no token of the terrible night he had passed. But what should he do
with Rosamond? This was the question which now perplexed him. He had
no desire to send her from him again, neither would she have gone if
he had--and he at last came to the very sensible conclusion that the
school in his own village was quite as good as any, and she
accordingly became an attendant at the Granby Female Seminary. Here
she remained for two years and a half, over which time we will pass
silently and introduce her again to our readers, when she is nearly
eighteen--a graduate---a belle--and the sunshine of Riverside.




CHAPTER V.

BROTHER AND SISTER.


During the time which had elapsed since Ben Van Vechten first made the
acquaintance of Rosamond, he had not once been to Riverside, for,
failing to enter college, and overwhelmed with mortification at his
failure, he had returned to Alabama, from which place he wrote to her
occasionally, always addressing her as a little girl, and speaking of
himself as a very ancient personage in comparison with herself. But
that Rosamond was now no longer a little girl was proved by her finely
rounded figure, her intelligent face, her polished manners and self-
reliant air. And Rosamond was beautiful, too--so beautiful that
strangers invariably asked _who_ she was, turning always for a second
look, when told she was the adopted sister or daughter--the villagers
hardly knew which--of the wealthy Mr. Browning. But whether she were