showering kisses by turns upon her brother, and on the wire-work of the
cage, her eyes sparkling with animation:

"You shall see, Ephraim, how I'll teach the little bird to speak," she
cried.

The softening influence which had, during the last few months, come over
his sister's nature was truly a matter of wonder to Ephraim. Humbly and
submissively she accepted the slightest suggestion on his part, as
though it were a command. He was to her a father and mother, and never
were parents more implicitly obeyed by a child than this brother by a
sister but three years his junior.

There was one subject, however, upon which Ephraim found his sister
implacable and firm--their absent father, the mere mention of whose name
made her tremble. Then there returned that haughty curl of the lips, and
all the other symptoms of a proud, inflexible spirit. It was evident
that Viola hated the man to whom she owed her existence.

Thus had it come about that Ephraim was almost afraid to pronounce his
father's name. Neither did he care to allude to their mother before
Viola, for the memory of her death was too closely bound up with that
dark form behind the distant prison walls.

Let us now return to the night on which Ephraim opened the door to his
father. How had it come about? A thousand times Ephraim had thought
about his father's return--and now he durst not even kindle a light, to
look upon the long- estranged face. As silent as when he had come,
Ascher remained during the rest of the night; he had seated himself at
the window, and his arm was resting upon the very spot where formerly