ard, and Mr. Fairland, who was extravagantly fond of
sweet and simple music, would steal into the room, and seat himself in
the corner. And when he heard the voices of his children singing the
praises of God, and saw his poor Tiney, hitherto so neglected, joining
with eager interest in the singing, the tears would glisten in his eye,
and roll unbidden down his cheek. Then he began to find his way to the
school-room on Sunday evenings, and Agnes always took the opportunity on
such occasions, to question the children on the elements of religious
truth, that their young voices might be the means of instructing their
father, who was more ignorant even than they, on these all-important
subjects. At these times he never said one word, but when he left the
room, it was often wiping the tears first, from one cheek and then from
the other, and the heavy tread of his feet could be heard far into the
night, as he walked the whole length of the two large parlors, with his
hands behind him, and his head bent down. Before Agnes had been six
months in the family, the good people sitting in the church at Wilston,
one Sunday, opened their eyes with astonishment, to see Mr. Fairland
walk into church and take his seat in a pew; and still more were they
amazed, to see him do the same thing in the afternoon. It was a surprise
to Agnes too; for though she had not failed to notice an unusual
solemnity about Mr. Fairland, yet no word on the subject of his duty in
this matter had ever passed between them.

Thus in the strict and conscientious performance of her daily duties,
passed the summer with Agnes, with one delightful break, of a
fortnight's vacation, spent with the dear loving friends at Brook Farm,
where she saw much of her dear brother Lewie, who rode over every
evening and passed the night, returning to his college duties early in
the morning. The quick eye of a sister's love soon detected that all was
not right with Lewie. He was as affectionate as ever, and if possible
handsomer; but the faults of his childhood had grown with his growth and
strengthened with his strength; his temper seemed more hasty and
impetuous than ever, and there was a dashing recklessness about him
which gave his sister many a heart-ache; and she had painful, though
undefined fears for the future, for her rash and hot-headed brother.

Her kind friends at Brook Farm, who fancied from some things they drew
from Agnes, that her home at the Fairlands' was not in a