holding her breath for the answer.

"Oh, no--_he_ never told me in _words_. 'Twas his mother that told
me--he only _acted_!"

"And what did he do?" asked Nellie, smiling in spite of herself, at
the simplicity of Mabel, who, without any intention of exaggerating,
proceeded to tell what John Jr. had said and done, magnifying every
attention, until Nellie, blinded as she was by what his mother had
said, was convinced that, at all events, he was not true to herself.
To be sure, he had never told her he loved her in words; but in
actions he had said it many a time, and if he could do the same with
Mabel, he must be false either to one or the other. Always frank and
open-hearted herself, Nellie despised anything like deception in
others, and the high opinion she had once entertained for John Jr.,
was now greatly changed.

Still, reason as she would, Nellie could not forget so easily, and
the hour of midnight found her restless and wakeful. At length,
rising up and leaning upon her elbow, she looked down upon the face
of Mabel, who lay sleeping sweetly at her side. Many and bitter were
her thoughts, and as she looked upon her rival, marking her plain
features and sallow skin, an expression of scorn flitted for an
instant across her face.

"And _she_ is preferred to me!" said she. "Well, let it be so, and
God grant I may not hate her."

Erelong, better feelings came to her aid, and with her arms wound
round Mabel's neck, as if to ask forgiveness for her unkind thoughts,