the money which the sale of the house would bring; but I declined,
saying that, as she had given me a good education, I was amply able to
support myself, so long as I was blessed with health. My mother assented
to the arrangement, saying that I could draw money from the deposit
should I ever have occasion so to do.

We remained for two months in our lonely home, after the death of my
mother; at the end of which time the new owner took possession of the
dwelling. Aunt Patience had decided upon going to reside with a relative
who lived in Massachusetts, and the interest of the money, deposited for
her use, was to be regularly remitted to her. We disposed of the
furniture, with the exception of a few cherished articles, which I
reserved for myself; these the purchaser kindly allowed me to leave in
one of the upper rooms till I might wish to remove them. The same day
that Aunt Patience set out on her journey to Massachusetts, I returned
to Mrs. Leighton.




CHAPTER IX.

FRIENDLY ATTENTIONS.


It was well for me that my mind was actively employed; had it been
otherwise I should have continually brooded over my sorrows. As it was,
when engaged with my duties in the school-room, my thoughts would wander
to those two graves in the church-yard, and my tears would fall upon the
book from which I was listening to a recitation from my pupils.