heart was still her rival's. Her name, it was true, was never mentioned by either. But once when he was told that her projected marriage with the English nobleman had been suddenly and unaccountably broken off, and that her father had left home immediately after, without telling whither he was going, or giving any intimation of his intention, further than a muttered hint that he would never return. M.Naghten turned deadly pale, and returned to his own apartment, and when alarmed at his long absence, Julia followed him thither, she found him seated at a table with his head buried in his hands, and when she moved him from his apparent stupor, his flushed countenance and streaming eyes bore witness to the conflict that had been carried on within his soul. From that hour he was still more gloomy and reserved. Some symptoms of insurrection in the surrounding district, rendered it necessary to call out the Antrim regiment of Militia M'Naghten accepted a commission. The regiment was ordered to relieve the garrison of Derry. Julia accompanied him thither, and in a beautiful and romantic cottage, upon the banks of the Foyle, which M'Naghten had chosen as her residence and his own, as far as his military duties would permit, they vainly hoped that they might find that peace of mind, which guilt had banished for ever from their bosoms. 'Twas in this cottage, in melancholy and loneliness that we left Julia, when we broke off the course of our narrative to revert to these dark details. M'Naghten had gone; as the ball to which he hastened, was one given by the garrison, he felt it his duty to be there; and much as his softer feelings struggled with the sterner dictates of his soul, he was too proud to neglect the smallest punctilio that concerned his military character. He had gone, and Julia was left to her own solitary meditations, and as she sat with only the flickering light afforded by the fire, the visions of her early days rose in upbraiding and thrilling distinctness to her view. She mused upon the time when free and happy, because innocent and guileless, she had known the sweet enjoyments of a domestic circle and a fire-side, and she thought of the evenings that then used to glide softly and rapidly away when mirth and endearment and sisterly affection shed a sacred charm upon their little meeting at the home of her youth. And her mother too, she fancied she could once more behold her seated in her arm-chair, as she gazed with the mild joy of affectionate pride upon her children-her aged eye now beaming with a parent's fond delight, and now her wrinkled hands clasped in the invocation of a blessing. But now her fire-side was lonely-there was no sister or no mother to share her grief or participate in her gladness. No, her heart knew its own bitterness, and there was neither stranger or friend to intermeddle with either its sorrow or its joy. Even he for whom she had given up her innocence-her all; even he was not the companion she had expected. She knew that his heart was anothers, and, however pity for the victim he had ruined, might bind him still to her, she perceived that the homage he paid her, was the forced and constrained observance of duty, not the voluntary and spontaneous tribute of affection. And this is not enough to satisfy the fondness of a woman's heart. When woman loves, she loves with all her soul, and how can she receive the cold heartlessness of such a feeling as a requital for the unequivocal surrender of her affections. From these sad reflections Julia was roused by three gentle knocks at the window of the apartment in which she sat. She started from her seat, and as a gleam from the fire fell upon the casement, she recognised outside, the tall gaunt figure of mad Eleanor, as she was generally called-a strange and mysterious being, who had long been known in the northern counties of Ulster, as a person who believed that she had intercourse with the unseen world; and, by many, her pretensions to superior knowledge were recognized. She was now a wanderer and a mendicant, and no one could tell whence she had come, while her mein and language plainly told that she had seen better, far better, days. Nay, it was rumoured that she was of gentle, if not of noble blood; but this was mere conjecture, and when questioned as to her origin, she merely pointed to the east. Her whole appearance and manner were calculated to strike with awe and keep up the belief, that was generally entertained, of her supernatural powers; and now, to Julia, as she looked at her through the window, she seemed like a being not of earth. She stood in the long narrow casement and darkened the little gleam of silvery light that had been poured through it from the crescent moon the red light of the fire fell upon her grim yet fine features, and revealed the long grey locks that strayed from beneath the broad red band she had bound across her forehead; her hand was spread out upon the pane, and the lank and long fingers, and the palm, which seemed almost transparent enough to let the moon-beams pass through, and her black eye, flashing with a fire peculiarly its own ;-all conspired to add to the effect, as, in a deep sepulchral tone, she said, "In the name of God, Miss Julia, let me in." The summons was at once obeyed. Even her society was preferable to utter solitude; and besides, Julia had too much faith in the supernatural powers of mad Eleanor, to hazard her displeasure; and when she entered the room, and fixing her eye upon Julia, as if she would read the very secrets of her soul, asked in a tone of wild and impassioned earnestness, "Miss Julia, are you married?"