Miss Honora Carew, who told us that it was
Miss Sally Chauncey.

"Indeed, I know her, poor old soul!" said Miss Honora; "she has such a
sad history. She is the last survivor of one of the most aristocratic
old colonial families. The Chaunceys were of great renown until early in
the present century, and then their fortunes changed. They had always
been rich and well-educated, and I suppose nobody ever had a gayer,
happier time than Miss Sally did in her girlhood, for they entertained a
great deal of company and lived in fine style; but her father was
unfortunate in business, and at last was utterly ruined at the time of
the embargo; then he became partially insane, and died after many years
of poverty. I have often heard a tradition that a sailor to whom he had
broken a promise had cursed him, and that none of the family had died
in their beds or had any good luck since. The East Parish people seem to
believe in it, and it is certainly strange what terrible sorrow has come
to the Chaunceys. One of Miss Sally's brothers, a fine young officer in
the navy who was at home on leave, asked her one day if she could get on
without him, and she said yes, thinking he meant to go back to sea; but
in a few minutes she heard the noise of a pistol in his room, and
hurried in to find him lying dead on the floor. Then there was another
brother who was insane, and who became so violent that he was chained
for years in one of the upper chambers, a dangerous prisoner. I have
heard his horrid cries myself, when I was a young girl," said Miss
Honora, with a shiver.

"Miss Sally is insane, and has been for many years, and this seems to me
the saddest part of the story. When she first lost her reason she was
sent to a hospital, for there was no one who could take care of her. The
mania was so acute that no one had the slightest thought that she would
recover or even live long. Her guardian sold the furniture and pictures
and china, almost everything but clothing, to pay the bills at the
hospital, until the house was fairly empty; and then one spring day, I
remember it well, she came home in her right mind, and, without a
thought of what was awaiting her, ran eagerly into her home. It was a
terrible shock, and she never has recovered from it, though after a long
illness her insanity took a mild form, and she has always been perfectly
harmless. She has been alone many years, and no one can persuade her to
leave the old house, where she seems to