ted the arrival of Dr. Brightwell,
and he resolved to leave that good man in attendance at the sick bed,
while he himself should escape for a few hours; and hurry to the beach
to meet and have an explanation with his wife.

But an hour passed, and the doctor did not come.

Thurston's eyes wandered anxiously from the distorted face of the dying
man before him, to the window that commanded the approach to the house.
But no sign of the doctor was to be seen.

The sun was on the very edge of the horizon. The sufferer before him was
evidently approaching his end. Marian he knew must be on her way to the
beach. And a dreadful storm was rising.

His anxiety reached fever heat.

He could not leave the bedside of his dying relative, yet Marian must
not be permitted to wait upon the beach, exposed to the fierceness of
the storm, or worse the rudeness of his own confederates.

He took a sudden resolution, and wondered that he had not done so
before. He resolved to summon Marian as his wife to his home.

Full of this thought, he hastened down stairs and ordered Melchizedek to
put the horse to the gig and get ready to go an errand. And while the
boy was obeying his directions, Thurston penned the following lines to
Marian:

"My dear Marian--my dear, generous, long-suffering wife--come to my aid.
My grandfather has been suddenly stricken down with apoplexy, and is
dying. The physician has not yet arrived, and I cannot leave his
bedside. Return with my messenger, to assist me in taking care of the
dying man. You, who are the angel of the sick and suffering, will not
refuse me your aid. Come, never to leave me more! Our marriage shall be
acknowledged to-morrow, to-night, any time, that you in your nicer
judgment, shall approve. Come! let nothing hinder you. I will send a
message to Edith to set her anxiety at rest, or I will send for her to
be with you here. Come to me, beloved Marian. Dictate your own
conditions if you will--only come."

He had scarcely sealed this note, when the boy, hat in hand, appeared at
the door.

"Take this note, sir, jump in the gig and drive as fast as possible to
the beach below Pine Bluffs. You will see Miss Mayfield waiting there,
give her this note, and then--await her orders. Be quicker than you ever
were before," said Thurston, hurrying his messenger off.

Then, much relieved of anxiety upon Marian's account, he returned to the
sick-room and renewed his endeavors to relieve the patient.