deep mourning; yet this first taste of earth's sorrow had left an
impress upon her mind never to be erased; and though thoughtless ones
perhaps observed no change in her young, elastic spirits, there was one,
gentle and youthful, who had been to her as a mother in her
bereavement,--the Sea-flower. She could see that the death of a loved
one had wrought a good work upon the heart of her friend, as it may with
us all, if we will lie passive in the hands of the workman.

It was a disappointment to Natalie that her intention of returning home
had been frustrated; yet it was with cheerfulness that she resigned her
hopes, when she saw that duty pointed out another way. Mr. Santon, on
the sudden death of his wife, which occurred on the very evening before
Natalie was to bid them farewell, had himself written a very touching
letter to Mrs. Grosvenor, begging, if it were not asking of her too
much, that she would spare her daughter to them a little while longer,
as it had been the last wish of Mrs. Santon that their daughter might be
with her who had proved such a blessing to them all; and so, in pity for
the dear ones of her friend, of whose death she was pained to learn,
Mrs. Grosvenor had consented to another year's separation from her
child, though it was indeed asking of her a great sacrifice. Old Vingo,
who had wondered if his young missy would take him by the hand, as she
used, when he heard that another long year must pass before he would see
her again, cried like a child; but no one was more disappointed than
Harry, who had counted the days for months, when she would come home;
but his patience was not to be tested thus. He had visited his sister in
Boston, and had received so favorable an impression of city life, or it
may be that he had received a more favorable impression of a certain
pair of black eyes, which were constantly fixed upon him, when he had
accidentally glanced towards a certain young lady, whom, report said,
(Mr. Montague being among the foremost to give credit thereto,) was the