ciples such motives could best
produce. Her woman's love for Roswell Gardiner, alone troubled her
otherwise happy and peaceful existence. That, indeed, had caused her more
than once to falter in her way; but she struggled with the weakness, and
had strong hopes of being able to overcome it. To accept of any other man
as a husband, was, in her eyes, impossible; with the feelings she was
fully conscious of entertaining towards him, it would have been both
in-delicate and unjust: but, to accept _him_, while he regarded the
Redeemer as only man, however pure and exalted, she felt would be putting
herself willingly, or wilfully, into the hands of the great enemy of her
salvation. Often and often had she prayed for her lover, even more
devoutly, and with hotter tears, than she had ever prayed for herself;
but, so far as she could discover, without any visible fruits. His
opinions remained unchanged, and his frank nature forbade him from
concealing their state from Mary. In this way, then, was unhappiness
stealing on the early and innocent hours of one who might, otherwise, have
been so contented and blessed. It formed a somewhat peculiar feature in
her case, that her uncle favoured the views of her suitor. This rendered
the trials of the niece so much the more severe, as she had no other
judgment to sustain her than her own, fortified as that was, however, by
the consciousness of right, and the support of that great power which
never deserts the faithful.

Such was the state of feeling among some of the principal actors of our
tale, when the sudden death of Daggett occurred. The body was not removed
from the house of the Widow White, but the next morning it was conveyed to
the "grave-yard"--'church-yard' would have sounded too episcopal--and
interred in a corner that was bestowed on the unhonoured and unknown. It
was then, only, that the deacon believed he was the sole depository of the
important secrets. He had the charts in his possession, and no more
revelations could pass the lips of Daggett. Should the friends of the
deceased sailor hear of his death, and come to look after his effects,
there was very little probability of their finding anything among them to
furnish a clue to either the new sealing-ground, or to the buried treasure
of the pirate. In order to be secured, he even went a little beyond his
usual precautions, actually discharging all indebtedness of the deceased
to the Widow White out of his own pocket, by gi