ve you my dear little Bible, papa. Please read
it for Elsie's sake, and God grant it may comfort you as it has your
little daughter. And, dear papa, try to forget these sad days of our
estrangement, and remember only the time when your little girl was always
on your knee, or by your side. Oh! it breaks my heart to think of those
sweet times, and that they will never come again! Oh, for one kiss, one
caress, one word of love from you! for oh, how _I love_ you, my own dear,
be loved, precious papa!

"Your little daughter,
"ELSIE."

Mr. Dinsmore dropped his head upon his hands, and groaned aloud. It was
his turn now to long, with an _unutterable_ longing, for one caress, one
word of love from those sweet lips that should never speak again. A long
time he sat there, living over again in memory every scene in his life in
which his child had borne a part, and repenting, oh, so bitterly! of
every harsh word he had ever spoken to her, of every act of unjust
severity; and, alas! how many and how cruel they seemed to him now!
Remorse was eating into his very soul, and he would have given worlds
to be able to recall the past.

CHAPTER XIII.

"Joy! the lost one is restored!!
Sunshine comes to hearth and board."

MRS. HEMANS.

"O remembrance!
Why dost thou open all my wounds again?"

LEE'S THEODOSIUS.

"I am a fool,
To weep at what I am glad of."

SHAKS. TEMPEST.

"But these are tears of joy! to see you thus, has filled
My eyes with more delight than they can hold."

CONGREVE.

Mr. Dinsmore was roused from the painful reverie into which he had
fallen by a light rap on his dressing-room door; and, supposing it to
be some one sent to consult him concerning the necessary arrangements
for the funeral, he rose and opened it at once, showing to the doctor,
who stood there, such a grief-stricken countenance as caused him to
hesitate whether to communicate his glad tidings without some previous
preparation, lest the sudden reaction from such despairing grief to joy
so intense should be too great for the father to bear.

"You wish to speak to me about the--"

Mr. Dinsmore's voice was husky and low, and he paused, unable to finish
his sentence.

"Come in, doctor," he said, "it is very kind in you, and--"

"Mr. Dinsmore," said the doctor, interrupting him, "are you prepared for
good news? can you bear it, my dear sir?"

Mr. Dinsmore caught at the furniture for support, and