an--the woman
who called at Underwood's room that night--was Mrs. Jeffries, your
stepmother!"

Howard started back in amazement.

"It's true, then, I did recognize her voice!" he cried.

Turning to his wife, he said: "Oh, Annie, why didn't you tell me? You
saved my stepmother from disgrace, you spared my father! Oh, that was
noble of you!" In a low tone he whispered: "Don't send me away from
you, Annie! Let me stay and prove that I'm worthy of you!"

To the young wife it all seemed like a dream, almost too good to be
real. The dark, troubled days were ended. A long life, bright with its
promise of happiness, was before them.

"But what of the future, Howard?" she demanded gently.

Judge Brewster answered the question.

"I've thought of that," he said. "Howard, will you come into my office
and study law? You can show your father what you can do with a good wife
to second your efforts."

Howard grasped his outstretched hand.

"Thanks, judge, I accept," he replied heartily.

Turning to his wife, he took her in his arms. Her head fell on his
shoulder. Looking up at him shyly and smiling through her tears, she
murmured softly:

"I am happy now--at last!"

THE END.

BOOKS ON NATURE STUDY BY CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS

Handsomely bound in cloth. Price, 75 cents per volume, postpaid.

THE KINDRED OF THE WILD. A Book of Animal Life.

With illustrations by Charles Livingston Bull.

Appeals alike to the young and to the merely youthful-hearted.
Close observation. Graphic description. We get a sense of the great
wild and its denizens. Out of the common. Vigorous and full of
character. The book is one to be enjoyed; all the more because it
smacks of the forest instead of the museum. John Burroughs says:
"The volume is in many ways the most brilliant collection of Animal
Stories that has appeared. It reaches a high order of literary
merit."

THE HEART OF THE ANCIENT WOOD. Illustrated.

This book strikes a new note in literature. It is a realistic
romance of the folk of the forest--a romance of the alliance of
peace between a pioneer's daughter in the depths of the ancient
wood and the wild beasts who felt her spell and became her friends.
It is not fanciful, with talking beasts; nor is it merely an
exquisite idyl of the beasts themselves. It is an actual romance,
in which the animal characters play their parts as naturally as do