indicated a depth of sensibility he
was unwilling words should reveal. Left his own master at a very early
age, his _will_ had become strong and invincible. As he almost always
willed what was right, his mother seldom sought to bend it, and she was
the only being in the world whose authority he acknowledged, and to
whom he was willing to sacrifice his pride by submission.

An incident which occurred the evening after his arrival, may illustrate
his firmness and his power.

It was a lovely summer afternoon, and Arthur rambled with Helen and
Alice amid the charming groves and wild glens of his native place. His
local attachments were exceedingly strong, for they were cherished by
dear and sacred associations. There was a history attached to every rock
and tree and waterfall, making it more beautiful and interesting than
all others.

"Here, Alice," he would say, "look at this magnificent tree. Our father
used to sit under its shade and sketch the outline of his sermons. Here,
in God's own temple, he worshiped, and his pure thoughts mingled with
the incense that arose from the bosom of nature."

Then Alice would clasp her fair arms round the tree, and laying her soft
check against the rough bark, consecrate it to the memory of the father,
who had died ere she beheld the light. Alas! she never had beheld it;
but ere the light had beamed on the sightless azure of her eyes.

"Helen, do you see that beetling rock, half covered with lichens and
moss, hanging over the brawling stream? It was there I used to recline,
when a little boy, shaded by that gnarled and fantastic looking tree,
with book in hand, but studying most of all from the great book of
nature. Oh! I love that spot. If I ever live to be an old man, though I
may have wandered to the wide world's end, I want to come back and throw
myself once more on the shelving rock where I made my boyhood's bed."

While he was speaking, he led Alice and Helen on to the very verge of
the rock, and looked down on the waterfall, tumbling below. Alice stood
calm and still, holding, with perfect confidence, her brother's hand,
but Helen recoiled and shuddered, and her cheek turned visibly paler.

"We are close to the edge, brother--I know it by the sound of your
voice," said Alice. "It seems to sink down and mingle with the roar of
the water-fall."

"Do you not fear, Alice?" asked her brother, drawing her still a little
nearer.

"Oh, no," she answered, with a radiant smile. "