k of exceeding
youthful-ness, the thin band that hung down at her side told of
suffering and sickness. A book had fallen from her fingers, but her gaze
was bent upon the burning log before her--mayhap in unconsciousness;
mayhap she thought she read there something that revealed the future.

Lifting the latch--there was no lock, nor was any needed--of the front
door, Tony moved stealthily along the little passage, turned the handle
of the door, and on tiptoe moved across the room, unseen by Dolly, and
unheard. As his hand touched the chair on which her head leaned, she
looked up and saw him. She did not start nor cry out, but a deep crimson
blush covered her face and her temples, and spread over her throat.

"Hush!" said she, in a whisper, as she gave him her hand without rising;
"hush! he's very tired and weary; don't awake him."

"I 'll not awake him," whispered Tony, as he slid into the chair, still
holding her hand, and bending down his head till it leaned against her
brow. "And how are you, dear Dolly? Are you getting quite strong again?"

"Not yet awhile," said she, with a faint shadow of a smile, "but I
suppose I shall soon. It was very kind of you to come over so soon; and
it's a severe night too. How is Mrs. Butler?"

"Well and hearty; she sent you scores of loves,--if it was like long
ago, I 'd have said kisses too," said he, laughing. But Dolly never
smiled; a grave, sad look, indeed, came over her, and she turned her
head away.

"I was so glad to hear of your coming home, dear Dolly. I can't tell you
how dreary the Burnside seems without you. Ay, pale as you are, you make
it look bright and cheery at once. It was a sudden thought, was n't it?"

"I believe it was; but we 'll talk of it all another time. Tell me of
home. Janet says it's all as I left it: is it so?"

"I suspect it is. What changes did you look for?"

"I scarcely know. I believe when one begins to brood over one's own
thoughts, one thinks the world without ought to take on the same dull
cold coloring. Haven't you felt that?"

"I don't know--I may; but I'm not much given to brooding. But how comes
it that you, the lightest-hearted girl that ever lived--What makes you
low-spirited?"

"First of all, Tony, I have been ill; then, I have been away from home;
but come, I have not come back to complain and mourn. Tell me of your
friends and neighbors. How are all at the Abbey? We'll begin with the
grand folk."

"I know little of them; I hav