I thought them so similar I could not tell where the old servant

(for such I now concluded her to be) saw the difference. Both were

fair complexioned and slenderly made; both possessed faces full of

distinction and intelligence. One, to be sure, had hair a shade

darker than the other, and there was a difference in their style of

wearing it; Mary's pale brown locks were parted and braided smooth:

Diana's duskier tresses covered her neck with thick curls. The

clock struck ten.

"Ye'll want your supper, I am sure," observed Hannah; "and so will

Mr. St. John when he comes in."

And she proceeded to prepare the meal. The ladies rose; they seemed

about to withdraw to the parlour. Till this moment, I had been so

intent on watching them, their appearance and conversation had

excited in me so keen an interest, I had half-forgotten my own

wretched position: now it recurred to me. More desolate, more

desperate than ever, it seemed from contrast. And how impossible

did it appear to touch the inmates of this house with concern on my

behalf; to make them believe in the truth of my wants and woes--to

induce them to vouchsafe a rest for my wanderings! As I groped out

the door, and knocked at it hesitatingly, I felt that last idea to

be a mere chimera. Hannah opened.

"What do you want?" she inquired, in a voice of surprise, as she

surveyed me by the light of the candle she held.

"May I speak to your mistresses?" I said.

"You had better tell me what you have to say to them. Where do you

come from?"

"I am a stranger."

"What is your business here at this hour?"

"I want a night's shelter in an out-house or anywhere, and a morsel

of bread to eat."

Distrust, the very feeling I dreaded, appeared in Hannah's face.

"I'll give you a piece of bread," she said, after a pause; "but we

can't take in a vagrant to lodge. It isn't likely."

"Do let me speak to your mistresses."

"No, not I. What can they do for you? You should not be roving

about now; it looks very ill."

"But where shall I go if you drive me away? What shall I do?"

"Oh, I'll warrant you know where to go and what to do. Mind you

don't do wrong, that's all. Here is a penny; now go--"

"A penny cannot feed me, and I have no strength to go farther.

Don't shut the door:- oh, don't, for God's sake!"




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