et, I shall go down to the Tigris, and catch
the mate to Tobias' fish, and by the cremation thereof, fumigate my
pestiferous soul, and smoke out the Asmodeus that has so long and
comfortably dwelt there."

"God grant you a Raphael, as guide on your journey," was his calm,
earnest reply, as he disappeared, closing the door after him.

When the sound of his buggy-wheels on the gravelled avenue told her he
had gone, she threw herself on the floor, and crossing her arms on a
chair, hid her face in them.

During Saturday, no opportunity presented itself for renewing the
conversation, and early on Sunday morning Dr. Grey sent to her room a
package marked $1,000.00--though really containing $1,500.00--and a
letter addressed to Professor V----. Without examining either, she
threw them into her trunk, which was already packed, and went down to
breakfast.

She declined accompanying Miss Dexter and Muriel to church, alleging,
as an excuse, that it was the last day she could spend with the
children.

Dr. Grey approached her when the remainder of the family had left the
table, where she sat abstractedly jingling her fork and spoon.

He noticed that her breakfast was untasted, and said, very gently,--

"I suppose that you wish to visit our dear Jane's grave, before you
leave us, and, if agreeable to you, I shall be glad to have you
accompany me there to-day."

"Thank you; but if I go, it will be alone."

He stooped to kiss Jessie, who leaned against her sister's chair, and,
when he left the room, Salome caught the child in her arms, and
pressed her lips twice to the spot where his had rested.

Late in the afternoon she eluded the children's watchful eyes, and
stole away from the house, taking the road that led towards
"Solitude." In one portion of the osage hedge that surrounded the
place, the lower branches had died, leaving a small opening, and here
Salome gained access to the grounds. Walking cautiously under the
thick and dark masses of shrubbery and trees, she reached the arched
path near the clump of pyramidal deodars, whose long, drooping plumes
were fluttering in the evening wind.

Thence she could command a view of the house and grounds in front, and
thence she saw that concerning which she had come to satisfy
herself,--believing that the evidence of her own eyes would fortify
her for the approaching trial of separation. Dr. Grey's horse and
buggy stood near the side gate, and Dr. Grey was walking very slowly