In the polished circle in which she now moved, she had preserved within her that pure light which, when the sun is growing dim and waxing faint, alone can guide through the dark valley of the shadow of death. The heart of that lovely flower of a Puritan village--a heart that had throbbed and quivered at the faintest touch of kindness, and which a silken thread could lead in all other matters, had stood firm where her religion was concerned, and this very firmness had won her husband to her faith. The importance which Frank Winthrop had acquired as the son of Gen. Lincoln, added to his personal merit--under the name of his adopted father, which he always retained, ignorant of his real origin, had attracted the attention of the government. He was soon employed in various situations of responsibility and importance. By the same progression in fortune which first elevated him, another and a later change had brought him in Canada to the rank of Governor General. The conversation between the two had been continued for some time, when the voice of a young child was heard on the stair-case. “Oh, there is my little bird singing,” exclaimed Grace Lincoln. She sprang to the door and returned, bearing in her arms a lovely boy, exquisitely fair, with deep blue eyes, and clustering curls of gold. The bright complexion and golden hair were hers, but his features were the miniature likeness of his handsome father at her side. Over them we now drop the curtain, and in so doing, let them take their farewell of the reader. * * * * * =SONNET.= =BY CAROLINE F. ORNE.= Hid in the bosom of life-giving earth, In darkness and in silence deep and still, The buried seed to springing roots gives birth, That fix them in the mold with firmest will; Strong hold have they below there in the soil Before the leaves upshoot them to the light, And beauty crowns the deep and hidden toil With blossomed boughs that charm the gazer’s sight. So thou, oh soul, obscure and hidden long, Uncared for and unknown must bide thy time, And like the aspiring seed strike, deep and strong, Roots that shall bear thee upward in thy prime, So firm sustained, thou shalt the worthier be For life’s fair flower that all men honor thee. * * * * * =UPS AND DOWNS.= CHAPTER I. “I trust Mrs. Davidson is at last satisfied.” “In what?” “Why, have you not heard the news of the engagement of Maria with Henry Dawson?” “No, I have not before. But when did it occur, and are you positive it is so?” “As to the when, sometime within a day or two; and as to the positive, the lady herself is my authority.”