“Is my destiny then so sad;—is there nothing brighter in store for me;—are none of my fair visions to be realized?” said she, pensively.
I placed but little reliance on what she said, considering it the mummery and trick of her trade; but Blanche, although she had expressed incredulity on the subject of fortune-telling, for the moment seemed saddened by the prophecy. Wishing to divert her mind from the subject, I began talking to the old woman.
“Have you lived here long, mother?”
“Eighteen summers have been and gone since I first came here.”
“You have seen, then, many changes in the city during that time.”
“Yes, many have been born, and many have died since eighteen years ago.”
“And do you like to live in this old damp cavern? could you not find a better home?”
“No; I desire no better home than a cave among the rocks nature made, and it is not for me or any other mortal to disdain her works. I have been as happy here as I should have been in a fine house.”
“Have you many visiters?”