"God bless you, Emily," said the stranger ; —“ I dare not see Mrs. Sommers; tell her of my departure, but tell her, that ere autumn has faded into winter, I shall again be here. Farewell! dearest! farewell!" She felt upon her cheek a hot and hurried kiss, and, when she ventured to look round, he was gone.

Henry arrived next day, but there was a gloom upon the spirits of both mother and daughter, which it took some time to dispel. Mrs. Sommers felt for Emily more than for herself. She now perceived that her child's future happiness depended more upon the honour of the stranger than she had hitherto been aware, and she trembled to think of the probability that, in the busy world, he might soon forget the very existence of such a place as Hodnet, or any of its inhabitants. Emily entertained better hopes; but they were the result probably of the sanguine and unsuspicious temperament of youth. Her cousin, meanwhile, exerted himself to the utmost to render himself agreeable. He was a young, frank, handsome soldier, who had leapt into the middle of many a lady's heart, red coat, sword, epaulette, belt, cocked hat, feathers, and all. But he was not destined to leap into Emily's. She had enclosed it within too strong a line of circumvallation. After a three month's siege, it was pronounced impregnable. So Henry, who really loved his

cousin next to his king and country, thinking it folly to endanger his peace and waste his time any longer, called for his horse one morning, shook Emily warmly by the hand, then mounted "and rode away."

Autumn came; the leaves grew red, brown, and purple; then dropped from the high branches, and lay nestling in heaps upon the path below. The last roses withered. The last lingering wain conveyed from the fields their golden treasure. The days were bright, clear, calm, and chill; the nights were full of stars and dew, and the dew, ere morning, was changed into silver hoar frost. The robin hopped across the garden walks; and candles were set upon the table before the tea-urn. But the stranger came not. Darker days, and longer nights succeeded. Winter burst upon the earth. Storms went careering through the firmament; the forests were stripped of their foliage, and the fields had lost their verdure. But still the stranger came not. Then the lustre of Emily's eye grew dim; but yet she smiled, and looked as if she would have made herself believe that there was hope.

And so there was; for the mail once more stopped at the Blue Boar; a gentleman wrapped in a travelling cloak once more came out of it; and Mr. Gilbert Cherryripe once more poked the fire for him in his best parlour. Burleigh did come back.

I shall not describe their meeting; nor enquire whether Emily's eye was long without its lustre. But there was still another trial: would

she marry him? "My family," said he, "is respectable, and as it is not wealth we seek, I have an independence at least equal I should hope to our wishes; but any thing else which you may think mysterious about me, I cannot unravel until you are indissolubly mine." It was a point of no slight difficulty; Emily intrusted its decision entirely to her mother. Her mother saw that the stranger was inflexible in his purpose; and she saw also that her child's happiness was inextricably linked with him. What could she do? It would have been better perhaps had she never known him; but knowing him, and thinking of him as she did, there was but one alternative, the risk must be run.

It was run. They were married in Hodnet, and immediately after the ceremony they stepped into a carriage and drove away nobody knew whither. We must not infringe upon the sacred happiness of such a ride upon such an occasion, by allowing our profane thoughts to dwell upon it. It is enough for us to mention that towards twilight they came in sight of a magnificent Gothic mansion, situated in the midst of extensive and noble parks. Emily expressed her admiration of its appearance, and her young husband, gazing

upon her, with impassioned delight, exclaimedEmily, it is thine! My mind was embued with erroneous impressions of women. I had been courted and deceived by them. I believed that their affections were to be won only by flattering their vanity, or dazzling their ambition. I was resolved that unless I were loved for myself, I should never be loved at all. I travelled through the country incognito. I came to Hodnet, and saw you. I have tried you in every way, and found you true. It was I and not my fortune that you married; but both are thine. We are now stopping at Burleigh House; your husband is Frederick Augustus Burleigh, Earl of Exeter, and you, my Emily, are his Countess !"

It was a moment of ecstasy, for the securing of which it was worth while creating the world, and all its other inhabitants.

MONSTERS NOT MENTIONED BY

LINNÆUS.

"Now, by two-headed Janus!

Nature hath formed strange fellows in her time."

SHAKESPEARE.

FOR a succession of ages, naturalists have endeavoured to inculcate the opinion, that wild beasts are to be found only among the brute creation; but in spite of their arguments, the melancholy fact has been clearly established, that many monsters, besides those which usually haunt dens and caves, go loose in society under false pretences, deluding that public upon whom they prey into a belief of their humanity and harmlessness. We propose stirring a few of these up with the long pole of our ingenuity; and, on the old principle of place aux dames, we shall begin with a monster of the feminine gender, or of what is commonly called the softer sex :

THE FASHIONABLE-MATRON-MONSTER, -is a very formidable and imposing animal. Her