ebrity; and,
because your career on the stage promises to prove so brilliant, I
shudder in anticipating the temptations that will unavoidably assail
you."

"You are afraid to trust me?"

"Yes, my little sister; you are so impulsive, so prone to hearken to
evil dictates rather than good ones, that I dread the thought of
seeing you launched into the dangerous career you contemplate, without
some surer, safer, more infallible pilot than your proud, passionate
heart. If you were homely, and a dullard, I should entertain less
apprehension about your future."

Her broad brow blackened with a frown that became a terrible scowl,
and her eyes gleamed like lightning under the edge of a thunderous
summer cloud.

"What is it to you whether I live or die? The immaculate soul of
Ulpian Grey, M.D., will serenely wing its way up through the stars, on
and on to the great Gates of Pearl,--oblivious of the beggar who, from
the lowest Hades, where she has fallen, eagerly watches his flight."

"The anxious soul of Ulpian Grey will pray for yours, as long as we
remain on earth. Salome, I am the truest friend you will ever find
this side of the City of God; and, when I see you plunging madly into
ruin, I shall snatch you back, cost me what it may. Your jeers and
struggle have not deterred me hitherto, nor shall they henceforth. You
are as incapable of guiding yourself aright, as a rudderless bark is
of stemming the gulf-stream in a south-west gale; and I am afraid to
trust you out of my sight."

"Yes, I understand you; the good angel in your nature pities the demon
in mine. But your pity stifles me; I could not endure it; and,
besides, I cannot stay here any longer. I must go out into the world,
and seize the fortune that people tell me my voice will certainly
yield me."

Flush and sparkle had died out of her face, which, in its worn,
haggard pallor, looked five years older than when she entered the
parlor, three hours before.

"Pecuniary considerations must not influence you, because, while Janet
and I live, you shall want nothing; and when either dies, you will be
liberally provided for. Dismiss from your mind a matter that has long
been decided, and which no wish of yours can annul or alter."

With an impatient wave of the hand, she answered,--

"Give to poor little Jessie and Stanley what was intended for me. They
are helpless, but I can take care of myself; and, moreover, I am not
contented here. I want to see something of