who knew her. Oh! believe me; God has blessed her."

"Do you hear, sister?" cried Rose, as a ray of celestial joy illumined
for an instant the livid faces of the orphans. "God has blessed our
mother."

"Yes, yes," resumed Gabriel; "banish these gloomy ideas. Take courage,
poor children! You must not die. Think of your father."

"Our father?" said Blanche, shuddering; and she continued, with a mixture
of reason and wild excitement, which would have touched the soul of the
most indifferent: "Alas! he will not find us on his return. Forgive us,
father! we did not think to do any harm. We wished, like you, to do
something generous--to help our governess."

"And we did not think to die so quickly, and so soon. Yesterday, we were
gay and happy."

"Oh, good angel! you will appear to our father, even as you have appeared
to us. You will tell him that, in dying--the last thought of his
children--was of him."

"We came here without Dagobert's knowing it--do not let our father scold
him."

"Blessed angel!" resumed the other sister in a still more feeble voice;
"appear to Dagobert, also. Tell him, that we ask his forgiveness, for the
grief our death will occasion him."

"And let our old friend caress our poor Spoil-sport for us--our faithful