riendly neighbor; all stepping very
softly, as if afraid of waking the beloved sleeper.

The sisters had lived in such extreme seclusion, that when sorrow came
upon them, like the sudden swoop and swift destruction of a tropical
storm, they had no earthly friend to rely upon but Madame Guirlande.
Only the day before, they had been so rich in love, that, had she
passed away from the earth, it would have made no distressing change
in their existence. They would have said, "Poor Madame Guirlande! She
was a good soul. How patient she used to be with us!" and after a day
or two, they would have danced and sung the same as ever. But one day
had so beggared them in affection, that they leaned upon her as their
only earthly support.

After an almost untasted breakfast, they all went back to the
desolated home. The flowery parlor seemed awfully lonesome. The piano
was closed, the curtains drawn, and their father's chair was placed
against the wall. The murmur of the fountain sounded as solemn as a
dirge, and memories filled the room like a troop of ghosts. Hand in
hand, the bereaved ones went to kiss the lips that would speak to them
no more in this world. They knelt long beside the bed, and poured
forth their breaking hearts in prayer. They rose up soothed and
strengthened, with the feeling that their dear father and mother were
still near them. They found a sad consolation in weaving garlands and
flowery crosses, which they laid on the coffin with tender reverence.

When the day of the funeral came, Madame Guirlande kept them very near
her, holding a hand of each. She had provided them with long veils,
which she requested them not to remove; for she remembered how
anxiously their father had screened their beauty from the public gaze.
A number of merchants, who had known and respected Mr. Royal, followed
his remains to the grave. Most of them had heard of his quadroon
connection, and some supposed that the veiled mourners might be his
daughters; but such things were too common to excite remark, or to
awaken much interest. The girls passed almost unnoticed; having, out
of respect to the wishes of their friend, stifled their sobs till they
were alone in the carriage with her and their old music-teacher.

The conviction that he was not destined to long life, which Mr. Royal
had expressed to Alfred King, was founded on the opinion of physicians
that his heart was diseased. This furnished an additional motive for
closing his bus