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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14280 ***
+
+                          HOLIDAYS AT ROSELANDS
+
+                       A SEQUEL TO ELSIE DINSMORE
+
+                            BY MARTHA FINLEY
+
+Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by M.W. DODD,
+in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for
+the Southern District of New York.
+
+Copyright, 1898, by DODD, MEAD & COMPANY.
+
+
+
+
+"Hope not sunshine every hour,
+Fear not clouds will always lower."
+
+--Burns.
+
+
+
+
+Elsie's Holidays at Roselands.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+"Oh Truth,
+Thou art, whilst tenant in a noble breast,
+A crown of crystal in an iv'ry chest."
+
+
+Elsie felt in better spirits in the morning; her sleep had refreshed her,
+and she arose with a stronger confidence in the love of both her earthly
+and her heavenly Father.
+
+She found her papa ready, and waiting for her. He took her in his arms
+and kissed her tenderly. "My precious little daughter," he said, "papa is
+very glad to see you looking so bright and cheerful this morning. I think
+something was wrong with my little girl last night. Why did she not come
+to papa with her trouble?"
+
+"_Why_ did you think I was in trouble, papa?" she asked, hiding her face
+on his breast.
+
+"How could I think otherwise, when my little girl did not come to bid me
+good night, though she had not seen me since dinner; and when I went to
+give her a good-night kiss I found her pillow wet, and a tear on her
+cheek?"
+
+"_Did_ you come, papa?" she asked, looking up in glad surprise.
+
+"I did. Now tell me what troubled you, my own one?"
+
+"I am afraid you will be angry with me, papa," she said, almost under her
+breath.
+
+"Not half so angry as if you refuse to give me your confidence. I would
+be glad to know that my little daughter had not a single thought or
+feeling concealed from me."
+
+He paused a moment, looking down at the little blushing face, half hidden
+on his breast, then went on:
+
+"Elsie, daughter, you are more precious to me than aught else in the
+wide world, and you need not fear that any other can ever take your place
+in my heart, or that I will make any connection that would render you
+unhappy. I want no one to love but my little girl; and you must not let
+the gossip of the servants disturb you."
+
+Elsie looked up in unfeigned astonishment.
+
+"Papa! you seem to know everything about me. Can you read my thoughts?"
+
+"_Almost_, when I can see your face," he answered, smiling at her puzzled
+look. "I cannot quite, though; but I can put things together and make a
+pretty good guess, sometimes."
+
+She lay still on his breast for a moment; then, raising her eyes timidly
+to his face again, she said in a half-hesitating way, "I am afraid it is
+very naughty in me, papa, but I can't help thinking that Miss Stevens
+is very disagreeable. I felt so that very first day, and I did not want
+to take a present from her, because it didn't seem exactly right when I
+didn't like her, but I couldn't refuse--she wouldn't let me--and I have
+tried to like her since, but I can't."
+
+"Well, darling, I don't think I am just the proper person to reprove you
+for _that_," he replied, trying to look grave, "for I am afraid I am as
+naughty as you are. But we won't talk any more about her. See what I have
+for you this morning."
+
+He pointed to the table, where lay a pile of prettily bound books, which
+Elsie had not noticed until this moment. They were Abbot's works. Elsie
+had read several of his historical tales, and liked them very much; and
+her father could hardly have given a more acceptable present.
+
+"I was sorry for your disappointment yesterday," he said, "but I hope
+these will make up for it, and they will give you a great deal of useful
+information, as well as amusement; while it could only be an injury
+to you to read that trashy book."
+
+Elsie was turning over the books with eager delight.
+
+"_Dear_ papa, you are so kind and good to me," she said, laying them down
+to put her arms around his neck and kiss him. "I like these books very
+much, and I don't at all care to read that other one since you have told
+me you do not approve of it."
+
+"That is my own darling child," said he, returning her caress, "your
+ready obedience deserved a reward. Now put on your hat, and we will take
+our walk."
+
+Mr. Travilla joined them in the avenue, and his kind heart rejoiced to
+see how the clouds of care and sorrow had all passed away from his little
+friend's face, leaving it bright and beaming, as usual. Her father had
+one hand, and Mr. Travilla soon possessed himself of the other.
+
+"I don't altogether like these company-days, when you have to be banished
+from the table, little Elsie," he remarked. "I cannot half enjoy my
+breakfast without your bright face to look at."
+
+"I don't like them either, Mr. Travilla, because I see so little of papa.
+I haven't had a ride with him since the company came."
+
+"You shall have one this afternoon, if nothing happens," said her father
+quickly. "What do you say, Travilla, to a ride on horseback with the four
+young ladies you took charge of yesterday, and myself?"
+
+"Bravo! I shall be delighted to be of the party, if the ladies don't
+object; eh! Elsie, what do you think?" with a questioning look down into
+her glad face, "will they want me?"
+
+"You needn't be a bit afraid, Mr. Travilla," laughed the little girl; "I
+like you next to papa, and I believe Lucy and the rest like you better."
+
+"Oh! take care, Elsie; are you not afraid of hurting his feelings?"
+
+"No danger, as long as _she_ puts me first," Mr. Dinsmore said, bestowing
+a smile and loving glance on her.
+
+Caroline Howard was in Elsie's room, waiting to show her bracelet, which
+had just been handed to her by her maid; Pomp having brought it from the
+city late the night before.
+
+"Oh! Elsie, I am so glad you have come at last. I have been waiting for
+half an hour, I should think, to show you these," she said, as Elsie came
+in from her walk. "But how bright and merry you look; so different from
+last night! what ailed you then?"
+
+"Never mind," replied Elsie, taking the bracelet from her hand, and
+examining it. "Oh! this is _very_ pretty, Carry! the clasp is so
+beautiful, and they have braided the hair so nicely."
+
+"Yes, I'm sure mamma will like it. But now that Christmas is gone, I
+think I will keep it for a New Year's gift. Wouldn't you, Elsie?"
+
+"Yes, perhaps--but I want to tell you, Carry, what papa says. He and Mr.
+Travilla are going to take you, and Lucy, and Mary, and me, riding on
+horseback this afternoon. Don't you think it will be pleasant?"
+
+"Oh, it will be _grand_!" exclaimed Carry. "Elsie, I think now that your
+papa is very kind; and do you know I like him very much, indeed; quite as
+well as I do Mr. Travilla, and I always liked _him_--he's so pleasant,
+and so funny, too, sometimes. But I must go and show my bracelet to Lucy.
+Hark! no, there's the bell, and I'll just leave it here until after
+breakfast."
+
+Elsie opened a drawer and laid it carefully in, and they ran off to the
+nursery.
+
+"Elsie," said her father, when they had finished the morning lessons,
+"there is to be a children's party to-night, at Mr. Carleton's, and I
+have an invitation for you. Would you like to go?"
+
+"Do you wish me to go, papa?" she asked.
+
+"Not unless _you_ wish to do so, daughter," he said kindly. "I cannot go
+with you, as there are to be none but little people, and I never feel
+altogether comfortable in seeing my darling go from home without me; and
+you will, no doubt, be very late in returning and getting to bed, and I
+fear will feel badly to-morrow in consequence; but this once, at least,
+you shall just please yourself. All your little guests are going, and it
+would be dull and lonesome for you at home, I am afraid."
+
+Elsie thought a moment.
+
+"Dear papa, you are very kind," she said, "but if you please, I would
+much rather have you decide for me, because I am only a silly little
+girl, and you are so much older and wiser."
+
+He smiled, and stroked her hair softly, but said nothing.
+
+"Are you going to stay at home, papa?" she asked presently.
+
+"Yes, daughter, I expect to spend the evening either in this room or the
+library, as I have letters to write."
+
+"Oh, then, papa, please let me stay with you! I would like it _much_
+better than going to the party; will you, papa? please say yes."
+
+"But you know I cannot talk to you, or let you talk; so that it will be
+very dull," he said, pushing back the curls from the fair forehead, and
+smiling down into the eager little face.
+
+"Oh! but if you will only let me sit beside you and read one of my new
+books, I shall be quite contented, and sit as quiet as a little mouse,
+and not say one word without leave. Mayn't I, papa?"
+
+"I said you should do as you pleased, darling, and I always love to have
+my pet near me."
+
+"Oh, then I shall stay!" she cried, clapping her hands.
+
+Then, with a happy little sigh, "It will be so nice," she said, "to have
+one of our quiet evenings again." And she knew, by her father's gratified
+look, that she had decided as he would have had her.
+
+A servant put his head in at the door.
+
+"Massa Horace, dere's a gen'leman in de library axin for to see you."
+
+"Very well, Jim, tell him I will be there in a moment. Elsie, dear, put
+away your books, and go down to your little friends."
+
+"Yes, papa, I will," she replied, as he went out and left her.
+
+"How kind papa is to me, and how I do love him!" she murmured to herself
+as she placed the books carefully in the drawer where they belonged.
+
+She found Lucy and Mary busily engaged in dressing a doll, and Carry
+deeply interested in a book. But several of the little ones were looking
+quite disconsolate.
+
+"Oh, Elsie, do come and play with us," said Flora; "Enna won't play
+anything we like. We've been playing keeping house, but Enna will be
+mother all the time, and she scolds and whips us so much that we are all
+tired of it."
+
+"Well, what shall we play?" asked Elsie, good-naturedly. "Will you build
+houses?"
+
+"No, I'm tired of that, because Enna takes all the blocks," said another
+little girl. "She isn't at all polite to visitors, is she, Flora?"
+
+"No," replied Flora, "and I don't _ever_ mean to come to see her again."
+
+"I don't care," retorted Enna, angrily, "and I don't take _all_ the
+blocks, either."
+
+"Well, _most_ all, you do," said the other, "and it isn't polite."
+
+"They're mine, and I'll have as many as I want; and I don't care if it
+_isn't_ polite," Enna answered, with a pout that by no means improved her
+appearance.
+
+"Will you play 'O sister, O Phebe?'" asked Elsie.
+
+"No, no!" cried several little voices, "Enna always wants to be in the
+middle; and besides, Arthur always wants to play, and he will kiss us;
+and we don't like it."
+
+Elsie was almost in despair; but Herbert, who was lying on a sofa,
+reading, suddenly shut his book, saying, "I tell you what, Elsie! tell us
+one of those nice fairy stories we all like so much!"
+
+"Yes, do, do!" cried several of the little ones, clapping their hands.
+
+So Elsie drew up a stool close to Herbert's sofa, and the little ones
+clustered around her, Enna insisting on having the best place for
+hearing; and for more than an hour she kept them quiet and interested;
+but was very glad when at last the maid came to take them out walking,
+thus leaving her at liberty to follow her own inclination.
+
+"What are you going to do now, Elsie?" asked Caroline, closing her book.
+
+"I am going down to the drawing-room to ask Aunt Adelaide to show me how
+to crochet this mitten for mammy," Elsie answered.
+
+"Won't you come along, girls?"
+
+"Yes, let's take our sewing down there," said Lucy, gathering up the bits
+of muslin and silk, and putting them in her work-box.
+
+Elsie glanced hastily around as they entered, and gave a satisfied little
+sigh on perceiving that Miss Stevens was not in the room, and that her
+Aunt Adelaide was seated with her embroidery near one of the windows,
+while her papa sat near by, reading the morning paper.
+
+The little girls soon established themselves in a group on the opposite
+side of Miss Adelaide's window, and she very good-naturedly gave Elsie
+the assistance she needed.
+
+"Elsie," said Lucy, presently, in an undertone, "Carry has been showing
+us her bracelet, and I think it is beautiful; she won't tell whose hair
+it is--I guess it's her sister's, maybe--but I'm sure yours would make
+just as pretty a bracelet, and I want one for my mamma; won't you give me
+one of your curls to make it? you have so many that one would never
+be missed."
+
+"No, Miss Lucy," said Mr. Dinsmore, looking at them over his paper, "you
+can't have one of my curls; I can't spare it."
+
+"I don't want one of _your_ curls, Mr. Dinsmore," laughed Lucy, merrily.
+"I didn't ask for it. Your hair is very pretty, too, but it would be
+quite too short."
+
+"I beg your pardon, Miss Lucy, if my ears deceived me," said he, with
+mock gravity, "but I was quite certain I heard you asking for one of my
+curls. Perhaps, though, you are not aware of the fact that my curls grow
+on two heads."
+
+"I don't know what you mean, Mr. Dinsmore," replied Lucy, laughing again,
+"but it was one of Elsie's curls I asked for."
+
+"Elsie doesn't own any," said he; "they all belong to me. I let her wear
+them, to be sure, but that is all; she has no right to give them away."
+
+He turned to his paper again, and Elsie bent over her work, her face
+flushed, and her little hand trembling so that she could scarcely hold
+her needle.
+
+"I'm afraid I ought to tell papa," she thought, "that I did give one of
+my curls away. I never thought about his caring, but I might have known,
+because when I wanted my hair cut last summer, he said they shouldn't one
+of them be touched. Oh! dear, why didn't I think of that? I am afraid he
+will be very much displeased."
+
+"Don't tell him, then," whispered the tempter, "he is not likely ever to
+miss it."
+
+"Nay, but it would be _wrong_ to hide your fault," said conscience.
+
+"I _will_ tell him," she resolved.
+
+"Wait till to-morrow, then," whispered the tempter again; "if you tell
+him now, very likely he will deprive you of your ride this afternoon, as
+a punishment."
+
+So the struggle went on in the little breast while others were chatting
+and laughing around her, never suspecting what a battle the little girl
+was fighting within her own heart.
+
+Presently Lucy jumped up. "Oh! I am so tired sewing; come, girls, let's
+put on our things, and take a run in the garden."
+
+Carry and Mary readily assented.
+
+"I must speak to papa first," Elsie said in a half whisper, "but don't
+wait for me."
+
+She had spoken low, but not so low that his quick ear did not catch the
+sound. He had heard her, and laying his paper down on his knee, as the
+other little girls ran away, he turned half round and held out his hand,
+asking, with a smile, "Well, daughter, what is it? what have you to say
+to papa?"
+
+She went to him at once, and he was surprised to see how she was
+trembling, and that her cheeks were flushed and her eyes full of tears.
+
+"Why! what ails my darling?" he asked tenderly.
+
+Adelaide had left the room a moment before, and there was no one near
+enough to hear.
+
+"Please, papa, don't be very angry with me," she pleaded, speaking very
+low and hesitatingly. "I did not know you cared about my curls; I did not
+think about their belonging to you, and I did give one to Carry."
+
+He was silent a moment, evidently surprised at her confession; then he
+said gently, "No, dearest, I will not be angry this time, and I feel sure
+you will not do so again, now you know that I _do_ care."
+
+"No, _indeed_, I will not, dear papa," she replied in a tone of intense
+relief. "But you are not going to punish me?" she asked, beginning to
+tremble again. "I was _so_ afraid to tell you, lest you would say I
+should not have my ride this afternoon."
+
+"Why, then, did you not put off your confession until after the ride?" he
+asked, looking searchingly into her face.
+
+"I wanted to very much, papa," she said, looking down and blushing
+deeply, "but I knew it would be very wrong."
+
+"My dear, conscientious little daughter," he said, taking her on his
+knee, "your father loves you better than ever for this new proof of your
+honesty and truthfulness. Deprive you of your ride? no, indeed, I feel
+far more like rewarding than punishing you. Ah! I had forgotten! I have
+something for you;" and he put his hand into his pocket and brought out
+a letter.
+
+"Oh! it is from Miss Rose! dear, darling Miss Rose!" was Elsie's joyful
+exclamation, as he put it in her hand.
+
+She made a movement as if to get down from his knee, but he detained her.
+
+"Sit still and read it here, darling," he said, "I love to have you on my
+knee, and if there are any hard places I can help you."
+
+"Thank you, papa; sometimes there are hard places--at least pretty hard
+for a little girl like me--though I think Miss Rose tries to write
+plainly because she knows that I cannot read writing as well as big
+people can."
+
+She was eagerly tearing off the envelope while she answered him, and then
+settling herself comfortably she began to read.
+
+He watched with deep interest the varying expression of her fine open
+countenance as she read. Once or twice she asked him to tell her a word,
+but the most of it she got through without any difficulty.
+
+At last she had finished.
+
+"It is such a nice letter, papa," she said as she folded it up, "and so
+good of Miss Rose to write to me again so soon."
+
+"Are you not going to let _me_ enjoy it, too?" he asked.
+
+She put it into his hand instantly, saying, with a blush, "I did not know
+you would care to read it, papa."
+
+"I am interested in all that gives either pleasure or pain to my little
+girl," he answered gently. "I wish to be a sharer in all her joys and
+sorrows."
+
+Elsie watched him while he read, almost as intently as he had watched
+her; for she was anxious that he should be pleased with Miss Rose's
+letter.
+
+It was a cheerful, pleasant letter, well suited to interest a child of
+Elsie's years; giving an account of home scenes; telling of her little
+brothers and sisters, their love for each other; the little gifts they
+had prepared in anticipation of Christmas, etc., etc.
+
+At the close she made some allusion to Elsie's letters, and expressed her
+heartfelt sympathy in her little friend's happiness.
+
+"I am so glad, my darling," she wrote, "that your father now loves you so
+dearly, and that you are so happy in his love. My heart ached for you in
+the bitter disappointment of your first meeting with him. It is true you
+never said that you were disappointed, but there was a tone of deep
+sadness in your dear little letter, the cause of which I--who knew so
+well how you had looked and longed for his return, and how your little
+heart yearned for his affection--could not fail to guess. But, dear
+child, while you thus rejoice in an _earthly_ father's love, do not
+forget that you have a Father in Heaven, who claims the _first_ place in
+your heart; and who is the giver of every good gift, not even excepting
+the precious love that now makes your young life so bright and happy.
+Keep close to Jesus, dear Elsie: His is the only _truly satisfying_
+love--the only one we can be certain will never fail us."
+
+"Is it not a nice letter, papa?" asked the little girl, as he refolded
+and gave it to her again.
+
+"Very nice, daughter," he answered, in an absent way. He looked very
+grave, and Elsie studied his countenance intently while, for some
+moments, he sat with his eyes bent thoughtfully upon the carpet. She
+feared that something in the letter had displeased him. But presently he
+looked at her with his usual affectionate smile, and laying his hand
+caressingly on her head, said, "Miss Allison seems to warn you not to
+trust too much to the permanence of my affection; but you need not fear
+that you will ever lose it, unless, indeed, you cease to be deserving of
+it. No, nor even then," he added, drawing her closer to him, "for even
+should you grow very naughty and troublesome, you would still be _my
+child_--a part of myself and of my lost Elsie, and therefore very dear to
+me."
+
+"Ah! papa, how could I ever _bear_ to lose your love? I think I should
+die," she said, dropping her head on his breast, with almost a sob. "Oh!
+if I am ever very, _very_ naughty, papa, punish me as severely as you
+will; but oh, never, _never_ quit _loving_ me."
+
+"Set your heart at rest, my darling," he said, tenderly, "there is no
+danger of such a thing. I could not do it, if I wished."
+
+Ah! there came a time when Elsie had sore need of all the comfort the
+memory of those words could give.
+
+"What are you going to wear to Isabel Carleton's party, to-night, Elsie?"
+asked Lucy, at the dinner table.
+
+"Nothing," replied Elsie, with an arch smile, "I am not going, Lucy," she
+added.
+
+"Not going! well, now, that is _too_ bad," cried Lucy, indignantly. "I
+think it's really mean of your papa; he never lets you go anywhere."
+
+"Oh, Lucy! he let me go to town with Carry the other day; he has let
+me stay up late two or three nights since you came; he is going to let
+me ride with the rest of you this afternoon, and he said that I might
+do just as I pleased about going to-night," Elsie summed up rather
+triumphantly, adding, in a very pleasant tone, "It is entirely my own
+choice to stay at home; so you see, Lucy, you must not blame my papa
+before you know."
+
+Lucy looked a little ashamed, while Mary Leslie exclaimed:
+
+"Your own choice, Elsie? why, how strange! don't you like parties?"
+
+"Not nearly so well as a quiet evening with papa," replied Elsie,
+smiling.
+
+"Well, you are a queer girl!" was Mary's comment, while Caroline
+expressed her disappointment and vainly endeavored to change Elsie's
+determination. The little girl was firm, because she felt sure she was
+doing right, and soon managed to change the subject of conversation to
+the pleasure nearest at hand--the ride they were to take immediately
+after dinner.
+
+They were a merry party, and really enjoyed themselves about as much as
+they had expected; but they returned earlier than usual, as the gentlemen
+decided that the little ladies needed some time to rest before the
+evening entertainment.
+
+Elsie assisted her young friends to dress for the party--generously
+offering to lend them any of her ornaments that they might fancy--saw
+them come down, one after another, full of mirth and eager expectation,
+and looking so pretty and graceful in their beautiful evening-dresses,
+heard their expressions of commiseration toward herself, and watched the
+last carriage roll away without a sigh or regret that she was left
+behind. And in another moment a graceful little figure glided quietly
+across the library, and sitting down on a stool at Mr. Dinsmore's feet,
+looked lovingly into his face with a pair of soft, dark eyes.
+
+His pen was moving rapidly over the paper, but ere long there was a
+pause, and laying his hand caressingly on the curly head, he said, "How
+quiet my little girl is; but where is your book, daughter?"
+
+"If you please, papa, I would rather answer Miss Rose's letter."
+
+"You may," he said, "and if you want to stay with me, you may ring the
+bell and tell the servant to bring your writing desk here."
+
+She joyfully availed herself of the permission, and soon her pen was
+vainly trying to keep pace with her father's. But presently his was
+thrown aside, and rising, he stood behind her chair, giving her
+directions how to sit, how to hold the pen, how to form this or that
+letter more correctly, guiding her hand, and commending her efforts to
+improve.
+
+"There, you have spelled a word wrong, and I see you have one or two
+capitals where there should be a small letter; and that last sentence is
+not perfectly grammatical," he said. "You must let me correct it when you
+are done, and then you must copy it off more carefully."
+
+Elsie looked very much mortified.
+
+"Never mind, daughter," he said kindly, patting her cheek; "you do very
+well for a _little_ girl; I dare say I made a great many more mistakes at
+your age, and I don't expect you to do better than I did."
+
+"Oh, papa, the letters I sent you when you were away must have been full
+of blunders, I am afraid," she said, blushing deeply; "were you not very
+much ashamed of me? How could you bear to read them?"
+
+"Ashamed of you, darling? No, indeed, neither of you nor them. I loved
+them all the better for the mistakes, because they showed how entirely
+your own they were; and I could not but be pleased with them when every
+line breathed such love to me. My little daughter's confidence and
+affection are worth more to me than the finest gold, or the most
+priceless jewels."
+
+He bent down and kissed her fondly as he spoke; then, returning to his
+seat, bade her finish her letter and bring it to him when done.
+
+He took up his pen, and Elsie collected her thoughts once more, worked
+busily and silently for another half hour, and then brought her sheet to
+him for inspection; presenting it with a timid, bashful air, "I am afraid
+it is very full of mistakes, papa," she said.
+
+"Never mind, daughter," he answered, encouragingly; "I know that it takes
+a great deal of practice to make perfect, and it will be a great pleasure
+to me to see you improve."
+
+He looked over it, pointed out the mistakes very kindly and gently,
+put the capitals in their proper places, corrected the punctuation,
+and showed her how one or two of her sentences might be improved.
+
+Then, handing it back, he said, "You had better put it in your desk now,
+and leave the copying until to-morrow, as it will soon be your bedtime,
+and I want you on my knee until then."
+
+Elsie's face grew very bright, and she hastened to do his bidding.
+
+"And may I talk, papa?" she asked, as he pushed away his writing, wheeled
+his chair about toward the fire, and then took her on his knee.
+
+"Yes," he said, smiling, "that is exactly what I want you to do. Tell me
+what you have been doing all day, and how you are enjoying your holidays;
+or talk to me of anything that pleases, or that troubles you. I love to
+be made the confidant of my little girl's joys and sorrows; and I want
+her always to feel that she is sure of papa's sympathy."
+
+"I am so glad that I may tell you everything, my own papa," she answered,
+putting her arm around his neck, and laying her cheek to his. "I have
+enjoyed this day very much, because I have been with you nearly all the
+time; and then, I had that nice letter from Miss Rose, too."
+
+"Yes, it was a very pleasant letter," he said; and then he asked her
+what she had been doing in those hours when she had not been with him;
+and she gave him an animated account of the occurrences of that and
+several of the preceding days, and told of some little accidents that
+had happened--amongst them that of the broken doll; and spoke of the
+sorrow it had caused her; but she did not blame either Flora or Enna,
+and concluded her narrative by saying that, "good, kind Mrs. Brown had
+mended it, so that it was almost as good as ever."
+
+He listened with evident interest to all she said, expressed sympathy in
+her little trials, and gave her some good advice.
+
+But at length he drew out his watch, and with an exclamation of surprise
+at the lateness of the hour, told her it was half an hour after her
+bedtime, kissed her good-night, and dismissed her to her room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+                          "There comes
+Forever something between us and what
+We deem our happiness."
