points to. You must deal
with this young man openly--no double dealings, my child, or I shall
come to the rescue."

"Have you ever known me to play fast and loose, Dr. Pemberton? Is that
my characteristic? Ask Mr. Gerald Stanbury--ask all who know me--if I
have ever been guilty of deceit, or time-serving, or caprice, or
perfidy. No, Dr. Pemberton, it is on his own account solely that I wish
to keep this matter quiet for the present. Should _he_ wish to proclaim
it, I surely shall not object. But I seek only to shield him from
mortification, from reproach, in the line of conduct that I am
adopting--best for both."

"And to give yourself margin for a change of mind again--little fox! Ah,
Miriam, it is the old story--a lovers' quarrel! I understand it all
perfectly now. Don't be too hard on the young fellow; he seemed very
much in love. Relent in time; he will value your mercy more than your
justice, perhaps."

"Have you ever seen us together, that you pronounce him very much in
love?" I asked, in a hard, cold, subdued voice that startled my own ear,
and made him serious at once.

"Never. But he wears the absent, dreamy air of a lover; even when alone
it is noticeable, Miriam. I can always tell when a man is preoccupied in
that way."

"If you could go a little further, and divine the object of such
preoccupation, you would be better prepared to counsel me, dear friend.
He is no lover of mine, I assure you!"

"Ah, the old story again, Miriam! Have patience, my dear child." And,
strong in his belief that my change of resolution arose only from pique
and jealousy, that would soon be over, the good doctor went his way, all
the more ready to keep my secret for such conviction.

I passed a miserable night. The great bed seemed to inclose me like a
sepulchre, which yet I was too feeble, too irresolute, to leave. The
conversation I had heard seemed stereotyped on plates of brass, that
rang like cymbals in my ears. Toward morning I slept. I dreamed that
mamma came to me, and said, in tones so natural that they seemed to
sound in my ears after I had awakened:

"Miriam, your mother and father have sent me to say to you that they
are united and happy. I, too, have found my mate at last. It was for
this I was called. The sea has given up its dead, and I am blessed. Now,
dearest, Mabel is all yours;" and then she kissed me.

I woke with that kiss upon my cheek.

The brief and distinct vision made a deep impression on me. I