his adopted sister. The day chanced to be one of those on which she had to perform a poojah of such strict austerity, that it required an absolute seclusion from all society. She had, however, commissioned Bewa to assure him of her warm wishes for his happiness, and to present him in her name with a few flowers, which the fanciful imagination of the Hindus had severally dedicated to hope, to joy, and to love. He was much affected at this simple offering, and Clara declared her positive determination to steal her away from Edgar's mother on their return from their projected excursion up the Ganges.

For this excursion, Edgar had prepared a handsome and commodious budgerow; and his manjee was eminent for his skill in the ever-varying navigation of the river. The morning was delightful, and as the streamers fluttered gaily in the sunbeam, and a light breeze impelled the vessel gracefully along the yielding wave, and our hero sat with his lovely bride in the veranda, pointing out the beautiful varieties of the Bengal scenery, as the highly-cultivated

rice-fields, the luxuriant foliage of the guavas, chultras, and pumelrosas, and the fine planta

tions of lassa and tatoon, the pagodas, sometimes half-buried in the sacred groves, and at others discovering all their fanciful and often elegant architecture, as the graceful bendings of the river disclosed them in pleasing successionthe noble buildings with which opulent Europeans had adorned the banks, and the humbler but not less interesting cottages of the Hindus, their white wicker-work and cane verandas peeping from beneath the clustering boughs of the gourds and creepers which embosomed them, while the broad-leaved plantain hung over the whole like a protecting genius,-as Edgar's eye wandered over this scene of richness, plenty, and varied beauty, and listened to the joyous song of the minas and kokiclas, as they sported from tree to tree, and the yet sweeter music of the voice of her who sat beside him, what could he do but open the flood-gates of his heart to the full tide of happiness that was eager to flow in, and be astonished at seeing

the turrets of Chandernagore, full five hours' sail from Barrackpore, before he thought that his delicious day-dream had lasted longer than half-an-hour?

CHAPTER XV.

"There have been times when I have said light words,
As maidens use, which made thy kind heart bleed;
There have been moments when I have seen thee sad,
And I have cruelly sported with thy sadness.
Forgive me, oh! forgive me, for I deemed

The hour would surely come, when the fond bride
Might well repay the maiden's waywardness."

MILMAN.

THE passage up the Ganges is proverbially difficult. The soft sands which form the bed of the river are continually changing their positions from the violence of the current; and the drifting of these masses is sometimes so rapid, that even a few months will materially

alter the navigation. Edgar's manjee was, however, not only experienced, but cautious; the breezes were light and favourable, and even the timidity of Clara was at last forgotten in the delights of the always varying, yet always beautiful scenery which surrounded them, and the society of him whose fate was now bound up with hers. Standing on the deck of the little vessel, she listened half laughingly, half serious, while her husband pointed out the tranquil beauty of the setting sun, as he took his last kiss of the Rajmahal hills, tinging their lofty summits with a flood of golden light, and prophesied that such should be the evening of their own lives. Her beautiful eye rested upon the speaker, with a glance of virtuous fondness, which needed no words to interpret it; she drew closer to his side, found her arm linked in his by an almost instinctive movement, and each looked in the face of the other with a fulness of tranquil happiness which seemed incapable of receiving any earthly addition. But it was scarcely a moment before the delicious reverie was broken by an arch smile that played round