I saw the undertaker's people removing the coffin in order to place it in the hearse.

This was a fresh cause for anxiety.

I knew that that black, mysterious-looking box contained the cold, pale, sleeping form of my mother; but I could not realize the fact, that the beautiful and beloved being, who had so lately kissed and blessed me, was unconscious of her removal from her home and weeping boy.
"Mamma!--dear mamma!" I cried, struggling violently with nurse.

"Let me go, nurse! those wicked men shall not take away mamma!" Two gentlemen, attracted by my cries and struggles, entered the room.
The foremost was a tall, portly man, whom the world would call handsome.

His features were good, and his complexion darkly brilliant; but there was a haughty, contemptuous expression in his large, prominent, selfish-looking eyes, which sent a chill to my heart.
Glittering and glassy, they sparkled like ice--clear, sarcastic and repelling--and oh, how cold! The glance of that eye made me silent in a moment.