of a contemplative turn of mind, and a feeling heart; but, as we are unlearned in that fashionable science, we shall simply remark, that there was, in the mild cast of his large but sunken eye, and the deep-worn channels of his face, an expression that would lead an observer to think he had felt and suffered; that he possessed the wisdom of reflection, as well as the experience of age; and that he had been accustomed, in nature's silent and solitary places, to commune with the Author of Nature. He inhabited a tenement at some distance from the village, but within the precincts of the town. When the skill of the domestic leeches was at fault, in the case of a sick cow or a wormy child, he was called to a consultation, and the efficacy of the simples he had administered, had sometimes proved so great, as to induce a suspicion of a mysterious charm. But the superstitious belief in witches and magic has vanished with the mists of other times; and the awe of 'John of the Mountain,' as he was called, or for brevity's sake, 'John Mountain,' never outlived the period of childhood.
Jane knew John was honest and kind-hearted, and particularly well disposed to her, for he had occasionally brought her a pretty wild-flower, or an basket of berries, and then he would say, "Ah, Miss Jane, I grow old and forgetful, but the old man can't forget the kindness that's been done to him in days past; you was as gay as a lark then. My poor old bald head! it's almost as bare inside as out; but I shall never forget the time—it was a
