ck as thou nearest
The sound of my name."

What a strange thrill did the words send through him! They came, as it
were, to fill up the whole story of the past, embodying the unspoken
prayer his love-sick heart once was filled with. For that "smile and
kind word when we meet," had he once pined and longed, and where was the
spirit now that had once so yearned for love? A cold shudder passed over
him, and he felt ill. He sat for a long while so deep in reflection that
he did not notice the music had ceased, and now all was still and silent
around. From the balcony outside his window a little winding stair led
down to the lawn beneath; and down this he now took his way, resolving
to stroll for half an hour or so before bedtime.

Walking carelessly along, he at last found himself on the banks of
the river, close to the spot where he had met Miss Kellett that same
morning. How glad he would have been to find her there again! That long
morning's ramble had filled him with many a hopeful thought--he knew,
with the instinct that in such men as himself rarely deceives--that
he had inspired her with a sort of interest in him, and it warmed his
self-esteem to think that he could be valued for something besides
"success." The flutter of a white dress crossing the little rustic
bridge caught his eye at this moment, and he hurried along the path. He
soon gained sufficiently upon the retiring figure to see it was a lady.
She was strolling quietly along, stopping at times to catch the effects
of the moonlight on the landscape.

Dunn walked so as to make his footsteps heard approaching, and she
turned suddenly and exclaimed, "Oh, Mr. Dunn, who would have thought to
see you here?"

"A question I might almost have the hardihood to retort, Lady Augusta,"
said he, completely taken by surprise.

"As for me," said she, carelessly, "it is my usual walk every evening. I
stroll down to the shore round by that rocky headland, and rarely return
before midnight; but _you,_" added she, throwing a livelier interest
into her tone, "they said you were poorly, and so overwhelmed with
business it was hopeless to expect to see you."

"Work follows such men as myself like a destiny," said he, sighing; "and
as the gambler goes on to wager stake after stake on fortune, so do we
hazard leisure, taste, happiness, all, to gain--I know not what in the
end."

"Your simile points to the losing gamester," said she, quickly; "but
he who has won, an