d that the cause of
her sickness was the knowledge that had come to her of the faithless
nature of her husband. The revelation was made through the visit of one
of Mr. C----'s creditors, who, angered at a refusal to liquidate a debt,
accused Mr. C----of being a bigamist, and threatened to set the law upon
him. The blow was fatal to one of Martha's pure and affectionate
nature, already crushed by neglect and cruelty. All that night she
was delirious, and her one thought was "Willie," and the danger he was
in--not alone the physical danger, but the moral and spiritual peril
that she feared lay in association with rough and reckless men. She
moaned and tossed, and uttered incoherent cries; but as the morning
broke the storm went down, and the anxious watchers fancied that she
slept. Suddenly she sat up, the light of reason again shining in her
eyes, and with a joyous cry, "Tell mother Willie's saved! Willie's
saved!" she fell back on her pillow, and her spirit passed away. On her
face was the peace that the world can neither give nor take away. The
veil of the Unknown had been drawn aside for a space. She had "sent her
soul through the Invisible," and it had found the light that lit the
last weary steps through the Valley of the Shadow.

Mr. C---- had moved from Leavenworth to Johnson County, twenty-five
miles away, and as there were neither telegraph nor mail facilities,
he had the body sent home, himself accompanying it. Thus our first
knowledge of Martha's sickness came when her lifeless clay was borne
across our threshold, the threshold that, less than a year before, she
had crossed a bright and bonny bride. Dazed by the shock, we longed
for Will's return before we must lay his idolized sister forever in her
narrow cell.

All of the family, Mr. C---- included, were gathered in the
sitting-room, sad and silent, when Turk suddenly raised his head,
listened a second, and bounded out of doors.

"Will is coming!" cried mother, and we all ran to the door. Turk was
racing up the long hill, at the top of which was a moving speck that the
dog knew to be his master. His keen ears had caught the familiar whistle
half a mile away.

When Turk had manifested his joy at the meeting, he prepared Will for
the bereavement that awaited him; he put his head down and emitted a
long and repeated wail. Will's first thought was for mother, and he
fairly ran down the hill. The girls met him some distance from the
house, and sobbed out the