Ernest looked into his face, he saw there the
usual clear, strong expression.

"I am going to tell you, Ernest, what I should have said before,--what I
went to Florence to tell you.

"After Violet left, the whole truth began to come upon me. She loved
you; I had no right to her. She pitied me; that was why she clung to
me. You know I cannot think quickly. It was long before it all came out
clearly; but when it did come, I was anxious to act directly. I had
finished my work; I went to tell you that Violet was yours; she should
stay with you in that warm Italian sir that you liked so much; she
should bring you back to life. But I was too late. I know not if it is
my failure that has brought about this sorrow, or if God has taken it
into His own hands. I only know that she was yours living, she is yours
now. I must tell you that in the first moment of that terrible shock of
the loss, there came a wicked, selfish gleam of gladness that I had not
given her up to you. But I have wiped that out with my tears, and I can
tell you without shame that is yours, that I have given her to you."

"We can both love her now," said Ernest.

"If she were living, she might have separated us," said Harry; "but
since God has taken her, she makes us one."

And the brothers read together Violet's letter.

* * * * *

THE NEW ATLANTIC CABLE.

When the indefatigable Cyrus told our people, five years ago, that he
was going to lay a telegraph-cable in the bed of the ocean between
America and Europe, and place New York and London in instantaneous
communication, our wide-awake and enterprising fellow-citizens said very
coolly that they should like to see him do it!--a phrase intended to
convey the idea that in their opinion he had promised a great deal more
than he could perform. But Cyrus was as good as his word. The cable was
laid, and worked for the space of three weeks, conveying between the Old
and New World four hundred messages of all sorts, and some of them of
the greatest importance. Four years have elapsed since the fulfilment
of that promise, and now Mr. Field comes again before the public and
announces that a new Atlantic cable is going to be laid down, which
is not only going to work, but is to be a permanent success; and this
promise will likewise be fulfilled. You may shrug your shoulders, my
friend, and look incredulous, but I assure you the grand idea will be
realized, and speedily. I have b