sight of his great sorrow frightened me,
and I bore the blow with greater composure than I had thought possible.
Had she sent me no message? Yes, she had sent me a message,--her last
thought had been of me. She asked me to be a good boy and an honest man,
to follow the counsel of Mr. Fontaine in all things, and to keep my
promise to my father. So, even in death her love for him and for the
honor of his memory triumphed, as I would have had it do.

Again there was a dismal procession through the gray morning to the
willow grove, where we stood beneath the dripping branches, while afar
off the rude coffin was lowered to its last resting-place. The negroes
grouped themselves about, and my friend stood at my side, his head bare,
his face raised to heaven, as though he saw her there.

"'I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and
believeth in me, shall never die.'"

I felt the threads of my life slipping from me one by one, even as the
trees faded from before my eyes. Only that strong, exultant voice at my
side went on and on.

"'Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them
that slept.'" On and on went the voice; there was nothing else in the
whole wide world but that voice crying out over my mother's grave. "'I
heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me. Write. From henceforth blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord.'" And then the voice faltered and
broke. "She was the light of my life and the joy of my heart," it was no
longer the ritual of the church; "and yet had I to walk beside her and
tell her naught. And now is she taken from me, for the Lord hath received
her to His bosom to live in the light of His love forevermore."

I looked up into his face and saw the secret of his heart revealed,--the
secret he had kept so well, but which his anguish had wrung from him. It
was only for an instant, yet I think he knew I had read his heart--I,
alone of all the world, understood. Had my mother known, I wonder? Yes,
I think she had, and in the greatness of his love found help and comfort.
Good man and lovely woman, God rest and keep you both.

I went home with him, remembering with a pang that the place I had called
home was mine no longer. Those among my friends who know the history of
my boyhood understand to some extent my loathing for the cards and dice.
It is perhaps unreasonable,--I might be the f