+
+BYRON'S SARDANAPALUS.
+
+
+It was quite late when the young party returned, and the next day all
+were dull, and more than one peevish and fretful; so that Elsie, on whom
+fell, almost entirely, the burden of entertaining them, had quite a
+trying time.
+
+She noticed at breakfast that Arthur seemed in an uncommonly bad humor,
+preserving a sullen and dogged silence, excepting once when a sly whisper
+from Harry Carrington drew from him an exclamation of fierce anger that
+almost frightened the children, but only made Harry laugh.
+
+Presently after, as they were about dispersing, Arthur came to her side
+and whispered that he had something to say to her in private.
+
+Elsie started and looked extremely annoyed, but said at once that he
+might come to her room, and that there they could be quite alone, as
+mammy would be down-stairs getting her breakfast.
+
+She led the way and Arthur followed. He glanced hastily around on
+entering and then locked the door and stood with his back against it.
+
+Elsie became very pale.
+
+"You needn't be _afraid_" he said, sneeringly, "I'm not going to _hurt_
+you!"
+
+"What do you want, Arthur? tell me quickly, please, because I must soon
+go to papa, and I have a lesson to look over first," she said, mildly.
+
+"I want you to lend me some money," he replied, speaking in a rapid and
+determined manner; "I know you've got some, for I saw your purse the
+other day, and it hadn't less than five dollars in it, I'm sure, and
+that's just the sum I want."
+
+"What do you want it for, Arthur?" she asked in a troubled voice.
+
+"That's none of your business," he answered, fiercely. "I want the money;
+I _must_ have it, and I'll pay it back next month, and that's all you
+need to know."
+
+"No, Arthur," she said gently, but very firmly, "unless you tell me all
+about it, I cannot lend you a single cent, because papa has forbidden me
+to do so, and I cannot disobey him."
+
+"Nonsense! that's nothing but an excuse because you don't choose to do me
+a favor," returned the boy angrily; "you weren't so particular about
+obeying last summer when he made you sit all the afternoon at the piano,
+because you didn't choose to play what he told you to."
+
+"That was because it would have been breaking God's command; but this is
+very different," replied Elsie, mildly.
+
+"Well, if you _must_ know," said he, fiercely, "I want it to pay a debt;
+I've been owing Dick Percival a dollar or so for several weeks, and last
+night he won from me again, and he said if I didn't pay up he'd report me
+to papa, or Horace, and get the money from them; and I got off only by
+promising to let him have the full amount to-day; but my pocket money's
+all gone, and I can't get anything out of mamma, because she told me the
+last time I went to her, that she couldn't give me any more without papa
+finding out all about it. So you see there is nobody to help me but you,
+Elsie, for there's never any use in asking my sisters; they never have a
+cent to spare! Now be a good, obliging girl; come and let me have the
+money."
+
+"Oh! Arthur, you've been gambling; how _could_ you do so?" she exclaimed
+with a horrified look. "It is so _very_ wicked! you'll go to ruin,
+Arthur, if you keep on in such bad ways; do go to grandpa and tell him
+all about it, and promise never to do so again, and I am sure he will
+forgive you, and pay your debts, and then you will feel a great deal
+happier."
+
+"Tell papa, indeed; never! I'd _die_ first! Elsie, you _must_ lend me the
+money," he said, seizing her by the wrist.
+
+"Let go of me, Arthur," she said, trying to free herself from his grasp.
+"You are stronger than I am, but you know if you hurt me, papa will be
+sure to find it out."
+
+He threw her hand from him with a violence that made her stagger, and
+catch at the furniture to save herself from falling.
+
+"Will you give me the money then?" he asked angrily.
+
+"If I should do so, I would have to put it down in my expense book, and
+tell papa all about it, because he does not allow me to spend one cent
+without telling him just what it went for; and that would be much worse
+for you, Arthur, than to go and confess it yourself--a _great deal_
+worse, I am sure."
+
+"You could manage it well enough, if you wanted to," said he, sullenly;
+"it would be an easy matter to add a few yards to the flannel, and a few
+pounds to the tobacco that you bought so much of for the old servants.
+Just give _me_ your book, and I'll fix it in a minute, and he'll never
+find it out."
+
+"Arthur!" she exclaimed, "I could _never_ do such a wicked thing! I would
+not deceive papa so for any money; and even if I did he would be sure to
+find it out."
+
+Some one tried the door.
+
+Arthur put his hand on the lock; then, turning toward Elsie again, for
+an instant, shook his fist in her face, muttering, with an oath, that he
+would be revenged, and make her sorry for her refusal to the last day of
+her life. He then opened the door and went out, leaving poor Elsie pale,
+and trembling like a leaf.
+
+The person, whoever it was, that had tried the door had gone away again,
+and Elsie had a few moments alone to recover herself, before Chloe came
+to tell her that her father could not have her with him that morning, as
+a gentleman had called on business.
+
+And much as Elsie had always enjoyed that hour, she was almost glad of
+the respite, so fearful was she that her papa would see that something
+had agitated her, and insist upon knowing what it was. She was very much
+troubled that she had been made the repository of such a secret, and
+fearful that she ought to tell her father or grandfather, because it
+seemed so very important that Arthur should be stopped in his evil
+courses. But remembering that he had said that her assistance was his
+only hope for escaping detection, she at length decided that she need
+not speak about the matter to any one.
+
+She had a trying time that day, endeavoring to keep the children amused;
+and her ingenuity and patience were taxed to the utmost to think of
+stories and games that would please them all.
+
+It was still early in the afternoon when she seemed to have got quite to
+the end of her list. She was trying to amuse Enna's set, while her three
+companions and Herbert were taking care of themselves. They had sat down
+on the floor, and were playing jack-stones.
+
+"Let us play jack-stones, too," said Flora. "I don't know how; but Elsie,
+you can teach me, can't you?"
+
+"No, Flora, I cannot indeed, for papa says I must not play that game,
+because he does not like to have me sit down on the floor," replied
+Elsie. "We must try to think of something else."
+
+"We needn't sit on the floor, need we? Couldn't we play it on the table?"
+asked Flora.
+
+"I don't know; perhaps we could; but papa said I mustn't play it,"
+replied Elsie, shaking her head doubtfully.
+
+"But maybe he'd let you, if we don't sit on the floor," persisted the
+little girl.
+
+Several other little ones joined their entreaties to Flora's, and at
+length Elsie said, "Well, I will go and ask papa; perhaps he may let me,
+if I tell him we are not going to sit on the floor."
+
+She went to his dressing-room, but he was not there. Next she tried the
+library, and was more successful; he was in an easy chair by the fire,
+reading.
+
+But now that she had found him, Elsie, remembering how often he had told
+her never to ask a second time to do what he had once forbidden, was more
+than half afraid to prefer her request, and very much inclined to go back
+without doing so.
+
+But as she stood a moment irresolute, he looked up from his book, and
+seeing who it was, smiled and held out his hand.
+
+She went to him then, and said timidly, "Papa, some of the little ones
+want me to play jack-stones, to teach them how; may I, if we don't sit on
+the floor?"
+
+"Elsie," he replied, in a tone of great displeasure, "it was only the
+other day that I positively forbade you to play that game, and, after all
+that I have said to you about not asking a second time, it surprises me
+very much that you would dare to do it. Go to my dressing-room, and shut
+yourself into the closet there."
+
+Elsie burst into tears, as she turned to obey, then, hesitatingly, asked,
+"May I go down first, papa, and tell the children that I can't come to
+play with them?"
+
+"Elsie!" he exclaimed, in his sternest tone; and not daring to utter
+another word, trembling and weeping, she hastened from the room, and shut
+herself up as he had bidden her.
+
+The closet was large, and there was a stool she could sit on; but when
+she had shut the door, it was both dark and cold. It was a dismal place
+to be in, and poor Elsie wondered how long she would have to stay there.
+
+It seemed a long, long time; so long that she began to think it must be
+night, and to fear that perhaps her papa had forgotten all about having
+sent her there, or that he considered her so very naughty as to deserve
+to stay there all night.
+
+But at last she heard his step, and then he opened the door and called,
+"Elsie!"
+
+"Yes, papa, I am here," she replied in a trembling voice, full of tears.
+
+"Come to me," he said; and then, as he took her hand, "Why, how cold you
+are, child," he exclaimed; "I am really sorry you have been so long in
+that dismal place. I did not intend to punish you so severely, and should
+not have kept you there more than half an hour, at the _very longest_;
+but company came in, and I quite forgot you."
+
+While speaking thus he had led her up to the fire and sat down with her
+on his knee. "My poor darling!" he said, "these little hands are very
+cold, let papa rub them; and are your feet cold too?"
+
+"Yes sir," she replied, and he pulled off her shoes and stockings, and
+moving his chair closer to the fire, held her feet out toward the blaze,
+and rubbed them in his warm hands.
+
+"You have been crying a good deal," he said, looking keenly into her
+face.
+
+"Yes, papa," she replied, dropping her face on his breast and bursting
+into tears; "I thought you were going to leave me there all night."
+
+"Did you? and were you afraid?"
+
+"No, papa, not _afraid_, because I know you would be sleeping in the next
+room; and besides, God could take care of me as well in the closet as
+anywhere else. Is it getting night, papa, or morning?"
+
+"It is beginning to grow dark," he said. "But tell me why you cried, if
+you were not afraid."
+
+"Partly because I was uncomfortable, papa, but more because I was sorry
+I had been naughty, and displeased you, and afraid that I can never learn
+to be good."
+
+"It is very strange," he remarked, "that you cannot learn not to ask to
+do what I have forbidden. I shall have to punish you every time you do
+it; for you _must_ learn that no _means no_, and that you are never to
+coax or tease after papa has once said it. I love my little girl very
+dearly, and want to do all I can to make her happy, but I must have her
+entirely submissive and obedient to me. But stop crying now," he added,
+wiping her eyes with his handkerchief. "Kiss me, and tell me you are
+going to be a good girl, and I will forgive you this time."
+
+"I will try, papa," she said, holding up her face for the kiss; "and I
+would not have asked to play that, but the children begged me so, and
+I thought you only said I mustn't, because you didn't want me to sit on
+the floor; and we were going to try it on the table."
+
+"Did I give that reason?" he asked gravely.
+
+"No, papa," she replied, hanging her head.
+
+"Then you had no right to think so. That _was one_ reason, but not the
+_only_ one. I have heard it said that that play enlarges the knuckles,
+and I don't choose to have these little hands of mine robbed of their
+beauty," he added, playfully raising them to his lips.
+
+Elsie smiled faintly, then drew a deep sigh.
+
+"Is it so very hard to give up jack-stones?" he asked.
+
+"No, papa; I don't care anything about _that_, but I was just thinking
+how very naughty I must be growing; for you have had to punish me twice
+in one week; and then I have had such a hard day of it--it was so
+difficult to amuse the children. I think being up so late last night
+made them feel cross."
+
+"Ah!" he said, in a sympathizing tone; "and had you all the burden of
+entertaining them? Where were Louise and Lora?"
+
+"They are hardly ever with us, papa; we are too little to play with them,
+they say, and Enna won't do anything her little friends want her to,
+and"--she paused, and the color rushed over her face with the sudden
+thought--"I am afraid I am telling tales."
+
+"And so they put upon you all the trouble of entertaining both your own
+company and theirs, eh? It is shameful! a downright imposition, and I
+shall not put up with it!" he exclaimed indignantly. "I shall speak to
+Lora and Louise, and tell them they must do their share of the work."
+
+"Please, papa, _don't_," Elsie begged in a frightened tone. "I would a
+great deal rather just go on as we have been; they will be so vexed."
+
+"And suppose they are! they shall not hurt you," he said, drawing her
+closer to him; "and they have no reason to be. I think the children will
+all want to go to bed early to-night," he added, "and then you can come
+here and sit by me while you copy your letter; shall you like that?"
+
+"Very much, papa, thank you."
+
+"Well, then we will put on the shoes and stockings again," he said
+pleasantly, "and then you must bathe your eyes, and go to your supper;
+and, as soon as the others retire, you may come back to me."
+
+Elsie had to make haste, for the tea-bell rang almost immediately.
+
+The others were just taking their places at the table when she entered
+the room, and thus, their attention being occupied with the business in
+hand, she escaped the battery of questions and looks of curiosity which
+she had feared.
+
+Flora did turn round after a little, to ask: "Why didn't you come back,
+Elsie; wouldn't your papa let you play?" But Elsie's quiet "no" seemed to
+satisfy her, and she made no further remark about it.
+
+As Mr. Dinsmore had expected, the children were all ready for bed
+directly after tea; and then Elsie went to him, and had another quiet
+evening, which she enjoyed so much that she thought it almost made up for
+all the troubles and trials of the day; for her father, feeling a little
+remorseful on account of her long imprisonment in the closet, was, if
+possible, even more than usually tender and affectionate in his manner
+toward her.
+
+The next morning Mr. Dinsmore found an opportunity to remonstrate with
+his sisters on their neglect of the little guests, but did it in such a
+way that they had no idea that Elsie had been complaining of them--as,
+indeed, she had not--but supposed that he had himself noticed their
+remissness; and feeling somewhat ashamed of their want of politeness,
+they went into the children's room after breakfast, and exerted
+themselves for an hour or two, for the entertainment of the little ones.
+It was but a spasmodic effort, however, and they soon grew weary of the
+exertion, and again let the burden fall upon Elsie. She did the best she
+could, poor child, but these were tiresome and trying days from that
+until New Year's.
+
+One afternoon Mr. Horace Dinsmore was sitting in his own room, buried in
+an interesting book, when the door opened and closed again very quietly,
+and his little girl stole softly to his side, and laying her head on his
+shoulder, stood there without uttering a word.
+
+For hours she had been exerting herself to the utmost to amuse the
+young guests, her efforts thwarted again and again by the petulance
+and unreasonableness of Walter and Enna; she had also borne much teasing
+from Arthur, and fault-finding from Mrs. Dinsmore, to whom Enna was
+continually carrying tales, until, at length, no longer able to endure
+it, she had stolen away to her father to seek for comfort.
+
+"My little girl is tired," he said, passing his arm affectionately around
+her, and pressing his lips on her forehead.
+
+She burst into tears, and sobbed quite violently.
+
+"Why, what is it, darling? what troubles my own sweet child?" he asked,
+in a tone of mingled surprise and alarm, as he hastily laid aside his
+book and drew her to his knee.
+
+"Nothing, papa; at least, nothing very bad; I believe I am very silly,"
+she replied, trying to smile through her tears.
+
+"It must have been something, Elsie," he said, very gravely; "something
+quite serious, I think, to affect you so; tell me what it was, daughter."
+
+"Please don't ask me, papa," she begged imploringly.
+
+"I hate concealments, Elsie, and shall be very much displeased if you try
+them with me," he answered, almost sternly.
+
+"Dear papa, _don't_ be angry," she pleaded, in a tremulous tone; "I don't
+want to have any concealments from you, but you know I ought not to tell
+tales. You won't _make_ me do it?"
+
+"Is that it?" he said, kissing her. "No, I shall not ask you to tell
+tales, but I am not going to have you abused by anybody, and shall take
+care to find out from some one else who it is that annoys you."
+
+"Oh, papa, please don't trouble yourself about it. I do not mind it at
+all, now."
+
+"But _I_ do," replied her father, "and I shall take care that you are not
+annoyed in the same way again."
+
+The tears rose in Elsie's eyes again, and she reproached herself severely
+for allowing her father to see how troubled she had been; but she said
+not another word, for she well knew from his look and tone that it would
+be worse than useless.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+"Revenge, at first though sweet,
+Bitter, ere long, back on itself recoils."
+
+MILTON'S PARADISE LOST.
+
+
+"Tis easier for the generous to forgive,
+Than for offence to ask it."
+
+THOMSON'S EDMUND AND ELEONORA.
+
+
+The last day of the old year had come; the afternoon was bright and warm
+for the season, and the little folks at Roselands were unanimously in
+favor of a long walk. They set out soon after dinner, all in high good
+humor except Arthur, who was moody and silent, occasionally casting an
+angry glance at Elsie, whom he had not yet forgiven for her refusal to
+lend him money; but no one seemed to notice it, and for some time nothing
+occurred to mar their enjoyment.
+
+At length, some of the older ones, seeing that the sun was getting low,
+called to the others that it was time to return, and all turned their
+faces homeward, walking more soberly and silently along than at first,
+for they were beginning to feel somewhat fatigued.
+
+They were climbing a steep hill. Elsie and Caroline Howard reached the
+top first, Arthur and Harry Carrington being but a few steps behind.
+
+Elsie stooped to pick up a pebble, and Arthur, darting quickly past her,
+managed to give her a push that sent her rolling down the bank. She gave
+one frightened cry as she fell, and the next instant was lying pale and
+motionless at the bottom.
+
+All was now terror and confusion among the children; the little ones,
+who all loved Elsie dearly, began to scream and cry. Harry, Lucy,
+Carry, and Mary, rushed down the path again as fast as they could, and
+were soon standing pale and breathless beside the still form of their
+little companion. Carry was the only one who seemed to have any presence
+of mind. She sat down on the ground, and lifting Elsie's head, laid it
+on her lap, untied her bonnet-strings, and loosened her dress.
+
+"Jim," she said to the black boy, who stood blubbering by her side, "run
+quickly for the doctor. And you, Harry Carrington, go for her father, as
+fast as you can. Lucy, crying so won't do any good. Haven't some of you
+a smelling-bottle about you?"
+
+"Yes, yes, here, here! quick! quick! Oh, Carry, say she isn't dead!"
+cried Mary Leslie, diving into her pocket and bringing out a small bottle
+of smelling salts that some one had presented her as a Christmas gift.
+
+"No, she is not dead, Mary; see, she is beginning to open her eyes,"
+replied Carry, now bursting into tears herself.
+
+But Elsie opened them only for an instant, moaned as if in great pain,
+and relapsed again into insensibility, so like death that Carry shuddered
+and trembled with fear.
+
+They were not more than a quarter of a mile from the house, but it
+seemed almost an age to the anxious Carry before Mr. Dinsmore came;
+although it was in reality but a few moments, as Harry ran very fast,
+and Mr. Dinsmore sprang into the carriage--which was at the door, some
+of the party having just returned from a drive--the instant he heard the
+news, calling to Harry to accompany him, and bidding the coachman drive
+directly to the spot, with all speed.
+
+The moment they were off he began questioning the boy closely as to the
+cause of the accident. Harry could not tell much about it. "She had
+fallen down the hill," he said, "but he did not see what made her fall."
+
+"Was she much hurt?" Mr. Dinsmore asked, his voice trembling a little in
+spite of himself.
+
+Harry "did not know, but feared she was pretty badly injured."
+
+"Was she insensible?"
+
+"Yes, she was when I left," Harry said.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore leaned back in the carriage with a groan and did not speak
+again.
+
+In another moment they had stopped, and flinging open the door, he sprang
+to the ground, and hurried toward the little group, who were still
+gathered about Elsie just as Harry had left them; some looking on with
+pale, frightened faces, others sobbing aloud. Walter was crying quite
+bitterly, and even Enna had the traces of tears on her cheeks. As for
+Arthur, he trembled and shuddered at the thought that he was perhaps
+already a murderer, and frightened and full of remorse, shrank behind
+the others as he saw his brother approach.
+
+Elsie still lay with her head in Carry's lap.
+
+Hastily pushing the others aside, Mr. Dinsmore stooped over her, sorrow
+and intense anxiety written in every line of his countenance.
+
+Again Elsie opened her eyes, and smiled faintly as she saw him bending
+over her.
+
+"My precious one," he murmured in a low, moved tone, as he gently lifted
+her in his arms; "are you much hurt? Are you in pain?"
+
+"Yes, papa," she answered feebly.
+
+"Where, darling?"
+
+"My ankle, papa; it pains me terribly; and I think I must have hit my
+head, it hurts me so."
+
+"How did she come to fall?" he asked, looking round upon the little
+group.
+
+No one replied.
+
+"Please, papa, don't ask," she pleaded in a faint voice.
+
+He gave her a loving, pitying look, but paid no other heed to her
+remonstrance.
+
+"Who was near her?" he asked, glancing sternly around the little circle.
+
+"Arthur," said several voices.
+
+Arthur quailed beneath the terrible glance of his brother's eye, as he
+turned it upon him, exclaiming bitterly: "Yes, I understand it all, now!
+I believe you will never be satisfied until you have killed her."
+
+"Dear papa, please take me home, and don't scold poor Arthur," pleaded
+Elsie's sweet, gentle voice; "I am not so very badly hurt, and I am sure
+he is very sorry for me."
+
+"Yes, darling," he said, "I will take you home and will try to do so
+without hurting you;" and nothing could exceed the tenderness with which
+he bore her to the carriage, supported her in his arms during the short
+ride, and on their arrival carried her up to her room and laid her down
+upon a sofa.
+
+Jim had brought the doctor, and Mr. Dinsmore immediately requested him to
+make a careful examination of the child's injuries.
+
+He did so, and reported a badly sprained ankle, and a slight bruise on
+the head; nothing more.
+
+"Are you quite sure, doctor, that her spine has sustained no injury?"
+asked the father anxiously, adding, "there is scarcely anything I should
+so dread for her as that."
+
+"None whatever," replied the physician confidently, and Mr. Dinsmore
+looked greatly relieved.
+
+"My back does not hurt me at all, papa; I don't think I struck it," Elsie
+said, looking up lovingly into his face.
+
+"How did you happen to fall, my dear?" asked the doctor.
+
+"If you please, sir, I would rather not tell," she replied, while the
+color rushed over her face, and then instantly faded away again, leaving
+her deathly pale. She was suffering great pain, but bearing it bravely.
+
+The doctor was dressing the injured ankle, and her father sat by the sofa
+holding her hand.
+
+"You need not, darling," he answered, kissing her cheek.
+
+"Thank you, papa," she said, gratefully, then whispered, "Won't you stay
+with me till tea-time, if you are not busy?"
+
+"Yes, daughter, and all the evening, too; perhaps all night."
+
+She looked her happiness and thanks, and the doctor praised her patience
+and fortitude; and having given directions concerning the treatment of
+the wounded limb, bade his little patient good-night, saying he would
+call again in the morning.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore followed him to the door.
+
+"That's a sweet child, Mr. Dinsmore," he remarked. "I don't know how any
+one could have the heart to injure her; but I think there has been foul
+play somewhere, and if she were mine I should certainly sift the matter
+to the bottom."
+
+"That I shall, you may rest assured, sir; but tell me doctor, do you
+think her ankle very seriously injured?"
+
+"Not permanently, I hope; indeed, I feel quite sure of it, if she is
+well taken care of, and not allowed to use it too soon; but these sprains
+are tedious things, and she will not be able to walk for some weeks.
+Good-night, sir; don't be too anxious, she will get over it in time,
+and you may be thankful it is nothing worse."
+
+"I am, indeed, doctor," Mr. Dinsmore said, warmly grasping the hand the
+kind-hearted physician held out to him.
+
+Everybody was asking what the doctor had said, and how much Elsie was
+injured, and Mr. Dinsmore stepped into the drawing-room a moment to
+answer their inquiries, and then hastened back to his child again.
+
+She looked so glad to see him.
+
+"My poor little pet," he said, pityingly, "you will have a sad New Year's
+Day, fastened down to your couch; but you shall have as much of my
+company as you wish."
+
+"Shall I, papa?--then you will have to stay by me all day long."
+
+"And so I will, dearest," he said, leaning fondly over her, and stroking
+back the hair from her forehead. "Are you in much pain now, darling?" he
+asked, as he noticed a slight contraction of her brow, and an almost
+deadly pallor around her mouth.
+
+"Yes, papa, a good deal," she answered faintly; "and I feel so weak.
+Please take me in your arms, papa, I want to lay my head against you."
+
+He raised her up gently, sat down on the end of the couch where her head
+had been, lifted her to his knee, and made Chloe place a pillow for the
+wounded limb to rest upon.
+
+"There, darling, is that better?" he asked, soothingly, as she laid her
+head wearily down on his breast, and he folded his arms about her.
+
+"Yes, papa; but, oh, it aches very much," she sighed.
+
+"My poor little daughter! my poor little pet!" he said, in a deeply
+compassionate tone, "it is so hard to see you suffer; I would gladly take
+your pain and bear it for you if I could."
+
+"Oh, no, dear papa, I would much rather bear it myself," she answered
+quickly.
+
+The tea-bell rang, and Elsie half started up.
+
+"Lie still, dearest," her father said. "I am in no hurry for my tea, so
+you shall have yours first, and I will hold you while you eat it. What
+will you have? You may ask for anything you want."
+
+"I don't know, papa; whatever you please."
+
+"Well, then, Aunt Chloe, go down and bring up whatever good things are
+there, and she can take her choice. Bring a cup of hot tea, too, I think
+it may do her good to-night."
