When interrupted, as already related, by the arrival of the stranger,
Faith had endeavored, by a new expedient, to elicit some evidences of a
more just remembrance from the dull mind of her brother. Accompanied by
most of the dependants of the family, she had led him to the summit of
that hill which was now crowned with the foliage of a young and thrifty
orchard, and, placing him at the foot of the ruin, she tried to excite a
train of recollections that should lead to deeper impressions, and,
possibly, by their aid, to a discovery of the important circumstance that
all so much longed to have explained.
The experiment produced no happy result. The place, and indeed the whole
valley, had undergone so great a change, that one more liberally gifted
might have hesitated to believe them those that have been described in
our earlier pages. This rapid alteration of objects, which elsewhere know
so little change in a long course of ages, is a fact familiar to all who
reside in the newer districts of the Union. It is caused by the rapid
improvements that are made in the first stages of a settlement.
Pages:
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473