the seal, with
the bush of rushes and the Gaelic motto. He had gently torn the paper
from around it, and had read the letter from the grave--no, from the
land beyond, the land of light, where human love is glorified. Not then
did Falconer read the sacred words of his mother; but afterwards his
father put them into his hands. I will give them as nearly as I can
remember them, for the letter is not in my possession.

'My beloved Andrew, I can hardly write, for I am at the point of death.
I love you still--love you as dearly as before you left me. Will you
ever see this? I will try to send it to you. I will leave it behind me,
that it may come into your hands when and how it may please God. You may
be an old man before you read these words, and may have almost forgotten
your young wife. Oh! if I could take your head on my bosom where it used
to lie, and without saying a word, think all that I am thinking into
your heart. Oh! my love, my love! will you have had enough of the world
and its ways by the time this reaches you? Or will you be dead, like
me, when this is found, and the eyes of your son only, my darling little
Robert, read the words? Oh, Andrew, Andrew! my heart is bleeding, not
altogether for myself, not altogether for you, but both for you and
for me. Shall I never, never be able to let out the sea of my love that
swells till my heart is like to break with its longing after you, my
own Andrew? Shall I never, never see you again? That is the terrible
thought--the only thought almost that makes me shrink from dying. If I
should go to sleep, as some think, and not even dream about you, as I
dream and weep every night now! If I should only wake in the crowd of
the resurrection, and not know where to find you! Oh, Andrew, I feel as
if I should lose my reason when I think that you may be on the left
hand of the Judge, and I can no longer say my love, because you do not,
cannot any more love God. I will tell you the dream I had about you last
night, which I think was what makes me write this letter. I was standing
in a great crowd of people, and I saw the empty graves about us on
every side. We were waiting for the great white throne to appear in the
clouds. And as soon as I knew that, I cried, "Andrew, Andrew!" for I
could not help it. And the people did not heed me; and I cried out and
ran about everywhere, looking for you. At last I came to a great gulf.
When I looked down into it, I could see nothing but a blue deep