er shall marry
your rival. He will not even inform me to what place he has sent
Melissa. Her aunt however is with her, and they must be at the residence
of some of the family relatives.--I will dispatch my son William among
our connections, to see if he can find her out."

The next morning William departed, and was gone two days; but could not
obtain the least intelligence either of Melissa or her aunt, although he
had been the rounds among the relations of the family.

"There is some mystery in this affair, said Mr. Simpson. I am very
little acquainted with Melissa's aunt. I have understood that she draws
a decent support from her patrimonial resources, which, it is said, are
pretty large, and that she resides alternately with her different
relatives. I have understood also that my kinsman expects her fortune to
come into his family, in case she never marries, which, in all
probability, she now will not, and that she, in consequence, holds
considerable influence over him. It is not possible but that Melissa is
yet concealed at some place of her aunt's residence, and that the family
are in the secret. I think it cannot be long before they will disclose
themselves: You, Alonzo, are welcome to make my house your home; and if
Melissa can be found, she shall be treated as my daughter."

Alonzo thanked him for his friendship and fatherly kindness. "I must
continue, said he, my researches for Melissa; the result you shall
know."

He then departed, and travelled through the neighbouring villages and
adjoining neighbourhoods, making, at almost every house, such enquiries
as he considered necessary on the occasion. He at length arrived at the
inn in the last little village where Melissa and her aunt had stopped
the day they came to the mansion. Here the inn-keeper informed him that
two ladies, answering his description, had been at his house: he named
the time, which was the day in which Melissa, with her aunt, left her
father's house. The inn-keeper told him that they purchased some
articles in the village, and drove off to the south. Alonzo then
traversed the country adjoining the Sound, far to the westward, and was
returning eastward, when he was overtaken by the shower. No house being
within sight, he betook himself to the forest for shelter. From a little
hilly glade in the wilderness, he discovered the lonely mansion which,
from its appearance, he very naturally supposed to be uninhabited.--The
tempest soon becoming se