170 
THE LISTENER. 
too tall — but her head was so superbly moulded, 
her bearing so queenly, every movement so grace¬ 
ful, and this dignity was tempered with so rare a 
spirit of most delicate mirth, that few save the en¬ 
vious found 'her height at all detracting from her 
perfection. 
She was the only daughter of an English gen¬ 
tleman of great wealth, and she had but one 
brother, every way worthy of Helen. They had 
been motherless for many years, but their father 
had added the tenderness of the lost parent to the 
pride they were so well calculated to inspire in his 
bosom; and certainly they were a singularly hap¬ 
py family. 
The summer term passed quickly away, and we 
were busy in our preparations for the annual ex¬ 
amination, when Helen was summoned to attend 
the death bed of her father. We heard from her 
through her letters to one of the teachers. Her 
father’s illness had been partly the result of anxie¬ 
ty on learning the loss of all his landed property, 
and, on his decease, his w’hole estate was ascer¬ 
tained to be insolvent. Helen was therefore 
unable to return to school; she was resolved 
henceforth to sustain herself, and for that purpose 
must go out among strangers. 
When another term brought us together again, 
I learned that Helen Conway, though much 
against her brother’s wishes, had entered a Lowell 
factory, as an operative, to supply herself with the 
