The young man hesitated for a moment, and then said,—
"If I'd done my duty, I shouldn't have been hurt. I ought not to make her suffer for my fault. No, I'll try and do without her, though I never was sick without her being by me."
Miss Salsbury was much affected by this account, and sighed as she remembered that her pupil had, as yet, manifested no penitence. Indeed, she replied to any question that was asked her only in monosyllables, whispering that it hurt her to talk.
The physician pronounced her free from fever, and, ordering that the bandages on the arm should not be disturbed and that the patient should live on gruel for a day or two, he took his leave.
On his departure, the preceptress sat down to her desk, and wrote as follows:
"MR. SAUNDERS.
"Dear Sir:— When you confided your daughter to my care, you mentioned that she was addicted to falsehood. I, therefore, placed her in the room with my niece, and thought that if she did not receive good impressions from the influences around her, she certainly could do no harm to my other pupils; but I was mistaken. Alice, beautiful and accomplished, soon acquired an influence with her schoolmates which, I am deeply pained to tell you, she has used for evil. She has set her will in defiance of the rules of the school, and brought pain and sorrow, not only upon herself, but upon others.
"Yesterday she was thrown from a carriage while riding stealthily with a young man, a member of an academy near us. She induced the sister of this youth to be the medium of communication between them, and what was far worse, to tell repeated falsehoods when questioned on the subject.
"Your daughter was fortunate to escape with a broken arm and two broken ribs. The doctor reports her this morning as doing well; and I have provided a nurse to take the exclusive care of her.
"Under these circumstances, it is my wish that she should be removed as soon as she is able to bear the journey. I will instantly report to you if there is an unfavorable change, unless you should wish to visit your daughter immediately.
"Yours respectfully,
"M. A. SALSBURY."
[CHAPTER XVIII.]
PARTY LIES.
SIX months later, let us glance into Mr. Saunders's pleasant parlor; and we shall see whether Aunt Clarissa's prophecy—that when her nieces are older, they will be ashamed to indulge in falsehood—had been fulfilled.
The lady sits midway between the window and the cheerful fire in the grate, earnestly discussing the merits of a gentleman who, after a somewhat prolonged call, has just taken his departure.