n. Lester is worth
saving even at the sacrifice she has made."

His daughter looked at him with glistening eyes. "Thank you, papa, that is
a good thought, and consoles me greatly for both our darling and
ourselves."

She went on with the reading of the letter; there were but a few more
sentences; then, while the others discussed its contents, Violet stole
quietly from the room, unobserved as she thought. But in that she was
mistaken. Her mother's eyes followed her with a look of love and sympathy.

"Dear child!" she said in a low aside to her father, "she misses Elsie
sorely; I sometimes think almost more than I do, they were so inseparable
and so strongly attached."

Vi's heart was very full, for Elsie's marriage, though far, far from being
so great a sorrow as the death of their father, seemed in some respects
even more the breaking up of a life that had been very sweet.

She sought the studio she and Elsie had shared together (how lonely and
deserted it seemed!) and there gave vent to her feelings in a burst of
tears.

"O Elsie, darling! we were so happy together! such dear friends! with
never a disagreement, hardly a thought unshared! And now I am alone! all
alone!"

She had unconsciously spoken aloud. A soft sweet voice echoed the last
word.

"Alone! ah, my darling, no! not while your mother lives. You and I must
cling the closer together, Vi dearest," the voice went on, while two
loving arms enfolded her and a gentle kiss was imprinted upon cheek and
brow.

"Dearest mamma!" cried Violet, returning the caress, "forgive me that I
should indulge in such grief while you are left me--you and your dear
love, the greatest of earthly treasures."

"Yes, dear child, your grief is very natural. These changes, though not
unmixed calamities, are one of the hard conditions of life in this lower
world, dear daughter; but we must not let them mar our peace and
happiness; let us rejoice over the blessings that are left, rather than
weep for those that are gone."

"I will, mamma," Violet said, wiping away her tears. "Ah, how much I still
have to rejoice in and be thankful for!"

"Yes, dear, we both have! and not the least the love of Him who has said,
'Lo, _I_ am with you _alway_.' Oh the joy, the bliss of knowing that
_nothing_ can ever part us from _Him_! And then to know, too, that some
day we shall all be together in His immediate presence, beholding His face
and bearing His image!"

Neither spoke again for so