+
+"Thank you, dear papa, you are so kind," Elsie said, gratefully.
+
+When the carriage had driven off with Mr. Dinsmore and Elsie, the rest
+of the young party at once turned their steps toward the house; Arthur
+skulking in the rear, and the others eagerly discussing the accident as
+they went.
+
+"Arthur pushed her down, I am _sure_ he did," said Lucy, positively. "I
+believe he hates her like poison, and he has been at her about something
+the several days past--I know it just by the way I've seen him look at
+her--yes, ever since the morning after the Carleton party. And now I
+remember I heard his voice talking angrily in her room that very morning.
+I went to get a book I had left in there, and when I tried the door it
+was locked, and I went away again directly."
+
+"But what has that to do with Elsie's fall?" asked Mary Leslie.
+
+"Why, don't you see that it shows there was some trouble between them,
+and that Arthur had a _motive_ for pushing her down," returned Lucy,
+somewhat impatiently. "Really, Mary, you seem quite stupid sometimes."
+
+Mary looked hurt.
+
+"I don't know how any one could be so wicked and cruel; especially to
+such a dear, sweet little girl as Elsie," remarked Carry Howard.
+
+"No, nor I," said Harry; "but the more I think about it the more certain
+I feel that Arthur did really push her down; for now I remember
+distinctly where she stood, and it seems to me she could not possibly
+have fallen of herself. Besides it was evident enough that Arthur felt
+guilty from the way he acted when Mr. Dinsmore came, and when he spoke
+to him. But perhaps he did not do it quite on purpose."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Mary, "I do think I should be frightened to death if Mr.
+Dinsmore should look at me as he did at Arthur."
+
+"Looks can't hurt," observed Harry, wisely; "but I wouldn't be in
+Arthur's shoes just now for considerable; because I'll venture to say Mr.
+Dinsmore will do something a good deal worse than _look_, before he is
+done with him."
+
+When they reached the house Lucy went directly to her mamma's room.
+Herbert, who was more ailing than usual that day, lay on a sofa, while
+his mamma sat by his side, reading to him. They had not heard of the
+accident, and were quite startled by Lucy's excited manner.
+
+"Oh, mamma!" she cried, jerking off her bonnet, and throwing herself
+down on a stool at her mother's feet, "we have had such a dreadful
+accident, or hardly an _accident_ either, for I feel perfectly certain
+Arthur did it on purpose; and I just expect he'll kill her some day,
+the mean, wicked boy!" and she burst into tears. "If I were Mr. Dinsmore
+I'd have him put in jail, so I would," she sobbed.
+
+"Lucy, my child, what _are_ you talking about?" asked her mother with a
+look of mingled surprise and alarm, while Herbert started up asking, "Is
+it Elsie? Oh! Lucy, is she much hurt?"
+
+"Yes," sobbed Lucy, "we all thought she was dead, it was so long before
+she spoke, or moved, or even opened her eyes."
+
+Herbert was crying, too, now, as bitterly as his sister.
+
+"But, Lucy dear," said her mother, wiping her eyes, "you haven't told
+us anything yet. Where did it happen? What did Arthur do? And where is
+poor little Elsie now?"
+
+"Her papa brought her home, and Jim went for the doctor, and they're
+doing something with her now in her own room--for Pomp said Mr. Dinsmore
+carried her right up there! Oh I mamma, if you had seen him look at
+Arthur!"
+
+"But what did Arthur do?" asked Herbert anxiously.
+
+"He pushed her down that steep hill that you remember you were afraid to
+try to climb the other day; at least we all think he did."
+
+"But surely, he did not do it intentionally," said Mrs. Carrington,
+"for why should he wish to harm such a sweet, gentle little creature
+as Elsie?"
+
+"Oh! mamma," exclaimed Herbert, suddenly matching hold of her hand and he
+grew very pale, and almost gasped for breath.
+
+"What is it, Herbert dear, what is it?" she asked in alarm; for he had
+fallen back on his pillow, and seemed almost ready to faint.
+
+"Mamma," he said with a shudder, "mamma, I believe I know. Oh! why didn't
+I speak before, and, perhaps, poor little Elsie might have been saved all
+this."
+
+"Why, Herbert, what can _you_ know about it?" she asked in extreme
+surprise.
+
+"I will tell you, mama, as well as I can," he said, "and then you must
+tell me what I ought to do. You know, mamma, I went out to walk with the
+rest the afternoon after that party at Mr. Carleton's; for if you
+remember, I had stayed at home the night before, and gone to bed very
+early, and so I felt pretty well and able to walk. But Elsie was not
+with us. I don't know where she could have been; she always thinks of my
+lameness, and walks slowly when I am along, but this time they all walked
+so fast that I soon grew very tired, indeed, with trying to keep up. So
+I sat down on a log to rest. Well, mamma, I had not been there very long
+when I heard voices near me, on the other side of some bushes, that, I
+suppose, must have prevented them from seeing me. One voice was Arthur's,
+but the other I didn't know. I didn't want to be listening, but I was too
+tired to move on; so I whistled a little, to let them know I was there;
+they didn't seem to care, though, but went on talking quite loud, so loud
+that I could not help hearing almost every word; and so I soon learned
+that Arthur owed Dick Percival a gambling debt--a debt of _honor_, they
+called it--and had sent this other boy, whom Arthur called Bob, to try to
+collect it. He reminded Arthur that he had promised to pay that day, and
+said Dick must have it to pay some debts of his own.
+
+"Arthur acknowledged that he had promised, expecting to borrow the money
+from somebody. I didn't hear the name, and it never struck me until this
+moment who it was; but it must have been Elsie, for I recollect he said
+she wouldn't lend him anything without telling Horace all about it, and
+that, you know, is Mr. Dinsmore's name; and I have found out that Arthur
+is very much afraid of him; almost more than of his father, I think.
+
+"He talked very angrily, saying he knew that was only an excuse, because
+she didn't wish to do him a favor, and he'd pay her for it some day. Then
+they talked about the debt again, and finally the boy agreed that Dick
+would wait until New Year's Day, when Arthur said he would receive his
+monthly allowance, and so would certainly be able to pay it.
+
+"Now, mamma," concluded Herbert, "what ought I to do? Do you think it is
+my duty to tell Arthur's father?"
+
+"Yes, Herbert, I do," said Mrs. Carrington, "because it is very important
+that he should know of his son's evil courses, that he may put a stop to
+them; and besides, if Arthur should escape punishment this time, Elsie
+may be in danger from him again. I am sorry it happened to be you rather
+than some other person who overheard the conversation; but it cannot be
+helped, and we must do our duty always, even though we find it difficult
+and disagreeable, and feel afraid that our motives may be misconstrued."
+
+Herbert drew a deep sigh.
+
+"Well, mamma, must I go just now, to tell him?" he asked, looking pale
+and troubled.
+
+Mrs. Carrington seemed to be considering the matter for a moment.
+
+"No, my dear," she said; "I think we had better wait a little. Probably
+Mr. Dinsmore will make an investigation, and perhaps he may be able to
+get at the truth without your assistance; and if not, as the mischief is
+already done, it will be time enough for your story to-morrow."
+
+Herbert looked a good deal relieved, and just then they were summoned to
+tea.
+
+The elder Mr. Dinsmore had been out all the afternoon, and not returning
+until just as the bell rang for tea, heard nothing of Elsie's injury
+until after he had taken his seat at the table.
+
+The children had all reported that Arthur had pushed her down, and thus
+the story was told to his father. The old gentleman was very angry, for
+he had a great contempt for such cowardly deeds; and said before all the
+guests that if it were so, Arthur should be severely punished.
+
+Mr. Horace Dinsmore came down as the rest were about leaving the table.
+
+"I should like to have a few moments' conversation with you, Horace, when
+you have finished your tea," his father said, lingering behind the
+others.
+
+"It is just what I wish, sir," replied his son; "I will be with you
+directly. Shall I find you in the library?"
+
+"Yes. I hope the child was not hurt, Horace?" he added, inquiringly,
+stepping back again just as he had reached the door.
+
+"Pretty badly, I am afraid," said Mr. Dinsmore, gravely; "she is
+suffering a good deal."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore was not long at the table, for he was anxious to get back to
+his child; yet his father, whom he found striding back and forth across
+the library, in a nervous, excited way, hailed him with the impatient
+exclamation, "Come at last, Horace, I thought you would never have done
+eating."
+
+Then throwing himself into a chair, "Well, what is to be done about this
+bad business?" he asked. "Is it true that Arthur had a hand in it?"
+
+"I have not a doubt of it myself, sir," replied his son. "They all agree
+that he was close to her when she fell, and neither he nor she denies
+that he pushed her; she only begs not to be forced to speak, and he
+says nothing.
+
+"And now, father, I have fully made up my mind that either that boy
+must be sent away to school, or I must take Elsie and make a home for
+her elsewhere."
+
+"Why, Horace! that is a sudden resolution, is it not?"
+
+"No, father, not so much as it seems. I have suspected, for some time
+past, that Elsie had a good deal to bear from Arthur and Enna--to say
+nothing of an older person, to whom Enna is continually carrying tales.
+Elsie is too generous to tell tales, too meek and patient to complain,
+and so it has been only very gradually that I have learned how much of
+petulance, tyranny, and injustice she has had to endure from those from
+whom she certainly had a right to expect common kindness, if not
+affection.
+
+"Yesterday afternoon she came to me in such a state of nervous excitement
+as convinced me that something had gone very much amiss with her, but
+what it was I did not know, for she seemed unwilling to tell, and I would
+not force her to do so.
+
+"However, by putting a few questions to some of the little guests, I have
+since learned enough to fill me with indignation at the treatment to
+which my child has been subjected, even during the last two weeks; and
+now the occurrences of this afternoon have put the finishing stroke to
+all this, and I cannot any longer feel that my child is safe where Arthur
+is. It is a great mercy that she escaped being killed or crippled for
+life," and he dropped his face into his hands and shuddered.
+
+"Don't, Horace, my son," his father said kindly, laying his hand on his
+shoulder. "I don't like to see you give way so. It is not worth while
+troubling ourselves about what _might_ have been, and we will take
+measures to prevent such occurrences in the future.
+
+"But you mustn't think of leaving us to set up a separate establishment,
+unless you are intending to marry again, and I don't believe you are."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore shook his head.
+
+"Nothing of the kind," he said; "but I must protect my child; she has no
+one else to look to for protection, or sympathy, or love--my poor little
+one!--and it would be hard indeed if she could not have them from me."
+
+"So it would, Horace, certainly. I am afraid we have none of us treated
+the poor little thing quite as kindly as we might, but I really was not
+aware that she had been so much abused, and shall certainly speak
+to Mrs. Dinsmore about it. And Arthur shall be sent away to school, as
+you have suggested. It is what I have been wanting to do for some time,
+for he is getting quite beyond Miss Day; but his mother has always
+opposed it, and I have foolishly given up to her for peace sake. I set
+my foot down now, however, and he _shall go_. He deserves it richly, the
+young rascal! such a base, cowardly act as to attack a little girl, big,
+strong boy that he is! I'm ashamed of him. You, Horace, were a wild,
+headstrong fellow, but I never knew you do a _mean_ or _cowardly_ thing;
+you were always above it."
+
+"I hope so, indeed, sir. But now, to go back to the present business, do
+you not think it would be well to call all the young people together and
+have a thorough investigation of this affair? I have promised Elsie that
+she shall not be forced to speak, but I hope we may be able to learn from
+the others all that we need to know."
+
+"Yes, yes, Horace, we will do so at once!" replied his father, ringing
+the bell. "They must be all through with their tea by this time, and we
+will invite them into the drawing-room, and cross-question them until we
+get to the bottom of the whole thing."
+
+A servant answered the bell, and received directions to request--on his
+master's behalf--all the guests, both old and young, as well as every
+member of the family, to give their attendance in the drawing-room for
+a few moments.
+
+"Stay, father," said Horace, "possibly Arthur might be induced to
+confess, and so spare himself and us the pain of a public exposure; had
+we not better send for him first?"
+
+His father assented, and the servant was ordered to go in search of
+Arthur, and bring him to the library.
+
+Arthur had been expecting such a summons, and had quite made up his mind
+what to do.
+
+"Confess!" he said to himself; "no, indeed, I'll not! nobody but Elsie
+knows that I did it, and she'll never tell; so I'll stick to it that it
+was only an accident."
+
+He came in with a look of sullen, dogged determination on his
+countenance, and stood before his father and brother with folded arms,
+and an air of injured innocence. He was careful, however, not to meet
+his brother's eye.
+
+"Arthur," began his father, sternly, "this is shameful, cowardly
+behavior, utterly unworthy of a son of mine--this unprovoked assault
+upon a defenceless little girl. It has always been considered a cowardly
+act to attack one weaker than ourselves."
+
+"I _didn't_ do it! she slipped and fell of herself," replied the boy
+fiercely, speaking through his clenched teeth.
+
+"Arthur," said his brother, in a calm, firm tone, "the alternative before
+you is a frank and full confession here in private, or a disgraceful,
+public exposure in the drawing-room. You had better confess, for I have
+not the least doubt of your guilty because I well know that Elsie would
+have asserted your innocence, had she been able to do so with truth."
+
+"She _wouldn't_; she hates me," muttered the boy; "yes, and I hate her,
+too," he added, almost under his breath. But his brother's quick ear
+caught the words.
+
+"Yes," he answered, bitterly; "you have given full proof of that; but
+_never_, while I live, shall you have another opportunity to wreak your
+hellish rage upon her."
+
+But threats and persuasions were alike powerless to move Arthur's
+stubborn will; for, trusting to their supposed inability to prove his
+guilt, he persisted in denying it; and at length, much against his
+inclination, was forced to accompany his father and brother to the
+drawing-room, where the entire household was already assembled.
+
+There was a good deal of excitement and whispering together, especially
+amongst the younger portion of the assembly, and many conjectures as to
+the cause of their being thus called together; nearly all giving it as
+their decided opinion that Elsie's accident had something to do with it.
+
+Herbert was looking pale and nervous, and kept very close to his mamma,
+Harry Carrington and Carrie Howard were grave and thoughtful, while
+Lucy and Mary seemed restless and excited, and the lesser ones full of
+curiosity and expectation. There was quite a little buzz all over the
+room as the two gentlemen and Arthur entered, but it died away instantly,
+and was succeeded by an almost death-like stillness, broken the next
+moment by the elder Mr. Dinsmore's voice, as he briefly stated his object
+in thus calling them together, and earnestly requested any one present
+who could throw the least light on the subject, to speak.
+
+He paused, and there was a moment of profound silence.
+
+"Who was nearest to Elsie when she fell?" he asked; "can any one tell
+me?"
+
+"Arthur, sir," replied several voices.
+
+Another pause.
+
+"Who else was near her?" he asked. "Miss Carrie Howard, I have noticed
+that you and Elsie are usually together; can you tell me if she could
+have fallen of herself? Were you near enough to see?"
+
+Carrie answered reluctantly: "Yes, sir; I had stepped from her side at
+the moment she stooped to pick up something, and feel quite certain that
+she was not near enough to the edge to have fallen of herself."
+
+"Thank you for your frank reply. And now, Master Harry Carrington, I
+think I heard some one say you were quite close to Arthur at the time of
+Elsie's fall; can you tell me what he did to her? You will confer a great
+favor by answering with equal frankness."
+
+"I would much rather have been excused from saying anything, sir,"
+replied Harry, coloring and looking as if he wished himself a thousand
+miles away; "but since you request it, I will own that I was close to
+Arthur, and think he must have pushed Elsie in springing past her, but
+it may have been only an accident."
+
+"I fear not," said the old gentleman, looking sternly at his son. "And
+now, does any one know that Elsie had vexed Arthur in any way, or that
+he had any unkind feelings toward her?"
+
+"Yes, papa," Walter spoke up suddenly. "I heard Arthur, the other
+day, talking very crossly about Elsie, and threatening to pay her for
+something; but I didn't understand what."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore's frown was growing darker, and Arthur began to tremble and
+turn pale. He darted a fierce glance at Walter, but the little fellow did
+not see it.
+
+"Does any one know what Elsie had done?" was the next question.
+
+No one spoke, and Herbert fidgeted and grew very pale. Mr. Horace
+Dinsmore noticed it, and begged him if he knew anything to tell it at
+once; and Herbert reluctantly repeated what he had already told his
+mother of the conversation in the woods; and as he concluded, Lora
+drew a note from her pocket, which she handed to her father, saying that
+she had picked it up in the school-room, from a pile of rubbish which
+Arthur had carelessly thrown out of his desk.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore took it, glanced hastily over the contents, and with a
+groan, exclaimed: "Is it possible!--a gambler already! Arthur, has it
+really come to this?
+
+"Go to your room, sir," he added, sternly, "there to remain in solitary
+confinement until arrangement can be made to send you to school at a
+distance from the home which shall be no longer polluted by your
+presence; for you are unworthy to mingle with the rest of the family."
+
+Arthur obeyed in sullen silence, and his father, following, turned the
+key upon him, and left him to solitude and his own reflections.
+
+"Did my little daughter think papa had quite forgotten his promise?"
+asked Mr. Horace Dinsmore, as again he stood by Elsie's couch.
+
+"No, papa," she said, raising her eyes to his face with a grateful,
+loving look; "it seemed very long, but I knew you would come as soon as
+you could, for I know you never break your word."
+
+Her confidence pleased him very much, and with a very gratified look he
+asked whether he should sit by her side or take her again upon his knee.
+
+"Take me on your knee again, if you please, papa," she said, "and then
+will you read a little to me? I would like it so much."
+
+"I will do anything that will give my little girl pleasure," he replied,
+as he once more lifted her gently, and placed her in the desired
+position.
+
+"What shall the book be?" he asked; "one of the new ones I bought you the
+other day?"
+
+"Not that, to-night; if you please, papa; I would rather hear a little
+from an old book," she answered, with a sweet smile lighting tip her
+little pale face; "won't you please read me the fifty-third chapter of
+Isaiah?"
+
+"If you wish it, dearest; but I think something lively would be much
+better; more likely to cheer you up."
+
+"No, dear papa; there is nothing cheers me up like the Bible, it is so
+sweet and comforting. I do so love to hear of Jesus, how he bore our
+griefs and carried our sorrows."
+
+"You are a strange child," he said, "but you shall have whatever you want
+to-night. Hand me that Bible, Aunt Chloe, and set the light a little
+nearer."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore was an uncommonly fine reader, and Elsie lay listening to
+that beautiful passage of Holy Writ, as one might listen to strains of
+the softest, sweetest music.
+
+"Now, dear papa, the twenty-third of Luke, if you please," she said, when
+he had finished.
+
+He turned to it, and read it without any remark.
+
+As he closed the book and laid it aside, he saw that tears were trembling
+on the long, silken lashes that rested on the fair young cheek; for her
+eyes were closed, and but for those tell-tale drops he would have thought
+her sleeping.
+
+"I feared it would make you sad, darling," he said, brushing them away,
+and kissing her fondly.
+
+"No, dear papa, _oh, no_!" she answered, earnestly; "thank you very much
+for reading it; it has made me feel a great deal better."
+
+"Why did you select those particular passages?" he asked, with some
+curiosity.
+
+"Because, papa, they are all about Jesus, and tell how meekly and
+patiently he bore sorrow and suffering. Oh, papa, if I could only be
+like him! I am not much like him, but it makes it easier to forgive and
+to be patient, and kind, and gentle, when we read about him, how good he
+was, and how he forgave his murderers."
+
+"You are thinking of Arthur," he said. "_I_ shall find it very hard to
+forgive him; can _you_ do so?"
+
+"Yes, papa, I think I can. I have been praying for him, and have asked
+God to help me to forgive and love him."
+
+"He has treated you very badly; I know all about it now."
+
+And then, in answer to her surprised, inquiring look, he proceeded to
+give her an account of all that had taken place that evening in the
+library and drawing-room.
+
+"And he hates me, papa," she said, mournfully, the tears filling her
+eyes; "why should he feel so? I have always tried to be kind to him."
+
+"Yes, I know it," he replied, "you have often done him kindnesses, and
+I know of no other cause for his enmity, unless it is that you have
+sometimes been obliged to bear witness against him."
+
+"Yes, papa, on several occasions when he was putting all the blame of his
+naughty deeds on little Walter, or poor Jim."
+
+"You were perfectly right," he said, caressing her; "and he will not have
+another opportunity to vent his spite upon you, as he is to be sent away
+to boarding-school immediately."
+
+"Oh, papa!" she exclaimed, "I am so sorry for him, poor fellow! It must
+be so dismal to go off alone among strangers. Dear papa, _do_ ask grandpa
+to forgive him, just this once; and I don't believe he will ever behave
+so again."
+
+"No, daughter, I shall not do anything of the kind," he answered,
+decidedly. "I think it will be for Arthur's own good to be sent away,
+where he will not have his mother to spoil him by indulgence; and
+besides, I cannot feel that _you_ are safe while he is about the house,
+and I consider it my first duty to take care of you; therefore, I have
+insisted upon its that either _he_ must be sent away, or you and I must
+go and make a home for ourselves somewhere else."
+
+"Oh, papa, how delightful that would be, to have a home of our own!" she
+exclaimed eagerly; "_will_ you do it some day?"
+
+"Should you like it so much?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, yes, papa, so very, _very_ much! When will you do it, papa?"
+
+"I don't know, darling; some day, if we both live; perhaps when you are
+old enough to be my housekeeper."
+
+"But that will be such a long, long time to wait, papa," she said--the
+eager, joyous expression fading away from her face, and the pale, wearied
+look coming back again.
+
+"Perhaps we will not wait for that, darling; I did not say that we
+would," he replied, in a soothing tone, as he passed his hand caressingly
+over her hair and cheek.
+
+Then he added, a little mischievously, "I think, possibly, I might induce
+Miss Stevens to keep house for us. Shall I ask her?"
+
+"Oh, papa, no; that would spoil it all," she said, with a blush and a
+look of surprise; "and besides, I'm sure Miss Stevens would feel insulted
+if anybody should ask her to go out as housekeeper."
+
+"No, I think not, if _I_ asked her," laughed Mr. Dinsmore; "but you need
+not be alarmed; I have no notion of doing it.
+
+"Now, daughter, I shall bathe your ankle with that liniment again, and
+put you in bed, and you must try to go to sleep."
+
+"My prayers first, papa, you know," she replied, making an effort to get
+down upon the floor.
+
+But he held her fast.
+
+"No, daughter, you are not able to kneel to-night," he said, "and
+therefore it is not required; the posture makes but little difference,
+since God looks not at it, but at your heart."
+
+"I know that, papa, but I ought to kneel if I can; and if I may, I would
+much rather try."
+
+"No, I shall not allow you to do so; it would not be right," he replied
+decidedly; "you may say them here, while I have you in my arms, or after
+I have put you in bed."
+
+"Then I will say them in my bed, papa," she answered submissively.
+
+She was very patient and quiet while her father and nurse dressed her
+ankle, and prepared her for bed, and when he had laid her in and covered
+her up, he sat down beside her and listened to the low, murmured words of
+her prayer.
+
+"I think you prayed for me as well as for Arthur," he remarked when she
+had done; "what did you request for me?"
+
+"I asked, as I always do, that you might love Jesus, papa, and be very
+happy, indeed, both in this world and the next."
+
+"Thank you," he said, "but why are you so anxious that I should love him?
+It would not trouble _me_ if _you_ did not, so long as you loved and
+obeyed me."
+
+A tear trickled down her cheek and fell upon the pillow as she answered,
+in a half tremulous tone: "Because I know, papa, that no one can go to
+heaven who does not love Jesus, nor ever be really happy anywhere, for
+the Bible says so. Papa, you always punish me when I am disobedient to
+you, and the Bible says God is our Father and will punish us if we do not
+obey him; and one of his commands is: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God;
+and in another place it says: Every one that loveth him that begat loveth
+him also that is begotten of him."
+
+He did not reply, and his countenance was almost stern in its deep
+gravity.
+
+Elsie feared she had displeased him.
+
+"Dear papa," she said, stretching out her little hand to him, "I am
+afraid I have said things to you that I ought not; are you angry with
+me?"
+
+"No, daughter," he replied, as he bent down and kissed her cheek; "but
+you must not talk any more to-night. I want you to shut your eyes and go
+to sleep."
+
+She threw her arm around his neck and returned his caress, saying,
+"Good-night, dear, _dear_ papa; I do love you _so_ much;" then turned
+away her face, shut her eyes, and in a few moments was sleeping sweetly.
+
+The next morning quite a number of the little folks begged leave to go
+in after breakfast to see Elsie, and as she seemed much better--indeed,
+quite well, except that she could not put her foot to the floor--Mr.
+Dinsmore gave a ready consent.
+
+They found Elsie dressed and lying upon a sofa, with the lame foot on a
+pillow. She seemed very glad to see them, looked as smiling and cheerful
+as if nothing ailed her; and to all their condolences replied that she
+did not mind it very much; she was doing nicely--papa and everybody else
+was so kind--and the doctor said he hoped she would be able to run about
+again in a few weeks.
