But the efforts of my companions could not chase away the homesickness of the heart. The morning would find me alone in the world. Sixty miles of my journey were yet to be travelled: and, wearied in body and faint in spirit, I longed to see my dear father, and be at home again under his protection. I shrunk, too, from the duties before me: they seemed more arduous and difficult as I approached them; and with a sad feeling of my own incompetency and the lack of personal charms, which might prepossess my employers, I laid my head upon my pillow that night and watered it with my tears. Sleep! blessed, blessed Sleep! Thou dost take the burdens from the weary and fling them into the waters of oblivion; the infant, in its guileless rest, is pillowed on thy lap, and the aged lean lovingly on thy shoulder. Merciful was the great Father of all, that he did permit thee to follow Adam from Paradise, and travel with his children in this world of guilt,--thus are we permitted to forget, for a while, at least, our sorrows and our sins. Early the next morning I went on board a steamboat for Wheeling, and though shrinking and timid, I still found protection and kindness when needed; but when we arrived, at midnight, in the village of P., and I found myself alone in a large, desolate-looking room of the hotel, all the former feeling of sadness came over me, and with them an indefinable dread of the future. I must send word to the patrons of the school that I had arrived: and fearful that their expectations would be disappointed, I could not sleep. The next morning I despatched a messenger, and two of the trustees called. They were polite, but said little, excepting what related to business; but when they left me, remarked, "We will procure a more agreeable home for you than this." I thanked them with my lips, but they little comprehended how earnestly the heart craved for a home again. The day passed, and I saw no one till the twilight shadows were creeping into that lonely room, and with them also dim visions of home and friends, bringing with them that sad heart-longing which the young feel during their first absence from home, when I was startled from my reverie by a gentle knock at my door. I opened it, and an old lady stood before me, so kind, so motherly in her appearance, and so plainly yet tastefully dressed, that my heart clung to her at first sight. If my Father in heaven had sent an angel to me, I should certainly have chosen just such a face and garb, in my present condition, rather than the white robes and bright-winged cherubs of Raphael's glorious fancy.