e an honorable death, at least."

"And leave me to linger here?--No, let us die together, if die we must.
Perhaps I can help you,"--and she strove to rise.

"Do not rise, Delia,--keep quiet; I am strong, and will yet deliver you
from this dungeon. Lay quiet, dear; do not add to my distress."

"I fear I must lay still,--I cannot rise," said she, sinking back with
the exhaustion of the effort.

Dalhousie threw down his shovel, and hastened to her side.

"Do not attempt to rise again, dear," said he. "Let me get you some more
water."

He again filled the rude cup at the pit, and, after she had taken a long
draught of it, he laved her head, an operation which appeared to refresh
her.

"Do you feel better?"

"Much better."

"Now keep perfectly quiet, and I will resume my task."

"I will; but pray, Francois, do not work so hard; temper your enthusiasm
with reason. You cannot succeed, unless you are careful."

"I will, dear; I will rest every little while."

Dalhousie resumed his labor, and, convinced by his wife's reasoning, he
labored more moderately. While he toils at this apparently hopelessly
task, we will return to the night when we left him in the library, after
having obtained possession of the secret packet.

The overseer, after leaving the library, was perplexed to determine his
future course. He was in possession of a mighty secret, a secret which
involved his employer's very existence. The realization of a thousand
golden dreams was at hand, and he was resolved, without an over-nice
balancing of conscientious scruples, to make the most of the information
he had obtained. There were two methods of procedure open to him, and
his perplexity was occasioned by this fact. In this instance his
resolution was not at fault, for the reins were in his own hands. It was
not like hewing a path through the granite barriers of difficulty,
against the very frown of destiny. He imagined that some overruling
power had made the path, and invited him to walk in it.

Should he make his fortune by means of the uncle or the niece? The
question of his existence had narrowed itself down to this point. It
was sure, he felt, from one or the other.

Being of a naturally generous disposition, with strong affections, and
having not a little of the natural sense of justice in his composition,
he was decidedly in favor of permitting the niece to enrich him. This
was his personal preference; but he was sensible of the truth of th