at miserable old
story.

"Mr. Barker," she said impulsively, "my father, one of the most
just, as well as one of the most kind of men, had the highest
opinion of Reuben Whitney; believe me, there was nothing in the
circumstances to which Alice alludes which could cast the slightest
slur upon his character."

"I feel certain of that, my dear young lady," Mr. Barker said,
"even without your assurance. Your sister is shaken by the events
of the day, and no wonder; and I am quite sure that when she thinks
this matter over she will see that, whatever her preconceived ideas
may be, it would be most ungrateful and ungenerous to breathe a
single word in disparagement of Captain Whitney."

So saying, he turned on his heel and left the room; and Kate,
wishing to avoid further words on the matter with her sister,
followed his example.

Mrs. Donald's reflections were not pleasant. She felt that Mr.
Barker's reproof was well deserved, and that she had acted
ungratefully and ungenerously. As a rule, Mr. Ellison's elder
daughter was by no means of an unkind disposition; but she was
essentially her mother's child.

The question of Reuben Whitney had been one which had caused more
serious dissension, between her father and mother, than any she
ever remembered. She had taken her mother's view of the case, while
Kate had agreed with her father; and although the subject had been
dropped, by mutual consent, it had been a very sore one; and at the
sight of Reuben, the remembrance of the old unpleasantness had
caused her to play a part which she could not but feel was mean and
unworthy. She felt angry at herself--angry with Mr. Barker, with
her sister, and with Reuben.

She was standing there, with her lips pressed together as she
thought over the matter, when Mrs. Barker came into the room.

"He is awake now, my dear. Perhaps you had better go in to him."

Then she dismissed from her mind the events of the last few
minutes, and went in to take her place by the side of her husband.
But as, during the long hours of the night, she sat there and
thought over what had passed since the preceding evening, the
thought of how much she owed to Reuben Whitney was uppermost in her
mind; and when in the morning Mrs. Barker relieved her, she went
into the other room, where Mr. Barker and Kate were about to sit
down to breakfast, and said:

"Mr. Barker, I thank you for what you said to me last night. You
were right and I was wrong. I was ungr