e found Salome with a piece of sewing in her hand, and her young
sister leaning on her lap, chattering merrily about a nest full of
eggs which she and Stanley had found that morning in a corner of the
orchard; while the latter swung on the back of her chair, winding over
his finger a short curl that lay on her neck. It was a pleasant,
peaceful, homelike picture, worthy of Eastman Johnson's brush, and for
thirty years such a group had not been seen in that quiet old
library.

Dr. Grey paused at the threshold, to admire the graceful pose of
Jessie's fairy figure,--the lazy nonchalance of Stanley's posture,--and
the finely shaped head that rose above both, like some stately lily,
surrounded by clustering croci; but Salome was listening for his
footsteps, and turned her head at his entrance.

"Stanley, take Jessie up to my room, and show her your Chinese puzzle.
When I want either or both of you, I will call you. Close the door
after you, and mind that you do not get to romping, and shake the
house down."

"How very pretty Jessie has grown during the last year. Her complexion
has lost its muddy tinge, and is almost waxen," said the doctor, when
the children had left the room and scampered up stairs.

"She is a very sweet-tempered and affectionate little thing, but I
never considered her pretty. She is too much like her father."

"Salome, death veils all blemishes."

"That depends very much on the character of the survivors; but we will
not discuss abstract propositions,--especially since I have resolved
to follow the old oriental maxim,--

'Leave ancestry behind, despise heraldic art,
Thy father be thy mind, thy mother be thy heart.
Dead names concern not thee, bid foreign titles wait;
Thy deeds thy pedigree, thy hopes thy rich estate!'

Dr. Grey, the week has ended, and I took the liberty of reminding you
of the fact, as I am anxious to acquaint you with my purposes for the
future."

He drew a chair near hers, and seated himself.

"Well, Salome, I hope that reflection has changed your views, and
taught you the wisdom of my sister's course with reference to
yourself."

"On the contrary, the season of deliberation you forced upon me has
only strengthened and intensified my desire to carry into execution
the project I have so long dreamed of; and to-day I am more than ever
firmly resolved to follow, at all hazards, the dictates of my own
judgment, no matter with whose opinions or wishes they may conflic