-the poor girl felt a thrill through every nerve, and hardly could she, after a pause, even compose herself so far as to answer in the negative. Eleanor still gazed on her for a moment, as if she doubted her truth; and then, when she seemed satisfied, she raised her arm, and putting one foot forward, she wildly exclaimed, "You are not married-and long may God keep you so! but evil is nigh you, and he will want you to marry him: but, remember, Miss Julia, the curse is upon you if you do." Julia answered notshe sunk upon a seat, and listened in breathless attention, as the other thus continued: "Yes, evil is nigh you; I know it, though you do not. It is not for nothing that I wander about without a home; it is not for nothing that the storm, and the snow, and the rain, beat upon this uncovered head. I hear voices at night-when you are sleeping in a comfortable bed, its then I'm out upon the heath and the moor, and I meet with those that are walking the earth and you will have to be like me, and make the sky your covering, and the heather your bed, before you know the things that I know." The paroxysm of her phrenzy seemed to have overcome her; she became calm, and sat down opposite to Julia, upon whose calm and death-like features she still kept her eye fixed, and as she gazed, her countenance seemed to relax into an expression of pity, and she shook her head and addressed her-" Oh, how your mother would weep, if she saw you now." This was too much for Julia, she burst into tears, which not even the presence of her mysterious visitant could restrain. “ Eleanor," said she, moving her hand, "you have said enough." Enough!" interrupted the other, starting from her seat. Julia, do you want to anger me, who am your only friend? for he is not your friend who brought you away from your mother and your sisters and your home, and now leaves you all alone. Aye, and who was it told you of the oath ? But for me the curse would be upon you both." 66 "Miss The only reply that Julia made was a deep groan. Yes, you may well groan," said Eleanor; " but you should have thought of all this before you left your home. You should have thought of this when you used to walk on the summer evenings with him that belonged to another; and I told you, but you would not heed me. But I love you, Miss Julia," she cried, and she threw her bare and shrivelled arms about the neck of the weeping girl—“ and a good right I have, for when I was in the fever, and had no one belonging to me to care for me, it was you that took care of me, and brought me the medicine with your own hands, and it was only your own goodness made you care for one that is but a wanderer and pilgrim upon earth-and dry up your tears. Oh, there was a time when I little thought to see tears upon those cheeks-but dry them up, and listen to me, and I'll tell you what brought me to you to-night." "What, Eleanor," said Julia, gratified at this proof of affection even in a maniac. "It was to warn you against a marriage, because it came into my head that he would ask you to unite yourself to him; but, oh! never consent. And I am now going to tell you all about the oath, and may God forgive me if I am wrong, but when you hear it all, you never will marry him; and it is a pity, my poor innocent, that you should not know what you will bring upon yourself if you break it.” Of this mysterious oath Julia had never heard, either from M'Naghten or Eleanor, unless in unconnected allusions. She knew that M'Naghten was bound by a solemn vow never to wed any but Margaret, but further than this she never had been informed. Fre quently had she pressed both, particularly the latter, to communicate its details, but hitherto her most urgent entreaties had availed nothing. Both had preserved an inviolable silence; and now, when she was about to hear, perhaps, the worst her fears had realized, she was wound up to the highest pitch of excitement-but it was such an excitement as the traveller feels when he approaches to touch the sprite that has scared him, when, despite the resolution he has summoned, every nerve vibrates as his trembling hand scarce has steadiness to make the trial, that is to prove the reality, or demonstrate the groundlessness, of his fears. Eleanor resumed the seat which she had left; she folded her arms across her breast; the wildness of her eye settled down into a calm but painful expression of intense, though quiet, feeling, and she thus began her narrative: “Miss Julia,” said she, “it was in the autumn, just this very time two years-I remember it well, for oh! I can never forget it; and often when I'm out wandering alone, and every thing seems twisting about in my brain, then it comes into my head like some dream—I had gone, in my wanderings, down to the shores of Lough Swilly, and I was walking all alone by the sea side, and I was watching the waves as they were washing the little pebbles upon the beach, and I was reading what was written upon the sands-for to those that know how to decypher them, the wild billows write upon the rocks and sands the characters of destinybut while I was thus looking on the dark sea, I saw your own Edward walking towards me, and there was a tall and beautiful lady leaning on his arm. She had taken off her bonnet, and was carrying it carelessly in her hand, and her black hair was curled about her neck, and