It was no easy conquest; but he won the hardest of all victories,
that of self, and found in the place of banished pride and
bitterness a patient strength, and the one desire to be indeed more
generous than a brother to gentle Bess. He had truly, "cleft his
heart in twain and flung away the baser part."

A few days before the absent lover came, Walter went to Bess, and,
with a countenance whose pale serenity touched her deeply, he laid
his gift before her, saying,--

"I owe this all to Jamie; and the best use I can make of it is to
secure your happiness, as I promised him I'd try to do. Take it and
God bless you, Sister Bess."

"And you, Walter, what will your future be if I take this and go
away to enjoy it as you would have me?" Bess asked, with an
earnestness that awoke his wonder.

"I shall work, Bess, and in that find content and consolation for
the loss of you and Jamie. Do not think of me; this money will do me
far more good in your hands than my own. Believe me it is best to be
so, therefore do not hesitate."

Bess took it, for she had learned the cause of Walter's restless
wanderings and strange avoidance of herself of late, and she judged
wisely that the generous nature should be gratified, and the
hard-won victory rewarded by the full accomplishment of its
unselfish end. Few words expressed her joyful thanks, but from that
time Walter felt that he held as dear a place as Jamie in her