here for a change this summer."

He still kept his hat in his hand, and remained standing near the window
which led into the garden. Madeleine was sitting on the end of the sofa
at the other end of the room.

"This is a gloomy day for so late in the spring," observed Mr. Martens,
looking into the garden; "and a house like this, to which Death has
brought his sad tidings, is a mournful place."

She listened to him, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground, and without
returning a word.

"A house like this," he continued, "in which death is lying, is a
picture of the lives of many of us. How many of us carry death at our
hearts! Some hope or another that for us has long passed away, or some
bitter disappointment that we have buried in the depths of our soul."

He could see that she bent her head lower over the sofa, and he went on
speaking earnestly and soothingly, and almost to himself.

"Since it is a good thing for us not to be alone; since it is good for
us to have some one to cling to, when the bitter experiences of life
cast their shadows over us, so--"

Madeleine suddenly burst into tears, and her sobs reached his ears.

"I beg your pardon," said he, coming close to the sofa. "I was but
following the bent of my own thoughts, and I fear I have made you
unhappy, when my object ought rather to have been to endeavour to cheer
you. Poor child!"

Her sobbing had now become so violent that she did not any longer try to
conceal her emotion.

"Dear Miss Madeleine," said the pastor, seating himself on the sofa at a
little distance from her, "I am sure you are not well--I have observed
it for some time; and you may imagine how painful it is for me to see
you thus suffering, without having any right to offer you my
assistance."

"You have always been so good to me," sobbed Madeleine. "But no one can
help me, I am so wretched--so wretched!"

"Do not indulge such thoughts, my dear young lady; do not allow yourself
to think that any feeling of wretchedness is so great that it cannot be
mitigated. Intercourse with the friend who understands our nature has a
wonderfully soothing power over the sick heart. And for that very
reason," added he, with a sigh, "I feel it doubly painful that you will
not allow me to be such a friend to you."

"I cannot," stammered Madeleine in dismay. "Do not be angry with me. I
do not mean to be ungrateful. You are the only one--But I am so
nervous--I don't understand it all. But don't be ang