dge alone,
who had thrown himself confidingly into the arms of the Destinies, had
obtained their capricious favors.

I cannot say that I drew any counsel, civil or moral, from these
comparisons. Life is deeper and wider than any particular lesson to be
learned from it; and just when we think that we have at last guessed
its best meanings, it laughs in our face with some paradox which turns
our solution into a new riddle.

ZERVIAH HOPE.

BY ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS.

_Scribner's Monthly, November, 1880._

PRELUDE.

In the month of August, in the year 1878, the steamer _Mercy_, of the
New York and Savannah line, cast anchor down the channel, off a little
town in South Carolina which bore the name of Calhoun. It was not a
regular part of her "run" for the _Mercy_ to make a landing at this
place. She had departed from her course by special permit to leave
three passengers, two men and one woman, who had business of a grave
nature in Calhoun.

A man, himself a passenger for Savannah, came upon deck as the
steamship hove to, to inquire the reason of the delay. He was a short
man, thin, with a nervous hand and neck. His eyes were black, his hair
was black, and closely cut. He had an inscrutable mouth, and a
forehead well-plowed rather by experience than years. He was not an
old man. He was cleanly dressed in new, cheap clothes. He had been
commented upon as a reticent passenger. He had no friends on board the
_Mercy_. This was the first time upon the voyage that he had been
observed to speak. He came forward and stood among the others, and
abruptly said:

"What's this for?"

He addressed the mate, who answered with a sidelong look, and none too
cordially:

"We land passengers by the Company's order."

"Those three?"

"Yes, the men and the lady."

"Who are they?"

"Physicians from New York."

"Ah-h!" said the man, slowly, making a sighing noise between his
teeth. "That means--that means--"

"Volunteers to the fever district," said the mate, shortly, "as you
might have known before now. You're not of a sociable cast, I see."

"I have made no acquaintances," said the short passenger. "I know
nothing of the news of the ship. Is the lady a nurse?"

"She's a she-doctor. Doctors, the whole of 'em. There ain't a nurse
aboard."

"Plenty to be found, I suppose, in this place you speak of?"

"How should I know?" replied the mate, with another sidelong look.

One of the physicians, it seemed, overhear