she had married, against the wish of her relations, an American of
very suspicions character; in fact, he was generally believed to
have been a pirate. She herself was the daughter of very
respectable tradespeople, and had served in the capacity of a
nursery governess before her marriage. She had a brother, a
widower, who was considered wealthy, and who had one child of about
six years old. A month after the marriage the body of this brother
was found in the Thames, near London Bridge; there seemed some
marks of violence about his throat, but they were not deemed
sufficient to warrant the inquest in any other verdict that that of
"found drowned."

The American and his wife took charge of the little boy, the
deceased brother having by his will left his sister the guardian of
his only child,--and in event of the child's death the sister
inherited. The child died about six months afterwards,--it was
supposed to have been neglected and ill-treated. The neighbors
deposed to have heard it shriek at night. The surgeon who had
examined it after death said that it was emaciated as if from want
of nourishment, and the body was covered with livid bruises. It
seemed that one winter night the child had sought to escape; crept
out into the back yard; tried to scale the wall; fallen back
exhausted; and been found at morning on the stones in a dying
state. But though there was some evidence of cruelty, there was
none of murder; and the aunt and her husband had sought to palliate
cruelty by alleging the exceeding stubbornness and perversity of
the child, who was declared to be half-witted. Be that as it may,
at the orphan's death the aunt inherited her brother's fortune.
Before the first wedded year was out, the American quitted England
abruptly, and never returned to it. He obtained a cruising vessel,