Oh! what an uproar then followed; all the persons which were gathered together in the house, began to scatter themselves, in all directions, seeking the child, and calling upon her. The alarm spread presently, from the great house, down to the meanest cottage in the village; and such a scene of noise and confusion followed, as you can have no idea of, unless you had seen it. Some persons got long poles and nets, to examine the tank in the garden, and also a little pond, in a field, at some distance from the house. At length, Louis found an artificial rose on the terrace, in the very place where Adelaide had stood, when she was seized by the gipsies, and which had fallen from her head in the struggle; and then he remembered, for the first time, that Adelaide had stood in that place to see the little gipsy dance; and he ran instantly, to shew the rose to his papa, and to tell him what had happened respecting the gipsy.

"And I saw Adelaide go out to-night, papa," he said, "with all her fine things on !-Is it not possible that the gipsies may have stolen her?"

Adelaide's papa was almost too much agitated to be able to pay any heed to what Louis said; but some gentlemen who were present, thought that this hint was very well worth attention; and they immediately ordered their horses to be got ready, and, with their servants, and some arms, went out into the forest, to seek for the unhappy child, in the usual haunts of the gipsies. Louis begged leave to go with them; and his papa having satisfied himself of what he most dreaded, namely, that the poor child had not fallen into the tank in the garden, also joined the party as soon as his horse could be made ready.

It was nine o'clock, or more, before the gentlemen had thought of seeking Adelaide in the forest, and by that time, all the villagers were roused and gathered about the house; and when many of these heard what

was suspected, namely, that Adelaide had been stolen by the gipsies, they divided into small bands, and went in various directions of the wood, examining every dark corner among the trees; but, in the meantime, the thieves had made off with the things of which they had stripped the poor child; and, I dare say, it was many years after that, before they ventured into those woods again.

The gipsy woman had not run more than a mile with Adelaide; therefore, the poor child was not distant more than one mile from her home, when she had been left by the gipsies; but that she did not know; and yet it was several hours before the persons who had gone out into the wood, arrived at the place where the little girl was.

The grey morning was beginning to break, when a young countryman, carrying a long pole in his hand, said to Louis, who had got off his horse to follow him into the thickets," There is a place hereabouts, Monsieur, where there is an hermitage, and a deep cave; the place has no good name, for they say, bad deeds have been done in it; but it is much haunted by the gipsies, and if you are willing to go with me, we will examine it. May-hap we might see some traces of these people, and be able to guess in what direction they went off; for it is certain they were in the wood a few days since, and almost as certain that they are not here now."

Louis agreed at once to go wherever the countryman would lead him; and, in consequence, after having made their way through briers and brambles, and a thousand difficulties, they at length arrived at the place where poor Adelaide, worn out with cold, and terror, and shame, had fallen, all her length, on the damp ground, and lay neither in a swoon, or asleep, but quite stupid and numbed with cold.

The countryman saw her first, and shouted to

Louis, who was behind him; and the next moment, that kind brother was down on his knees by his dear sister, kissing her, and calling upon her to open her eyes, and know her friends, and be comforted.

But the peasant said, "It is no use talking to her now, Monsieur; she can not understand you, or attend to you. Poor little lady, she is almost dead with cold and fright, and those wild thieves have robbed her of all her bravery; her own bed, and her mother's arms, must be her comforters now." So saying, he lifted her up, and soon carried her back to her father's house, where her mother wept with joy to receive her again, though she had lost all her gay ornaments: and when her father and the gentlemen were returning, in despair, from the forest, they were greeted by a joyful messenger, who told them that the child was found.

When Adelaide had been clothed in dry linen, laid in a warm bed, and made to drink some warmed wine and spice, she was able to embrace her friends: and it was then that she confessed her heavy fault of disobedience, which had brought on this severe punishment; and I am happy to add, that she was never again guilty of an offence of this kind, but grew up to be a blessing to her family: for when she was about fourteen years of age, she met with a copy of the Holy Bible, which proved the means of turning her heart from the Roman Catholic religion;--and as, by the divine blessing, the Holy Scriptures had been the means of turning her heart, so, by the same blessing, she was made use of by her heavenly Father to direct the hearts of her parents, and of her dear brother, to that true religion which ensures the Happiness of all those who delight in it.

THE VIOLET LEAF.

PREFACE.

How often does it happen, that when there are several brothers and sisters living together in one family, they take little delight in making each other happy; and sometimes it is enough for one brother to like an amusement, or to enjoy a little scheme, in order to set another brother against it; and it is the same with sisters, if one loves a doll, another will say, I hate dolls; if one likes a garden, and delights in flowers, another will shew that she despises them; and so on, perhaps, through all the days of their early years, till they grow up, and parents die, and children are parted, and troubles come, and the hours of childhood are passed away, never to return; and then when a dear brother or sweet sister is laid in the cold grave, then comes the sad, sad thought-Oh! had I been kinder to them, when yet we were little chil dren, living in our father's house.

My little reader, think of The Violet Leaf, whenever you feel inclined to be unkind to a companion; think what poor Rosamond felt, when she found

that faded leaf; and let it be your constant prayer, that the Holy Spirit may lead you so to behave to your young companions, that should they be shortly laid in their graves, you may not have to cry,-Oh! that I had been more kind to them whilst they yet lived with me.

WHOEVER looks back on his younger years, must observe that certain passages of those periods have left indelible impressions on his mind, whilst other transactions of his infancy, which at first sight might have appeared of more importance, have passed away into oblivion as figures traced upon the sand.

Who is there amongst my readers who will not carry to his dying hour, the memory of some peculiar act of kindness; of some word of love; of some precept sweetly insinuated, which seems to stand out, as it were, in high relief, among thousands of others, shewn through the years of infancy by the friends of those early days, which are now wholly passed away from the mind.

I once knew an orphan child, who traced all her religious feelings through after life to a walk taken in India, on a star-light night, with her adopted mother, at which period that tender parent had taken occasion to lead her mind to the goodness and power of God, by explaining to her the nature of the glori ous heavenly bodies, scattered over the azure vault extended above her head. This lady had given her little adopted one a thousand other lessons upon the same important subjects, but these had all passed away from her recollection, and this one only lesson had left its distinguished record.