The remainder of the trip was devoid of special incident, and as Will
neared home he hurried on in advance of the train. His heart beat high
as he thought of the dear faces awaiting him, unconscious that he was so
near.

But the home toward which he was hastening with beating heart and winged
heels was shadowed by a great grief. Sister Martha's married life,
though brief, had amply justified her brother's estimate of the man into
whose hands she had given her life. She was taken suddenly ill, and it
was not until several months later that Will learned that the cause of
her sickness was the knowledge that had come to her of the faithless
nature of her husband. The revelation was made through the visit of one
of Mr. C----'s creditors, who, angered at a refusal to liquidate a debt,
accused Mr. C----of being a bigamist, and threatened to set the law upon
him. The blow was fatal to one of Martha's pure and affectionate
nature, already crushed by neglect and cruelty. All that night she
was delirious, and her one thought was "Willie," and the danger he was
in--not alone the physical danger, but the moral and spiritual peril
that she feared lay in association with rough and reckless men. She
moaned and tossed, and uttered incoherent cries; but as the morning
broke the storm went down, and the anxious watchers fancied that she
slept. Suddenly she sat up, the light of reason again shining in her
eyes, and with a joyous cry, "Tell mother Willie's saved! Willie's
saved!" she fell back on her pillow, and her spirit passed away. On her
face was the peace that the world can neither give nor take away. The
veil of the Unknown had been drawn aside for a space. She had "sent her
soul through the Invisible," and it had found the light that lit the
last weary steps through the Valley of the Shadow.