he roses back to her cheeks, and then your parting will be the happier
for this hope before you."

"I must speak! I must speak first!" said the young man, in a choking
voice. "I must tell you some little of the deep gratitude I feel for
you, sir. Oh, when I forget all that you have done for me, 'may my right
hand forget her cunning!' may God and man forget me! Doctor Day, the
Lord helping me for your good sake, I will be all that you have
prophesied, and hope and expect of me! For your sake, for Clara's and my
mother's, I will bend every power of my mind, soul and body to attain
the eminence you desire for me! In a word, the Lord giving me grace, I
will become worthy of being your son and Clara's husband."

"There, there, my dear boy, go and tell Clara all that!" said the
doctor, pressing the young man's hand and dismissing him.

Traverse went immediately to seek Clara, whom he found sitting alone in
the parlor.

She was bending over some delicate needlework that Traverse knew by
instinct was intended for himself.

Now, had Traverse foreseen from the first the success of his love, there
might possibly have been the usual shyness and hesitation in declaring
himself to the object of his affection. But although he and Clara had
long deeply and silently loved and understood each other, yet neither
had dared to hope for so improbable an event as the doctor's favoring
their attachment, and now, under the exciting influence of the surprise,
joy and gratitude with which the doctor's magnanimity had filled his
heart, Traverse forgot all shyness and hesitation, and, stepping quickly
to Clara's side, and dropping gently upon one knee, he took her hand,
and, bowing his head upon it, said:

"Clara, my own, own Clara, your dear father has given me leave to tell
you at last how much and how long I have loved you!" and then he arose
and sat down beside her.

The blush deepened upon Clara's cheek, tears filled her eyes, and her
voice trembled as she murmured: "Heaven bless my dear father! He is
unlike every other man on earth!"

"Oh, he is--he is!" said Traverse, fervently, "and, dear Clara, never
did a man strive so hard for wealth, fame, or glory, as I shall strive
to become 'worthy to be called his son!'"

"Do, Traverse--do, dear Traverse! I want you to honor even his very
highest drafts upon your moral and intellectual capacities! I know you
are 'worthy' of his high regard now, else he never would have chosen you
as his s