The steamer burned to the water's edge, only a few of those who had
jumped overboard escaping. The bodies of the guilty pair were
discovered at some distance from the wreck, Mrs. Clarkson's hand
being tightly clutched round her companion's throat, while his
tongue and eyes protruded fearfully.

With sad and heavy heart Clarkson returned to Detroit, and, having
gathered together what remained of his former property, prepared to
return to Canada. He took with him the children of his late wife,
placing them both as boarders at the College at Lennoiville till
they were old enough to be apprenticed to some trade or profession.
He never quite recovered from the shock received on hearing of the
manner of Mrs. Clarkson's death and that of her paramour, but became
prematurely aged when he realized that, instead of the sweet angelic
creature whom he thought he had married, he found that he had wedded
a regular disciple of Satan.




CHAPTER VII.


The Frail Shop Girl.

The many fine ladies who patronize the fashionable emporiums of
Montreal little think (as they sit comfortably at the counter,
leisurely examining dozens of articles they never intend to purchase)
of the sufferings undergone by those who minister to their wants, and,
it may be, their caprices. Dozens of these poor creatures stand day