uthful heir of Riverola; his pale
countenance of even feminine beauty contrasting strangely with the
mourning garments which he wore, and his eyes bent upon the dark chasm
that formed the family vault into which the remains of his sire were
about to be lowered.

Around the coffin stood Dr. Duras and other male friends of the
deceased: for the females of the family were not permitted, by the
custom of the age and the religion, to be present on occasions of this
kind.

It was eleven o'clock at night: and the weather without was stormy and
tempestuous.

The wind moaned through the long aisles, raising strange and ominous
echoes, and making the vast folds of sable drapery wave slowly backward
and forward, as if agitated by unseen hands. A few spectators, standing
in the background, appeared like grim figures on a black tapestry; and
the gleam of the wax tapers, oscillating on their countenances, made
them seem death-like and ghastly.

From time to time the shrill wail of the shriek-owl, and the flapping of
its wings against the diamond-paned windows of the church, added to the
awful gloom of the funeral scene.

And now suddenly arose the chant of the priests--the parting hymn for
the dead!

Francisco wept, for though his father had never manifested toward him an
affection of the slightest endearing nature, yet the disposition of the
young count was excellent; and, when he gazed upon the coffin, he
remembered not the coldness with which its inmate in his lifetime had
treated him--he thought only of a parent whom he had lost, and whose
remains were there!

And truly, on the brink of the tomb no animosity should ever find a
resting-place in the human heart. Though elsewhere men yield to the
influence of their passions and their feelings, in pursuing each his
separate interests--though, in the great world, we push and jostle each
other, as if the earth were not large enough to allow us to follow our
separate ways--yet, when we meet around the grave, to consign a fellow
creature to his last resting-place, let peace and holy forgiveness
occupy our souls. There let the clash of interests and the war of
jealousies be forgotten; and let us endeavor to persuade ourselves that,
as all the conflicting pursuits of life must terminate at this point at
last, so should our feelings converge to the one focus of amenity and
Christian love. And, after all, how many who have considered themselves
to be antagonists must, during a mome