muttering indistinct words. His sleep lasted scarcely half an hour, and then he awoke with a suddenness that startled me.

"The money must be divided equally," he said, sitting upright in his chair. Alice's child shall be provided for. And she shall not be forced to marry any one against her inclination. No, no, Alice; your little girl need not take Lewis unless she likes him." "Hush, dear uncle," I entreated. "No one is here but myself, your own little Annie."

"Perhaps I did wrong, Alice," he continued, speaking in a quieter tone. "But the girl was very dear to me, and when Norman Dayne asked me for her she was little more than a child. We were walking in the garden, Dayne and I, and he told me that he wanted Annie; that he would care for her and cherish her always, if I would give her to him. Maybe I was selfish, Alice; but I could not bear to part with her, and I would not hearken to him. Then he pleaded, and I remember that I said, 'Not yet, Mr. Dayne, not yet. Leave her as she is a little longer.'

Were these words the wanderings of a confused brain? I recalled the very sentence that I had overheard in the garden on that memorable evening. Had my uncle indeed uttered it in reply to Norman's request? I could scarcely doubt that it was so. After a brief pause he sank back in his chair, closing his eyes, and speaking again in a dreamy tone,

"Norman Dayne was a fool, Alice, an enthusiastic

fool. Why need he have risked his life to preach to niggers? But the child shall never be urged to marry Lewis-never. And the money shall be equally divided."

His voice died away into a whisper, and his head dropped heavily upon the cushion. The light of the winter afternoon was fast waning; I could not distinctly see his features, but I felt satisfied that he had again fallen asleep. It grew darker and darker, and at length I heard the noise of Lewis's latch-key, and listened to the opening of the house door. Then, rising gently from my seat, I went forth to meet him. in the entry, carrying the morocco case in my hand.

"I came to tell you that my uncle is asleep," I said. "He does not seem well, and I think it will be best not to arouse him suddenly. Have you not brought Mr. Bright?"

"No; he is away from home," answered my cousin, churlishly. "I suppose my father has been exciting himself with talking about law business. You should have kept him quiet; he gets quite childish at times."

The door of the sitting-room stood wide open; the table was spread for tea, and the fire burning brightly. The light flickered over my figure as I turned to ascend the staircase, and the red flame lit up Lewis's dark face. He was looking fixedly at the morocco case in my hand.

I carried my mother's legacy upstairs, bending over the banisters as I went, and asking nurse to bring me a candle. She followed me up to my room, and

entering, shut the door behind her, putting the candlestick upon the dressing-table.

"Miss Annie," said she, anxiously, "your cousin spoke to you in a cross way, and I heard him say something about law business. Has the captain made a new will ?"

"He is going to make a new will," I replied. "The old one is destroyed. Lewis has been to Harrowport, to fetch Mr. Bright, but he is not at home."

"And is the money to be divided between you and your cousin.?"

"Equally divided," said I, quoting Captain Jerrold's words. "As my uncle says, it would not be fair to leave his own son without a shilling. He wishes to hold a personal consultation with Mr. Bright before he makes the new will. See, nurse,

he has given me mamma's diamonds."

I drew near the dressing-table, and was about to open the case, when Susan burst into the room.

"The master is taken ill," she said. "Mr. Lewis has told me to run for the doctor. Will you go downstairs, nurse; and Miss Annie, dear, I think you had better stay up here."

She hurried off, and nurse was hastily following her.

"Let me come too," I pleaded.

"No, my child," she answered firmly, shutting the door. And I was left alone.

Feeling bewildered, and half stunned by this sudden calamity, I walked to the window, and pressed

my face against the panes to watch for Susan's return. But I could see nothing, save the broad, blank darkness, and a few red lights gleaming from the vessels in the harbour. Shivering, I turned away, and began to pace up and down the chamber in my sore distress. The doctor lived at only a short distance from our house, and it was not long before Susan came back, bringing him with her. I heard him enter, and my mind grew more composed.

Presently nurse returned to me, but she staid only for a moment.

"You must be calm and quiet, Miss Annie," she said. "The doctor and Mr. Lewis are going to carry your uncle to his room."

Then I heard the heavy footsteps coming up the stairs, and falling on my kuees by the bedside, I prayed with all my strength for the kind old man who had loved me so well. Still shivering with cold, I rose and went down into the empty parlour; far too agitated to remember that I had left the candle burning upon my dressing-table, and my chamber door wide open.

66

CHAPTER XIII.

CUT ADRIFT ONCE MORE.

SAT cowering by the sitting-room fire, alone for some time. And then my cousin entered, and stood near me, leaning his arm upon the mantelpiece.

Lewis," I said, "tell me what is the matter with my uncle ?"

66

"He has had a stroke of paralysis, Annie," he replied, gravely. "And Doctor Lyle thinks him in a very critical state."

"Can I not see him, and watch by his side to-night?" I asked, bursting into tears.

"Indeed, Annie," answered Lewis, speaking in a softened tone, "indeed you could do him no good. He cannot recognise you-cannot even articulate clearly."

I bowed my head upon my hands in an agony of grief. How I longed at that moment to recall one hour of the past again; only one hour, that I might speak to him of the means of grace, and of the love of Christ.

"You will make yourself ill," said my cousin,