"It is nothing, Bess, another time will do as well," he answered,
eager to be gone lest he should betray what must be kept most
closely now.

"It never will be told, Bess,--never in this world," he sighed
bitterly as he went back to his own room which never in his darkest
hours had seemed so dreary; for now the bright hope of his life was
gone.

"I have it in my power to make them happy," he mused as he sat
alone, "but I cannot do it, for in this separation lies my only
hope. He may die or may grow weary, and then to whom will Bess turn
for comfort but to me? I will work on, earn riches and a name, and
if that hour should come, then in her desolation I will offer all to
Bess and surely she will listen and accept. Yet it were a generous
thing to make her happiness at once, forgetful of my own. How shall
I bear to see her waiting patiently, while youth and hope are fading
slowly, and know that I might end her weary trial and join two
faithful hearts? Oh, Jamie, I wish to Heaven I were asleep with you,
freed from the temptations that beset me. It is so easy to perceive
the right, so hard to do it."

The sound of that familiar name, uttered despairingly, aloud, fell
with a sweet and solemn music upon Walter's ear. A flood of tender
memories swept away the present, and brought back the past. He
thought of that short life, so full of pain and yet of patience, of
the sunny nature which no cloud could overshadow, and the simple
trust which was its strength and guide.

He thought of that last night and saw now with clearer eyes the