the brave old admiral-and many of the leaders were assassinated. Even then the persecution stayed not. Some were tracked to the hilly fastnesses, to which they had fled for refuge, and there met the fate they had escaped during the three terrible days of August. Others were taken, lurking about the places where their friends had died, and did not long survive them; but their lot was the hardest who were blockaded in the towns still belong, ing to their party. Wherever they turned, death threatened them; within, by famine; without, by the sword. But man. fully they held out, expecting their deliverance.

During the two days which followed that of St. Bartholomew, Huéline had remained unmolested in the Hôtel de Valancourt; for the dilapidated house gave little expectation of plunder, and the lifeless forms of Pierre Duchesne, and of those to whom his pastoral care had been extended to the last, were proof that the work of extermination had been carried on there. In the transient breathing time which followed, she took up her abode in Rochelle, where in the exercise of charity towards many in the like affliction, she thought to pass a tranquil but sorrowful existence.

This was denied to her. The town was attacked by the Duke of Anjou, and the miserable inhabitants endured all the calamities of a protracted siege; but when hope was gone, when their only choice was between captivity or starvation, the duke was called away to accept the crown of Poland, to which he had been elected; and, July 6, 1673, peace was again concluded, on terms so far favourable to the Huguenots, that they were permitted to follow the dictates of their own consciences; and the reformed religion was openly and safely professed in many parts of the kingdom.

Time passed on, bringing many changes. The weak and wicked Charles the Ninth had departed to a fearful reckoning, to give an account of power misused and of crime committed; and now his brother, Henry the Third, was at the point of death, struck by the dastard hand of the canonised assassin, Jacques Clement. Those who had stood between the Navarrese prince and the throne were gone, and the nation waited anxiously to see whether his religious scruples would be an obstacle to his ad

vancement.

The prevailing excitement penetrated even to the Château de St. Jules, whither the countess had retired; and, as she would not doubt the sincerity of the Protestant hero, she persuaded herself that, as a Protestant alone, he would consent to reign; and earnestly she prayed that her life might be spared until the happy day of his accession. It seemed scarcely possible, for the death-angel had already stretched forth his hand to smite her,

and gladly she hailed his approach. Her way had long been darkened by the shadow of that fearful and unforgotten night; but now, at eveutide, there was light.

In the hall of the old castle she sat, straining her weakened gaze, in vain, to catch a glimpse of the advancing figure of a horseman, which one of her handmaidens had discerned between the trees. Before long a noise in the courtyard announced an important arrival; and then the door was thrown open, and a rider, booted, spurred, and travel-stained, was ushered in.

"What news-what news?" she demanded, with tremulous anxiety.

"The Bearnois is king of France, lady," he replied. "I have ridden with all speed to tell thee so."

Her face, radiant with joy and thankfulness, was raised towards heaven, as she repeated the enthusiastic cry, which had ere then greeted the new monarch, "Vive Henri Quatre." Her head drooped, her cheek paled, and with a placid smile she added, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.' Victor-Hubert-beloved onesI come!-I come!"

And so she fell asleep, in happy ignorance that her husband's prediction was verified, and that Henry the Great had bought his crown with the price of his conscience.

CARLA MEREX.

KATIE'S FAULT,

AND HOW IT WAS CURED
A Story for our Younger Readers.

IN TWO CHAPTERS.-CHAPTER SECOND.

“It was very hard," Katie said, as soon as her sobs would let her speak, "it was very hard that her papa should behave so unkindly. She thought he would perhaps have been a little angry, and she would have borne that, for she acknowledged that she was to blame; but she did not think he could have had the heart to prevent her enjoying herself with the others, especially when it was the first time she had been

asked to such a party, and he knew how she had counted upon going. However, she wouldn't copy the papers if she did stay at home; she wouldn't write a line, that she wouldn't!"

It was temper, not conscience, which prompted all this.