+
+They were all around her, talking and laughing in a very animated way,
+when Mr. Dinsmore came in, and going up to her couch, said, "Elsie,
+daughter, I have an errand to the city this morning; but, as I have
+promised to give you all you want of my company to-day, I will commission
+some one else to do it, if you are not willing to spare me for a couple
+of hours; do you think you could do without your papa that long? It shall
+be just as you say."
+
+"You know I love dearly to have you by me, papa," she answered, smiling
+up into his face; "but I will be quite satisfied with whatever you do,
+because you always know best."
+
+"Spoken like my own little girl," he said, patting her cheek. "Well, then
+I will leave these little folks to entertain you for a short time; and I
+think you will not be sorry, when I return, that you left it to me to do
+as I think best. Kiss papa good-bye, darling. Aunt Chloe, take good care
+of her, and don't let her be _fatigued_ with company."
+
+He turned to look at her again, as he reached the door, and Elsie gaily
+kissed her hand to him.
+
+Before long, Chloe, seeing that her young charge was beginning to look
+weary, sent away all the little folks except Herbert, who, at Elsie's
+request, remained with her, and seated in her little rocking-chair,
+close by her side, did his best to amuse her and make her forget her
+pain, sometimes reading aloud to her, and sometimes stopping to talk.
+
+Many an hour Elsie had spent by his couch of suffering, reading, talking
+or singing to him, and he rejoiced now in the opportunity afforded him to
+return some of her past kindness.
+
+They had always been fond of each other's society, too, and the time
+passed so quickly and pleasantly that Mr. Dinsmore's return, only a very
+little sooner than he had promised, took them quite by surprise.
+
+Herbert noticed that he had a bundle in his hand, and thinking it was
+probably some present for Elsie, and that they might like to be alone,
+slipped quietly away to his mamma's room.
+
+"What is that, papa?" Elsie asked.
+
+"A New Year's gift for my little girl," he answered, with a smile, as he
+laid it down by her side. "But I know you are tired lying there; so I
+will take you on my knee, and then you shall open it."
+
+She looked quite as eager and interested as he could have wished, as he
+settled her comfortably on his knee, and laid the bundle in her lap. Her
+hands trembled with excitement and haste, as she untied the string, and
+with an exclamation of joyful surprise, brought to light a large and very
+beautiful wax doll.
+
+"Oh, _papa_, how _pretty_!" she cried, in ecstasy. "And it is as large
+as a real, live baby, and has such a sweet, dear little face, and such
+pretty little hands, just like a real baby's--and the dearest little
+toes, too," she added, kissing them. "I love it already, the little dear!
+and how prettily it is dressed, too, like a little baby-girl."
+
+He enjoyed her pleasure intensely.
+
+"But you have not come to the bottom of your bundle yet," he said; "see
+here!" and he showed her quite a pile of remnants of beautiful lawns,
+muslins, silk, etc., which he had bought to be made up into clothing for
+the doll.
+
+"I did not buy them ready made," he said, "because I thought you would
+enjoy making them yourself."
+
+"Oh, how nice, papa. Yes, indeed, I shall enjoy it, and you are so _very_
+good and kind to me," she said, holding up her face for a kiss. "Now,
+with you beside me, and plenty to do making pretty things for this dear
+new dolly, I think I shall hardly mind at all having to stay in the house
+and keep still. I'll call her Rose, papa, mayn't I? for dear Miss
+Allison."
+
+"Call it what you like, darling; it is all your own," he replied,
+laughing at the question.
+
+"I'm its mother, ain't I?--and then you must be its grandfather!" she
+exclaimed, with a merry laugh, in which he joined her heartily.
+
+"You ought to have some gray hairs, papa, like other grandfathers," she
+went on, running her fingers through his hair. "Do you know, papa, Carry
+Howard says she thinks it is so funny for me to have such a young father;
+she says you don't look a bit older than her brother Edward, who has just
+come home from college. How old are you, papa?"
+
+"You are not quite nine, and I am just about eighteen years older; can
+you make that out now?"
+
+"Twenty-seven," she answered, after a moment's thought; then, shaking her
+head a little, "that's pretty old, I think, after all. But I'm glad you
+haven't got gray hairs and wrinkles, like Carry's papa," she added,
+putting her arms around his neck, and laying her head down on his breast.
+"I think it is nice to have such a young, handsome father."
+
+"I think it is very nice to have a dear little daughter to love me," he
+said, pressing her to his heart.
+
+Elsie was eager to show her new doll to Carry and Lucy, and presently
+sent Chloe to invite them to pay her another visit.
+
+"Bring Mary Leslie, too, mammy, if she will come; but be sure not to tell
+any of them what I have got," she said.
+
+Chloe found them all three in the little back parlor, looking as if
+they did not know what to do with themselves, and Elsie's invitation
+was hailed with smiles and exclamations of delight.
+
+They all admired the doll extremely, and Carry, who had a great taste
+for cutting and fitting, seized upon the pile of silks and muslins,
+exclaiming eagerly, that she should like no better fun than to help
+Elsie make some dresses.
+
+"Oh, yes!" cried Lucy, "let us all help, for once in my life I'm tired to
+death of play, and I'd like to sit down quietly and work at these pretty
+things."
+
+"I, too," said Mary, "if Elsie is willing to trust us not to spoil them,"
+
+"Indeed, _I'll_ not spoil them, Miss Mary; I've made more dolls' clothes
+than a few," remarked Carry, with a little toss of her head.
+
+"I am not at all afraid to trust you, Carry, nor the others either,"
+Elsie hastened to say; "and shall be very glad of your assistance."
+
+Work-boxes were now quickly produced, and scissors and thimbles set in
+motion.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore withdrew to the other side of the room, and took up a book;
+thus relieving the little ladies from the constraint of his presence,
+while at the same time he could keep an eye upon Elsie, and see that she
+did not over-fatigue herself with company or work.
+
+"What a nice time we have had," remarked Mary Leslie, folding up her
+work as the dinner-bell rang. "May we come back this afternoon, Elsie?
+I'd like to finish this apron, and I'm to go home to-morrow."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore answered for his little girl, "When Elsie has had an hour to
+rest, Miss Mary, she will be glad to see you all again."
+
+"Yes, do come, girls," Elsie added, "if you are not tired of work. I am
+sorry that you must go to-morrow, Mary. Carry and Lucy, _you_ are not to
+leave us so soon, are you?"
+
+"No," they both replied, "we stay till Saturday afternoon. And intend to
+make dolly two or three dresses before we go, if her mother will let us,"
+Carry added, laughingly, as she put away her thimble and ran after the
+others.
+
+All the guests left the next morning, excepting the Carringtons and
+Caroline Howard, and the house seemed very quiet--even in Elsie's room,
+where the little girls were sewing--while Harry and Herbert took turns in
+reading aloud; and in this way they passed the remainder of their visit
+very pleasantly, indeed.
+
+Elsie felt her confinement more when Sabbath morning came, and she could
+not go to church, than she had at all before. Her father offered to stay
+at home with her, remarking that she must feel very lonely now that all
+her little mates were gone; but she begged him to go to church, saying
+that she could employ herself in reading while he was away, and that
+would keep her from being lonely, and then they could have all the
+afternoon and evening together. So he kissed her good-bye, and left her
+in Chloe's care.
+
+She was sitting on his knee that evening; she had been singing hymns--he
+accompanying her sweet treble with his deep bass notes; then for a while
+she had talked to him in her own simple, childlike way, of what she had
+been reading in her Bible and the "Pilgrim's Progress," asking him a
+question now and then, which, with all his learning and worldly wisdom,
+he was scarcely as capable of answering as herself. But now she had been
+for some minutes sitting perfectly silent, her head resting upon his
+breast, and her eyes cast down, as if in deep thought,
+
+He had been studying with some curiosity the expression of the little
+face, which was much graver than its wont, and at length he startled her
+from her reverie with the question, "What is my little girl thinking
+about?"
+
+"I was thinking, papa, that if you will let me, I should like very much
+to give Arthur a nice present before he goes away. May I?"
+
+"You may if you wish," he said, stroking her hair.
+
+"Oh, thank you, papa," she answered joyously, "I was half afraid you
+would not let me; then, if you please, won't you, the next time you go to
+the city, buy the very handsomest pocket Bible you can find?--and then,
+if you will write his name and mine in it, and that it is a token of
+affection from me, I will be so much obliged to you, dear papa."
+
+"I will do so, daughter, but I am afraid Arthur will not feel much
+gratitude to you for such a present."
+
+"Perhaps he may like it pretty well, papa, if it is _very handsomely_
+bound," she said, rather doubtfully; "at any rate I should like to try.
+When does he go, papa?"
+
+"Day after to-morrow, I believe."
+
+"I wish he would come in for a few minutes to see me, and say good-bye;
+do you think he will, papa?"
+
+"I am afraid not," replied her father, shaking his head; "however, I will
+ask him. But why do you wish to see him?"
+
+"I want to tell him that I am not at all vexed or angry with him, and
+that I feel very sorry for him, because he is obliged to go away all
+alone amongst strangers, poor fellow!" she sighed.
+
+"You need not waste any sympathy on him, my dear," said her father, "for
+I think he rather likes the idea of going off to school."
+
+"Does he, papa? Why, how strange!" exclaimed the little girl, lost in
+astonishment.
+
+As Mr. Dinsmore had predicted, Arthur utterly refused to go near Elsie;
+and, at first, seemed disposed to decline her gift; but at length, on
+Lora suggesting that he might require a Bible for some of his school
+exercises, he accepted it, as Elsie had thought he might, on account of
+the handsome binding.
+
+Elsie was hurt and disappointed that he would not come to see her; she
+shed a few quiet tears over his refusal, because she thought it showed
+that he still disliked her, and then wrote him a little note, breathing
+forgiveness, sisterly affection, and regard for his welfare. But the note
+was not answered, and Arthur went away without showing any signs of
+sorrow for his unkind treatment of her; nor, indeed, for any of his bad
+conduct.
+
+Miss Day had returned, and the rest of her pupils now resumed their
+studies; but Elsie was, of course, quite unable to attend in the
+school-room, as her ankle was not yet in a condition to be used in the
+least. Her father said nothing to her about lessons, but allowed her to
+amuse herself as she liked with reading, or working for the doll. She,
+however, was growing weary of play, and wanted to go back to her books.
+
+"Papa," she said to him one morning, "I am quite well now, excepting my
+lameness, and you are with me a great deal every day, may I not learn my
+lessons and recite them to you?"
+
+"Certainly, daughter, if you wish it," he replied, looking much pleased;
+"I shall consider it no trouble, but, on the contrary, a very great
+pleasure to teach you, if you learn your lessons well, as I am sure you
+will."
+
+Elsie promised to be diligent, and from that day she went on with her
+studies as regularly as if she had been in school with the others.
+
+She felt her confinement very much at times, and had a great longing for
+the time when she could again mount her pony, and take long rides and
+walks in the sweet fresh air; but she was not often lonely, for her papa
+managed to be with her a great deal, and she never cared for any other
+companion when he was by. Then, Mr. Travilla came in frequently to see
+her, and always brought a beautiful bouquet, or some fine fruit from his
+hot-house, or some other little nicety to tempt an invalid's appetite, or
+what she liked, even better still, a new book. Her aunts Adelaide and
+Lora, too, felt very kindly toward her, coming in occasionally to ask how
+she was, and to tell her what was going on in the house; and sometimes
+Walter brought his book to ask her to help him with his lessons, which
+she was always ready to do, and then he would sit and talk a while,
+telling her what had occurred in the school-room, or in their walks or
+rides, and expressing his regret on account of the accident that
+prevented her from joining them as usual.
+
+Her doll, too, was a great source of amusement to her, and she valued
+it very highly, and was so extremely careful of it that she hardly
+felt willing to trust it out of her own hands, lest it should be broken.
+Especially was she annoyed when Enna, who was a very careless child,
+wished to take it; but it was a dangerous thing to refuse Enna's
+requests, except when Mr. Dinsmore was by, and so Elsie always endeavored
+to get the doll out of sight when she heard her coming.
+
+But one unfortunate afternoon Enna came in quite unexpectedly, just as
+Elsie finished dressing it in a new suit, which she had completed only a
+few moments before.
+
+"Oh, Elsie, how pretty it looks!" she cried. "Do let me take it on my lap
+a little while. I won't hurt it a bit."
+
+Elsie reluctantly consented, begging her to be very careful, "because,
+Enna," she said, "you know if you should let it fall, it would certainly
+be broken."
+
+"You needn't be afraid," replied Enna, pettishly, "I guess I can take
+care of a doll as well as you."
+
+She drew up Elsie's little rocking-chair, as she spoke, and taking the
+doll from her, sat down with it in her arms.
+
+Elsie watched nervously every movement she made, in momentary dread of a
+catastrophe.
+
+They were alone in the room, Chloe having gone down to the kitchen on
+some errand.
+
+For a few moments Enna was content to hold the doll quietly in her arms,
+rocking backwards and forwards, singing to it; but ere long she laid it
+down on her lap, and began fastening and unfastening its clothes, pulling
+off its shoes and stockings to look at its feet--dropping them on the
+floor, and stooping to pick them up again, at the same time holding the
+doll in such a careless manner that Elsie expected every instant to see
+it scattered in fragments on the floor.
+
+In vain she remonstrated with Enna, and begged her to be more careful;
+it only vexed her and made her more reckless; and at length Elsie sprang
+from her couch and caught the doll, just in time to save it, but in so
+doing gave her ankle a terrible wrench.
+
+She almost fainted with the pain, and Enna, frightened at her pale face,
+jumped up and ran out of the room, leaving her alone.
+
+She had hardly strength to get back on to her couch; and when her father
+came in, a moment after, he found her holding her ankle in both hands,
+while the tears forced from her by the pain were streaming down over her
+pale cheeks.
+
+"Why, my poor darling, what is it?" he exclaimed, in a tone of mingled
+surprise and alarm.
+
+"Oh, papa," she sobbed, "Enna was going to let my doll fall, and I jumped
+to catch it, and hurt my ankle."
+
+"And what did you do it for?" he said angrily. "I would rather have
+bought you a dozen such dolls than have had your ankle hurt again. It
+may cripple you for life, yet, if you are not more careful."
+
+"Oh, papa, please don't scold me, please don't be so angry with me," she
+sobbed. "I didn't have a minute to think, and I won't do it again."
+
+He made no reply, but busied himself in doing what he could to relieve
+her pain; and Chloe coming in at that moment, he reproved her sharply for
+leaving the child alone.
+
+The old nurse took it very meekly, far more disturbed at seeing how her
+child was suffering than she could have been by the severest rebuke
+administered to herself. She silently assisted Mr. Dinsmore in his
+efforts to relieve her; and at length, as Elsie's tears ceased to flow,
+and the color began to come back to her cheeks, she asked, in a tone full
+of loving sympathy, "Is you better now, darlin'?"
+
+"Yes, mammy, thank you; the pain is nearly all gone now," Elsie answered
+gently; and then the soft eyes were raised pleadingly to her father's
+face.
+
+"I'm not angry with you, daughter," he replied, drawing her head down to
+his breast, and kissing her tenderly. "It was only my great love for my
+little girl that made me feel so vexed that she should have been hurt in
+trying to save a paltry toy."
+
+After this Mr. Dinsmore gave orders that Enna should never be permitted
+to enter Elsie's room in his absence, and thus she was saved all further
+annoyance of that kind; and Chloe was careful never to leave her alone
+again until she was quite well, and able to run about. That, however, was
+not for several weeks longer, for this second injury had retarded her
+recovery a good deal; and she began to grow very weary, indeed, of her
+long confinement. At length, though, she was able to walk about her room
+a little, and her father had several times taken her out in the carriage,
+to get the fresh air, as he said.
+
+It was Saturday afternoon. Elsie was sitting on her sofa, quietly
+working, while her nurse sat on the other side of the room, knitting
+busily, as usual.
+
+"Oh, mammy!" exclaimed the little girl, with sigh, "it is such a long,
+long time since I have been to church. How I wish papa would let me go
+to-morrow! Do you think he would, if I should ask him?"
+
+"Dunno, darlin'! I'se 'fraid not," replied the old woman, shaking her
+head doubtfully. "Massa Horace berry careful ob you, an' dat ankle not
+well yet."
+
+"Oh! but, mammy, I wouldn't need to walk, excepting just across the
+church, for you know papa could carry me down to the carriage," said the
+little girl eagerly.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore came in soon afterwards, and, greeting his little girl
+affectionately, sat down beside her, and, taking a newspaper from his
+pocket, began to read.
+
+"Papa, mayn't I sit on your knee?" she asked softly, as he paused in his
+reading to turn his paper.
+
+He smiled, and without speaking lifted her to the desired position, then
+went on reading.
+
+She waited patiently until there was another slight pause; then asked in
+her most coaxing tone, "Papa, may I go to church to-morrow?"
+
+"No," he said, decidedly, and she dared not say another word; but she was
+sadly disappointed, and the tears sprang to her eyes, and presently one
+rolled down and fell upon her lap.
+
+He saw it, and giving her a glance of mingled surprise and displeasure,
+put her back upon the sofa again, and returned to his paper.
+
+She burst into sobs and tears at that, and laying her head down upon the
+cushion, cried bitterly.
+
+Her father took no notice for a little while; then said, very gravely,
+"Elsie, if you are crying because I have put you off my knee, that is not
+the way to get back again. I must have _cheerful_ submission from my
+little girl, and it was precisely _because_ you were crying that I put
+you down."
+
+"Please take me again, papa, and I won't cry any more," she answered,
+wiping her eyes.
+
+He took her in his arms again, and she nestled close to him, and laid her
+head down on his breast with a sigh of satisfaction.
+
+"You _must_ learn not to cry when I do not see fit to acquiesce in your
+wishes, my daughter," he said, stroking her hair. "I do not think you
+quite well enough yet to go to church; and to-morrow bids fair to be a
+stormy day. But I hope by next Sabbath you may be able to go."
+
+Elsie tried to submit cheerfully to her father's decision, but she looked
+forward very anxiously all the week to the next Sabbath. When it came, to
+her great delight, she was permitted to attend church, and the next
+morning she took her place in the school-room again.
+
+She was far from enjoying the change from her father's instruction
+to Miss Day's; yet Arthur's absence rendered her situation far more
+comfortable than it had formerly been, and she still continued several
+studies with her father, and spent many happy hours with him every day.
+And thus everything moved on quite smoothly with the little girl during
+the remainder of the winter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+"Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy."
+    Exod. 10:6.
+
+"We ought to obey God rather than men."
+    Acts 5:29.
+
+
+"Dear papa, are you sick?" It was Elsie's sweet voice that asked the
+question in a tone of alarm. She had just finished her morning lessons,
+and coming into her father's room, had found him lying on the sofa,
+looking flushed and feverish.
+
+"Yes, daughter," he said, "I have a severe headache, and some fever, I
+think. But don't be alarmed, my pet, 'tis nothing at all serious," he
+added in a more cheerful tone, taking both her little hands in his, and
+gazing fondly into the beautiful dark eyes, now filled with tears.
+
+"You will let me be your little nurse, my own dear papa, will you not?"
+she asked coaxingly. "May I bring some cool water and bathe your head?"
+
+"Yes, darling, you may," he said, releasing her hands.
+
+Elsie stole softly out of the room, but was back again almost in a
+moment, followed by Chloe, bearing a pitcher of ice-water.
+
+"Now, mammy, please bring a basin and napkin from the dressing-room," she
+said, in a low tone, as the old nurse set down her burden. "And then you
+may darken the room a little. And shall I not tell her to send Jim or
+Jack for the doctor, papa?"
+
+"It is hardly necessary, darling," he replied, with a faint smile.
+
+"Oh! please, papa, my own dear, darling papa, do let me!" she entreated.
+"You know it cannot do any harm, and may do a great deal of good."
+
+"Ah! well, child, do as you like," he replied with a weary sigh; "but the
+doctor will, no doubt, think me very foolish to be so easily frightened."
+
+"Then, papa, I will tell him it was I, not you, who were frightened, and
+that you sent for him to please your silly little daughter," Elsie said,
+fondly laying her cheek to his, while he passed his arm around her, and
+pressed her to his side.
+
+"Here are de tings, darlin'," said Chloe, setting down the basin, and
+filling it from the pitcher.
+
+"That is right, you good old mammy. Now close the blinds, and then
+you may go and tell Jim to saddle a horse and ride after the doctor
+immediately."
+
+Chloe left the room, and Elsie brought another pillow for her father,
+smoothed his hair, bathed his forehead, and then, drawing a low chair to
+the side of the sofa, sat down and fanned him gently and regularly.
+
+"Why!" said he, in a gratified tone, "you are as nice a little nurse as
+anybody need ask for; you move about so gently, and seem to know just the
+right thing to do. How did you learn?"
+
+"I have had bad headaches so often myself, papa, that I have found out
+what one wants at such times," replied the little girl, coloring with
+pleasure.
+
+He closed his eyes and seemed to be sleeping, and Elsie almost held her
+breath, lest she should disturb him. But presently the dinner-bell rang,
+and, opening them again, he said, "Go down, my daughter, and get your
+dinner."
+
+"I am not hungry, papa," she replied. "Please let me stay and wait on
+you. Won't you have something to eat?"
+
+"No, my dear, I have no desire for food; and you see, Chloe is coming
+to take care of me; so I wish you to go down at once," he said in his
+decided tone, and Elsie instantly rose to obey.
+
+"You may come back if you choose when you have eaten your dinner," he
+added kindly. "I love to have you here."
+
+"Thank you, papa, I will," she answered, with a brightened countenance,
+as she left the room. She was soon in her place again by his side. He
+was sleeping--and taking the fan from Chloe's hand without speaking,
+she motioned her away, and resuming her seat, sat for an hour or more,
+fanning him in perfect silence.
+
+The physician had come while the family were at dinner, and leaving
+some medicine, had gone again, saying he was in haste to visit another
+patient; and assuring Elsie, whom he met in the hall as he was going out,
+that he did not think her papa was going to be very ill. This assurance
+had comforted her very much, and she felt quite happy while sitting there
+watching her father's slumbers.
+
+At length he opened his eyes, and smiling fondly on her, asked: "Does
+not my little girl want some play this afternoon? Your little hand must
+surely be very tired wielding that fan;" and taking it from her, he drew
+her head down to his breast and stroked her hair caressingly.
+
+"No, my own papa, I would much rather stay with you, if you will let me,"
+she answered eagerly.
+
+"I am afraid I _ought_ to be very determined, and send you out to take
+some exercise," he replied, playfully running his fingers through her
+curls; "but it is too pleasant to have you here, so you may stay if you
+like."
+
+"Oh, thank you, dear papa! and will you let me wait on you? What can I do
+for you now?"
+
+"You may bring that book that lies on the table there, and read to me.
+You need not learn any lessons for to-morrow, for I intend to keep you
+with me."
+
+The next day, and the next, and for many succeeding ones, Mr. Dinsmore
+was quite too ill to leave his bed, and during all this time Elsie was
+his constant companion by day--except for an hour every afternoon, when
+he compelled her to go out and take some exercise in the open air--and
+she would have sat by his side at night, also, but he would by no means
+permit it.
+
+"No, Elsie," he replied to her repeated entreaties, "you must go to bed
+every night at your usual hour, and stay there until your accustomed hour
+for rising. I will not have you deprived of your rest unless I am
+actually dying."
+
+This was said in the determined tone that always silenced Elsie at once,
+and she submitted to his decision without another word, feeling very
+thankful that he kept her so constantly at his side through the day.
+She proved herself the best and most attentive of nurses, seeming to
+understand his wishes intuitively, and moving about so gently and
+quietly--never hurried, never impatient, never weary of attending to
+his wants. His eyes followed with fond delight her little figure as
+it flitted noiselessly about the room, now here, now there, arranging
+everything for his comfort; and often, as she returned to her station
+at his side, he would draw her down to him, and stroke her hair, or pat
+her cheek, or kiss the rosy lips, calling her by every fond, endearing
+name--rose-bud--his pet--his bird--his darling.
+
+It was she who bathed his head with her cool, soft hands, in his
+paroxysms of fever, smoothed his hair, shook up his pillows, gave him his
+medicines, fanned him, and read or sang to him, in her clear sweet tones.
+
+He was scarcely considered in danger, but his sickness was tedious, and
+would have seemed far more so without the companionship of his little
+daughter. Every day seemed to draw the ties of affection more closely
+between them; yet, fond as he was of her, he ever made her feel that his
+will was always to be law to her; and while he required nothing contrary
+to her conscience, she submitted without a murmur, both because she loved
+him so well that it was a pleasure to obey him, and also because she knew
+it was her duty to do so.
+
+But, alas! duty was not always to be so easy and pleasant.
+
+It was Sabbath morning. All the family had gone to church, excepting
+Elsie, who, as usual, sat by her papa's bedside. She had her Bible in
+her hand, and was reading aloud.
