,
then?"

"Well, sir, you may see her soon, and
judge for yourself. I wonder she has not
been here before; but she's sure to call this
evening, upon her way home. She lives,
with a servant or two, all alone in the cottage
on the hill there."

Now I perceived that, for some reason or
other, my dear landlady was in a quarter of
a second or so of a good cry; so, by way of
changing the conversation, I said, "And
what a beautiful view she must have from it,
both of land and sea."

''Ah, yes indeed," she sobbed, and the
tears stole over her plump cheeks, and into
the dimples about her little mouth, in a flood
that only Mr. Aprhys could (with propriety)
have dried up or impeded in quite the correct
way. "And sad and sore sights she has seen
from it, as ever woman's eyes have borne to
look upon."

"Good gracious! What a charming—I
mean, what a dreadful—mystery! Pray tell
it, Mrs. Ap"—— But just as the tender-
hearted little woman was making herself ready
for a start as improvisatore, there came a
knock at the door.

"Hush! it's her!" she said; and she
trotted off on her comfortable legs like—
metaphor fails me—like anything.

Now I am not naturally of an inquisitive
turn of mind; but, as a late philosopher
observed to his friend, "we must stop
somewhere;" and I stopped at the parlour-door
and looked through the crack. I felt
conscience-smitten and rightly punished the next
instant: they spoke in Welsh, and the lady
was sixty, if she was a day. Yet her face
had not only the remains of beauty, but
a present charm and loveliness of its own.
Her hair was snow-white; and her blue eyes,
though far from bright, were full of tenderness
and expression; her voice was as soft
and musical as a girl's; and I fancied that I
could discern in it that she was accustomed
to speak with the sick and sorrowful; for
her part, it was clear by the deep, though
quiet, mourning that she wore, that she had
had woes irreparable of her own; woes
not recent, for a settled resignation seemed
to possess her features, as if where the harrow
of trouble had once passed, the seeds of
patience and benevolence had sprung up, and
effaced its cruel traces.

I backed cautiously to the fireplace, and
waited for the interview to be over with some
eagerness; for I was getting interested, in
spite of myself, in Penlanrhyndoldovey and
the house upon the hill. I beat up the
cushions of the arm-chair, and placed a
footstool for the accommodation of Mrs. Aprhys.
I even put a chair for the landlord in the
middle, in case "her" should be of a jealous
temperament, and desire to be present. I
was meditating as to what would be the
correct drink for me to offer so obliging a
hostess, when she appeared suddenly herself
with my tea.

"Another cup, if you will be so good,"
said I.

So over that cosy meal she told me the
story.

"It so happens," she began, "that this very
day is the properest of any to tell you this
sad tale. I forgot the date, which no poor
soul in this village is likely to have done, but
remembered it so soon as ever I saw Miss
Ellen's face. She has been with the fatherless
and the widow in their affliction, since early
dawn, and now she is gone back to her lonely
home. Though the storm has been driving
down this ten hours, she has brought calm
and sunlight to many a dwelling; and amongst
the huts by the sea-beach, where there live
men that would seem to you mere brutes,
she has carried such help and comfort, that