a chair
for her, he laid down his pen.

"I am glad to see you, mother; I want to have a talk with you."

"About what, Harvey?"--an anxious look settled on her face.

"About my leaving you, and going West. I have decided to start next week."

"Oh, my son! how can you bring such grief upon me? Surely there is work
enough for you to do here, without your tearing yourself from us."

"Yes, mother, work enough, but hands enough also, without mine. These are
the sunny slopes of the vineyard, and labourers crowd to till them; but
there are cold, shadowy, barren nooks and corners, that equally demand
cultivation. There the lines have fallen to me, and there I go to my work.
I have delayed my departure too long already."

"Oh, Harvey! have you fully determined on this step?"

"Yes, my dear mother, fully determined to go."

"It is very hard for me to give up my only son. I can't say that I will
reconcile myself to this separation; but you are old enough to decide your
own future; and I suppose I ought not to urge you. For months I have
opposed your resolution; now I will not longer remonstrate. Oh, Harvey! it
makes my heart ache to part with you. If you were married I should be
better satisfied; but to think of you in your loneliness!" She laid her
head on his shoulder, and wept.

The minister compressed his lips firmly an instant, then replied--

"I always told you that I should never marry. I shall be too constantly
occupied to sit down and feel lonely. Now, mother, I must finish my
letters, if you please, for they should go by the earliest mail."

CHAPTER IX

AN ORPHAN'S PROTECTORS

The artist stood at the window watching for his pupil's return; it was the
late afternoon hour, which they were wont to spend in reading, and her
absence annoyed him. As he rested carelessly against the window, his
graceful form was displayed to great advantage, and the long brown hair
dropped about a classical face of almost feminine beauty. The delicacy of
his features was enhanced by the extreme pallor of his complexion, and it
was apparent that close application to his profession had made sad inroads
on a constitution never very robust. A certain listlessness of manner, a
sort of lazy-grace seemed characteristic; but when his pupil came in and
laid aside her bonnet, the expression of _ennui_ vanished, and he threw
himself on a sofa looking infinitely relieved. She drew near, and without
hesitation acquainted him with the d