+
+"There, Elsie, that will do now," he said, as she finished her chapter.
+"Go and get the book you were reading to me yesterday. I wish to hear the
+rest of it this morning."
+
+Poor little Elsie! she rose to her feet, but stood irresolute. Her heart
+beat fast, her color came and went by turns, and her eyes filled with
+tears.
+
+The book her father bade her read to him was simply a fictitious
+moral tale, without a particle of religious truth in it, and, Elsie's
+conscience told her, entirely unfit for Sabbath reading.
+
+"Elsie!" exclaimed her father, in a tone of mingled reproof and surprise,
+"did you hear me?"
+
+"Yes, papa," she murmured, in a low tone.
+
+"Then go at once and get the book, as I bid you; it lies yonder on the
+dressing-table."
+
+Elsie moved slowly across the room, her father looking after her somewhat
+impatiently.
+
+"Come, Elsie, make haste," he said, as she laid her hand upon the book.
+"I think I never saw you move so slowly,"
+
+Without replying she took it up and returned to the bedside. Then, as he
+caught sight of her face, and saw that her cheeks were pale and wet with
+tears, he exclaimed, "What, _crying_, Elsie! what ails you, my daughter?
+Are you ill, darling?"
+
+His tone was one of tender solicitude, and accompanied with a caress, as
+he took her hand and drew her towards him.
+
+"Oh, papa!" she sobbed, laying her head on the pillow beside him, "please
+do not ask me to read that book to-day."
+
+He did not reply for a moment, and when he did, Elsie was startled by the
+change in his tone; it was so exceedingly stern and severe.
+
+"Elsie," he said, "I do not _ask_ you to read that book, I _command_ you
+to do it, and what is more, _I intend to be obeyed_. Sit down at once and
+begin, and let me have no more of this perverseness."
+
+"Dear papa," she answered in low, pleading, trembling tones, "I do not,
+_indeed_, I do not want to be perverse and disobedient, but I cannot
+break the Sabbath-day. _Please_, papa, let me finish it to-morrow."
+
+"Elsie!" said he, in a tone a little less severe, but quite as
+determined, "I see that you think that because you gained your point in
+relation to that song that you will always be allowed to do as you like
+in such matters; but you are mistaken; I am _determined_ to be obeyed
+this time. I would not by any means bid you do anything I considered
+wrong, but I can see no harm whatever in reading that book to-day;
+and certainly I, who have lived so much longer, am far more capable
+of judging in these matters than a little girl of your age. Why, my
+daughter, I have seen ministers reading worse books than that on the
+Sabbath."
+
+"But, papa," she replied timidly, "you know the Bible says: 'They
+measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among
+themselves, are not wise;' and are we not just to do whatever God
+commands, without stopping to ask what other people do or say? for
+don't even the best people very often do wrong?"
+
+"Very well; find me a text that says you are not to read such a book as
+this on the Sabbath, and I will let you wait until to-morrow."
+
+Elsie hesitated. "I cannot find one that says just _that_, papa," she
+said, "but there is one that says we are not to think our own thoughts,
+nor speak our own words on the Sabbath; and does not that mean worldly
+thoughts and words? and is not that book full of such things, and only
+of such?"
+
+"Nonsense!" he exclaimed, impatiently, "let me hear no more of such
+stuff! you are entirely too young and childish to attempt to reason on
+such subjects. Your place is simply to obey; are you going to do it?"
+
+"Oh, papa!" she murmured, almost under her breath, "I cannot."
+
+"Elsie," said he, in a tone of great anger, "I should certainly be
+greatly tempted to whip you into submission, had I the strength to do
+it."
+
+Elsie answered only by her tears and sobs.
+
+There was silence for a moment, and then her father said: "Elsie, I
+expect from my daughter entire, unquestioning obedience, and until you
+are ready to render it, I shall cease to treat you as my child. I shall
+banish you from my presence, and my affections. This is the alternative I
+set before you. I will give you ten minutes to consider it. At the end of
+that time, if you are ready to obey me, well and good--if not, you will
+leave this room, not to enter it again until you are ready to acknowledge
+your fault, ask forgiveness, and promise implicit obedience in the
+future."
+
+A low cry of utter despair broke from Elsie's lips, as she thus heard her
+sentence pronounced in tones of calm, stern determination; and, hiding
+her face on the bed, she sobbed convulsively.
+
+Her father lifted his watch from a little stand by the bedside, and held
+it in his hand until the ten minutes expired.
+
+"The time is up, Elsie," he said; "are you ready to obey me?"
+
+"Oh, papa!" she sobbed, "I cannot do it."
+
+"Very well, then," he said, coldly; "if neither your sense of duty, nor
+your affection for your sick father is strong enough to overcome your
+self-will, you know what you have to do. Leave the room at once, and
+send one of the servants to attend me. I will not have such a perverse,
+disobedient child in my presence."
+
+She raised her head, and he was touched by the look of anguish on her
+face.
+
+"My daughter," he said, drawing her to him, and pushing back the curls
+from her face, "this separation will be as painful to me as to you; yet I
+cannot yield my authority. I _must_ have obedience from you. I ask again,
+will you obey me?"
+
+He waited a moment for an answer; but Elsie's heart was too full for
+speech.
+
+Pushing her from him, he said: "Go! remember, whenever you are ready to
+comply with the conditions, you may return; but _not till then_!"
+
+Elsie seized his hand in both of hers, and covered it with kisses and
+tears; then, without a word, turned and left the room.
+
+He looked after her with a sigh, muttering to himself, "She has a spice
+of my own obstinacy in her nature; but I think a few days' banishment
+from me will bring her round. I am punishing myself quite as much,
+however, for it will be terribly hard to do without her."
+
+Elsie hastened to her own room, almost distracted with grief; the blow
+had been so sudden, so unexpected, so terrible; for she could see no end
+to her banishment; unless, indeed, a change should take place in her
+father's feelings, and of that she had very little hope.
+
+Flinging herself upon a couch, she wept long and bitterly. Her grief was
+deep and despairing, but there was no anger in it; on the contrary, her
+heart was filled with intense love to her father, who, she doubted not,
+was acting from a mistaken sense of duty; and she could scarcely bear the
+thought that now she should no longer be permitted to wait upon him, and
+attend to his comfort. She had sent a servant to him, but a servant could
+ill supply a daughter's place, and her heart ached to think how he would
+miss her sympathy and love.
+
+An hour passed slowly away; the family returned from church, and the bell
+rang for dinner. But Elsie heeded it not; she had no desire for food, and
+still lay sobbing on her couch, till Chloe came to ask why she did not go
+down.
+
+The faithful creature was much surprised and distressed at the state in
+which she found her child, and raising her in her arms tenderly, inquired
+into the cause of her grief.
+
+Elsie told her in a few words, and Chloe, without finding any fault with
+Mr. Dinsmore, strove to comfort the sorrowing child, assuring her of her
+own unalterable affection, and talking to her of the love of Jesus, who
+would help her to hear every trial, and in his own good time remove it.
+
+Elsie grew calmer as she listened to her nurse's words; her sobs and
+tears gradually ceased, and at length she allowed Chloe to bathe her
+face, and smooth her disordered hair and dress; but she refused to eat,
+and lay on her couch all the afternoon, with a very sad little face, a
+sob now and then bursting from her bosom, and a tear trickling down her
+cheek. When the tea-bell rang, she reluctantly yielded to Chloe's
+persuasions, and went down. But it was a sad, uncomfortable meal to her,
+for she soon perceived, from the cold and averted looks of the whole
+family, that the cause of her banishment from her papa's room was known.
+Even her Aunt Adelaide, who was usually so kind, now seemed determined
+to take no notice of her, and before the meal was half over, Enna,
+frowning at her across the table, exclaimed in a loud, angry tone,
+"Naughty, bad girl! Brother Horace ought to whip you!"
+
+"That he ought," added her grandfather, severely, "if he had the strength
+to do it; but he is not likely to gain it, while worried with such a
+perverse, disobedient child."
+
+Elsie could not swallow another mouthful, for the choking sensation in
+her throat; and it cost her a hard struggle to keep back the tears that
+seemed determined to force their way down her cheek at Enna's unkind
+speech; but the concluding sentence of her grandfather's remark caused
+her to start and tremble with fear on her father's account; yet she
+could not command her voice sufficiently to speak and ask if he were
+worse.
+
+There was, indeed, a very unfavorable change in Mr. Dinsmore, and he was
+really more alarmingly ill than he had been at all. Elsie's resistance
+to his authority had excited him so much as to bring on a return of his
+fever; her absence fretted him, too, for no one else seemed to understand
+quite as well how to wait upon him; and besides, he was not altogether
+satisfied with himself; not entirely sure that the course he had adopted
+was the right one. Could he only have got rid of all doubts of the
+righteousness and justice of the sentence he had pronounced upon her, it
+would have been a great relief. He was very proud, a man of indomitable
+will, and very jealous of his authority; and between these on the one
+hand, and his love for his child and desire for her presence, on the
+other, a fierce struggle had been raging in his breast all the afternoon.
+
+As soon as she dared leave the table Elsie stole out into the garden,
+there to indulge her grief, unseen by any but the eye of God.
+
+She paced up and down her favorite walk, weeping and sobbing bitterly.
+Presently her attention was attracted by the galloping of a horse down
+the avenue, and raising her head, she saw that it was the physician,
+returning from a visit to her father. It was not his usual hour for
+calling, and she at once conjectured that her father was worse. Her first
+impulse was to hasten to him, but instantly came the recollection that he
+had banished her from his presence, and sinking down upon a bank, she
+burst into a fresh paroxysm of grief. It was so hard--so _very_ hard--to
+know that he was ill and suffering, and not to be permitted to go to him.
+
+At length she could bear it no longer, and springing up she hurried into
+the house, and gliding softly up the stairs, stationed herself at her
+papa's door, determined to intercept some one passing in or out, and
+inquire how he was.
+
+She had not been long there when her Aunt Adelaide came out, looking
+troubled and anxious.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Adelaide," cried the child in a hoarse whisper, catching her by
+the dress, "dear Aunt Adelaide, _do_ tell me, is papa worse?"
+
+"Yes, Elsie," she replied coldly, attempting to pass on; "he is much
+worse."
+
+The little girl burst into an agony of tears.
+
+"You may well cry, Elsie," remarked her aunt severely, "for it is all
+your fault, and if you are left an orphan, you may thank your own
+perverseness and obstinacy for it."
+
+Putting both hands over her face, with a low cry of anguish, Elsie fell
+forward in a deep swoon.
+
+Adelaide caught her ere she had quite reached the floor, and hastily
+loosening her dress, looked anxiously around for help; but none was at
+hand, and she dared not call aloud lest she should alarm her brother. So
+laying her gently down on the carpet, she went in search of Chloe, whom
+she found, as she had expected, in Elsie's room. In a few hurried words
+Adelaide made her understand what had occurred, and that Elsie must be
+removed without the slightest noise or disturbance.
+
+Another moment and Chloe was at her darling's side, and raising her
+gently in her strong arms, she bore her quickly to her room, and laying
+her on a couch, proceeded to apply restoratives, murmuring the while,
+in low, pitiful tones, "De dear, precious lamb! it mos' breaks your ole
+mammy's heart to see you dis way."
+
+It was long ere consciousness returned; so long that Adelaide, who stood
+by, gazing sorrowfully at the little wan face, and reproaching herself
+for her cruelty, trembled and grew pale with apprehension.
+
+But at last, with a weary sigh, Elsie opened her eyes, and looked up,
+with a sad, bewildered expression, into the dusky face bent so anxiously
+over her, and then, with a feeling of intense relief, Adelaide slipped
+away to her own room, leaving them alone together.
+
+"What is it, mammy? Oh, I know! I remember! Oh, mammy, mammy! will my
+dear, precious papa die?" sobbed the poor little girl, throwing her arms
+around her nurse's neck.
+
+"I hope not, darling" replied Chloe, soothingly. "Massa Horace am pretty
+sick, I know; but I tinks de good Lord spare him, if we pray."
+
+"Oh, yes, yes, mammy, let us pray for him. Let us both pray very
+earnestly, and I am sure God will spare him, because he has _promised_
+to grant whatever two shall agree to ask."
+
+They knelt down, and Chloe prayed in her broken way; and when she had
+finished, Elsie poured out such a prayer as comes only from a heart ready
+to break with its load of sorrow and care.
+
+None but he who has tried it can tell what a blessed relief comes to
+those who thus "cast their care on Jesus." Elsie's burden was not less,
+but she no longer bore it alone; she had rolled it upon the Lord and he
+sustained her. She shed a few quiet tears after she had laid her head
+upon her pillow, but soon forgot all her sorrows in a deep, sweet sleep,
+that lasted until morning.
+
+It was still early when she awoke and sprang up, with the intention of
+hastening, as usual, to her father's side; but alas! in another moment
+memory had recalled all the distressing events of the previous day, and,
+sinking back upon her pillow, she wept long and bitterly.
+
+But at length she dried her tears, and, kneeling at the bedside, poured
+out her sorrows and supplications into the ear of her Saviour, and thus
+again grew calm and strong to endure.
+
+As soon as she was dressed she went to her papa's door, hoping to see
+some one who could tell her how he was; but no one came, and she dared
+not venture in, and her intense anxiety had yet found no relief when the
+bell summoned the family to breakfast.
+
+The same cold looks awaited her there as on the night before, and the
+poor child could scarcely eat, and was glad when the comfortless meal was
+over.
+
+She followed Adelaide to Mr. Dinsmore's door, and begged her with tears
+and sobs to ask her papa to allow her to come to him, if it was only for
+one moment, just to look at him, and then go away again.
+
+Adelaide was touched by her evident anxiety and distress, and said,
+almost kindly, as she laid her hand on the handle of the door, "Well,
+Elsie, I will ask him; but I have no idea that it will be of any use,
+unless you will give up your foolish obstinacy."
+
+Elsie stood outside waiting with a beating heart, and though her aunt was
+really gone but a moment, it seemed a long time to her ere the door again
+opened.
+
+She looked up eagerly, and read the answer in Adelaide's face, ere she
+heard the coldly spoken, stern message--
+
+"Your papa says you very well know the conditions on which you will be
+admitted to his presence, and that they are as unalterable as the laws of
+the Medes and Persians."
+
+The tears gushed from Elsie's eyes, and she turned away with a gesture of
+despair.
+
+"Elsie," said her aunt, "let me advise you to give up at once; for I am
+perfectly certain you never can conquer your father."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Adelaide! that is not what I want," murmured the child, in low,
+broken accents.
+
+But Adelaide went on without noticing the interruption--
+
+"He is worse, and growing worse all the time, Elsie; his fever has been
+very high ever since yesterday afternoon--and we all know that it is
+nothing but your misconduct that has caused this relapse."
+
+Elsie could bear no more, but rushing away to her own room, and locking
+herself in, she gave way without restraint to her feelings of distress
+and anguish.
+
+Knowing that she was not expected in the school-room--as she had paid no
+attention to study since the beginning of her father's illness--she did
+not leave her room again until dinner-time.
+
+She was on her way to the dining-room, when her Aunt Adelaide, passing
+her in the hall, caught hold of her, saying, "Elsie, your papa is so ill
+that the doctor trembles for his life; he says he is certain that he has
+something on his mind that is distressing him and causing this alarming
+change, and unless it is removed he fears he will never be any better.
+Elsie, _you know what that something is_."
+
+Elsie stood as if turned to stone, while Adelaide, letting go her arm,
+moved quickly away, leaving her alone, stunned, bewildered, terrified by
+the suddenness of the dreadful announcement.
+
+She could not think or reason; she could only press her hands to her
+temples, in the vain endeavor to still their wild throbbing; then,
+turning back to her own room again, she threw herself upon her knees,
+and, resting her head against the bed, gave vent to her over-wrought
+feelings in such groans of anguish as seldom come from the heart of one
+so young. At first she could neither weep nor pray; but at length tears
+came to her relief, and she poured out agonizing supplications "that her
+dear, _dear_ papa might be spared, at least, until he had learned
+to love Jesus, and was fit to go to heaven."
+
+She felt as though her heart would break at the very thought of being
+separated from him forever in this world, but even that was as nothing
+compared to the more terrible fear of not meeting him in another.
+
+That was a long, sad afternoon to the poor child; the longest and saddest
+she had ever known. Chloe now and then brought her word how her father
+was, but no one else came near her to speak a word of comfort or hope.
+Towards evening they had given up almost all hope; he had ceased to
+recognize any one, and one after another, parents, brother, sisters, and
+servants, had been permitted to take a last look--all but little Elsie,
+his own and only child--the one nearest and dearest to him, and to whom
+he was all the world--she alone was forbidden to come. She had begged and
+plead, in tones that might have melted a heart of stone, to be permitted
+to see his face once more in life; but Mrs. Dinsmore, who had taken the
+direction of everything, said, "No, her father has forbidden it, and she
+shall not come unless she expresses her willingness to comply with his
+conditions."
+
+Adelaide had then ventured a plea in her behalf, but the reply was: "I
+don't pity her at all; it is all her own doing."
+
+"So much the harder is it for her to bear, I presume," urged Adelaide.
+
+"There, Adelaide, that will do now! Let me hear no more about it,"
+replied her lady mother, and there the matter dropped.
+
+Poor little Elsie tried to be submissive and forgiving, but she could not
+help feeling it terribly hard and cruel, and almost more than she could
+bear, thus to be kept away from her sick and dying father.
+
+It was long ere sleep visited her weary eyes that night; hour after hour
+she lay on her pillow, pouring out prayers and tears on his behalf, until
+at length, completely worn out with sorrow, she fell into a deep and
+heavy slumber, from which she waked to find the morning sun streaming in
+at the windows, and Chloe standing gazing down upon her with a very happy
+face.
+
+She started up from her pillow, asking eagerly, "What is it, mammy? Oh!
+what is it? is my papa better?"
+
+"Yes, darling Massa Horace much better dis mornin'; de doctor say 'he
+gwine git well now for sartin, if he don't git worse again.'"
+
+"Oh, mammy! It seems too good to be true! Oh, how very, very good God has
+been to me!" cried the little girl, weeping for very joy.
+
+For a moment, in the intensity of her happiness, she forgot that she was
+still in disgrace and banishment--forgot everything but the joyful fact
+that her father was spared to her. But, oh! she could not forget it long.
+The bitter recollection soon returned, to damp her joy and fill her with
+sad forebodings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+"I'll do whate'er thou wilt, I'll be silent;
+But oh! a reined tongue, and a bursting heart,
+Are hard at once to bear."
+
+JOANNA BAILLIE'S BASIL.
+
+
+Mr. Dinsmore's recovery was not very rapid. It was several weeks after he
+was pronounced out of danger ere he was able to leave his room; and then
+he came down looking so altered, so pale, and thin, and weak, that it
+almost broke his little daughter's heart to look at him.
+
+Very sad and lonely weeks those had been to her, poor child! She
+was never once permitted to see him, and the whole family treated her
+with marked coldness and neglect. She had returned to her duties in the
+school-room--her father having sent her a command to that effect, as soon
+as he was sufficiently recovered to think of her--and she tried to attend
+faithfully to her studies, but more than once Miss Day had seen the tears
+dropping upon her book or slate, and reproved her sharply for not giving
+her mind to her lessons, and for indulging in what she called her
+"babyish propensities."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore made his first appearance in the family circle one morning
+at breakfast, a servant assisting him down stairs and seating him in an
+easy-chair at the table, just as the others were taking their places.
+
+Warm congratulations were showered upon him from all sides. Enna ran
+up to him, exclaiming, "I'm _so_ glad to see you down again, brother
+Horace;" and was rewarded with a smile and a kiss; while poor little
+Elsie, who had been directed, she knew not why, to take her old seat
+opposite to his, was unable to utter a word, but stood with one hand on
+the back of her chair, pale and trembling with emotion, watching him with
+eyes so blinded by tears that she could scarcely see. But no one seemed
+to notice her, and her father did not once turn his eyes that way.
+
+She thought of the morning when she had first met him there, her poor
+little heart hungering so for his love; and it seemed as if she had gone
+back again to that time; and yet it was worse; for now she had learned
+to love him with an intensity of affection she had then never known,
+and having tasted the sweetness of his love, her sense of suffering at
+its loss was proportionally great; and utterly unable to control her
+feelings, she silently left the room to seek some place where she might
+give her bursting heart the relief of tears, with none to observe or
+reprove her.
+
+Elsie had a rare plant, the gift of a friend, which she had long been
+tending with great care, and which had blossomed that morning for the
+first time.
+
+The flower was beautiful and very fragrant, and as the little girl
+stood gazing upon it with delighted eyes, while awaiting the summons to
+breakfast, she had said to Chloe, "Oh! how I should like papa to see it!
+He is so fond of flowers, and has been, so anxious for this one to
+bloom."
+
+But a deep sigh followed as she thought what a long, long time it was
+likely to be before her father would again enter her room, or permit her
+to go into his. He had not, however, forbidden her to speak to him, and
+the thought struck her that, if he should be able to leave his room
+before the flower had faded, so that she could see and speak to him,
+she might pluck it off and present it to him.
+
+She thought of it again, while weeping alone in her room, and a faint
+hope sprang up in her heart that the little gift might open the way for a
+reconciliation. But she must wait and watch for an opportunity to see him
+alone; for she could not, in the present state of affairs, think of
+addressing him before a third person.
+
+The opportunity came almost sooner than she had dared to hope, for, on
+passing the library door just after the morning lessons were over, she
+saw him sitting there alone; and trembling between hope and fear, she
+hurried at once to her room, plucked the beautiful blossom from its stem,
+and with it in her hand hastened to the library.
+
+She moved noiselessly across the thickly carpeted floor, and her papa,
+who was reading, did not seem to be aware of her approach, until she was
+close at his side. He then raised his head and looked at her with an
+expression of surprise on his countenance.
+
+"Dear papa," said the little girl, in faltering accents, as she presented
+the flower, "my plant is bloomed at last; will you accept this first
+blossom as a token of affection from your little daughter?"
+
+Her pleading eyes were fixed upon his face, and ere she had finished her
+sentence, she was trembling violently at the dark frown she saw gathering
+There.
+
+"Elsie," said he, in the cold, stern tone she so much dreaded, "I am
+sorry you have broken your flower. I cannot divine your motive--affection
+for me it cannot be; for that such a feeling exists in the breast of a
+little girl, who not only could refuse her sick father the very small
+favor of reading to him, but would rather see him _die_ than give up her
+own self-will, I cannot believe. No, Elsie, take it away; I can receive
+no gifts nor tokens of affection from a rebellious, disobedient child."
+
+The flower had fallen upon the floor, and Elsie stood in an attitude of
+utter despair, her head bent down upon her breast, and her hands hanging
+listlessly at her side. For an instant she stood thus, and then, with
+a sudden revulsion of feeling, she sank down on her knees beside her
+father's chair, and seizing his hand in both of hers, pressed it to her
+heart, and then to her lips, covering it with kisses and tears, while
+great bursting sobs shook her whole frame.
+
+"Oh, papa! dear, _dear_ papa! I _do love_ you! indeed, _indeed_ I do. Oh,
+how could you say such cruel words to me?" she sobbed.
+
+"Hush!" he said, withdrawing his hand. "I will have nothing but the truth
+from you, and 'actions speak louder than words.' Get up immediately, and
+dry your tears. Miss Day tells me that you are ruining your eyes by
+continual crying; and if I hear any more such complaints, I shall punish
+you severely. I will not allow it at all, for you have nothing whatever
+to make you unhappy but your own misconduct. Just as soon as you are
+ready to submit to my authority, you will find yourself treated with the
+same indulgence and affection as formerly; but remember, _not till_
+then!"
+
+His words were like daggers to the affectionate, sensitive child. Had he
+stabbed her to the heart he could not have hurt her more.
+
+"Oh, papa!" she murmured in heart-broken accents, as in obedience to his
+command she rose to her feet, struggling hard to keep back the tears he
+had forbidden her to shed.
+
+But her emotion did not seem to move him. Her conduct during his severe
+illness had been so misrepresented to him, that at times he was wellnigh
+convinced that her seeming affection was all hypocrisy, and that she
+really regarded him only in the light of a tyrant, from whose authority
+she would be glad to escape in any way.
+
+"Pick up your flower and leave the room," he said. "I have no desire for
+your company until you can learn to obey as you ought."
+
+Silently and mechanically Elsie obeyed him, and hastening to her own room
+again, threw herself into her nurse's arms, weeping as though she would
+weep her very life away.
+
+Chloe asked no questions as to the cause of her emotion--which the
+flower in her hand, and the remembrance of the morning's conversation,
+sufficiently explained--but tried in every way to soothe and encourage
+her to hope for future reconciliation.
+
+For some moments her efforts seemed to be quite unavailing; but suddenly
+Elsie raised her head, and wiping away her tears, said, with a convulsive
+sob, "Oh! I am doing wrong again, for papa has forbidden me to cry so
+much, and I must try to obey him. But, oh!" she exclaimed, dropping her
+head on her nurse's shoulder, with a fresh burst of tears, "how can I
+help it, when my heart is bursting?"
