"The first day I came I remarked to Miss Maria that it looked a little like rain--and Miss Maria laughed. I said the road from the station was very pretty--and Miss Maria laughed. I said there seemed to be a few mosquitoes left yet--and Miss Maria laughed. I said that Prospect Point was as beautiful as ever--and Miss Maria laughed. If I were to say to Miss Maria, 'My father has hanged himself, my mother has taken poison, my brother is in the penitentiary, and I am in the last stages of consumption,' Miss Maria would laugh. She can't help it--she was born so; but is very sad and awful. "The"