us, until it was too late, that we
were growing up in sin--if it is sin?

"'Why did they permit the seed of our childish friendship to ripen
into the full flower of love, and then blast it with the frost of
parental authority?'

"'Dear John, do not lose your temper. I think you are right in that,
but let us be brave, and not set aside, too lightly, our duty to those
whose only solicitude can be that we do no wrong.'

"'I was a little impatient, to be sure. I will respect your wish,
Marie. I will wait, but it must not be here.

"'I will go out into the busy world for a year or two, and then return
to claim you. If I do not come back to you rich, I will at least have
enough to give us a good start in the world.'

"'John,' I said, placing my hand in his, 'I shall miss you very much,
and be very lonely. Be careful, John, that you do not bring with you a
wife, to give us a practical demonstration that your love was a mere
fancy.'

"'Not I, dearest; I will remain as true to you, through every
vicissitude, as I now think you to be true.

"'But you, who knows but I may live to find that you have obviated
the trouble by marrying a man who is not your cousin, just to make the
theory of certain persons good?'

"'Trust me; I am worthy of your love; and now, good bye. God bless and
care for you.'

"'May He bless and protect you, Marie.'

"'He went off that same day. For the first few months his letters to
me were frequent, and always filled with sentiments of love and
constancy. Then the intervals became longer, and longer, then ceased
altogether. 'He is in a large city, I thought, and in the whirl of
excitement, he has already forgotten me; some other, perhaps, has
taken my place; his heart has another idol. No, I reasoned with
myself; that cannot be, he has become very poor and has married for
money, thinking I would never relent.'

"'Months passed rapidly away, faded into years, and yet no tidings
came. This silence and uncertainty were wearing tear channels down my
cheeks. I waited on; and though pained and sickened, like a true
woman I never allowed my tongue to disclose the anguish I suffered.
The wolf was gnawing at my heart; if the lines I felt growing more
marked on my features did not tell the story, it was my secret, and I
kept it.'

"'One morning, after an absence of three years, John suddenly made his
appearance--without a note of warning. He seemed somewhat older, and
his face had lost that impetuous