next room, bore the unconscious secretary into another room and laid him
upon the bed.

The terrible strain had been too much for the young man's weak condition.
It was not long, however, before he slowly opened his eyes, and, looking
up, he saw Alice gazing at him with anxious solicitude, while with her
soft hand she was bathing his temples and brow.

Then all the circumstances came back to him, and he heard the gentle
voice of the young girl bending over him. "Carl, dear," she was saying,
"you are better now, and will soon be all right again."

"Alice," said the young man, faintly, "I shall never be all right again.
It is too late."

"No, it is not too late, Carl," was the smiling reply, "you have many
happy years before you. You are not strong. You must have a rest, and
then your strength will return and so will your courage."

Mrs. Albertson came in at this point, bringing a cup of tea and a
wafer, and succeeded in getting the patient to drink the tea. Then the
bishop returned quietly and took a chair by the bedside, and soon both
ladies retired.

This incident had been a revelation to the slowly acting powers of the
bishop's mind; a quicker perception would have grasped the whole case
much sooner, and might have obviated much trouble. But now the revelation
had forced itself upon the unsuspecting mind of the prelate. Now he fully
understood Dr. Marmion's letter, and, also, the cause of Carl's fainting.
All his fatherly instincts were aroused, and taking the hand of the