away.

"Have you ever read a will?"

"No, sir."

She leaned her elbows on the table, and rested her face in her hands.

"All these pages amount simply to this,--dear Jane made her will
immediately after my return from Europe, and its provisions are: that
this place, with house, land, furniture, and stock, shall be given to
and settled upon you; and moreover that, for the ensuing five years,
you shall receive every January the sum of one thousand dollars. Until
the expiration of that period, she desired that I should act as your
guardian. By reference to the date and signature of these papers, you
will find that this will was made as soon as she was able to sit up,
after her illness produced by pneumonia; but appended to the original
is a codicil stating that the validity of the distribution of her
estate, contained in the former instrument, is contingent upon your
conduct. Feeling most earnestly opposed to your contemplated scheme of
going upon the stage as a _prima donna_, she solemnly declares, that,
if you persist in carrying your decision into execution, the foregoing
provisions shall be cancelled, and the house, land, and furniture
shall be given to Jessie and Stanley; while only one thousand dollars
is set apart as your portion. This codicil was signed one month ago."

Dr. Grey glanced over the sheets of paper, and refolded them, allowing
his companion time for reflection and comment, but she remained
silent, and he added,--

"However your views may differ from those entertained by my sister, I
hope you will not permit yourself to doubt that a sincere desire to
promote your life-long happiness prompted the course she has
pursued."

Five minutes elapsed, and the orphan sat mute and still.

"Salome, are you disappointed? My dear friend, deal frankly with me."

She lifted her pale, quiet face, and, for the first time in many
weeks, he saw unshed tears shining in her eyes, and glittering on her
lashes.

"I should be glad to know whether Miss Jane consulted you, in the
preparation of her will?"

"She conferred with me concerning the will, and I cordially approved
it; but of the codicil I knew nothing, until her lawyer--Mr.
Lindsay--called my attention to it yesterday afternoon."

"You are very generous, Dr. Grey, and no one but you would willingly
divide your sister's estate with paupers, who have so long imposed
upon her bounty. I had no expectation that Miss Jane would so
munificently remember me, an