it was streaming behind in the sea breeze, and he had roses in his hand, and he was fastening them one by one in her beautiful curls, and she was smiling, and they both looked so happy you would have thought that grief or sorrow never would come near them; and she was stepping proudly, and yet so lightly that her traces were scarce marked in the soft sand. I had never seen her before, but oh! she was a lovely creature, and the blush upon her cheek was almost as red as the rose that was hanging down over her forehead. And when he saw me, he started as if he was surprised, and he whispered something in her ear, and then they both looked at me and came over to me, and he spoke to me kindly---for you know he was always kind to me--and he asked me what brought me there. He wondered to see me so far away, but why does he not ask the mountain breeze, why it is upon every mountain where he goes? for we are not like other people-but no matter. At last I told them that I was reading the secrets of the future, and the lady asked me if I had read any thing about her; and her voice sounded to my ear like some sweet and gentle music, and when I looked up in her face, and saw her bright and sparkling eyes, and the roses decking her hair, oh! my heart bled for herfor she seemed like some innocent lamb dressed out for the sacrifice-and I thought it would be a pity to make her happiness vanish before the appointed day; for misfortune is always time enough when it comes, and I would not answer her question; but she pressed me, and then I felt as if there was a power on me to make me speak, and I looked towards the sun, and it was sloping down in the west, and it was looking red through the haze of the evening, and I pointed to it, and I cried, oh, there is blood! blood!! blood!!! And they both turned pale, and she grasped my hand and asked me what I meant; but I would not answer any more, until again I felt as if there was some strange spirit in my breast, for it went against my heart to mar their innocent rejoicings-but it was not I that did it; for there are times when there is a something within me, which is not a part of myself-but I told them that I had seen the lamb in spring frisking gaily in the meadow, and thinking of no danger, just at the very moment the eagle was pouncing on it and about to bear it away; and I told them I had seen the tree that blossomed all fairly and fragrantly bear the deadly poison-berries in its fruits. And I told her, as I now tell you" and she wildly pointed to Julia-" I told her to beware of the adder that she was cherishing, for he would yet draw her heart's blood. And oh they both started, and I hardly knew what I had spoken: but I told them they never would be united, and that another should be his first and his last bride." "And how knew you that?" said Julia, breathless with agitation. "How knew it!" re-echoed Eleanor. "How I knew more than what is good for me!"-and as she spoke, her straining eye-balls flashed with fire. "But listen to me, and mark what I say. When I told them this, she turned deadly pale, but he put his arms about her, and he scoffed, and told her not to heed the wild prophecies of a maniac. Yes, he called me maniac; but even while he mocked, the ashy hue of fear was on his lip, and it was quivering." And here the maniac laughed loud and long at the recollection of his terror. "But oh! she bid him leave her for ever; for she knew well that I never said aught but what came to pass; and she mentioned your name-and oh! then had you seen him. He talked to her earnestly for a while in a low voice, and she poor creature, was all pale and trembling, but at last he put her arm in his, and they walked on, and he waved his hand to me, and I followed them at a distance, though I knew not where he was leading me; and we left the sea side, and went up a long and lonely path through a wood, and we came at last to a lake behind a high hill, with trees all round, and in the bottom of a deep glen; and by this time the daylight was nearly gone; there was only a misty light from the moon, amid the dusky gloom of the evening, and I could see the shadows of the trees and hills and sky in the smooth lake, and in one corner there was a high rock and under it there was a hawthorn tree, for me. I saw its red berries by the dim light there was, and there were three flat stones, two of them set upon their ends and the other put across themit was an altar in the days that were long ago and then he knelt down upon the cold and grey stone, and he beckoned me to approach, and I went near, and he said, Old woman, hear You have prophesied of my infidelity'-and he caught the lady's hand and pressed it to his lips; and oh it looked white as snow, even in that glimmering light; and then he looked along the glen, and he bowed down and he kissed the altar, and he swore by the God that had made him, that he never would wed another: and he called on the spirits of them that had worshipped on that altar of stone to be witnesses to his oath-and when I looked over the lake, there were in the glen the grey forms of hoary-headed old men. I saw them, though they could not-for it is not to every eye that spirits show themselves. And again I spoke, and I told him that he would break that oath, and that a curse would be upon her that would make him break it, and he lifted up his hand toward heaven, and he said loudly and solemnly, amen; and he prayed that the marriage bed might be her winding sheet, and he be