ecause, the harder the
battle, the more glorious the victory; but it is safer to put a greater
distance between you and this man. I will write you letters, give you
money, and send you to good old Massachusetts to begin your new life a
freeman,--yes, and a happy man; for when the captain is himself again, I
will learn where Lucy is, and move heaven and earth to find and give her
back to you. Will you do this, Robert?"

Slowly, very slowly, the answer came; for the purpose of a week, perhaps
a year, was hard to relinquish in an hour.

"Yes, Ma'am, I will."

"Good! Now you are the man I thought you, and I'll work for you with all
my heart. You need sleep, my poor fellow; go, and try to forget. The
captain is still alive, and as yet you are spared that sin. No, don't
look there; I'll care for him. Come, Robert, for Lucy's sake."

Thank Heaven for the immortality of love! for when all other means of
salvation failed, a spark of this vital fire softened the man's iron
will until a woman's hand could bend it. He let me take from him the
key, let me draw him gently away and lead him to the solitude which now
was the most healing balm I could bestow. Once in his little room, he
fell down on his bed and lay there as if spent with the sharpest
conflict of his life. I slipped the bolt across his door, and unlocked
my own, flung up the window, steadied myself with a breath of air, then
rushed to Doctor Franck. He came; and till dawn we worked together,
saving one brother's life, and taking earnest thought how best to secure
the other's liberty. When the sun came up as blithely as if it shone
only upon happy homes, the Doctor went to Robert. For an hour I heard
the murmur of their voices; once I caught the sound of heavy sobs, and
for a time a reverent hush, as if in the silence that good man were
ministering to soul as well as sense. When he departed he took Robert
with him, pausing to tell me he should get him off as soon as possible,
but not before we met again.

Nothing more was seen of them all day; another surgeon came to see the
captain, and another attendant came to fill the empty place. I tried to
rest, but could not, with the thought of poor Lucy tugging at my heart,
and was soon back at my post again, anxiously hoping that my contraband
had not been too hastily spirited away. Just as night fell there came a
tap, and opening, I saw Robert literally "clothed and in his right
mind." The Doctor had replaced the ragged su