she had been seen by so few--and now the bright, fresh girl was so sadly
altered! Her race was not yet run, and many a sharp wind upon the
mournful seas had the bark to brave before its haven was found at last.



CHAPTER IV.

"Patience and sorrow strove
Which should express her goodliest."--SHAKESPEARE.

"Je /la/ plains, je /la/ blame, et je suis son appui."*-VOLTAIRE.

* I pity her, I blame her, and am her support.

AND now Alice felt that she was on the wide world alone, with her
child--no longer to be protected, but to protect; and after the first
few days of agony, a new spirit, not indeed of hope, but of endurance,
passed within her. Her solitary wanderings, with God her only guide,
had tended greatly to elevate and confirm her character. She felt a
strong reliance on His mysterious mercy--she felt, too, the
responsibility of a mother. Thrown for so many months upon her own
resources, even for the bread of life, her intellect was unconsciously
sharpened, and a habit of patient fortitude had strengthened a nature
originally clinging and femininely soft. She resolved to pass into some
other county, for she could neither bear the thoughts that haunted the
neighbourhood around her, nor think, without a loathing horror, of the
possibility of her father's return. Accordingly, one day, she renewed
her wanderings--and after a week's travel, arrived at a small village.
Charity is so common in England, it so spontaneously springs up