A LIFE FOR A LIFE.

BY THE AUTHOR OF

""A HERO,"

"JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN," "OLIVE," "THE OGILVIES,'
"AGATHA'S HUSBAND," "THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY," &c.

"When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath commit.
ted, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive."

"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

NEW YORK:

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,

FRANKLIN SQUARE.

1877.

KD 27563

HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

467130

BY THE AUTHOR OF "JOHN HALIFAX."

SONGS OF OUR YOUTH. Set to Music. Square 4to, Cloth, $2 50.

SERMONS OUT OF CHURCH. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

A LITTLE LAME PRINCE AND HIS TRAVELING CLOAK. Illustrated. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. THE ADVENTURES OF A BROWNIE. Finely Illustrated. 16mo, Cloth, 90 cents.

HANNAH. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents; 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

MOTHERLESS; or, A Parisian Family. Translated from the French of Madame De Witt, née Guizot. For Girls in their Teens. Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

FAIR FRANCE. Impressions of a Traveler. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

A BRAVE LADY. With Illustrations. 8vo, Paper, $1 00; Cloth, $1 50; 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

A FRENCH COUNTRY FAMILY. Translated from the French of Madame De Witt, née Guizot Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

A HERO, AND OTHER TALES. 12mo, Cloth, $1 25.

A LIFE FOR A LIFE. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents; 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.
AGATHA'S HUSBAND. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents; 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.
A NOBLE LIFE. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

AVILLION, AND OTHER TALES. 8vo, Paper, $1 25.

CHRISTIAN'S MISTAKE. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

FAIRY BOOK. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 8vo, Paper, 75 cents; 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN. 8vo, Paper, 75 cents; 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

MISTRESS AND MAID. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents; 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

MY MOTHER AND I. Illustrated. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents; 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

NOTHING NEW. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents.

OGILVIES. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents; 12mo, Illustrated, Cloth, $1 50.

OLIVE. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents; 12mo, Illustrated, Cloth, $1 50.

OUR YEAR. Illustrated. 16mo, Cloth, Gilt Edges, $1 00.

STUDIES FROM LIFE. 12mo, Cloth, $1 25.

THE TWO MARRIAGES. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

THE UNKIND WORD, AND OTHER STORIES. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

THE WOMAN'S KINGDOM. Illustrated. 8vo, Paper, $1 00; Cloth, $1 50; 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.

BOOKS FOR GIRLS. Written or Edited by the Author of "John Halifax." Illustrated. 16mo, Cloth, 90 cents each. Now Ready:

LITTLE SUNSHINE'S HOLIDAY.

THE COUSIN FROM INDIA.

MISS MOORE.

TWENTY YEARS AGO.

IS IT TRUE!

AN ONLY SISTER.

PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.

Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on receipt of the price.

Inscribed

TO

MARGARET AND MARY.

A LIFE FOR A LIFE.

YES, I hate soldiers.

CHAPTER I.

HER STORY.

I can't help writing it-it relieves my mind. All morn. ing have we been driving about that horrid region into which our beautiful, desolate moor has been transmogrified; round and round; up and down; in at the south camp and out at the north camp; directed hither and thither by muddle-headed privates; stared at by puppyish young officers; choked with chimney-smoke; jolted over roads laid with ashes-or no roads at all-and pestered every where with the sight of lounging, lazy, red groups-that color is becoming to me a perfect eye-sore! What a treat it is to get home and lock myself in my own room-the tiniest and safest nook in all Rockmount-and spurt out my wrath in the blackest of ink with the boldest of pens. Bless you! (query, who can I be blessing, for nobody_will ever read this), what does it matter? And after all, I repeat, it relieves my mind.

I do hate soldiers, I always did, from my youth up, till the war in the East startled every body like a thunder-clap. What a time it was-this time two years ago! How the actual romance of each day, as set down in the newspapers, made my old romances read like mere balderdash: how the present, in its infinite piteousness, its tangible horror, and the awfulness of what they called its "glory," cast the tame past altogether into shade! Who read history then, or novels, or poetry? Who read any thing but that fearful "Times ?"

And now it is all gone by: we have peace again; and this 20th of September, 1856, I begin with my birthday a new journal (capital one, too, with a first-rate lock and key, saved out of my summer bonnet, which I didn't buy). Nor need I spoil the day-as once-by crying over those, who, two years since,