She received not the summons—she was far distant when the letter was sent for her to the mountains. She received it not till noon; and the bard's last hour was at hand.
Miss Lauriana St. Clare then addressed her—"If any feeling of mercy yet warms your stubborn heart, come home to us and see your father, ere he breathe his last. 'Tis a fearful sight to see him: he raves for you, and calls you his darling and his favourite—his lost lamb, who has strayed from the flock, but was dearer than all the rest. Miss Elinor, I have little hopes of stirring your compassion; for in the days of babyhood you were hard and unyielding, taking your own way, and disdaining the counsel of such as were older and wiser than you. Go too, child; you have played the wanton with your fortune, and the hour of shame approaches."
Miss St. Clare heard not the summons—upon her horse she rode swiftly over
