who still sat there, was invisible in the gloom. She
started on hearing her name, and, hastily lighting a candle, approached
the couch.

"O, Gertrude!" said Mrs. Sullivan, "I have had such a beautiful dream!
Sit down by me, my dear, and let me tell it to you; it could not have
been more vivid, if it had all been reality:--"

* * * * *

THE DREAM:--"I thought I was sailing rapidly through the air, and for
some time I seemed to float on and on, over clouds and among bright
stars. The motion was so gentle that I did not grow weary, though in my
journey I travelled over land and sea. At last I saw beneath me a
beautiful city, with churches, towers, monuments, and throngs of gay
people moving in every direction. As I drew nearer, I could distinguish
the faces of these numerous men and women, and among them, in the
crowded street, there was one who looked like Willie. I followed him,
and soon felt sure it was he. He looked older than when we saw him last,
and much as I have always imagined him, since the descriptions he has
given in his letters of the change that has taken place in his
appearance. I followed him through several streets, and at last he
turned into a fine, large building, which stood near the centre of the
city. I went in also. We passed through large halls and beautifully
furnished rooms, and at last stood in a dining-saloon, in the middle of
which was a table covered with bottles, glasses, and the remains of a
rich desert, such as I never saw before. There was a group of young men
round the table, all well-dressed, and some of them fine-looking, so
that at first I was quite charmed with their appearance. I seemed,
however, to have a strange power of looking into their hearts, and
detecting all the evil there was there. One had a very bright,
intelligent face, and might have been thought a man of talent--and so he
was; but I could see better than people usually can, and I perceived, by
a sort of instinct, that all his mind and genius were converted into a
means of duping and deceiving those who were so foolish or so ignorant
as to be ensnared.

"Another seemed by his wit and drollery to be the charm of the company;
but I could detect marks of intoxication.

"A third was vainly attempting to look happy; but his soul was bared to
my searching gaze, and I saw that he had the day before lost at the
gaming-table his own and a part of his employer's money, and was
tortured with a