20 AUDUBON THE NATURALIST. 



the very necessities of existence, lie was driven 

 in the midst of winter to sleep with but a single 

 threadbare covering, on some hay in a barn ! 

 Such was the endurance to which he bravely 

 submitted for his dear companion's sake. His 

 sole consolation was the sympathy expressed by 

 Mattie, during his stolen interviews with her. 

 She, no longer permitted to see poor Will, had 

 her gentle heart lacerated, by the knowledge of 

 the persecution he suffered, without the ability of 

 alleviating the misery, of which she knew her- 

 self to be the innocent cause. Meek-spirited and 

 tender, she was but little fitted to oppose the 

 unremitting severity of her father, who, having 

 amassed for her a considerable fortune, imagined 

 he did sufficient for her happiness by zealously 

 guarding it. His daughter, even on the ap- 

 proach to womanhood was rigorously watched, 

 for the idea of a moneyless suitor was distracting 

 to him. His malignity, awakened by the affec- 

 tion subsisting between Mattie and Will, was 

 mercilessly visited on the forlorn orphan boy. 

 The patient heroism of love alone could have 

 induced Will, naturally of a bold and de- 

 fiant temper, to yield to the degrading servitude 

 he owned. But to break from it was to part 

 from Mattie — that thought was more grievous 

 than all. So he endured and hoped for long, 

 till the increasing severity of the bondage be- 