+
+"Jesus will help you, darlin'," replied Chloe, tenderly. "He always helps
+his chillens to bear all dere troubles an' do all dere duties, an' never
+leaves nor forsakes dem. But you must try, darlin', to mind Massa Horace,
+kase he is your own papa; an' de Bible says, 'Chillen, obey your
+parents.'"
+
+"Yes, mammy, I know I ought, and I _will_ try," said the little girl,
+raising her head and wiping her eyes; "but, mammy, you must pray for me,
+for it will be very, very difficult."
+
+Elsie had never been an eye-servant, but had always conscientiously
+obeyed her father, whether present or absent, and henceforward she
+constantly struggled to restrain her feelings, and even in solitude
+denied her bursting heart the relief of tears; though it was not always
+she could do this, for she was but young in the school of affliction, and
+often, in spite of every effort, grief would have its way, and she was
+ready to sink beneath her heavy weight of sorrow. Elsie had learned from
+God's holy word, that "affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither
+doth trouble spring out of the ground;" and she soon set herself
+diligently to work to find out why this bitter trial had been sent her.
+
+Her little Bible had never been suffered to lie a single day unused, nor
+had morning or evening ever failed to find her in her closet; she had
+neglected none of the forms of religion, and her devotions had been far
+from heartless; yet she discovered with pain that she had of late spent
+less time, and found less of her enjoyment in these duties than formerly;
+that she had been, too much engrossed by an earthly love, and needed this
+trial to bring her nearer to her Saviour, and teach her again to seek all
+her happiness in "looking unto him." And now the hours that she had been
+wont to pass in her father's society were usually spent in her own room,
+alone with her Bible and her God, and there she found that sweet peace
+and joy which the world can neither give nor take away; and thus she
+gathered strength to bear her troubles and crosses with heavenly meekness
+and patience; and she had indeed great need of a strength not her own,
+for every day, and almost every hour brought with it its own peculiar
+trial.
+
+No one but the servants--who still loved her dearly--treated her with
+kindness; but coldness and neglect were the least she had to bear. She
+was constantly reminded, even by Walter and Enna, that she was stubborn
+and disobedient, and there was so little pleasure in her walks and rides,
+either when taken alone or in company with them, that she gradually gave
+them up almost entirely--until one day, her father's attention being
+called to it, by a remark of Mrs. Dinsmore's, "that it was no wonder the
+child was growing thin and pale, for she did not take exercise enough to
+keep her in health," he called her to him, reprimanded her severely, and
+laid his commands upon her "to take a walk and ride every day, when the
+weather would at all permit, but never dare to go alone farther than into
+the garden."
+
+Elsie answered with meek submission, promising obedience; and then turned
+quickly away to hide the emotion that was swelling in her breast.
+
+The change in her father was the bitterest part of her trial; she had so
+revelled in his affection, and now it seemed to be all withdrawn from
+her; and from the fond, indulgent parent, Mr. Dinsmore seemed suddenly to
+have changed to the cold, pitiless tyrant. He now seldom took any notice
+of his little daughter, and never addressed her unless it were to utter
+a rebuke, a threat, a prohibition, or command, in tones of harshness and
+severity.
+
+Elsie bore it with all the meekness and patience of a martyr, but ere
+long her health began to suffer; she grew weak and nervous, and would
+start and tremble, and change color at the very sound of her father's
+step or voice--those sounds which she had once so loved to hear--and the
+little face became thin and pale, and an expression of deep and touching
+sadness settled down upon it.
+
+Love was as necessary to Elsie's health and happiness as sunshine to the
+flowers, and even as the keen winds and biting frosts of winter wilt and
+wither the tender blossoms, so did all this coldness and severity, the
+gentle, sensitive spirit of the little child.
+
+Mr. Travilla had called several times during the early part of Mr.
+Dinsmore's illness, while Elsie had been his nurse, and she sometimes
+wondered that she had seen nothing of him during all these sorrowful
+weeks; but the truth was, Mr. Travilla had been absent from home, and
+knew nothing of all that had been going on at Roselands. As soon,
+however, as he returned, and heard how ill his friend had been, he
+called to express his sympathy, and congratulate him on his recovery.
+
+He found Mr. Dinsmore seated in an easy-chair in the library, still
+looking weak and ill, and more depressed in spirits than he had ever
+seen him.
+
+"Ah! Dinsmore, my dear fellow, I hear you have been very ill; and,
+indeed, I must say you are looking far from well yet," Travilla exclaimed
+in his cheerful, hearty way, shaking his friend's hand warmly. "I think
+my little friend, Elsie, has deserted her post almost too soon; but I
+suppose you have sent her back to her lessons again," he remarked,
+glancing around as if in search of her.
+
+"I have no need of nursing now," replied Mr. Dinsmore, with a sad sort of
+smile. "I am able to ride, and even to walk out, and shall, I hope, soon
+be quite myself again."
+
+He then introduced another topic of conversation, and they chatted for
+some time.
+
+At length Mr. Travilla drew out his watch.
+
+"I see it is past school-hours," he said; "might I see my little friend?
+I have brought a little gift for her, and should like to present it in
+person."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore had become quite animated and cheerful during their previous
+conversation, but a great change came over his face while Mr. Travilla
+was making his request, and the expression of his countenance was very
+cold and stern, as he replied, "I thank you, Travilla, on her behalf;
+but, if you please, I would much prefer your not giving her anything
+at present, for, I am sorry to say, Elsie has been very stubborn and
+rebellious of late, and is quite undeserving of any indulgence."
+
+Mr. Travilla looked exceedingly astonished. "Is it _possible_!" he
+exclaimed. "Really, I have had such an exalted opinion of Elsie's
+goodness, that I could not have credited such a charge from any one
+but her father."
+
+"No, nor could I," replied Mr. Dinsmore, leaning his head upon his
+hand with a heavy sigh; "but it is as I tell you, and you see now that
+I have some cause for the depression of spirits upon which you have been
+rallying me. Travilla, I love that child as I have never loved another
+earthly thing except her mother, and it cuts me to the quick to have
+her rebel as she has been doing for the last five weeks; it is almost
+more than I can bear in my present weak state. I thought she loved me
+devotedly, but it seems I was mistaken, for surely obedience is the
+best test of love, and she refuses me that."
+
+He paused for a moment, apparently quite overcome by his feelings, then
+went on; "I have been compelled to banish her from my presence, but,
+alas! I find I cannot tear her from my heart, and I miss her every
+moment."
+
+Mr. Travilla looked very much concerned. "I am sorry, indeed," he said,
+"to hear such an account of my little friend; but her love for you I
+cannot doubt, and we will hope that she will soon return to her duty."
+
+"Thank you, Travilla; I am always sure of your sympathy in any kind of
+trouble," replied Mr. Dinsmore, trying to speak cheerfully; "but we will
+leave this disagreeable subject, and talk of something else."
+
+In a few moments Mr. Travilla rose to take leave, declining Mr.
+Dinsmore's urgent invitation to remain to dinner, but promising to
+come again before long and stay a day or two. His kind heart was really
+pained to learn that there was again a misunderstanding between his
+little friend--as he had been in the habit of calling Elsie--and her
+father; and as he rode home silently pondering the matter, he determined
+that he would very soon fulfil his promise of paying a longer visit, for
+he could not refrain from indulging a faint hope that he might be able to
+accomplish something as mediator between them.
+
+A few days after this, Elsie was passing down the hall. The doors and
+windows were all open, for it was a warm spring day, and as she passed
+the drawing-room door, she paused a moment and looked in. Her father sat
+reading near one of the windows, and her eyes were riveted upon his face.
+He was still pale from his recent illness; and his face had a troubled,
+care-worn look, very different from its usual expression.
+
+Oh! what a _longing_ desire came over the little girl at that sight, to
+go to him and say that she was sorry for all the past, and that in the
+future she would be and do everything that he asked. She burst into
+tears and turned hastily away. She was hurrying out to the garden, but
+at the door she encountered her aunt Adelaide.
+
+"What is the matter, Elsie?" she asked, putting her hand on the child's
+shoulder and forcibly detaining her.
+
+"Oh! Aunt Adelaide," sobbed the little girl, "papa looks so ill and sad."
+
+"And no wonder, Elsie," replied her aunt severely; "_you_ are quite
+enough to make him sad, and ill, too, with your perverse, obstinate ways.
+You have yourself to thank for it all, for it is just that, and nothing
+else, that ails him."
+
+She turned away as she spoke, and poor Elsie, wringing her hands in an
+agony of grief, darted down the garden-walk to her favorite arbor.
+
+Her eyes were so blinded by tears that she did not see that Mr. Travilla
+was sitting there, until she was close beside him.
+
+She turned then, and would have run away again, but he caught her by the
+dress, and drawing her gently toward him, said in a mild, soothing tone--
+
+"Don't run away from me, my poor little friend, but tell me the cause of
+your sorrow, and who knows but I may be able to assist you."
+
+Elsie shook her head mournfully, but allowed him, to set her on his knee,
+and put his arm around her.
+
+"My poor child! my poor, dear little girl!" he said, wiping away her
+tears, and kissing her very much as her father had been in the habit of
+doing.
+
+It reminded her of him and his lost love, and caused a fresh burst of
+tears and sobs.
+
+"Poor child!" said Mr. Travilla again, "is there nothing I can do for
+you? Will you not tell me the cause of your grief?"
+
+"Oh, Mr. Travilla!" she sobbed, "papa is very much displeased with me,
+and he looks so sad and ill, it almost breaks my heart."
+
+"And why is he displeased with you, my dear? If you have done wrong and
+are sorry for your fault, I am sure you have only to confess it, and ask
+forgiveness, and all will be right again," he said kindly, drawing her
+head down upon his breast, and smoothing back the curls from her flushed
+and tear-stained face.
+
+Elsie made no reply, and he went on--
+
+"When we have done wrong, my dear little girl--as we do all sometimes--it
+is much more noble to acknowledge it and ask pardon, than to try to hide
+our faults; and you know, dear little Elsie," he added in a graver tone,
+"that the Bible teaches us that children must obey their parents."
+
+"Yes, Mr. Travilla," she answered, "I know that the Bible says: 'He that
+covereth his sins shall not prosper,' and I know it tells me to obey my
+father; and I do think I am willing to confess my faults, and I do try
+to obey papa in everything that is right; but sometimes he bids me
+disobey God; and you know the Bible says: 'We ought to obey God rather
+than men.'"
+
+"I am afraid, my dear," said Mr. Travilla gently, "that you are perhaps a
+little too much inclined to judge for yourself about right and wrong. You
+must remember that you are but a very little girl yet, and that your
+father is very much older and wiser; and therefore I should say it would
+be much safer to leave it to him to decide these matters. Besides, if
+he _bids_ you do thus and so, I think all the responsibility of the
+wrong--supposing there _is_ any--will rest with _him_, and _he_, not
+_you_, will have to account for it."
+
+"Oh! no, Mr. Travilla," replied the little girl earnestly, "my Bible
+teaches me better than that; for it says: '_Every one_ of us shall give
+account of _himself_ to God;' and in another place: 'The soul that
+sinneth _it_ shall die.' So I know that _I_, and not papa, nor any one
+else, will have to give account for _my_ sins."
+
+"I see it will never do for me to try to quote Scripture to you," he
+remarked, looking rather discomfited; "for you know a great deal more
+about it than I do. But I am very anxious to see you and your father
+friends again, for I cannot bear to see you both looking so unhappy.
+
+"You have a good father, Elsie, and one that you may well be proud
+of--for a more high-minded, honorable gentleman cannot be found anywhere;
+and I am quite sure he would never require you to do anything very wrong.
+Have you any objection, my dear, to telling me what it is?"
+
+"He bade me read to him, one Sabbath-day, a book which was only fit for
+week-day reading, because it had nothing at all in it about God, or being
+good--and I could not do that; and now he says I must say I am sorry I
+refused to obey him that time, and promise always to do exactly as he
+bids me in future," replied Elsie, weeping; "and oh! Mr. Travilla, I
+cannot do that. I cannot say I am sorry I did not disobey God, nor that
+I will disobey him in future, if papa bids me."
+
+"But if that was a sin, Elsie, it was surely a very _little_ one; I don't
+think God would be very angry with you for anything so small as that," he
+said very gravely.
+
+"Mr. Travilla," Elsie replied in a tone of deep solemnity, "it is
+written, 'Cursed is every one that continueth not in _all_ things which
+are written in the book of the law to do them;' _that_ is in the Bible;
+and the catechism says: '_Every sin_ deserveth the wrath and curse of
+God!' And oh! Mr. Travilla," she added in a tone of anguish, "if you
+knew how _hard_ it is for me to keep from giving up, and doing what my
+conscience says is wrong, you wouldn't try to persuade me to do it."
+
+Mr. Travilla knew not what to say; he was both perplexed and distressed.
+
+But just at that moment a step was heard coming down the path. Elsie
+recognized it instantly, and began to tremble, and the next moment her
+father entered the arbor.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore felt a pang of jealousy at seeing his little girl in
+Travilla's arms, which he would have been ashamed to acknowledge to
+himself, but it caused his tone to be even more than usually stern and
+severe as he hastily inquired, "What are you doing here, Elsie--crying
+again, after all I have said to you? Go to your room this moment, and
+stay there until you can show a cheerful face!"
+
+Mr. Travilla set her down, and she obeyed without a word, not even daring
+to look at her father.
+
+There was a moment of embarrassing silence after she had gone.
+
+Then Travilla said, "It seems Elsie stumbled upon me here quite
+unexpectedly, and I detained her somewhat against her will, I believe,
+and have been doing my best to persuade her that she ought to be entirely
+submissive to you."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore looked interested, but replied with a sigh, "I fear you did
+not succeed; she is sadly obstinate, and I begin to fear I shall have to
+use great severity before I can conquer her."
+
+Mr. Travilla hesitated a moment, then said, "I am afraid, Dinsmore, that
+she has the right of it; she quoted Scripture to me till I really had no
+more to say."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore looked displeased.
+
+"_I_ should think," he said almost haughtily, "that the fifth commandment
+would be answer enough to any argument she could bring to excuse her
+disobedience."
+
+"We do not all see alike, Dinsmore," remarked his friend, "and though I
+do not say that you are wrong, I must acknowledge that were I in your
+place, I should do differently, because I should fear that the child was
+acting from _principle_ rather than self-will or obstinacy."
+
+"_Give up_ to her, Travilla? never! It astonishes me that you could
+suggest such a thing!" exclaimed Mr. Dinsmore with almost fierce
+determination. "No, I _will_ conquer her! I will break _her will_,
+though in doing so I break my own heart."
+
+"And _hers_, too," murmured Travilla in a low, sad tone, more as if
+thinking aloud than answering his friend.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore started. "No, no," he said hurriedly, "there is no danger of
+_that_; else she would certainly have given up long ago."
+
+Travilla shook his head, but made no reply; and presently Mr. Dinsmore
+rose and led the way to the house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+"The storm of grief bears hard upon her youth,
+And bends her, like a drooping flower, to earth."
+
+ROWE'S FAIR PENITENT.
+
+
+"You are not looking quite well yet, Mr. Dinsmore," remarked a lady
+visitor, who called one day to see the family; "and your little daughter,
+I think, looks as if she, too, had been ill; she is very thin, and seems
+to have entirely lost her bright color."
+
+Elsie had just left the room a moment before the remark was made.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore started slightly.
+
+"I believe she _is_ a little pale," he replied in a tone of annoyance;
+"but as she makes no complaint, I do not think there can be anything
+seriously amiss."
+
+"Perhaps not," said the lady indifferently; "but if she were _my_ child I
+should be afraid she was going into a decline."
+
+"Really, Mrs. Grey, I don't know what should put such a notion into your
+head!" exclaimed Mrs. Dinsmore, "for I assure you Elsie has always been
+a perfectly healthy child since I have known her."
+
+"Ah! well; it was but the thought of a moment," replied Mrs. Grey, rising
+to take leave, "and I am glad to hear there is no ground for fear, for
+Elsie is certainly a very sweet little girl."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore handed Mrs. Grey to her carriage, and re-entering the house
+went into the little back parlor where Elsie, the only other occupant of
+the room, sat reading, in the corner of the sofa.
+
+He did not speak to her, but began pacing back and forth across the
+floor. Mrs. Grey's words had alarmed him; he could not forget them, and
+whenever in his walk his face was turned towards his child, he bent his
+eyes upon her with a keen, searching gaze; and he was surprised that he
+had not before noticed how thin, and pale, and careworn that little face
+had grown.
+
+"Elsie," he said suddenly, pausing in his walk.
+
+The child started and colored, as she raised her eyes from the book to
+his face, asking, in a half tremulous tone, "What, papa?"
+
+"Put down your book and come to me," he replied, seating himself.
+
+His tone lacked its usual harshness, yet the little girl came to him
+trembling so that she could scarcely stand.
+
+It displeased him.
+
+"Elsie," he said, as he took her hand and drew her in between his knees,
+"why do you always start and change color when I speak to you? and why
+are you trembling now as if you were venturing into the lion's jaws?--are
+you afraid of me?--speak!"
+
+"Yes, papa," she replied, the tears rolling down her cheeks, "you always
+speak so sternly to me now, that I cannot help feeling frightened."
+
+"Well, I didn't intend to be stern this time," he said more gently than
+he had spoken to her for a long while; "but tell me, my daughter, are you
+quite well?--you are growing very pale and thin, and I want to know if
+anything ails you."
+
+"Nothing, papa, but--" the rest of her sentence was lost in a burst of
+tears.
+
+"But what?" he asked almost kindly.
+
+"Oh, papa! you know! I want your love. _How can I live without it_?"
+
+"You need not, Elsie," he answered very gravely, "you have only to bow
+that stubborn will of yours, to have all the love and all the caresses
+you can ask for."
+
+Wiping her eyes, she looked up beseechingly into his face, asking, in
+pleading tones, "_Dear_ papa, won't you give me one kiss--just _one_?
+Think how long I have been without one."
+
+"Elsie, say 'I am sorry, papa, that I refused to obey you on that
+Sabbath-day; will you please to forgive me? and I will always be obedient
+in future,' That is all I require. Say it, and you will be at once
+entirely restored to favor."
+
+"I am _very sorry_, dear papa, for _all_ the naughty things I have ever
+done, and I will always try to obey you, if you do not bid me break God's
+commandments," she answered in a low, tremulous tone.
+
+"That will not do, Elsie; it is not what I bid you say. I will have no
+_if_ in the matter; nothing but _implicit, unconditional_ obedience," he
+said in a tone of severity.
+
+He paused for a reply, but receiving none, continued: "I see you are
+still stubborn, and I shall be compelled to take severe measures to
+subdue you. I do not yet know what they will be, but one thing is
+certain--I will not keep a rebellious child in my sight; there are
+boarding-schools where children can be sent who are unworthy to enjoy
+the privileges and comforts of home."
+
+"Oh, papa! dear, _dear_ papa, don't send me away from you! I should die!"
+she cried in accents of terror and despair, throwing her arms around his
+neck and clinging to him with a convulsive grasp. "Punish me in any other
+way you choose; but oh! _don't_ send me where I cannot see you."
+
+He gently disengaged her arms, and without returning her caress, said
+gravely, and almost sadly, "Go now to your room. I have not yet decided
+what course to take, but you have only to submit, to escape _all_
+punishment."
+
+Elsie retired, weeping bitterly, passing Adelaide as she went out.
+
+"What is the matter now?" asked Adelaide of her brother, who was striding
+impatiently up and down the room.
+
+"Nothing but the old story," he replied; "she is the most stubborn child
+I ever saw. Strange!" he added musingly, "I once thought her rather _too_
+yielding. Adelaide," he said, sitting down by his sister, and leaning his
+head upon his hand, with a deep-drawn sigh, "I am _terribly_ perplexed!
+This estrangement is killing us both. Have you noticed how thin and pale
+she is growing? It distresses me to see it; but what can I do?--give up
+to her I cannot; it is not once to be thought of. I am sorry I ever began
+the struggle, but since it _is_ begun she _must_ and _shall_ submit; and
+it has really become a serious question with me, whether it would not be
+the truest kindness just to conquer her thoroughly and at once, by an
+appeal to the rod."
+
+"Oh no, Horace, don't! don't think of such a thing, I beg of you!"
+exclaimed Adelaide, with tears in her eyes; "such a delicate, sensitive
+little creature as she is, I do believe it would quite break her heart to
+be subjected to so ignominious a punishment; surely you could adopt some
+other measure less revolting to one's feelings, and yet perhaps quite as
+effectual. I couldn't _bear_ to have you do it. I would try everything
+else first."
+
+"I assure you, Adelaide, it would be _exceedingly_ painful to my
+feelings," he said, "and yet so anxious am I to subdue Elsie, and end
+this trying state of affairs, that were I certain of gaining my point,
+even by great severity, I would not hesitate a moment, but I am very
+doubtful whether she could be conquered in that way, and I would not
+like to undertake it unless I could carry it through. I hinted at a
+boarding-school, which seemed to alarm her very much; but I shall not
+try it, at least not yet, for she is my only child, and I still love
+her too well to give her up to the tender mercies of strangers. Ah!
+you don't know how strongly I was tempted to give her a kiss, just now,
+when she begged so hard for it. But what _shall_ I do with her,
+Adelaide?--have you no suggestion to make?"
+
+"Indeed, I don't know what to say, Horace; I shouldn't like to give up
+to her, if I were you; it does seem as if you ought to conquer her, and
+if you don't do it now, I do not believe you ever will."
+
+"Yes, that is just it," he said. "I have sometimes felt sorry for having
+begun the struggle, and yet perhaps it is just as well, since it must
+have come sooner or later. Ten years hence I shall want to take her
+occasionally to the theatre or opera, or perhaps now and then to a ball,
+and unless I can eradicate these ridiculously strict notions she has got
+into her head, she will be sure to rebel then, when she will be rather
+too old to punish, at least in the same way in which I might punish her
+now."
+
+"A thought has just struck me, Horace," said Adelaide suddenly.
+
+"Well, what is it?" he asked.
+
+Adelaide hesitated. She felt some little sympathy for Elsie, and did not
+quite like to propose a measure which she knew would give her great pain;
+but at length she said, in a half-regretful tone--
+
+"I think, Horace, that Aunt Chloe upholds Elsie in her obstinacy, and
+makes her think herself a martyr to principle, for you know she has the
+same strange notions, which they both learned from the old housekeeper,
+Mrs. Murray, who was an old-fashioned Presbyterian, of the strictest
+sort; and now, as Elsie is still so young, it seems to me it might be
+_possible_ to change her views, if she were entirely removed from all
+such influences. But take notice, Horace, I do not advise it, for I
+know it would wellnigh break both their hearts."
+
+For a moment Mr. Dinsmore seemed lost in thought. Then he spoke:
+
+"That is a wise suggestion, Adelaide. I thank you for it, and shall
+certainly take it into consideration. Yet it is a measure I feel loth to
+adopt, for Chloe has been a most faithful creature. I feel that I owe her
+a debt of gratitude for the excellent care she has taken of Elsie, and of
+her mother before her, and as you say, I fear it would wellnigh break
+both their hearts. But if less severe measures fail, I shall feel
+compelled to try it, for I am more anxious than I can tell you to
+bring Elsie to unconditional obedience."
+
+"Here is a letter for you, Elsie," said her grandfather, the next
+morning, at the breakfast-table. "Here, Pomp"--to the servant--"hand this
+to Miss Elsie."
+
+The child's eyes sparkled with pleasure, and she held out her hand
+eagerly to take it.
+
+But her father interfered.
+
+"No, Pomp," he said, "bring it to me; and remember, in future, that _I_
+am to receive _all_ Miss Elsie's letters."
+
+Elsie relinquished it instantly, without a word of remonstrance, but her
+heart was so full that she could not eat another morsel; and in spite of
+all her efforts the tears would come into her eyes, as she saw her father
+deliberately open and read the letter, and then refold and put it into
+his pocket. He looked at her as he did so, and seeing the tears rolling
+down her cheeks, sternly bade her leave the room,
+
+She obeyed, feeling more angry and rebellious toward him than she ever
+had before. It seemed so cruel and unjust to deprive her of her own
+letters; one of Miss Rose's--as she knew it must be, for she had no other
+correspondent--which never contained anything but what was good, and
+kind, and comforting. They were always a great treat to the little girl,
+and she had been longer than usual without one, and had been looking
+longingly for it every day for several weeks past; for sad and lonely as
+her days now were, she felt very keenly the need of her friend's sympathy
+and love; and now to have this letter taken from her just as she laid her
+hand upon it, seemed a disappointment almost too great to be endured. She
+had a hard struggle with herself before she could put away entirely her
+feelings of anger and impatience.
