An Old, Old Story.

AN OLD , OLD STORY .

CHAPTER II . AVas rosig einst das Leben ausgebreitet Zesflosseu ist ' s v , ie nebel voTtan B \ ick , 1 st alles denu so schnell so schuell engleitet . Bleib von dem bimtern Schmelze nichts zuvuck ? TON ZKDLITZ .

WE left the interesting group I partially attempted to pourtray in the last chapter sitting calmly and comfortably , as they say in Germany , " unter den Linden , " but I feel it to be my bounden duty as a worthy chronicler to fill up now more in detail the outline already roughly sketched with a

rapid pencil , and , like a skilful limner , to add a little colouring to the foreground and background , the sky and clouds , and figures themselves . The elderly lady , then , my readers should knowwas aunt to the fascinating

, young woman Avho formed so conspicuous an object in the " tableau vivant , and rejoiced , as we shall remember , in the pleasant name of Margaret Margerison . Miss Margerison was a good old maid of a byegone school , and retained even to the last

some of the peculiarities , and a great deal of the not disagreeable dialect of her distant but not unforgotten fatherland . Some people affect to dislike the Scotch accent , as they do the bagpipes , and other institutions across the border , but I confess , from old Scotch connexions , to have a great liking for the habits and the vernacular of North Britain . No one who

has ever sojourned for a longer or a shorter time Avithin its pleasant and hospitable boundaries , but must retain a genuine sympathy for Scotland and Scotch people , a vivid "souvenir" of sincere kindness

and unfailing "bonhomie . ' Miss Margerison , Avhen our day opens , ivas no longer young . The census returns Avould probably declare that she Avas fiftysix ; and in this case that valuable record of the real age of the British female would be perfectly correct , for she prided herself

on one great and special characteristicrigid adherence to truth . Brought up as a strict and devoted member of the Scottish Episcopal Church , she Avas a truly religious and high-minded Avoman trained in those precise habits of thought and speech which distinguished many of those Scotchmen aud

Scotchwomen of an older generation , Avhua many of us still affectionately remember . She was somewhat inclined to be hasty and suspicious of others , a little fond of doomatizing and "testifying , " ( as other Scotchmen and Scotchwomen have been and are still ) apt to thinkmoreoverthat

, , , the duty of the young Avas quietly to obey , and the privilege of the elder to comman d and that there was considerable laxity in this respect at any rate in the present age . AVarm-hearted , kind to the poor , a fast friend , and a good haterMargaret

Mar-, gerison , with a large fortune , which had been mainly left to her by her brother , the Indian judge , had so far escaped the drawbacks or delights , as you like to consider them , of matrimony , as to " wander on

alone" thus far , and to remain , as some one has said , " singularly single . " She was , however , a very useful member of the community , and a very agreeable portion of society ; and I have often noticed through life hoAv , despite all our

prejudices and all our persiflage , old maids often are some of the kindliest and most pleasant of companions you can anywhere stumble upon , the truest friends , and the most disinterested advisers . She had no doubt her foibles and her

infirmities , who has not 1 but I cannot help thinking and believing that before we bid her farewell , you and 1 , kind readers , Avill equally admire her genuine character , and be quite ready to make acquaintance Avith her .

Her niece , Miss Lucy Longhurst , already alluded to , Avas the only daughter of Miss Margerison ' s sister , Mrs . Longhurst , Avho married at an early age , a good deal against her friends' inclination , an officer in tlie army—Captain Longhurst—and had died in India , leaving her irreconciliable

husband a lonely widower , Avith the interesting littlo Lucy , As he succumbed soon after to an attack of Jungle fever , the little orphan , then a pretty prattling child of five , Avas sent home Avith an Ayah to the care and guardianship of her aunt , Miss Margerison . And Avell and dul y had she cared for her little Avard . The most affectionate and devoted of mothers could not have

more conscientiously watched over the lifeprogress of the fair and promising child . And UOAV she had grownup—after many years of care and love—and did full justice