This intelligence gave some uneasiness to all the
members of the family; but the entrance of Harper himself, with the air
of benevolence and sincerity which shone through his reserve, soon
removed the doubts from the breast of all but Mr. Wharton. His children
and sister believed Caesar to have been mistaken, and the evening passed
off without any additional alarm.
On the afternoon of the succeeding day, the party were assembled in the
parlor around the tea table of Miss Peyton, when a change in the weather
occurred. The thin _scud_, that apparently floated but a short distance
above the tops of the hills, began to drive from the west towards the
east in astonishing rapidity. The rain yet continued to beat against the
eastern windows of the house with fury; in that direction the heavens
were dark and gloomy. Frances was gazing at the scene with the desire of
youth to escape from the tedium of confinement, when, as if by magic,
all was still. The rushing winds had ceased, the pelting of the storm
was over, and, springing to the window, with delight pictured in her
face, she saw a glorious ray of sunshine lighting the opposite wood. The
foliage glittered with the checkered beauties of the October leaf,
reflecting back from the moistened boughs the richest luster of an
American autumn.
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