w her to be
shut up away from the others, as she would sooner sit in the dark and
see no human being, than be forced to associate with the horrible,
guilty outcasts down stairs. While he and Ned were consulting about her
case, she was taken very ill. Of course you know Ned has a good deal of
latitude and discretion allowed him, and the doctor is on our side, but
even at best, the rules are stern. She takes her meals alone, and the
only place where she meets the other convicts--isn't it a shame to call
her one!--is the chapel; and even there she is separated, because Ned
has given her charge of the organ. Everybody under sentence is obliged
to work, but she does not go down into the general sewing room. The
superintendent of that department apportions a certain amount of
sewing, and her share is sent up daily to her. She really is not able
to work, but begged that we should give her some employment."

"She consented to see Mr. Prince Darrington?"

"Oh, no! It was the merest accident that he succeeded in speaking to
her. He happened to come the day that I took her out for the first time
in the garden, for a little fresh air in the sunshine; and we met him
and Ned on the walk. O, Mr. Dunbar! It was pitiful to see her face,
when the young man took off his hat, and said:

"'I am General Darrington's adopted son.'

"She was so weak she had been leaning on me, but she threw up her head,
and her figure stiffened into steel. 'You imagine that I am the person
who robbed you of Gen'l Darrington's fortune? I suffer for crimes I did
not commit; and am the innocent victim selected to atone for your
injuries. My wrongs are more cruel than yours. You merely lost lands
and money. Can you, by the wildest flight of fancy conjecture that
aught but disgrace and utter ruin remain for me?' Ned and I walked
away; and when we came back she had stepped into the hall, and drawn
the inside door between them. He was standing bareheaded, gazing up at
her, and she was looking down at him through the open iron lattice, as
if he were the real culprit. That night she had a nervous chill that
lasted several hours, and we promised that no one should be allowed to
see her. Of course the inspectors go everywhere, and when Ned opened
her door, I was with her, giving her the tonic the Doctor ordered three
times a day. I had prepared her for their visit, but when the gentlemen
crowded in, she put her hands over her face and hid it on the table.
There was n