ed.

A few days on shore had so far restored Captain Tracy's health that
Norah was able to pay her promised visit to Mrs Massey, and Ellen
Ferris offered to accompany her. They set off together. Ellen was
nearly a year older than Norah; both were remarkable for their beauty.
Ellen was somewhat taller and slighter than her friend, with dark brown
hair and clear complexion, and fine, sparkling eyes; many persons would
have admired her the most. Having mixed in good society in Dublin, she
had more the manners of the world than Norah, though in reality equally
artless and unsophisticated; while she was able to take her part in
conversation on any of the topics of the day, of which, naturally, Norah
knew but little. She was amiable, lively, and right-principled, and
altogether allowed to be a very charming girl, the pride of her father,
who had no other child. She was therefore, of course, looked upon as an
heiress; she did not, however, give herself any airs, but was thoroughly
unaffected, her aim simply being properly to do the honours of her
father's house. Their chief residence was in Dublin, but she was always
his companion when he came to his house at Waterford. It was a pleasant
place, a _rus in urbe_, as the worthy merchant delighted to call it.
The house itself, a large, well-built mansion, with nothing remarkable
about it, faced the street. On the other side was an extensive piece of
ground. Immediately behind the house it was level, and laid out with a
lawn and flower-beds. Beyond this a hill rose to a considerable height,
the hillside being cut into slopes and terrace-walks, with an artificial
canal fed by an ever-flowing stream at the bottom of it. In accordance
with the taste of the day, these terraces were ornamented with statues;
and at one end was a fine arch, part of the ruin of an ancient Gothic
chapel. At the other end was an aviary filled with numerous feathered
songsters, several species of gay plumage. Further round the hill was
an enclosure stocked with various kinds of deer, and a white doe, an
especial favourite of the fair mistress of the garden. Besides the
canal, at the foot of the hill were two large reservoirs for the purpose
of supplying it with water, containing carp and tench and other fish;
and at the summit of the hill stood an obelisk to the memory of King
William, whom the owner held in especial reverence. The views from the
hill of the city on one side, and of the rough ro