l the eager
throbbing of his great heart.

"The day that makes you my wife will be the most blessed of all my life;
though, for your sake. I could wish our bridal to be celebrated under less
sorrowful circumstances Still it must not be as I wish. You must decide
the question," he said, gravely.

There was a long pause. Then Virgie said, quietly:

"I am willing."

"Is that all, love? Are you simply willing to do as your father requests?
Shall you not be glad to be my wife?" Sin William questioned, with a
slight accent of pain.

"Yes, Will, I shall be glad; but, oh, my father! my father!" she cried,
with a fresh burst of grief, as she realized all that this hurried
marriage meant.

He kissed her forehead softly, and breathed:

"Heaven bless you, my beloved, and help me to make your future as happy
as you have made me to-day."

He made her lie down upon the lounge, for she was nearly exhausted with
her grief. He arranged her pillow, drew down the curtains to soften the
light, and then went quietly out of the room.

When he came back an hour later he found her calm, though with a saddened
gravity upon her that made his heart ache.

He told her that Dr. Waters had gone back to Virginia City, but that they
had arranged for a clergyman to come to them to spend the following
Sabbath, when Mr. Abbot desired the marriage to take place.

Virgie was strangely thrilled by this intelligence. It was Tuesday, and in
five days more she would be Sir William Heath's wife! It all seemed like a
dream to her.

On Saturday afternoon an elderly and venerable-appearing gentleman made
his appearance before Mr. Abbots door.

He came in a strong mountain wagon drawn by a pair of handsome horses, and
with him there was a large trunk--which Sir William ordered carried up
stairs into Virgie's room--and two or three hampers, that were given to
Chi Lu to be taken care of.

Virgie turned a wondering, inquiring look upon her lover at these
proceedings, but he only answered by a quiet smile, and then introduced
her to the Rev. Dr. Thornton.

The young bride-elect received him with the charming ease and
self-possession that was natural to her, at which the stranger could not
refrain from regarding her with a look of mingled wonder and admiration.

When told of the errand upon which he was to go, he had consented for the
sake of the dying man; but he had expected to find a very rustic couple
in this rough region, and he was wholly taken