more striking from the exaggerated appearance
of woe with which it was encumbered;
a face of vulgar good-nature, but with an
assumption at the same time of vast superiority
and almost disdain; how different was
the first impression from that left by the
appearance of the stately Mrs. Donnington,
with her gold-headed cane, and her form
reclining on the high-backed rich-covered
chair, with her feet on the splendid fur rug,
and her elbow on the velvet table cover!
Scarcely did the lady at the Wells withdraw
herself sufficiently from the absorption of her
grief to listen to the minister's words; scarcely
did she take her handkerchief long enough
from her countenance to look on the
trembling little applicant for her favour; but
when she did so, when at last she mastered
her emotions sufficiently to look at the
shrinking figure, something — a stray expression
of face — a faint resemblance in the colour
of the hair — an indefinable sentiment that
struck upon some chord of recollection—
made her suddenly rise from her chair, and
advance a step or two towards the pair — "the
likeness," she said — "I never saw such a
resemblance — she is my darling Delia over
again;" and then losing the expression of
dignity and rank altogether, she flung her
arms round the astonished Bessy's neck, and
kissed her a thousand times.

"The woman is a Christian woman," said
the minister to his wife on his return, "in
spite of her disregard of the proper position
of the letter h, which seems a sore stumbling-
block to the English nation, and she'll be a
perfect mother to Bessy Miller, for a' her
ignorance of grammar and cockney ways of
going on. Riches is a snare to the slenderly
educated, and she puts a little too much trust
in corruptible treasure, but Bessy will be
very comfortable, and has promised to write
and tell us how she is treated."

Daisy Hope fell into ruins faster and faster.
It ceased to be occupied by any one. The
proprietor did not like the expense of taking
it down, and very wisely thought a few years
would save him the trouble. The little road
leading up to the front door was overgrown
with nettles; the stable roof began to fall
in; the windows were broken by playful
boys, or blown in by tempestuous weather;
and year after year the grand catastrophe of
a total tumble into heaps of stone and lime,
drew nearer and nearer, and the possibility
of repair became more and more problematical.
But when things are at the worst they
will mend. When eight or nine years had
done their utmost to destroy all resemblance
in the old mansion to a habitable dwelling;
when people began to forget all about its
having been lived in; when the minister had
long been dead, and the Wallace Arms had
risen into high reputation, symptoms of
reparation were visible. Men with mysterious
implements began measuring the ground,
and trying the strength of the old walls; and
it was currently reported that a great English
nobleman had bought the original estate and
was going to build a mansion, at least the
size of Windsor Castle. But the building as
it proceeded gave no token of being designed
on so gigantic a scale. The intention seemed
to be to renew the old manor-house as closely
as possible, and not a bow window was
omitted, nor a jutting wall, nor pepperpot
towers at every corner; so it began to look
like a dwelling of the sixteenth century
suddenly transplanted into the present time,
but combining in its interior arrangements
the conveniences of modern life, with the
strength and solidity of the past. And the
view from the upper rooms was unequalled
in all the land! The winding Forth, the
castellated rock, the glowing hills to the
north, the rich valley to the eastward, and
the hills all round, which assumed every
day a more cultivated and civilised look.
There was not in all Scotland a finer domain
or a more comfortable dwelling than Daisy
Hope.

One day in January last year, there was a
crowd in the inner dock at Southampton, to
see the invalids from the Crimea brought to
shore. Some were carried out looking so
pale and worn, that the spectators drew
involuntarily back as if in reverence of
approaching death; some of the more slightly
wounded were received with a suppressed
cheer. The Alma and Inkerman were still
fresh in people's hearts; and indignation at
official neglect boiled over into acts of kindness
to the sufferers. The ship had been
long expected; the passengers' names had
been sent on by telegraph, and parents and
sisters and brothers, had assembled from all
quarters to welcome their friends home.

A sad and touching, yet an elevating sight,
to see the heroic reception afforded by
English mothers to their wounded sons! If
sorrow was there, it was chastened and
ennobled by pride in the achievement that had
brought the wound. Carriages were in
waiting to convey the sufferers to their
lodgings or hotels. Embraces were given
and received without a word being said; and
holding by the brother's feverish hand, and
walking close beside the litter on which he
was carried, walked sisters many a one, who
were afraid to ask the extent of the
calamity, but were busy laying plans for
their brother's solace if he should turn out to
be lame for life. All had nearly gone.
Carriages and litters had moved out of the
dock, and yet an old lady kept steadily at
the end of the landing-board, attended by
a younger, who was dressed in the plain
apparel commonly adopted by the ladies who
devoted themselves at that time to the duties
of the hospital; and both kept their eyes
intent on the cabin stairs from which the
passengers emerged on the deck. At last
there came up slowly and with pain a young
man in undress uniform, who supported