rself upon it. The tears that had come to her eyes
before, now began to fall; she thought, girl that she was, that she
could understand what were the feelings of the man who had just parted
from her. She thought that he was overcome at the reflection that the
distinction which he had won in the world could not be shared by those
whom he loved, those who would have valued far more than he did the
honor that was being done to him.

The pity of it! Oh, the pity of it!

Ella had told her one day when they had talked together about Herbert
Courtland, that he had no relation alive, that he stood alone in the
world. The information had not meant much to her then; but when she had
heard Mrs. Haddon speak on the previous evening about his attachment to
his mother and his sister, she remembered what Ella has said, and her
heart was full of pity for him. She had made up her mind to tell him all
that Mrs. Haddon had said, for surely more sympathetic words had never
been spoken; and her opportunity had come sooner than she expected.
Their chat together had led naturally up to Mrs. Haddon, and she had
been able to repeat to him almost word for word all that his mother's
friend had said.

Her heart felt for him. Surely the sweetest reward that can come to a
man who has toiled and fought and conquered was denied to the man who
had just parted from her. He had toiled and conquered; but not for him
was the joy of seeing pride on the face of those who claimed him as
their kin. His father had been killed when he had charged with a brigade
through the lines of a stubborn enemy--everyone knew the story. His
mother and sister had died when he was beginning to make a name for
himself. He had gone forth from the loneliness of his home to the
loneliness of the tropical forest; and he had returned to the loneliness
of London.

She felt that she had done well to repeat to him the words of his
mother's friend. Those words had affected him deeply. They could not but
be a source of comfort to him when he was overwhelmed with the thought
of his loneliness. They would make him feel that his position was
understood by some people who were able to think of him apart from the
great work which he had accomplished.

Thus the maiden sat musing in the silent room after she had dried her
tears of pity for the man who an hour before had sauntered up to her
door thinking, not of the melancholy isolation of his position in the
world, but simply that two hou