+
+"Oh! this is not honoring papa," she said to herself; "he may have good
+reasons for what he has done; and as _I_ belong to him, he certainly has
+a sort of right to everything that is mine. I will try to be submissive,
+and wait patiently until he sees fit to give me my letter, as perhaps he
+will, some time."
+
+All the morning the thought of her letter was scarcely out of her mind,
+and as soon as she was released from school duties, and dressed for
+dinner, she went down to the drawing-room, hoping that her father might
+be there, and that he would give it to her.
+
+But he was not in, and when he came, brought a number of strangers with
+him, who remained until after tea; so that all the afternoon passed away
+without affording her an opportunity to speak to him. But, to her great
+joy, the visitors all left early in the evening, excepting a very mild,
+pleasant-looking, elderly gentleman, who had settled himself in the
+portico, with Enna on his knees.
+
+Elsie was watching her fathers movements, and was not sorry to see him,
+after the departure of his guests, return to the drawing-room, and take
+up the evening paper.
+
+No one else was at that end of the room, so now, at last, she might speak
+to him without fear of being overheard. She was glad, too, that his back
+was towards her, for she had grown very timid about approaching him of
+late. She stole softly up to the back of his chair, and stood there for
+some moments without speaking; her heart beat so fast with mingled hope
+and fear, that it seemed impossible to command her voice.
+
+But at last, coming to his side, she said, in a tone so low and tremulous
+as to be almost inaudible, "Papa."
+
+"Well, Elsie, what do you want?" he asked, with his eyes still on the
+paper.
+
+"Dear papa, I do so want to see Miss Rose's letter; won't you please give
+it to me?"
+
+She waited a moment for a reply; then asked again, "May I not have it,
+papa?"
+
+"Yes, Elsie, you may have _that_, and _everything_ else you want, just as
+soon as you show yourself a submissive, obedient child."
+
+Tears gathered in Elsie's eyes, but she resolutely forced them back,
+and made one more appeal. "_Dear_ papa," she said, in pleading, tearful
+tones, "you don't know how I have looked and longed for that letter; and
+I _do want_ it so _very_ much; won't you let me see it just for a few
+moments?"
+
+"You have your answer, Elsie," he said coldly; "and it is the only one I
+have to give you."
+
+Elsie turned and walked away, silently crying as she went.
+
+But ere she had reached the door he called her back, and looking sternly
+at her, as she again stood trembling and weeping at his side, "Remember,"
+he said, "that from this time forth, I forbid you to write or receive any
+letters which do not pass through my hands, and I shall not allow you to
+correspond with Miss Allison, or any one else, indeed, until you become a
+more dutiful child."
+
+"Oh, papa! what will Miss Allison think if I don't answer her letter?"
+exclaimed Elsie, weeping bitterly.
+
+"I shall wait a few weeks," he said, "to see if you are going to be a
+better girl, and then, if you remain stubborn, I shall write to her
+myself, and tell her that I have stopped the correspondence, and my
+reasons for doing so."
+
+"Oh, papa! _dear_ papa! _please_ don't do that!" cried the little girl
+in great distress. "I am afraid if you do she will never love me any
+more, for she will think me such a very bad child."
+
+"If she does, she will only have a just opinion of you," replied her
+father coldly; "and _all_ your friends will soon cease to love you, if
+you continue to show such a wilful temper; my patience is almost worn
+out, Elsie, and I shall try some very severe measures before long, unless
+you see proper to submit. Go now to your own room; I do not wish to see
+you again to-night."
+
+"Good-night, papa," sobbed the little girl, as she turned to obey him.
+
+"Elsie, my daughter," he said, suddenly seizing her hand, and drawing her
+to his side, "why will you not give up this strange wilfulness, and let
+your papa have his own darling again? I love you dearly, my child, and it
+pains me more than I can express to see you so unhappy," he added, gently
+pushing back the curls from the little tear-stained face upturned to his.
+
+His tone had all the old fondness, and Elsie's heart thrilled at the very
+sound; his look, too, was tender and affectionate, and throwing down his
+paper he lifted her to his knee, and passed his arm around her waist.
+
+Elsie laid her head against his breast, as was her wont before their
+unhappy estrangement, while he passed his hand caressingly over her
+curls.
+
+"Speak, my daughter," he said in a low tone, full of tenderness; "speak,
+and tell papa that he has his own dutiful little daughter again. His
+heart aches to receive her; must he do without her still?"
+
+The temptation to yield was very strong. She loved him, oh, how dearly!
+Could she bear to go on making him unhappy? And it was such _rest_--such
+_joy_--thus once more to feel herself folded to his heart, and hear his
+dear voice speaking to her in loving, tender tones. Can it be wondered at
+that for a moment Elsie wavered? On the one hand she saw her father's
+fond affection, indulgent kindness, and loving caresses; on the other,
+banishment from his love, perhaps from home, cold, stern, harsh words
+and looks; and what more might be meant by the very severe measures
+threatened, she trembled to think.
+
+For a moment she was silent, for a mighty struggle was going on in her
+heart. It was hard, _very_ hard, to give up her father's love. But the
+love of Jesus!--ah, that was more precious still!
+
+The struggle was past.
+
+"Papa," she said, raising an earnest, tearful little face to his, and
+speaking in tones tremulous with emotion, "dear, _dear_ papa, I do love
+you so very, _very_ much, and I do want to be to you a good, obedient
+child; but, papa, Jesus says, 'He that loveth father or mother more than
+me, is not worthy of me,' and I must love Jesus best, and keep _his_
+commandments _always_. But you bid me say that I am sorry I refused to
+break them; and that I will yield implicit obedience to you, even though
+you should command me to disobey him. Oh, papa, I cannot do _that_, even
+though you should never love me again; even though you should put me to
+death."
+
+The cold, stern expression had returned to his face before she had half
+finished, and putting her off his knee, he said, in his severest tone,
+"Go, disobedient, rebellious child! How often have I told you that you
+are too young to judge of such matters, and must leave all that to me,
+your father and natural guardian, whom the Bible itself commands you to
+obey. I will find means to conquer you yet, Elsie. If affection and mild
+measures will not do it, severity shall."
+
+He rose and walked hastily up and down the floor, excited and angry,
+while poor Elsie went weeping from the room.
+
+"Is that one of your sisters, my dear?" asked the old gentleman of Enna,
+as he saw the sobbing Elsie pass through the hall, on her way up-stairs.
+
+"No; that is brother Horace's daughter," replied Enna scornfully; "she is
+a real naughty girl, and won't mind her papa at all."
+
+"Ah!" said the old gentleman gravely, "I am sorry to hear it; but I hope
+you will always obey your papa."
+
+"Indeed, my papa lets me do _just_ as I please," said Enna, with a little
+toss of her head. "_I_ don't have to mind anybody."
+
+"Ah! then I consider you a very unfortunate child," remarked the old
+gentleman, still more gravely; "for it is by no means good for a little
+one like you to have too much of her own way."
+
+Mr. Grier--for that was the old gentleman's name--had been much
+interested in the little Elsie's appearance. He had noticed the look
+of sadness on her fair young face, and conjectured, from something
+in the manner of the rest of the family toward her, that she was in
+disgrace; yet he was sure there was no stubbornness or self-will in the
+expression of that meek and gentle countenance. He began to suspect that
+some injustice had been done the little girl, and determined to watch and
+see if she were indeed the naughty child she was represented to be, and
+if he found her as good as he was inclined to believe, to try to gain
+her confidence, and see if he could help her out of her troubles.
+
+But Elsie did not come down again that evening, and though he saw her at
+the breakfast-table the next morning, she slipped away so immediately
+after the conclusion of the meal, that he had no opportunity to speak to
+her; and at dinner it was just the same.
+
+But in the afternoon, seeing her walk out alone, he put on his hat and
+followed at a little distance. She was going toward the quarter, and he
+presently saw her enter a cabin where, he had been told, a poor old
+colored woman was lying ill, perhaps on her death-bed.
+
+Very quietly he drew near the door of the hut, and seating himself on a
+low bench on the outside, found that he could both see and hear all that
+was going on without himself being perceived, as Elsie had her back to
+the door, and poor old Dinah was blind.
+
+"I have come to read to you again, Aunt Dinah," said the little girl, in
+her sweet, gentle tones.
+
+"Tank you, my young missus; you is bery kind," replied the old woman
+feebly.
+
+Elsie had already opened her little Bible, and in the same sweet, gentle
+voice in which she had spoken, she now read aloud the third chapter of
+St. John's gospel.
+
+When she had finished reading the sixteenth verse--"God so loved the
+world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
+should not perish, but have everlasting life,"--she paused and exclaimed,
+"Oh! Aunt Dinah, is not that beautiful? Does it not make you glad? You
+see it does not say whosoever is good and holy, or whosoever has not
+sinned, but it is whosoever believes in Jesus, the only begotten Son of
+God. If it was only the good, Aunt Dinah, you and I could never hope to
+be saved, because we are both great sinners."
+
+"Not you, Miss Elsie! not you, darlin'," interrupted the old woman; "ole
+Dinah's a great sinner, she knows dat well nuff--but you, darlin', you
+never did nuffin bad."
+
+"Yes, Dinah," said the little voice in saddened tones, "I have a very
+wicked heart, and have been a sinner all my life; but I know that Jesus
+died to save sinners, and that whosoever believes in him shall have
+eternal life, and I do believe, and I want you to believe, and then you,
+too, will be saved."
+
+"Did de good Lord Jesus die for poor ole Dinah, Miss Elsie?" she asked
+eagerly.
+
+"Yes, Aunt Dinah, if you will believe in him; it says for _whosoever
+believeth_."
+
+"Ole Dinah dunno how to believe, chile; can't do it nohow."
+
+"You must ask God to teach you, Dinah," replied the little girl
+earnestly, "for the Bible says 'faith'--that means believing--'is the
+gift of God.'"
+
+"You don't mean _dat_, Miss Elsie! You don't mean dat God will save poor
+ole Dinah, an' gib her hebben, an' all for nuffin?" she inquired, raising
+herself on her elbow in her eagerness.
+
+"Yes, Dinah; God says without money and without price; can't you believe
+him? Suppose I should come and put a hundred dollars in your hand,
+saying, 'Here, Aunt Dinah, I _give_ you this; you are old, and sick, and
+poor, and I know you can do nothing to earn it, but it is a _free_ gift,
+just _take_ it and it is yours;' wouldn't you believe me, and take it?"
+
+"_'Deed_ I would, Miss Elsie, kase you nebber tole nuffin but de truff."
+
+"Well, then, can't you believe God when he says that he will save you?
+Can't you believe Jesus when he says, 'I _give_ unto them eternal life'?"
+
+"Yes, yes, Miss Elsie! I do b'lieve; read de blessed words again,
+darlin'."
+
+Elsie read the verse again, and then finished the Chapter. Then closing
+the book, she asked softly,
+
+"Shall we pray, now, Aunt Dinah?"
+
+Dinah gave an eager assent; and Elsie, kneeling down by the bedside,
+prayed in simple, childlike words that Jesus would reveal himself to poor
+old Dinah, as _her_ Saviour; that the Holy Spirit would be her sanctifier
+and comforter, working faith in her, and thereby uniting her to Christ;
+that God would adopt her into his family, and be her God and portion
+forever; and that Jesus would be her shepherd, so that she need fear no
+evil, even though called to pass through the dark valley of the shadow of
+death.
+
+"Amen!" was Dinah's fervent response to each of the petitions.
+
+"De good Lord bless you, darlin'," she said, taking Elsie's little white
+hand in hers, and pressing it to her lips; "de good Lord bless an' keep
+you, an' nebber let trouble come near you. You knows nuffin 'bout trouble
+now, for you's young, an' handsome, an' rich, an' good; an' Massa Horace,
+he doats on you; no, _you_ knows nuffin 'bout trouble, but ole Dinah
+does, kase she's ole, an' sick, an' full ob aches and pains."
+
+"Yes, Aunt Dinah, and I am very sorry for you; but remember, if you
+believe in Jesus, you will soon go to heaven, where you will never be
+sick or in pain any more. But, Dinah,"--and the little voice grew very
+mournful--"we cannot always know when others are in trouble; and I want
+you to pray for me that I may always have strength to do right."
+
+"I will, darlin', 'deed I will," said Dinah earnestly, kissing the little
+hand again ere she released it.
+
+As Elsie ceased speaking, Mr. Grier slipped quietly away, and continued
+his walk. From what he had just seen and heard, he felt fully convinced
+that Elsie was not the wicked, disobedient child Enna had represented
+her to be; yet he knew that Enna was not alone in her opinion, since it
+was very evident that Elsie was in disgrace with the whole family--her
+father especially--and that she was very unhappy. He felt his heart drawn
+out in sympathy for the child, and longed to be able to assist her in
+regaining her father's favor, yet he knew not how to do it, for how was
+he to learn the facts in the case without seeming to pry into the family
+secrets of his kind entertainers? But there was one comfort he could do
+for her--what she had so earnestly asked of Dinah--and he would. As he
+came to this resolution he turned about and began to retrace his steps
+toward the house. To his surprise and pleasure, upon turning around a
+thicket, he came suddenly upon Elsie herself, seated upon a bench under
+a tree, bending over her little Bible, which lay open on her lap, and
+upon which her quiet tears were dropping, one by one.
+
+She did not seem aware of his presence, and he stood a moment gazing
+compassionately upon her, ere he spoke.
+
+"My dear little girl, what is the matter?" he asked in a gentle tone,
+full of sympathy and kindness, seating himself by her side.
+
+Elsie started, and raising her head, hastily brushed away her tears.
+
+"Good evening, sir," she said, blushing painfully, "I did not know you
+were here."
+
+"You must excuse my seeming intrusion," replied the old gentleman, taking
+her hand in his. "I came upon you unawares, not knowing you were here;
+but now that we have met, will you not tell me the cause of your grief?
+Perhaps I may be able to assist you."
+
+"No, sir," she said, "you could not do anything for me; but I thank you
+very much for your kindness."
+
+"I think," said he, after a moment's pause, "that I know something of
+your trouble; you have offended your father; is it not so, my dear?"
+
+Elsie answered only by her tears, and he went on.
+
+Laying his hand upon the Bible, "Submission to parents, my dear child,"
+he said, "you know is enjoined in this blessed book; children are here
+commanded to honor and obey their father and mother; it is _God's_
+command, and if you love his holy word, you will obey its precepts.
+Surely your father will forgive, and receive you into favor, if you show
+yourself penitent and submissive?"
+
+"I love my papa very, _very_ dearly," replied Elsie, weeping, "and I do
+want to obey him; but he does not love Jesus, and sometimes he bids me
+break God's commandments, and then I cannot obey him."
+
+"Is that it, my poor child?" said her friend pityingly. "Then you are
+right in not obeying; but be _very sure_ that your father's commands
+_are_ opposed to those of God, before you refuse obedience; and be very
+careful to obey him in all things in which you can conscientiously do
+so."
+
+"I do try, sir," replied Elsie meekly.
+
+"Then be comforted, my dear little girl. God has surely sent you this
+trial for some wise and kind purpose, and in his own good time he will
+remove it. Only be patient and submissive. He can change your father's
+heart, and for that you and I will both pray."
+
+Elsie looked her thanks as they rose to return to the house, but her
+heart was too full for speech, and she walked silently along beside her
+new friend, who continued to speak words of comfort and encouragement
+to her, until they reached the door, where he bade her good-by, saying
+that he was sorry he was not likely to see her again, as he must leave
+Roselands that afternoon, but promising not to forget her in his prayers.
+
+When Elsie reached her room, Chloe told her her father had sent word that
+she was to come to him as soon as she returned from her walk, and that
+she would find him in his dressing-room.
+
+Chloe had taken off the little girl's hat and smoothed her hair ere
+she delivered the message, and with a beating heart Elsie proceeded
+immediately to obey it.
+
+In answer to her timid knock, her father himself opened the door.
+
+"Mammy told me that you wanted me, papa," she said in a tremulous voice,
+and looking up timidly into his face.
+
+"Yes, I sent for you; come in," he replied; and taking her by the hand
+he led her forward to the arm-chair from which he had just risen, where
+he again seated himself, making her stand before him very much like a
+culprit in the presence of her judge.
+
+There was a moment's pause, in which Elsie stood with her head bent
+down and her eyes upon the carpet, trembling with apprehension, and not
+knowing what new trial might be in store for her. Then she ventured to
+look at her father.
+
+His face was sad and distressed, but very stern.
+
+"Elsie," he began at length, speaking in slow, measured tones, "I told
+you last evening that should you still persist in your resistance to my
+authority, I should feel compelled to take severe measures with you. I
+have now decided what those measures are to be. Henceforth, so long as
+you continue rebellious, you are to be banished entirely from the family
+circle; your meals must be taken in your own apartment, and though I
+shall not reduce your fare to bread and water, it will be very plain--no
+sweetmeats--no luxuries of any kind. I shall also deprive you entirely of
+pocket-money, and of all books excepting your Bible and school-books, and
+forbid you either to pay or receive any visits, telling all who inquire
+for you, why you cannot be seen. You are also to understand that I forbid
+you to enter any apartment in the house excepting your own and the
+school-room--unless by my express permission--and never to go out at all,
+even to the garden, excepting to take your daily exercise, accompanied
+always and only by a servant. You are to go on with your studies as
+usual, but need not expect to be spoken to by any one but your teacher,
+as I shall request the others to hold no communication with you. This is
+your sentence. It goes into effect this very hour, but becomes null and
+void the moment you come to me with acknowledgments of penitence for the
+past, and promises of implicit obedience for the future."
+
+Elsie stood like a statue; her hands clasped, and her eyes fixed upon the
+floor. She had grown very pale while her father was speaking, and there
+was a slight quivering of the eyelids and of the muscles of the mouth,
+but she showed no other sign of emotion.
+
+"Did you hear me, Elsie?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, papa," she murmured, in a tone so low it scarcely reached his ear.
+
+"Well, have you anything to say for yourself before I send you back to
+your room?" he asked in a somewhat softened tone.
+
+He felt a little alarmed at the child's unnatural calmness; but it was
+all gone in a moment. Sinking upon her knees she burst into a fit of
+passionate weeping. "Oh! papa, papa!" she sobbed, raising her streaming
+eyes to his face, "will you never, _never_ love me any more?--must I
+never come near you, or speak to you again?"
+
+He was much moved.
+
+"I did not say _that_, Elsie," he replied. "I hope most sincerely that
+you _will_ come to me before long with the confessions and promises I
+require; and then, as I have told you so often, I will take you to my
+heart again, as fully as ever. Will you not do it at once, and spare me
+the painful necessity of putting my sentence into execution?" he asked,
+raising her gently, and drawing her to his side.
+
+"Dear papa, you know I cannot," she sobbed.
+
+"Then return at once to your room; my sentence must be enforced, though
+it break both your heart and mine, for I _will_ be obeyed. _Go_!" he
+said, sternly putting her from him. And weeping and sobbing, feeling like
+a homeless, friendless outcast from society, Elsie went back to her room.
+
+The next two or three weeks were very sad and dreary ones to the poor
+little girl. Her father's sentence was rigidly enforced; she scarcely
+ever saw him excepting at a distance, and when once or twice he passed
+her in going in and out, he neither looked at nor spoke to her. Miss Day
+treated her with all her former severity and injustice, and no one else
+but the servants ever addressed her.
+
+She went out every day for an hour or two, in obedience to her father's
+command, but her walks and rides were sad and lonely; and during the rest
+of the day she felt like a prisoner, for she dared not venture even into
+the garden, where she had always been in the habit of passing the greater
+part of her leisure hours, in the summer season.
+
+But debarred from all other pleasures, Elsie read her Bible more and more
+constantly, and with ever increasing delight; it was more than meat and
+drink to her; she there found consolation under every affliction, a
+solace for every sorrow. Her trial was a heavy one; her little heart
+often ached sadly with its intense longing for an earthly father's love
+and favor; yet in the midst of it all, she was conscious of a deep,
+abiding peace, flowing from a sweet sense of pardoned sin, and a
+consciousness of a Saviour's love.
+
+At first Elsie greatly feared that she would not be allowed to attend
+church, as usual, on the Sabbath. But Mr. Dinsmore did not care to excite
+too much remark, and so, as Elsie had always been very regular in her
+attendance, to her great joy she was still permitted to go.
+
+No one spoke to her, however, or seemed to take the least notice of her;
+but she sat by her father's side, as usual, both in the carriage and in
+the pew, and there was some pleasure even in that, though she scarcely
+dared even to lift her eyes to his face. Once during the sermon, on the
+third Sabbath after their last interview, she ventured to do so, and was
+so overcome by the sight of his pale, haggard looks, that utterly unable
+to control her emotion, she burst into tears, and almost sobbed aloud.
+
+"Elsie," he said, bending down, and speaking in a stern whisper, "you
+_must control_ yourself."
+
+And with a mighty effort she swallowed down her tears and sobs.
+
+He took no further notice of her until they were again at their own door,
+when, lifting her from the carriage, he took her by the hand and led her
+to his own room. Shutting the door, he said sternly, "Elsie, what did you
+mean by behaving so in church? I was ashamed of you."
+
+"I could not help it, papa; indeed I could not," replied the little girl,
+again bursting into tears.
+
+"What were you crying about? tell me at once," he said, sitting down and
+taking off her bonnet, while she stood trembling before him.
+
+"Oh, papa! dear, _dear_ papa!" she cried, suddenly throwing her arms
+round his neck, and laying her cheek to his; "I love you so much, that
+when I looked at you, and saw how pale and thin you were, I couldn't help
+crying."
+
+"I do not understand, nor want such love, Elsie," he said gravely,
+putting her from him; "it is not the right kind, or it would lead you
+to be docile and obedient. You certainly deserve punishment for your
+behavior this morning, and I am much inclined to say that you shall not
+go to church again for some time."
+
+"Please, papa, don't say that," she replied tearfully; "I will try never
+to do so again."
+
+"Well," he replied, after a moment's reflection, "I shall punish you
+to-day by depriving you of your dinner, and if you repeat the offence I
+shall whip you."
+
+Elsie's little face flushed crimson.
+
+"I know it is an ignominious punishment, Elsie," said her father, "and
+I feel very loth to try it with you, but I greatly fear I shall be
+compelled to do so before I can subdue your rebellious spirit; it will
+be the _very last_ resort, however. Go now to your room."
+
+This last threat might almost be said to have given Elsie a new dread;
+for though his words on several former occasions had seemed to imply
+something of the sort, she had always put away the thought as that of
+something too dreadful to happen. But now he had spoken plainly, and the
+trial to her seemed inevitable, for she could never give the required
+promise, and she knew, too, that he prided himself on keeping his word,
+to the very letter.
+
+Poor little girl! she felt very much like a martyr in prospect of torture
+or the stake. For a time she was in deep distress; but she carried _this_
+trouble, like all the rest, to her Saviour, and found relief; many
+precious, comforting texts being brought to her mind: "The king's heart
+is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water: he turneth it
+whithersoever he will." "My grace is sufficient for thee." "As thy days,
+so shall thy strength be." These, and others of a like import, came to
+her remembrance in this hour of fear and dread, and assured her that her
+heavenly Father would either save her from that trial, or give her
+strength to endure it; and she grew calm and peaceful again.
+
+"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it
+and is safe."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+"Alone! alone! how drear it is
+Always to be alone!"
+
+WILLES
+
+
+It was only a few days after Adelaide had suggested to her brother the
+propriety of separating Elsie from her nurse, that he had the offer of a
+very fine estate in the immediate neighborhood of his father's
+plantation.
+
+Mr. Granville, the present owner, was about removing to a distant part
+of the country, and having become somewhat reduced in circumstances, was
+anxious to sell, and as the place suited Mr. Dinsmore exactly, they were
+not long in coming to an arrangement, satisfactory to both, by which it
+passed into his hands.
+
+Horace Dinsmore had inherited a large fortune from his mother, and having
+plenty of money at his command, he immediately set about making sundry
+improvements upon his new purchase; laying out the grounds, and repairing
+and enlarging the already fine old mansion, adding all the modern
+conveniences, and furnishing it in the most tasteful and elegant style.
+
+And so "Rumor, with her thousand tongues," soon had it noised abroad that
+he was about to bring home a second wife, and to that cause many
+attributed Elsie's pale and altered looks.
+
+Such, however, was not Mr. Dinsmore's intention.
+
+"I must have a housekeeper," he said to Adelaide. "I shall send Chloe
+there. She will do very well for the present, and it will give me the
+opportunity I desire of separating her from Elsie, while in the meantime
+I can be looking out for a better."
+
+"But you are not going to leave us yourself, Horace?" said his sister
+inquiringly.
+
+"Not immediately, Adelaide; I intend to end this controversy with Elsie
+first, and I indulge the hope that the prospect of sharing such a home
+with me as soon as she submits, will go far towards subduing her."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore shrank from the thought of Elsie's grief, if forced to part
+from her nurse; but he was not a man to let his own feelings, or those of
+others, prevent him from carrying out any purpose he had formed, if, as
+in this case, he could persuade himself that he was doing right. And
+so--all his arrangements being now made--the very morning after his late
+interview with Elsie, Chloe was summoned to his presence.
