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 been so good; 'tis a favourable symptom; may the morning light witness the realization of the hopes it has inspired!"

"Heaven grant it may!" fervently rejoined Madeline. She then bade the good man farewell, and begged he would, on descending to the hall, try whether the light she had dropped was extinguished.

The moment she re-entered the dressing-room, Agatha and Floretta eagerly enquired if they were right in their conjectures. She assured them they were not, and then informed them of the cause of their alarm.—This excited little less consternation than if she had told them the armour was fallen;—so prone is superstition to dress up every circumstance in the garb of terror.

The dawn was now peeping through the shutters; the lights were therefore put out, and Agatha and Floretta then again began to slumber before the fire. They were soon, however, disturbed by a sudden gust of wind,