HIARRY’S RETURN FROM SCHOOL. 11

coachman laid his whip gently over the backs of
the horses, which trotted gaily forward along the
dusty road.

My spirits would naturally have risen at finding
myself whirled along at the rate of ten miles an
hour on my way homeward, but the last words
spoken by the doctor continually recurred to me,
and contributed greatly todampthem. J managed,
however, at length, to persuade myself that my
anticipations of eyil were mere fancies. On reach-
ing Liverpool, having called a porter to carry my
things, I hurried homewards, expecting to receive
the usual happy greetings from my father and
sisters. My spirits sank when looking up at the
windows, I saw that all the blinds were drawn
down. I knocked at the door with trembling hand.
A strange and rough-looking man opened it. ‘Is
my father at home?’ I asked, in alow voice. The
man hesitated, looking hard at me, and then said,
‘Yes; but you can’t see him. There are some
ladies upstairs—your sisters, I ee had
better go to them.’

There was an ominous silence in the house; no
one was moving about. What had become of all
the servants? I stole gently up to Jane and