The novels of Charles Brockden Brown, consisting of Wieland;or, The transformation. Arthur Mervyn; or, Memoirs of the year 1793. Edgar Huntly; or, Memoirs of a sleep-walker. Jane Talbot. Ormond; or, The secret witness. Clara Howard; or, The enthusiasm of love. With a memoir of the author.

70 ORMOND; OR,
impossible. Mere shelter would not suffice during this
inclement season. Without fuel, neither cold could be
excluded, nor hunger relieved. There was nothing convertible into money but her lute. No sacrifice was more
painful, but an irresistible necessity demanded it.
Her interview with M'Crea took place while her father
was absent from the room. On his return she related
what had happened, and urged the necessity of parting
with his favourite instrument. He listened to her tale
with a sigh. "Yes," said he, "do what thou wilt, my
child. It is unlikely that any one will purchase it. It
is certain that no one will give for it what I gave; but
thou mayest try.
" It has been to me a faithful friend. I know not how
I should have lived without it. Its notes have cheered
me with the sweet remembrances of old times. It was,
in some degree, a substitute for the eyes which I have
lost; but now let it go, and perform for me perhaps the
dearest of its services. It may help us to sustain the
severities of this season."
There was no room for delay. She immediately set
out in search of a purchaser. Such a one was most likely
to be found in the keeper of a musical repository, who
had lately arrived from Europe. She entertained but
slight hopes that an instrument scarcely known among
her neighbours would be bought at any price, however
inconsiderable.
She found the keeper of the shop engaged in conversation with a lady, whose person and face instantly arrested
the attention of Constantia. A less sagacious observer
would have eyed the stranger with indifference. But
Constantia was ever busy in interpreting the language of
features and looks. Her sphere of observation had been
narrow, but her habits of examining, comparing, and deducing, had thoroughly exhausted that sphere. These
habits were eminently strong with relation to this class of
objects. She delighted to investigate the human countenance, and treasured up numberless conclusions as to the
coincidence between mental and external qualities.
She had often been forcibly struck by forms that were
accidentally seen, and which abounded with this species