For whose pleasure and privacy was the labyrinth con-trived ? "What hand had planted the rare exotic adjacent to the hawthorn and the sloe ? "Was this tortuous path the road to a mortal habitation ? And who was the fair in-mate ?" She could hardly wait for the dawn of the morn-ing, and when the morning came it only increased her impatience, for heavy clouds veiled the sun, and a contin-ued rain confined her for several days to her apartments. "When she next set out on her voyage of discovery she took the necessary precaution to secure a hearty coadjutor in the person of Peyrol, who silently followed her with the faithfulness of early affection, wondering to what point their mysterious journey might tend. At the secret door she fastened a thread, and with more celerity than she had hoped, traced her former course to the labyrinth ; with much difficulty she again found the stile, and after a diligent search perceived a rude stair, that winding around the base of a rock assumed a regular shapely form, till by a long arched passage it conducted to a tower screened by lofty trees, but commanding through the interstices of the foliage a view of the adjacent forest. Here all effort at conceal-ment was at an end. The doors opened into rooms fitted up with all'the appliances of wealth, and with a perfection of taste that showed that some female divinity presided there. Vases of fresh-culled flowers regaled the senses with rich perfume. • A harp lay unstrung upon the table, a tambour frame on which was an unfinished picture of the Holy Family leaned against the wall, while balls of silk and children's toys lay scattered around in playful disorder. Everything indicated that the tower had been recently oc-cupied, but no inmate was to be found. Retracing their steps into the forest they proceeded by a well-beaten path along the banks of a little stream, to a pebbly basin in which the waters welled up with a faint murmur that spoke of rest and quiet. A sound of music made them pause, and they heard a low gentle voice followed by the lisping accents of a child chanting the evening hymn to the Vir-gin. Stepping stealthily along they saw, half shaded by a ELEANOR. 169