me again. From henceforth he vanished from
Pressburg. Where he went or what became of him nobody ever knew. Some
maintained that he had jumped into the Danube, others that he had
emigrated; and years afterwards distant travellers sent word home from
time to time that they had seen a man greatly resembling him, some said
in England, some in Turkey.

CHAPTER V.

THE TEMPTER IN CHURCH.

Three years had passed since Fanny went to live with Aunt Teresa. Those
three years had a great influence upon her youthful and pliable
disposition. At first Teresa was severe and stony-hearted towards the
child; her obstinacy, like a thorny hedge, had to be broken down. The
smallest fault was chastised, every moment of her time had its allotted
task, of which she had to give an account, not a single contradiction,
not the slightest sulkiness was put up with. Then, too, she was never
able to escape detection, a far-seeing, austere pair of eyes was ever
upon her, making falsehood impossible, looking through her very soul,
seizing and pruning down every thought as it arose. The weeds had to be
extirpated before the seeds of nobler flowers could be sown.

When, however, she had at last brought under the child's unruly
disposition and convinced her that it was of no use to play the
hypocrite or tell lies, inasmuch as there is a Being Who sees behind all
our thoughts, Who is everywhere present and watchful, Whom nothing
escapes, and Who watches over us even when we are asleep, so that we are
bound from very necessity to be just and honest; when she had brought
her charge as far as this, I say, Teresa began gradually to teach her
how conversion could have its pleasant side likewise. Teresa's
confidence grew proportionately with Fanny's candour. She frequently
left the child to herself, ceased to supervise her allotted tasks,
showed her that she believed what she said, and thereby gradually
exalted and purified her whole disposition. Perceiving that her rigorous
mentor trusted her, Fanny began to discover what self-respect means. And
what a precious treasure that is! and what a pity more attention is not
paid to it!

Teresa never alluded to the child's relatives; on the contrary, whenever
her thoughts seemed to be turning that way she would divert them into a
different direction. And gradually, as Fanny's notions of right and
wrong grew clearer and firmer, she felt less and less of a desire to
inquire after the members of her own fam