heart. No excuse but that of indisposition could be made, under the
circumstances; and, attempting to screen himself, in his own
estimation, from falsehood, he assumed, in his own thoughts, a
mental indisposition, while, in the billet he dispatched, he gave
the idea of bodily indisposition. The night that followed was,
perhaps, the most unhappy one the young man had ever spent. Days
passed, and he heard nothing from Edith. He could not call to see
her, for she had interdicted that. Henceforth they must be as
strangers. The effect produced by his words had been far more
painful than was anticipated; and he felt troubled when he thought
about what might be their ultimate effects.

On the fifth day, as the young man was walking with Catharine
Linmore, he came suddenly face to face with Edith. There was a
change in her that startled him. She looked at him, in passing, but
gave no signs of recognition.

"Wasn't that Miss Walter?" inquired the companion of Edwin, in a
tone of surprise.

"Yes," replied Florence.

"What's the matter with her? Has she been sick? How dreadful she
looks!"

"I never saw her look so bad," remarked the young man. As they
walked along, Miss Linmore kept alluding to Edith, whose changed
appearance had excited her sympathies.

"I've met her only a few times," said she, "but I have seen enough