lady friend to me, 'happened in my own family, or, I should say, in one
of its relative branches.  You were staying last summer at Westcliff;
did you hear Dr.  Leatrim preach?' 

'Yes; my friends resided about a mile from the parsonage, and were
constant in their attendance at his church.  The Doctor was one of the
principal attractions of the place--one of the most eloquent men I ever
heard in the pulpit.' 

'Did you ever meet him in company?' 

'Never.  I was told that he seldom went into society, and lived quite a
solitary life; that some great domestic calamity had weaned him
entirely from the world; that his visits were confined to the poor of
his parish, or to those who stood in need of his spiritual advice; that
since the death of his wife and only son, he had never been seen with a
smile upon his face.  To tell you the truth, I was surprised to hear
sermons so full of heavenly benevolence and love breathed from the lips
of such an austere and melancholy-looking man.'