CHAPTER III.

Studies. Flatbush. - Purchase of Estate that had belonged to General Giles. Haunted House. - My Sister May. Our juvenile Sports and Mode of Life. — Number of Books read and commented upon every Year. Shooting Excursions.-A first Sorrow.-Death of our Mother.- Melrose. Sunday School.- Fortune Teller of the Fair. - Pelayo. Reviewers Reviewed. Celebration of Seventeenth Birthday. - Burlesque Concerts. Tableaux. The Gypsy Wanderer.

rope.

Bridal Address. - Ill health. Departure for Eu

THE bearing of a new name, and the wearing of a ring, made very little alteration in my mode of life, or in the manner in which I occupied my time. I resumed my studies almost immediately. Mr. Mowatt himself instructed me in French and in the higher branches of English. I took music and singing lessons three times a week, and only abandoned drawing because a stooping position was found injurious to my health. In this latter accomplishment several of my father's children had shown a marked proficiency, which none had exhibited in music, and I laid aside my pencils with regret.

I was excessively fond of the country, and early in the spring Mr. Mowatt took me to reside in Flatbush, Long Island. The house in which we boarded was a large, old-fashioned mansion, built before the revolution, and had belonged to General Giles. There were dark and spacious vaults beneath the kitchens, where it was said that English prisoners had been confined; and

there was a secret chamber, above the great ball room, to which no access could be found save by a small window. The neighbors affirmed that a young girl had been purposely starved to death in that chamber, and that her ghost wandered at night about the house. Indeed, this report had gained such credence, that nothing could have induced many of the older inhabitants of the village to pass a night beneath the haunted roof.

The house stood back from the main road, embowered by magnificent old trees. The property consisted of twenty acres of land, in a high state of cultivation.

I became so much attached to this place that Mr. Mowatt purchased it for my gratification; stipulating, however, that I should content myself in passing the greater portion of the year in the country. I gladly consented. The house was repaired and refurnished; the gardens and orchards enlarged, and planted with an innumerable variety of fruit trees and flowers; a greenhouse built; a long arbor erected, where I could walk at midday, quite shaded from the sun; and a summer house reared in its centre, in which I could sit and write, or study. I had numberless pets-birds, dogs, pigeons, rabbits, a goat and kid, and a beautiful Arabian mare for my own especial use. We named her Queen

Mab.

At sixteen years old I found myself the mistress of this mansion, without a wish ungratified.

younger, to reside with My time was occupied

After a time, my father kindly allowed a dear and gentle sister, some four years me, that I might not be lonely. in studying, taking care of my pets, riding about the country, and instructing my sister May in whatever I learned myself French, Spanish, music, &c.

Brilliantly happy were the days we passed together.

MY SISTER MAY.

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We neither ceased to be children, nor gave up our childish sports. Our morning amusements were trundling a couple of huge hoops through the favorite arbor, dancing with the skipping rope, or floating round the "flying course," which had been erected to promote our healthful exercise. Sometimes we ordered ladders to be placed by cherry trees loaded down with fruit, and spent our mornings in the branches, gathering cherries, and reading when we were tired. An easy saddle horse was placed at my sister's disposal, and we took long rides together, accompanied by the gardener or coachman, Mr. Mowatt not being fond of the exercise. We had also a commodious carriage, and a fine pair of coach horses, but May and I preferred horseback exercise; driving seemed too quiet an amusement for our exuberant spirits.

From every book which I read I made extracts, and wrote down my impressions of the work. These extracts and critiques I kept in the form of a journal. During several years, this journal testified that I had. read and commented upon between ninety and one hundred volumes yearly.

Every possible means was taken to strengthen my constitution through abundance of exercise, and thus to ward off the illnesses to which I was subject. For this purpose, Mr. Mowatt. taught me the use of the gun. He was himself an admirable sportsman. I had many fears and some scruples to conquer, but after a time I took aim so accurately that I could shoot swallows on the wing. Many and many a morning, with a light, single-barrelled gun on my shoulder, dressed in half Turkish costume, and followed by our dogs, I rambled with him for miles through the woods, filling the game

bag which hung at my waist with birds of both our shooting. It now appears to me a cruel pastime, and bird lives no longer "stand within my danger." But in those days I seldom saw with my own eyes, or judged with my own judgment.

The first real sorrow I ever knew fell upon my heart as I stood beside the death bed of our mother. She was summoned away within a year after my marriage. For a time it seemed as though all I prized on earth had gone with her. Her last hours were ever present to me the couch where she lay, surrounded by her weeping children and their father; her exquisitely chiselled features, perfect in their beauty, becoming more and more marble-like as her breath grew fainter; her transparent hands, that lay passively in ours; her glazing eyes, which, just as she breathed her last, beamed with a sudden look of intelligence that fell upon her youngest child, our little Julia; and the seraphie smile that settled upon her countenance when the last pang was over, and the angels bore her spirit away, sleeping or waking, these were ever before my eyes! My pen lingers while I write of her, but what she was no pen can truly describe a being indeed,

"All dipped

In angel instincts, breathing paradise.

Happy he

With such a mother; faith in womankind

Beats with his blood, and trust in all things high
Comes easy to him."

We gave to our place the name of Melrose; not from any likeness that it bore to Melrose Abbey, but on account of the abundance of roses, of every description, that filled our greenhouses and were scattered over the grounds.

There was an Episcopal church in the village, which we attended, and May and I contributed our services as Sunday school teachers. In our little classes we took the deepest interest. Then there were two fairs, for the benefit of this church, held upon the magnificent grounds of Mr. C—n. My sisters presided at a table filled with our own work. Little Julia sold flowers and recited poems-I was constituted a fortune teller. They erected for me a bower formed of branches of evergreens. Over the entrance, in letters made of flowers, were the words, "Temple of Fate." Within was a large wheel, of blue and gold, covered with numbers. Beside the wheel, somewhat fantastically dressed, I stood, with a golden wand in one hand and the "Book of Fate" in the other. I had written the fortunes in verse, and adapted them to the histories of certain persons, who, I was sure, would be present. By pressing the wand skilfully upon the wheel, as it turned, I could stop it at what number I pleased; and thus I created great amusement by the "happy hits" directed at those who sought to learn their destiny. The "Temple of Fate" proved highly productive to the interests of the church.

My fondness for rhyming continued undiminished. I was tired of fugitive pieces, and determined to write a poem of some length. What subject should I choose? I was reading with great avidity Schlegel's "Lectures on Literature." Schlegel remarks that "Poetry's original end and highest grade he believes to be epic" - I would write an epic poem! I chose a subject from Spanish history, and was soon thoroughly engrossed with my new, and to me delightful, occupation. In the evenings, I amused myself by reading aloud to Mr.