taken two of your favourite plants home to nurse for you."
"If I were to make a will, I would leave William all my plants; Shirley my trinkets—except one, which must not be taken off my neck; and you, ma'am, my books." (After a pause.) "Mrs. Pryor, I feel a longing wish for something."
"For what, Caroline?"
"You know I always delight to hear you sing: sing me a hymn just now: sing that hymn which begins,—
'Our God, our help in ages past,—
Our hope for years to come;
Our shelter from the stormy blast;
Our refuge, haven, home!'"
Mrs. Pryor at once complied.
No wonder Caroline liked to hear her sing: her voice, even in speaking, was sweet and silver-clear; in song, it was almost divine: neither flute nor dulcimer has tones so pure. But the tone was secondary compared to the expression which trembled through: a tender vibration from a feeling heart.
The servants in the kitchen, hearing the strain, stole to the stair-foot to listen: even old Helstone as he walked in the garden, pondering over the unaccountable and feeble nature of women, stood still amongst his borders to catch the mournful melody more distinctly. Why it reminded him of his forgotten dead wife, he could not tell; nor why it made him more concerned than he had hitherto been for Caroline's fading girlhood. He was glad to
