“I have received an unexpected summons from the new king, and must depart immediately. I shall take but Carle with the young mistress and her nurse, and leave the rest of you in charge of the house until our return; but should any thing occur to prevent my coming back in the spring, you are one and all entitled to your freedom. Until then you will be faithful to the interest of your master!” “Yes, massa. Lord bless good Massa Brown and young missey, too!” chimed in half-a-dozen voices at once; for the refugee had maintained an independent household, and lived as became a man of wealth and fashion. He had left England immediately after the death of Cromwell, foreseeing the probable issue of the Protectorate; and wishing to spend the residue of his days in peace, he dropped at once his name and title, and was known only in the young city as a private gentleman of good fortune. That night, when all was hushed in the good “City of Brotherly Love,” Lord Temple, with his daughter and nurse Judy, stole softly from their new and pleasant home, to seek some sheltering asylum from the merciless hand of persecution. They walked on in silence until they gained the outskirts of the city, the young and delicate Anna clinging to both her father and nurse; for the deep silence of the night filled her heart with strange fancies. “Your strength is not sufficient for your purpose, Anna,” said her father, noticing how nervously she clung to him. “The way will be long and solitary for a tender child like you! Will not my daughter return now to a home, that will afford her still a shelter at least?” “And would not the way seem longer and darker to my father, if his only child were behind him? Think not because I tremble a little now at first that my heart is weak and cowardly. I have never before walked in the street at midnight, you know, and every rustle seems a king’s officer to me.” “Bless you, my darling,” exclaimed her father. “The blood of the Temple’s is in your veins, warm and noble; I cannot bear to see it chilled by misfortune.” “I have no regrets for the world we are leaving behind save on your account, my dearest father; on the contrary, I feel it will be charming to dwell alone in the great forest of the West, where the fetters of fashion, pride and ambition will cease to enthral, and we may learn of the great Creator by the infinity of his works, instead of the multitude of man’s words.” Thus did the brave girl attempt to cheer the desponding spirits of her father as they moved forward amid the darkness of their solitary way. They directed their course northward, and although they were in the main road, the “woods of centuries” were all around them, and their giant shadows seemed like some spectral army gathered in the gloom of night.