“I once had a sister, young, talented, beautiful, amiable and affectionate.  She was the pride of all our family, the idol of our souls.  She wished for an education, and we gladly granted her request.  In our zeal to serve her, we resolved to give her the very best advantages, and so we sent her to a Romish school.  It was a seminary for young ladies taught by nuns, and was the most popular one in that part of the country.  My father, like many other parents who knew such establishments only by report, had not the least idea of its true character.  But deluded by the supposed sanctity of the place, he was happy in the thought that he had left his darling where it was said that ‘science and religion go hand in hand.’  For a season, all went on well.  She wrote to us that she was pleased with the school, and wished to remain.  We thought her hand writing wonderfully improved, and eagerly looked forward to the time when she would return to us a finished scholar, as well as an accomplished lady.  But those pleasant prospects were soon overcast.  Too soon, our happy, bounding hearts were hushed by unspeakable grief, and our brilliant anticipations were dissipated in the chamber of death.  In their place came those solemn realities, the shroud, the coffin, the hearse and the tomb.”

“Did she die?” I asked.  “Yes,” replied the lady, as she wiped away the fast flowing tears; “Yes, she died.  I believe she was poisoned, but we could do nothing; we had no proof.  She had been long at school before we suspected the deception that was practised upon us.  But at length I went with my other sister to see her, and the Superior informed us that she was ill, and could not see us.  We proposed going to her room, but to our great surprise were assured that such a thing could not be allowed.  We left with sad hearts, and soon called again.  I cannot describe my feelings when we were coldly informed that she did not wish to see us.  What could it mean?  Surely something must be wrong; and we left with terrible presentiments of coming evil.  It came.  Yes, too soon were our worst fears realized.  I called one day resolved to see her before I left the house.  Conceive, if you can, my surprise and horror, when they told me that my beautiful, idolized sister had resolved to become a nun.  That she had already renounced the world, and would hold no further communication with her relatives.  “Why did I not know this before?  I exclaimed.”  “You know it now,” was the cold reply.  I did not believe a word of it, and when I told my father what they said, he went to them, and resolutely demanded his child.  At first they refused to give her up, but when they saw that his high spirit was aroused—­that he would not be flattered or deceived, they reluctantly yielded to his demand.”

CHAPTER XIII.

Landlady’s story continued.