“Go nowhere at present.  I see nothing now; all is dark before me.  Stay beneath my roof, till light breaks.  I see that you will need a mother’s care ere long.”

Here the poor girl’s long pent up tears flowed in torrents; tears such as angels pity.  It was a long time ere she grew calm; and when peace came, it was like that of a statue, she was cold and silent.  No future stretched before her, nothing but a present, sad and hopeless, in which circumstances had placed her.

“Shall I tell you the story of my girl-life,” said the strange, weird woman, putting a fresh supply of wood upon the fire, which had fallen into embers.

Margaret’s interest manifested itself in her face, as she answered, “I would like to know if others have suffered like myself?”

“It will help you bear your own burden better, and perhaps show you that none escape the fire.  I will proceed with my narrative.”

“Many years ago, so many that it seems as though ages must have intervened, I loved a young and elegant man, who returned my affection with all the devotion which an earnest, exacting nature like mine could desire.  I was the only child of wealthy parents, who spared no pains or expense on my education.  With them I visited Europe, and while there, met this person, who seemed to be all that mortal could aspire to; refined, educated, and the possessor of a fortune.  The alliance was the consummation of my fond parents’ wishes.  I will pass over the weeks of bliss which followed our engagement, and speak of scenes fraught with the most intense excitement to myself and others.  We were at Berlin when my engagement was sanctioned by my parents.  A few weeks subsequent, there arrived at the hotel at which we were stopping, a family of most engaging manners.  We were at once attracted to them, and in a few days words of kindly greeting were exchanged, and finding them very genial, a warm friendship soon existed between us.  The family consisted of parents, three sons, and two daughters.  Laura, the eldest, was the one to whom I was particularly drawn.  She was tall, graceful, and had about her an air of elegance, which showed unmistakably, her early associations.  But to the point:  I had been walking with my lover one evening, in the summer moonlight, and had retired to my room, strangely fatigued.  I had never before parted from Milan, my betrothed, with such a lassitude as then pervaded my entire being.  I had always felt buoyant and strong.-That night, as I laid on my bed, seeking in vain the rest which sleep might give me, I seemed suddenly to float out in the air, to rise above my body, and yet I distinctly felt its pulsations.  The next moment, the sound of voices attracted me, and though I was in my room, and the persons in conversation in a distant apartment, yet I could hear every word which was uttered.  What was my horror to see, for my sight was open as strangely clear as my hearing, the beautiful Laura sitting beside Milan, his arm