left all blighted and alone; and just as he spoke the moon shone brighter through the mist, and the lady that was with him looked up towards it, and her face was as pale as the ray that fell on it, all cold and lifeless, like marble. But there stood close behind her, just in the same soft light, the Banshee,* all in her white robes, loosely fluttering about her; and she held up one hand, and it was all covered over with thick, brown, and shaggy hairs, but her face was as soft and beautiful as an angel's, and I thought she was pitying them both; so I looked for a minute away, and when I turned round again she was gone, and the moon was hid behind a white cloud that was sailing very high in the heav The belief in those apparitions known by the name of "Banshee," is still very prevalent in many parts of Ireland. The Banshee is a spirit, generally in the form of a woman, whose business it is to attend upon some few old Irish and Scotch families, and give notice, by her appearance, of the near approach of any calamity. The Banshee said to attend on the family of the M Naghtens is just such as she is described above. She is known in the annals of Demonology, by the name of " the girl with the hairy left hand." ens. Just then a water-hen started from the brink, and made a loud noise with the fluttering of her wings in the sedge the sound startled him, and he rose from his knees and embraced the lady, and I could see him put on her hand a sparkling ring, and then they walked together down the glen, and I followed them; and as they went, too magpies flew past them and perched upon a rock that was beside their path, and he smiled, and said gaily, Margaret, that is the emblem of a marriage.' But I knew better-it was the emblem of death. But on we walked, until we came again to the sea side, and there was a boat waiting for them, and they wanted me to go home with them, but I would not; and then they got into the boat and the boatman pushed off from the shore, and I stood for a while upon the cliff watching them as they went over the waves in the path of the moonbeams, and I listened to the measured sound of the oars until they had turned a point, and I could see them no more." During this recital Eleanor had preserved a degree of calmness, and had maintained a collectedness of manner, which was unusual. Julia had listened with breathless interest, and when Eleanor had ceased to speak, both parties preserved for some time a deep and unbroken silence. There are times when the intensity of feeling denies us utterance, and our lips are spell-bound, as it were, by the magic emotions of our hearts. Who has not felt at times the eloquence of silence more forcible than the strongest appeals of language? Who has not at times understood the full force of the common phrase-the heart is too full to speak? Julia's heart was now, in truth, too full to speak; and even Eleanor seemed wrapped in some strange vision of the future or the past. At last she rose, and taking Julia's hand, she said solemnly," Miss Julia, return home to your mother, for some evil is nigh you. It was only this evening that I saw the Banshee standing down by the river side, and it waved its hand to me-the hairy left hand-and when I thought I had just come up to her, she was far away from me in a moment, sitting on a rock in the middle of the river; and, believe me, some evil is nigh. But oh, above all things, do not marry him. Remember the glen, and the altar, and the oath." : Julia shuddered as she spoke. Alas! that oath had made too deep an impression on her soul, to be speedily forgotten. Her heart sunk within her, and as Eleanor left her, she felt a sense of utter loneliness and desolation which none but those who have experienced it can understand. Oh, may none of my readers ever know this feeling of which I speak! When the heart is weighed down by the thought that we are all alone, and that there is no one to care for us when we look fearfully and anxiously amid the gloomy night which is around us, and seek in vain for some glimmering ray, however distant and faint: but, oh! that they would think what it is when the hour of darkness and affliction is come, to have no heavenly friend to look up to as a comfort and a guide. When we have departed from the paths of virtue and of peace, and find ourselves forsaken by man, while to God we are afraid to look, then is our destitution complete, and our loneliness is utter solitude. When there is neither hope in heaven, or consolation upon earth, when, in the words of the sacred writer," If one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof." Ah! how fatally, how surely does guilt destroy that tranquillity of mind which is the best boon that heaven can bestow upon poor perishing mortals. Innocence and peace are twin-sisters in the soul, and when the one is gone the other does not long survive in loneliness, but pines and dies. Heart's ease This omen is differently interpreted in different parts of Scotland. Two magpies crossing the path, or seated on a dwelling-house, in some districts infallibly predict death-in others, are a certain harbinger of a wedding. In the province of Ulster, the superstitions of which are almost entirely of Scottish origin, both interpretations are received; and the appearance of these two birds, according to the temper of the interpreter, or, probably, according to the event, is made at one time the precursor of a marriage, at another the harbinger of a funeral. VOL. I. 2 c |