ned; the image of Dolores as she had last appeared to
him--pale, sad, anxious, earnest, her eyes fixed upon him with deep,
intense melancholy and profound pity.

"Afar away from thee,
Thy pale face haunts me yet;
Deep yearns my heart for thee,
Thy last sad look and word unable to forget."

These words occurred to him, and he murmured them to himself. It was
to Dolores that he applied them, and naturally too; for how
ridiculously inapplicable to Katie would they be! All else was now
forgotten except Dolores. He felt a longing after her that was like
homesickness. The past all came back. He recalled her as she had been
when he first met her at Valencia. A thousand little incidents in his
life there, which had been for a time forgotten, now revived in his
memory. He had been for months at their house and had been nursed
through a long illness. He had been loaded with kindness and
affection. The aged mother had been his nurse during his illness, and
Dolores had been his companion during his convalescence. He had left
them, expecting soon to return. Circumstances, however, had arisen
which kept him away, and he had forgotten her. Now, however, a
stronger feeling had arisen for her, as Dolores had appeared in more
than her olden beauty, with the additional charm of a strange,
pathetic grace, and a wistful look in her dark eyes that seemed to
speak of something more than ordinary friendship. She had spoken of
the days at Valencia; she had reproached him for forgetting. She
herself had not forgotten those days--the days in which they used to
talk and walk and sing together.

As there was nothing to divert his mind from these thoughts, Ashby
gave himself up to them, and thus became more helpless against them.
It was in such a mood as this that he lay upon his rude couch, unable
to sleep, and wondering what was to be the end of his present
adventure. Should he ever see her again? Was she here now, or had
they let her go? The thought that she might possibly have been set
free, that she might now be far away, was too distressing to be
entertained. If so, then his prison seemed doubly dark. If so, then
what could he do? Even if he should become free, what was he to do?
Upon one thing he was resolved, and that was to seek after her until
he might find her. And Katie? Well, the fact is, Katie was left out
of consideration.

Hours had passed. Ashby could not sleep. His mind was as active as
ever, and still, as ev