lly was it
adjusted. Her reflection in the pier glass was superb!

"It is here!" chanted The Seraph. "Evwy bit of evwy fing is shinin'! Oh,
Angel an' John, _please_ look!"

We flew to the window and leaned across the sill.

It was a happy world that morning, glowing in the sweetest dawn that ever
broke over roofs and chimney pots. The earth sang as she danced her dewy
way among the paling stars. The little grey clouds blushed pink against the
azure sky. Blossoming boughs of peach and apricot hung over the gates of
heaven, and rosy spirals curled upward from two chimneys. Pink-footed
pigeons strutted, rooketty-cooing along the roofs. They nodded their heads
as though to affirm the consummation of a miracle. "It is so--" they seemed
to say--"It is indeed so--" One of them hopped upon the cobbler's chimney,
peering earnestly into its depths. "It sees the star!" shouted The Seraph.
"It sees the star and nods to it. 'I am higher now than you'--it says!"

Something--was it a breath? a sigh?--made me look back into the attic where
Lucy's clothes clung to the high-backed chair, like flower petals blown
against a wall. The pier-glass had caught all the glory of the morning and
was releasing it in quivering spears of light that dazzled me for a moment;
I rubbed my eyes, and stared, and shook a little, for in the midst of all
this splendour I saw Lucy! No pallid, rigid ghost, but something warm,
eager with life, spreading the folds of the lilac gown like a butterfly
warming its new wings in the strength of the sun.

Her bosom rose and fell quickly, her eyes were fixed on me with a
beseeching look, it seemed. I drew nearer--near enough to smell the faint
perfume of her, and I saw then that she was not looking at me, but at the
fat little book of "The Mysteries of Udolpho" which I still held in my
hands. The book that Charles had given her! "Bide the time!" he had
written, but she could bide the time no longer.

Proud as any knight before his lady, I strode forward, and pressed the book
into her hands--saw her slender fingers curl around it--heard her little
gasp of joy. I should not have been at all surprised had the door opened
and Charles walked in.

As a matter of fact, the door _did_ open and--Mrs. Handsomebody walked in.

IV

She gave a sort of gurgling cry, as though she were being strangled. Angel
and The Seraph faced about to look at her in consternation, their hair wild
in the wind, and the rising sun making an