n its splendor, and million after million
vanished with longing eyes fixed on the arch of light through which the
ebbing sea would float them when its work was done. I felt no fear, only
the deepest awe, for I seemed such an infinitesimal atom of the
countless host that I forgot myself. Nearer and nearer came the flood,
till its breath blew on my cheeks, and I, too, leaned to meet it,
longing to be taken. A great wave rolled up before me, and through its
soft glimmer I saw a beautiful, benignant face regarding me. Then I knew
that each and all had seen the same, and losing fear in love were glad
to go. The joyful yearning woke me as the wave seemed to break at my
feet, and ebbing leave me still alive."

"And that is all? Only a dream, a foreboding fancy, Sylvia?"

"When I woke my hair was damp on my forehead, my breath quite still, my
heart so cold I felt as if death had indeed been near me and left its
chill behind. So strong was the impression of the dream, so perfect was
the similitude between the sensations I had experienced then, and more
than once awake, that I felt that something was seriously wrong with
me."

"You had been ill then?"

"Not consciously, not suffering any pain, but consumed with an inward
fever that would not burn itself away. I used to have a touch of it in
the evenings, you remember; but now it burned all day, making me look
strong and rosy, yet leaving me so worn out at night that no sleep
seemed to restore me. A few weak and weary hours, then the fire was
rekindled and the false strength, color, spirits, returned to deceive
myself, and those about me, for another day."

"Did you tell no one of this, Sylvia?"

"Not at first, because I fancied it a mental ill. I had thought so much,
so deeply, it seemed but natural that I should be tired. I tried to rest
myself by laying all my cares and sorrows in God's hand, and waiting
patiently to be shown the end. I see it now, but for a time I could only
sit and wait; and while I did so my soul grew strong but my ill-used
body failed. The dream came, and in the stillness of that night I felt a
strange assurance that I should see my mother soon."

"Dear, what did you do?"

"I determined to discover if I had deceived myself with a superstitious
fancy, or learned a fateful fact in my own mysterious way. If it were
false, no one would be made anxious by it; if true, possessing the first
knowledge of it would enable me to comfort others. I went private