you would not drive me mad!" exclaimed Walter, turning away; "I must submit to my fate."

"And you will not marry her, now that all others forsake ?"

"No, I can not; it shall never be said that I dishonored my father's name by wedding a low fortune-teller's daughter," Walter replied decidedly.

"Then hear me, Walter Everson!" cried Murray, his whole frame trembling with excitement as he moved towards the door, "I can no longer number among my friends one whose soul seems lost to every true and noble impulse. Take care that no fouler blot ever rests upon your boasted name than she, a pure, beauteous, loving bride would bring. But you have proved yourself all unworthy such a prize. Farewell!"

Walter turned as his friend left him, and met his mother's smiling approval.

"Let him go," said she; "he will soon be convinced of his folly and return to make suitable apologies. You have maintained yourself honorably, my son."

""Tis well to have the sanction of one's judgment," he replied bitterly, "let the heart rebel as it will.”

"O Nellie! Nellie !" was the wailing cry his heart sent up through the midnight silence of his lonely vigils when all around had sunk to rest, "how can I give thee up! Around every fiber of my being have the love-tendrils crept which bind thee to me! Must they be torn away, and I live bereft of thee? No! no! it can not be! 'twas but an illusion, a terrible dream

that placed that yawning gulf between us. Yet 'twas thine own voice which uttered those words; thy voice that never yet breathed aught but purest truth; 'twas thine own hand that pointed to the bridgeless chasm and paralyzed my heart! Oh! the dreary, dreary future! what shall it give me in exchange for the bright hopes I've lost? How can the world e'er repay the sacrifice I make! Nellie, thou'rt lost to me forever, but in my soul I worship thee as the purest, highest type of womanhood e'er given to earth? Why, ah! why didst thou so proudly proclaim thy adverse birth, which sealed my doom! Why didst thou stand before me in thy celestial radiance, like some accusing angel, with pen uplifted to transcribe my heart! Alas! the record is made, and we are severed—thou to move on in all thy glorious light and loveliness, unmindful of the world's applause or hate; while I, poor, wretched fool, must heed its every nod-obey its slightest word. Such is the stern decree to which I must submit! such the fate to which I bow!"

"I WONDER if the bliss that flows to me

In youth, shall be exhaled and scorched up dry
By the noonday glare of life."

ORE a cheerful wood-fire, though it was in the
of May, Esther Cram sat pillowed in an easy
her pale, wan face resting in thoughtful mood
her wasted hand, while every now and then she
glance of affectionate solicitude upon the young
ho moved noiselessly around the room, arranging
own tasteful way the simple, scant furniture, till
r of comfort, and almost elegance, pervaded the
ment. For a long time, on that bright May morn-
ad each been silently busied with her own thoughts
e warm golden rays which flooded the nicely
ed floor reminding one of former days of gladness
joy, while to the other they but made darker, by
ast, the trials through which she was passing.
ke the dove of old, Nellie had returned from her
isome flight over the dreary waste of waters with-
to the sheltering ark from which she had flown.

She had sought with yearning heart that blessed haven where many a sorrow has been lulled to rest-she had lain upon a mother's breast, and felt the soft tears of sympathy and love fall upon her wounded spirit, till its grief and woe were softened to endurance. But, alas! another woe had arisen, threatening even greater desolation than that through which she had just passed. The fell destroyer's stealthy steps hovered around that humble dwelling; already his consuming touch had caused the hardened frame, which for long years had defied the winter's blast and summer's scorching heat, to waste away with slow disease. Consumption, NewEngland's fatal scourge, had fastened upon its victim relentlessly, hopelessly; and Esther Cram knew that her days on earth were numbered!

Some faint overshadowing, too, had Nellie of the fearful truth, since her return, yet to her the evil day seemed still afar off; she could not, she would not contemplate the dreadful separation as drawing inevitably and rapidly near. Yet so it was; and no warm, glad rays of sunshine, no perfume of spring flowers, so carefully culled each day, to tell the sick one of earth's return to verdure and beauty, could chase the cold shadow from their hearth.

"Mother, dear mother," said Nellie at length, breaking the silence, as she threw herself upon a little stool at Esther Cram's feet, "do you not long to go out this beautiful spring morning, and breathe again the fresh warm air? The birds are singing their sweetest songs,

and from every nook on the dear old mountain peep forth these fragrant violets as if to watch for your coming."

"Sweet flowers! they have gladdened many an hour of my life," Esther Cram replied, raising a bunch of the sweet-scented blossoms to her face; "but they will bloom no more for me, save on my grave."

"O mother! don't, don't!" cried Nellie, the tears springing quickly to her eyes; "I can not bear to hear you speak so!"

"Were it not for you, dear child, I would lie down in my grave as a tired child sleeps upon its mother's breast. Only think, Nellie, there the weary are at rest! there no trouble nor sorrow comes-no grief nor despair to blight the heart! Blessed, blessed repose!" A smile of almost unearthly radiance rested upon her withered, time-worn features, as Esther Cram fervently raised her clasped hands and eyes to heaven.

"Take me with you, mother! oh! take me with you, for I am weary and would find rest.'

That yearning cry brought back the mother's thoughts to earth, and gently laying her hand upon her child's head, she said:

"You have yet a work to do, Nellie-a long and it may be a weary path to tread-but remember, my child, however dark and drear your life may seem, 'tis but a moment's span compared with that which is to

come."

"With you ever near to guide and comfort me, mo