Helen might have pointed out to Katie that it was her own fault which had brought this punishment upon her; and that having been forewarned of it, she ought to have been fore-armed against it; but Helen knew, that in Katie's present mood, such suggestions would only still more irritate her; besides, Helen was too tender-hearted to say a word that might seem unsympathizing to one who was in trouble, She soothed Katie as well as she could, and was thoughtfully considering how the evil could possibly be remedied, when a loud knock at the door announced the arrival of their young friends, and the next minute three or four lively, good-tempered girls hurried into the parlour.

"What! not ready!" exclaimed one of them in a tone of surprise, "it is more than half-past eight." "And Katie!" said another, still more astonished, "why, what is the matter with Katie ?"

Helen soon cleared up the mystery, and varied comments followed her brief recital. I am sorry, for Dr. Sinclair's sake, to say that none of them were in his favour; all the girls, as was perhaps natural, sided with Katie.

"Well, what can be done?" inquired Fanny Somers, the eldest of the group, "don't you think your papa will let you go if you coax him a bit ?"

Katie mournfully shook her head. The idea of coaxing Dr. Sinclair! It was preposterous. "If aunt Martha were at home, I dare say she would persuade papa to give me leave; he always minds what she says."

"Couldn't one of us ask him ?" proposed Fanny's sister.

There was a slight pause; the truth was, that all shrank from a private interview with the grave and awe-inspiring doctor.

"Couldn't Helen try ?" said Fanny, "she would know best just what to say."

Helen hesitated; she was not very courageous; but a glance at Katie's wistful little face determined her; she said she would see what she could do. She went and tapped gently at her uncle's study door, so gently that he did not hear her, and she was obliged to tap louder. Then a quick and rather harshly-sounding, "Who is there? come in," did not greatly re-assure her; and when she entered and saw Dr. Sinclair sitting before a table full of papers, with his pen scratching away at railroad speed, she saw that the moment was not an auspicious one for her errand. However, Helen had made up her mind to go boldly through with her undertaking, so she advanced to the table, and in the most moving and winning manner-enough, you would have imagined, to win over any moderately-susceptible heart-urged all that she could possibly think of in poor Katie's behalf.

Dr. Sinclair knitted his brows and answered very shortly, and very coldly, that he could not retract what he had already said.

Nothing daunted-a quiet, timid person once thoroughly aroused and excited, makes the best of pleaders-Helen pleaded yet more eloquently for her cousin, and promised a great deal in her name, if her fault might only be overlooked for this once.

I rather suspect that Dr. Sinclair began to enter tain some fears lest he should after all be vanquished; and he had resolved to be as firm as a rock upon this occasion; so he hastily cut short the conference, by saying in a vexed and conclusive tone, as he thrust his memorandum book into his pocket, "There, don't teaze me any more; if you choose to stay at home and copy the papers instead of Katie, she may go." Then

he put on his hat with an air which plainly said, "That is the last word which I intend to speak on the subject;" and left Helen in undisputed possession of his study.

Helen little knew the effort which had been required on her uncle's part, to carry the threat which he had held out to Katie, into execution; for in spite of his rough exterior, and abrupt manners, he had a kinder =heart than falls to the inheritance of most persons. What a pity it was that he kept that fact so concealed from observation !

He

And Dr. Sinclair as little knew the strength and generosity of his niece's character. He looked upon her as a quiet, inoffensive, ordinary sort of girl; and, as he walked briskly away from the house, was very far from dreaming that his singular permission respecting Katie, was instantly and gladly accepted. merely gave it as a decisive finish to any further parleying about the affair, for he did not for a moment expect that Helen would literally take him at his word; his faith in girlish affection and self-denial, was not strong enough for the creation of such a possibility, and therefore the idea of it never originated in

his mind.

Helen did not stay to question or deliberate; her resolve was instantaneous; and she ran back to the parlour with a light step, and a lighter heart, exclaiming, as she rejoined her companions, "Yes, Katie dear, you may go."

Katie sprung up, and warmly kissed her cousin, amidst the congratulations of the rest, who now wished to depart directly, as there had been this unexpected delay. Katie's mantle, and bonnet, and etceteras, were laid ready with Helen's in the room adjoining; # and, with the aid of so many assistants, they were soon put on; but when Fanny turned to help Helen, Helen said gently, "No thank you, dear, I am not going."