the old man's presence, telling her how she
was sacrificing herself when there was no
cause. 'For he can live with us,' he said,
'and be tended by you, even as now; but it
is twelve long months that I have waited for
you, Ellen dear, and you are no nearer to me
now than at first. I shall come up to-night
for your final answer, and I pray that your
father's heart may be turned towards us; but
else I leave the town to-morrow for good and
all; and it may be, you will be sorry never to
see the bonnie white flag again.'

'The old man said not a word all that time,
and never let go nor ceased stroking his
daughter's hand; but, when Richard was
gone, he so worked upon her feelings with
his piteous selfish talk, that she told him to
have no further trouble for her sake. 'I
will never leave thee alone and blind, my
father,' she said, 'although my own Richard
loves me so well.' And what a bitter
struggle that must have been for her, we now
know.

"When her lover came up, then, for that
last time, she gave him a steadfast answer,
although it nigh broke her heart, and it
stirred his man's pride within him so. that he
strode away through the windy night without
so much as a good-bye.

"I well remember that same evening; for
he came into the Leck to bid adieu to his old
friends, whom he was about to leave; and
my uncle, who then kept the inn, but had
been a sailor in his youth, besought him not
to think to put to sea in such tempestuous
weather; for the October gales had set in,
and the waves swept right over the pier-head,
and made the very harbour unsafe. What a
fine brave young fellow I thought him, when he
replied that he would sail the morrow morning,
although there was no hand to be got to help
him work his ship. And he did sail as soon
as the day dawned; and, for all it was so
early, the whole town was as near the beach
as they durst go, to see him and his little
crew off; and there was one, we may be sure,
in the house on the hill, whose tearful sleepless
eyes were fastened upon the bonnie boat
more than all. She watched it for hours, as
it now lay upon its side in the heaving bay,
and now sank out of sight except for the
white pennant (which he had nailed to the
mast) that shone out against the black water,
and now rose high, as if upon a mountain.
She saw it grow dimmer and dimmer, in
spite of the gale, and the points rounded one
after the other, and nearly into the open sea;
so far had the good ship got at last, though it
scarcely seemed to move; but while it was
beating up opposite Hell's Mouth, and near
Bardsey Island, she lost all sight of it for
that time. She saw it again the same evening,
alas! for the wind and the tide brought,
it back to harbour, keel uppermost. She
was not more than twenty or so, poor girl;
but her hair turned from that hour as white
as it looks now. She grew thin and pale
but never let a word of complaint escape
her, nor her father know how her heart had
lost its hope, or her form its beauty; only
once, when he attempted to condole with
her, and thank her for what she had done
for him, and suffered for his sake, she stopped
him with a word or two in such a tone as he
never dared to draw forth from her again.
She tended him hour by hour, while his feet
were treading the downward way, for years,
and the flowers upon his grave are kept
alive till now by her loving hands; but her
heart is not buried, I think, with him at all,
but somewhere under the deep sea with her
drowned lover's.

"The old man left her very wealthy (for
these parts), which I dare say he thought
would make up to her for all the rest. Our
town is quite another place in consequence;
and, as I told you at first, the poor folk
whose trade is on the great waters, she
seems to consider as if they were her own
children; them that are laden with the like
trouble as herself especially, who have lost
husband or kinsman at sea, and for whom
her almshouses were built, she visits and
cares for continually; and on this day, above
all this day, thirty years ago, upon which
poor Richard Owen perished, she comes to
them in the morning as sure as the sun itself,
and keeps his memory green amongst them
by good deeds.

"And," observed, Mrs. Aprhys, in
conclusion, as she wiped her eyes and rose from
her seat, " 'tis the best way of keeping a
death-day that I know, sir."

"It is, indeed, my dear madam," I said,
"and I thank you very much for your affecting
story. And do you think the dear old
lady, poor Miss Ellen, is happy now?"

"Not like she might have been with her
lover, perhaps. I have no right to say that
much, with so good a man as Aprhys yonder
for my husband; but happy she ought to be;
for I think God must love her, and I am sure
her fellow-creatures do."

I put on my slippers, which had entirely
dropped off during this feeling recital, and
retired to my bed. I had all kinds of pleasant
dreams and angelic visions; but none
came up to the reality of that dear old lady
in black, Miss Davies.

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