+
+He informed her of his purchase, and that it was his intention to send
+her there to take charge of his house and servants, for the present.
+
+Chloe, who was both extremely surprised and highly flattered by this
+proof of her young master's confidence, looked very much delighted, as,
+with a low courtesy, she expressed her thanks, and her willingness to
+undertake the charge. But a sudden thought struck her, and she asked
+anxiously if "her child" was to go with her.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore said "_No_," very decidedly; and when Chloe told him that
+that being the case, she would much rather stay where she was, if he
+would let her, he said she could not have any choice in the matter; _she_
+must go, and Elsie must stay.
+
+Chloe burst into an agony of tears and sobs, begging to know why she was
+to be separated from the child she had loved and cherished ever since her
+birth; the child committed to her charge by her dying mother? What had
+she done to so displease her master, that he had determined to subject
+her to such a bitter trial?
+
+Mr. Dinsmore was a good deal moved by her grief, but still not to be
+turned from his purpose. He merely waited until she had grown somewhat
+calmer, and then, in a tone of great kindness, but with much firmness and
+decision, replied, "that he was not angry with her; that he knew she had
+been very faithful in her kind care of his wife and child, and he should
+always take care of her, and see that she was made comfortable as long as
+she lived; but, for reasons which he did not think necessary to explain,
+he considered it best to separate her from Elsie for a time; he knew it
+would be hard for them both, but it _must_ be done, and tears and
+entreaties would be utterly useless; she must prepare to go to her new
+home that very afternoon."
+
+So saying he dismissed her, and she went back to Elsie's room wellnigh
+heart-broken; and there the little girl found her when she came in from
+school duties, sitting beside the trunk she had just finished packing,
+crying and sobbing as she had never seen her before.
+
+"Oh, mammy, mammy! what _is_ the matter? _dear_ old mammy, what ails
+you?" she asked, running to her, and throwing her arms around her neck.
+
+Chloe clasped her to her breast, sobbing out that she must leave her.
+"Massa Horace was going to send her away from her precious child."
+
+Elsie was fairly stunned by the announcement, and for a moment could not
+speak one word. To be separated from her beloved nurse who had always
+taken care of her!--who seemed almost necessary to her existence. It was
+such a calamity as even her worst fears had never suggested, for they
+never had been parted, even for a single day; but wherever the little
+girl went, if to stay more than a few hours, her faithful attendant had
+always accompanied her, and she had never thought of the possibility of
+doing without her.
+
+She unclasped her arms from Chloe's neck, disengaging herself from her
+loving grasp, stood for a moment motionless and silent; then, suddenly
+sinking down upon her nurse's lap, again wound her arms about her neck,
+and hid her face on her bosom, sobbing wildly: "Oh, mammy, mammy! you
+shall not go! Stay with me, mammy! I've nobody to love me now but you,
+and my heart will break if you leave me. Oh, mammy, say that you won't
+go!"
+
+Chloe could not speak, but she took the little form again in her arms,
+and pressed it to her bosom in a close and fond embrace, while they
+mingled their tears and sobs together.
+
+But Elsie started up suddenly.
+
+"I will go to papa!" she exclaimed; "I will beg him on my knees to let
+you stay! I will tell him it will kill me to be parted from my dear old
+mammy."
+
+"'Tain't no use, darlin'! Massa Horace, he say I _must_ go; an' you know
+what dat means, well as I do," said Chloe, shaking her head mournfully;
+"he won't let me stay, nohow."
+
+"But I must try, mammy," Elsie answered, moving toward the door. "I think
+papa loves me a little yet, and maybe he will listen."
+
+But she met a servant in the hall who told her that her father had gone
+out, and that she heard him say he would not return before tea-time.
+
+And Chloe was to go directly after dinner; so there was no hope of a
+reprieve, nothing to do but submit as best they might to the sad
+necessity of parting; and Elsie went back to her room again, to spend
+the little time that remained in her nurse's arms, sobbing out her
+bitter grief upon her breast. It was indeed a hard, hard trial to them
+both; yet neither uttered one angry or complaining word against Mr.
+Dinsmore.
+
+Fanny, one of the maids, brought up Elsie's dinner, but she could not
+eat. Chloe's appetite, too, had failed entirely; so they remained locked
+in each other's embrace until Jim came to the door to tell Chloe the
+carriage was waiting which was to convey her to her new home.
+
+Once more she strained her nursling to her breast, sobbing out the words:
+"Good-by, darlin'! de good Lord bless an' keep you forebber an' ebber,
+an' nebber leave you alone."
+
+"Oh, mammy, mammy, don't leave me!" almost shrieked the child, clinging
+to her with a convulsive grasp.
+
+"Don't now, darlin'! don't go for to break dis ole heart! You knows I
+_must_ go," said Chloe, gently disengaging herself. "We'll ask de Lord to
+bring us together again soon, dear chile, an' I think he will 'fore
+long," she whispered in Elsie's ear; and with another fond caress she
+left her all drowned in tears, and half fainting with grief.
+
+An hour might have passed--it seemed longer than that to Elsie--when
+the door opened, and she started up from the sofa, where she had flung
+herself in the first abandonment of her sorrow. But it was only Fanny,
+come to tell her that Jim had brought her horse to the door, and to
+prepare her for her ride.
+
+She quietly submitted to being dressed; but, ah! how strange it seemed to
+have any other than Chloe's hands busy about her! It swelled her young
+heart wellnigh to bursting, though Fanny, who evidently understood her
+business well, was very kind and attentive, and full of unobtrusive
+sympathy and love for her young charge.
+
+The brisk ride in the fresh air did Elsie good, and she returned quite
+calm and composed, though still very sad.
+
+Fanny was in waiting to arrange her dress again, and when that was done,
+went down to bring up her supper. It was more tempting than usual, but
+Elsie turned from it with loathing.
+
+"Do, Miss Elsie, _please_ do try to eat a little," urged Fanny, with
+tears in her eyes. "What will Massa Horace say if he axes me 'bout your
+eatin' an' I'm 'bliged to tell him you didn't eat never a mouthful of
+dinner, an' likewise not the first crumb of your supper?"
+
+That, as Fanny well knew, was a powerful argument with Elsie, who,
+dreading nothing so much as her father's displeasure, which was sure to
+be excited by such a report of her conduct, sat down at once and did her
+best to make a substantial meal.
+
+Fanny was not more than half satisfied with the result of her efforts;
+but seeing it was useless to press her any further, silently cleared away
+the tea-things and carried them down-stairs, and Elsie was left alone.
+
+Alone! She looked around upon the familiar furniture with a strange
+feeling of desolation; an over-powering sense of loneliness came over
+her; she missed the dear face that had been familiar to her from her
+earliest infancy, and had ever looked so lovingly upon her; the kind arms
+wont to fold her in a fond embrace to that heart ever beating with such
+true, unalterable affection for her; that breast, where she might ever
+lean her aching head, and pour out all her sorrows, sure of sympathy and
+comfort.
+
+She could not stay there, but passing quickly out on to the balcony
+upon which the windows of her room opened, she stood leaning against
+the railing, her head resting upon the top of it, and the silent tears
+dropping one by one upon the floor.
+
+"Oh, mammy, mammy!" she murmured half aloud, "why did you leave your poor
+heart-broken child? How can I live without you--without any one to love
+me?"
+
+"Elsie," said Mr. Dinsmore's voice, close at her side, "I suppose you
+think me a very cruel father thus to separate you from your nurse. Is it
+not so?"
+
+"Papa, dear papa, don't say that," she cried with a burst of sobs and
+tears, as she turned hastily round, and taking his hand in both of hers,
+looked up pleadingly into his face. "I know you have a right to do it,
+papa; I know I belong to you, and you have a right to do as you will with
+me, and I will try to submit without murmuring, but I cannot help feeling
+sad, and shedding some tears."
+
+"I am not blaming you for crying now; it is quite excusable under the
+circumstances," he replied in a slightly softened tone, adding, "I take
+no pleasure in causing you sorrow, Elsie; and though I have sent away
+your nurse, I have provided you with another servant, who will, I think,
+be respectful and kind, and attentive to all your wishes. If she is not,
+you have only to complain to me, and she shall be at once removed, and
+her place supplied by another. And I have good reasons for what I am
+doing. You have resisted my authority for a long time now, and I must try
+the effect of placing you under new influences. I fear Chloe has, at
+least tacitly, encouraged you in your rebellion, and therefore I intend
+to keep you apart until you have learned to be submissive and obedient."
+
+"Dear papa," replied the little girl meekly, "you wrong poor mammy, if
+you think she would ever uphold me in disobedience to you; for on the
+contrary, she has always told me that I ought, on all occasions, to yield
+a ready and cheerful obedience to every command, or even _wish_ of yours,
+unless it was contrary to the word of God."
+
+"There! that is just it!" said he, interrupting her with a frown; "she
+and Mrs. Murray have brought you up to believe that you and they are
+wiser and more capable of interpreting the Bible, and deciding questions
+of right and wrong, than your father; and that is precisely the notion
+that I am determined to get out of your head."
+
+She opened her lips to reply, but bidding her be silent, he turned to
+leave her; but she clung to him, looking beseechingly up into his face.
+
+"Well," he said, "what is it--what do you want?"
+
+She struggled for utterance.
+
+"Oh, papa!" she sobbed, "I feel so sad and lonely to-night--will you not
+sit down a little while and take me on your knee?--my heart aches so to
+lay my head against you just for one moment. Oh, papa, dear papa, will
+you not let me--will you not kiss me once, _just once_? You know I am all
+alone!--_all alone_!"
+
+He could not resist her pleading looks and piteous accents. A tear
+trembled in his eye, and hastily seating himself, he drew her to his
+knee, folded her for an instant in his arms, laid her head against his
+breast, kissed her lips, her brow, her cheek; and then putting her from
+him, without speaking a word, walked quickly away.
+
+Elsie stood for a moment where he had left her, then sinking on her knees
+before the sofa, whence he had just risen, she laid her head down upon
+it, weeping and sobbing most bitterly, "Oh! papa, papa! oh, mammy, mammy,
+dear, dear mammy! you are all gone, all gone! and I am alone! alone! all
+alone!--nobody to love me--nobody to speak to me. Oh, mammy! Oh, papa!
+come back, come back to me--to your poor little Elsie, for my heart is
+breaking."
+
+Alas! that caress, so earnestly pleaded for, had only by contrast
+increased her sense of loneliness and desolation. But in the midst of
+her bitter grief a loving, gentle voice came to her ear, whispering in
+sweetest tones, "_I_ will _never_ leave thee, nor forsake thee." "When
+thy father and thy mother forsake thee, I, the Lord, will take thee up."
+"I will deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil
+touch thee." And the sobs were hushed--the tears flowed more quietly,
+until at length they ceased altogether, and the little sorrowing one
+fell asleep.
+
+"As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall
+be comforted."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"No future hour can rend my heart like this,
+Save that which breaks it."
+
+MATURIN'S BERTRAM.
+
+"Unless thy law had been my delight, I should then have perished in
+mine affliction."
+
+PSALM 119: 92.
+
+
+Elsie was sitting alone in her room when there came a light tap on the
+door, immediately followed, much to the little girl's surprise, by the
+entrance of her Aunt Adelaide, who shut and locked the door behind her,
+saying, "I am glad you are quite alone; though, indeed, I suppose that is
+almost always the case now-a-days. I see," she continued, seating herself
+by the side of the astonished child, "that you are wondering what has
+brought me to visit you, to whom I have not spoken for so many weeks; but
+I will tell you. I come from a sincere desire to do you a kindness,
+Elsie; for, though I don't know how to understand nor excuse your
+obstinacy, and heartily approve of your father's determination to conquer
+you, I must say that I think he is unnecessarily harsh and severe in some
+of his measures--"
+
+"Please don't, Aunt Adelaide," Elsie interrupted, in a pleading voice,
+"please don't speak so of papa to me; for you know I ought not to hear
+it."
+
+"Pooh! nonsense!" said Adelaide, "it is very naughty in you to interrupt
+me; but, as I was about to remark, I don't see any use in your being
+forbidden to correspond with Miss Allison, because her letters could not
+possibly do you any harm, but rather the contrary, for she is goodness
+itself--and so I have brought you a letter from her which has just come
+enclosed in one to me."
+
+She took it from her pocket as she spoke, and handed it to Elsie.
+
+The little girl looked longingly at it, but made no movement to take it.
+
+"Thank you, Aunt Adelaide, you are very kind indeed," she said, with
+tears in her eyes, "and I should dearly love to read it; but I cannot
+touch it without papa's permission."
+
+"Why, you silly child! he will never know anything about it," exclaimed
+her aunt quickly. "_I_ shall never breathe a word to him, nor to anybody
+else, and, of course, you will not tell on yourself; and if you are
+afraid the letter might by some mischance fall into his hands, just
+destroy it as soon as you have read it."
+
+"Dear Aunt Adelaide, please take it away and don't tempt me any more, for
+I want it so very much I am afraid I shall take it if you do, and that
+would be so very wrong," said Elsie, turning away her head.
+
+"I presume you are afraid to trust me; you needn't be, though," replied
+Adelaide, in a half offended tone. "Horace will never learn it from me,
+and there is no possible danger of his ever finding it out in any other
+way, for I shall write to Rose at once, warning her not to send you any
+more letters at present."
+
+"I am not at all afraid to trust you, Aunt Adelaide, nor do I think there
+is any danger of papa's finding it out," Elsie answered earnestly; "but I
+should know it myself, and God would know it, too, and you know he has
+commanded me to obey my father in everything that is not wrong; and I
+_must_ obey him, no matter how hard it is."
+
+"Well, you are a strange child," said Adelaide, as she returned the
+letter to her pocket and rose to leave the room; "such a compound of
+obedience and disobedience I don't pretend to understand."
+
+Elsie was beginning to explain, but Adelaide stopped her, saying she had
+no time to listen, and hastily quitted the room.
+
+Elsie brushed away a tear and took up her book again--for she had been
+engaged in preparing a lesson for the next day, when interrupted by this
+unexpected visit from her aunt.
+
+Adelaide went directly to her brother's door, and receiving an invitation
+to enter in answer to her knock, was the next instant standing by his
+side, with Miss Allison's letter in her hand.
+
+"I've come, Horace," she said in a lively tone, "to seek from you a
+reward of virtue in a certain little friend of mine; and because you
+alone can bestow it, I come to you on her behalf, even at the expense
+of having to confess a sin of my own."
+
+"Well, take a seat, won't you?" he said good-humoredly, laying down his
+book and handing her a chair, "and then speak out at once, and tell me
+what you mean by all this nonsense."
+
+"First for my own confession then," she answered laughingly, accepting
+the offered seat. "I received a letter this morning from my friend, Rose
+Allison, enclosing one to your little Elsie."
+
+He began to listen with close attention, while a slight frown gathered on
+his brow.
+
+"Now, Horace," his sister went on, "though I approve in the main of your
+management of that child--which, by the way, I presume, is not of the
+least consequence to you--yet I must say I have thought it right hard you
+should deprive her of Rose's letters. So I carried this one, and offered
+it to her, assuring her that you should never know anything about it;
+but what do you think?--the little goose actually refused to touch it
+without papa's permission. She _must_ obey him, she said, no matter how
+hard it was, whenever he did not bid her do anything wrong. And now,
+Horace," she concluded, "I want you to give me the pleasure of carrying
+this letter to her, with your permission to read it. I'm sure she
+deserves it."
+
+"Perhaps so; but I am sure _you_ don't, Adelaide, after tampering with
+the child's conscience in that manner. You may send her to me, though, if
+you will," he said, holding out his hand for the letter. "But are you
+quite sure that she really wanted to see it, and felt assured that she
+might do so without my knowledge?"
+
+"Perfectly certain of it," replied his sister confidently.
+
+They chatted for a few moments longer; Adelaide praising Elsie, and
+persuading him to treat her with more indulgence; and he, much pleased
+with this proof of her dutifulness, half promising to do so; and then
+Adelaide went back to her room, despatching a servant on her way to tell
+Elsie that her papa desired to see her immediately.
+
+Elsie received the message with profound alarm; for not dreaming of the
+true cause, her fears at once suggested that he probably intended putting
+his late threat into execution. She spent one moment in earnest prayer
+for strength to bear her trial, and then hastened, pale and trembling, to
+his presence.
+
+How great, then, was her surprise to see him, as she entered, hold out
+his hand with a smile, saying, in the kindest tone, "Come here to me, my
+daughter!"
+
+She obeyed, gazing wonderingly into his face.
+
+He drew her to him; lifted her to his knee; folded her in his arms,
+and kissed her tenderly. He had not bestowed such a loving caress upon
+her--nor indeed ever kissed her at all, excepting on the evening after
+Chloe's departure--since that unhappy scene in his sick-room; and Elsie,
+scarcely able to believe she was awake, and not dreaming, hid her face on
+his breast, and wept for joy.
+
+"Your aunt has been here telling me what passed between you this
+afternoon," said he, repeating his caress, "and I am much pleased with
+this proof of your obedience; and as a reward I will give you permission,
+not only to read the letter she offered you, but also the one I retained.
+And I will allow you to write to Miss Allison once, in answer to them,
+the letter passing through my hands. I have also promised, at your aunt's
+solicitation, to remove some of the restrictions I have placed upon you,
+and I now give you the same liberty to go about the house and grounds
+which you formerly enjoyed. Your books and toys shall also be returned to
+you, and you may take your meals with the family whenever you choose."
+
+"Thank you, papa, you are very kind," replied the little girl; but her
+heart sank, for she understood from his words that she was not restored
+to favor as she had for a moment fondly imagined.
+
+Neither spoke again for some moments. Each felt that this delightful
+reunion--for it was delightful to both--this enjoyment of the interchange
+of mutual affection, could not last.
+
+Silent caresses, mingled with sobs and tears on Elsie's part, passed
+between them; and at length Mr. Dinsmore said, "Elsie, my daughter, I
+hope you are now ready to make the confession and promises I require?"
+
+"Oh, papa! dear papa!" she said, looking up into his face with the tears
+streaming down her own, "have I not been punished enough for that? and
+can you not just punish me whenever I disobey you, without requiring any
+promise?"
+
+"Stubborn yet, Elsie," he answered with a frown. "No; as I have told you
+before, my word is as the law of the Medes and Persians, which altered
+not. I have required the confession and promise, and _you must make
+them_."
+
+He set her down, but she lingered a moment. "Once more, Elsie, I ask
+you," he said, "will you obey?"
+
+She shook her head; she could not speak.
+
+"Then go," said her father. "I have given you the last caress I ever
+shall, until you submit."
+
+He put the letters into her hand as he spoke, and motioned her to be
+gone; and Elsie fled away to her own room, to throw herself upon the bed,
+and weep and groan in intense mental anguish.
+
+She cared not for the letters now; they lay neglected on the floor, where
+they had fallen unheeded from her hand. The gloom on her pathway seemed
+all the darker for that bright but momentary gleam of sunshine. So dark
+was the cloud that overshadowed her that for the time she seemed to have
+lost all hope, and to be able to think of nothing but the apparent
+impossibility of ever regaining her place in her father's heart. His
+last words rang in her ears.
+
+"Oh! papa, papa! my own papa!" she sobbed, "will you never love me again?
+never kiss me, or call me pet names? Oh, _how can_ I bear it! how can
+I ever live without your love?"
+
+Her nerves, already weakened by months of mental suffering, could hardly
+bear the strain; and when Fanny came into the room, an hour or two later,
+she was quite frightened to find her young charge lying on the bed,
+holding her head with both hands and groaning, and speechless with pain.
+
+"What's de matter darlin'?" she asked; but Elsie only answered with a
+moan; and Fanny, in great alarm, hastened to Mr. Dinsmore's room, and
+startled him with the exclamation: "Oh, Massa Horace, make haste for come
+to de chile! she gwine die for sartain, if you don't do sumfin mighty
+quick!"
+
+"Why, what ails her, Fanny?" he asked, following the servant with all
+speed.
+
+"Dunno, Massa; but I'se sure she's berry ill," was Fanny's reply, as she
+opened the door of Elsie's room, and stepped back to allow her master to
+pass in first.
+
+One glance at Elsie's face was enough to convince him that there was some
+ground for her attendant's alarm. It was ghastly with its deadly pallor
+and the dark circles round the eyes, and wore an expression of intense
+pain.
+
+He proceeded at once to apply remedies, and remained beside her until
+they had so far taken effect that she was able to speak, and looked quite
+like herself again.
+
+"Elsie!" he said in a grave, firm tone, as he placed her more comfortably
+on her pillow, "this attack has been brought on by violent crying; you
+must not indulge yourself in that way again."
+
+"I could not help it, papa," she replied, lifting her pleading eyes to
+his face.
+
+"You _must_ help it in future, Elsie," he said sternly.
+
+Tears sprang to her eyes, but she struggled to keep them back.
+
+He turned to leave her, but she caught his hand, and looked so
+beseechingly in his face, that he stopped and asked in a softened
+tone, "What is it, my daughter?"
+
+"Oh, papa!" she murmured in low, tremulous accents, "love me a little."
+
+"I do love you, Elsie," he replied gravely, and almost sadly, as he bent
+over her and laid his hand upon her forehead. "I love you only too well,
+else I should have sent my stubborn little daughter away from me long ere
+this."
+
+"Then, papa, kiss me; just _once_, dear papa!" she pleaded, raising her
+tearful eyes to his face.
+
+"No, Elsie, not _once_ until you are entirely submissive. This state
+of things is as painful to me as it into you, my daughter; but I cannot
+yield my authority, and I hope you will soon see that it is best for
+you to give up your self-will."
+
+So saying, he turned away and left her alone; alone with that weary
+home-sickness of the heart, and the tears dropping silently down upon
+her pillow.
+
+Horace Dinsmore went back to his own room, where he spent the next half
+hour in pacing rapidly to and fro, with folded arms and contracted brow.
+
+"Strange!" he muttered, "that she is _so hard_ to conquer. I never
+imagined that she could be so stubborn. One thing is certain," he added,
+heaving a deep sigh; "we must separate for a time, or I shall be in
+danger of yielding; for it is no easy matter to resist her tearful
+pleadings, backed as they are by the yearning affection of my own heart.
+How I love the perverse little thing! Truly she has wound herself around
+my very heart-strings. But I _must_ get these absurd notions out of her
+head, or I shall never have any comfort with her; and if I yield _now_,
+I may as well just give that up entirely; besides, I have _said_ it; and
+_I will_ have her to understand that my word is law."
+
+And with another heavy sigh he threw himself upon the sofa, where he lay
+in deep thought for some moments; then, suddenly springing up, he rang
+the bell for his servant.
+
+"John," he said, as the man appeared in answer to his summons, "I shall
+leave for the North to-morrow morning. See that my trunk is packed, and
+everything in readiness. You are to go with me, of course."
+
+"Yes, Massa, I'll 'tend to it," replied John, bowing, and retiring with a
+grin of satisfaction on his face. "Berry glad," he chuckled to himself,
+as he hurried away to tell the news in the kitchen, "_berry_ glad dat
+young Massa's got tired ob dis dull ole place at last. Wonder if little
+Miss Elsie gwine along."
+
+Elsie rose the next morning feeling very weak, and looking pale and sad:
+and not caring to avail herself of her father's permission to join the
+family, she took her breakfast in her own room, as usual. She was on her
+way to the school-room soon afterwards, when, seeing her papa's man
+carrying out his trunk, she stopped and inquired in a tone of alarm--
+
+"Why, John! is papa going away?"
+
+"Yes, Miss Elsie; but ain't you gwine along? I s'posed you was."
+
+"No, John," she answered faintly, leaning against the wall for support;
+"but where is papa going?"
+
+"Up North, Miss Elsie; dunno no more 'bout it; better ask Massa Horace
+hisself," replied the servant, looking compassionately at her pale face,
+and eyes brimful of tears.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore himself appeared at this moment, and Elsie, starting forward
+with clasped hands, and the tears running down her cheeks, looked
+piteously up into his face, exclaiming, "Oh, papa, dear are you going
+away, and without me?"
+
+Without replying, he took her by the hand, and turning back into his
+room again, shut the door, sat down, and lifted her to his knee. His
+face was very pale and sad, too, but withal wore an expression of firm
+determination.
+
+Elsie laid her head on his shoulder, and sobbed out her tears and
+entreaties that he would not leave her.
+
+"It depends entirely upon yourself, Elsie," he said presently. "I gave
+you warning some time since that I would not keep a rebellious child in
+my sight; and while you continue such, either you or I must be banished
+from home, and I prefer to exile myself rather than you; but a submissive
+child I will not leave. It is not yet too late; you have only to yield
+to my requirements, and I will stay at home, or delay my journey for a
+few days, and take you with me. But if you prefer separation from me to
+giving up your own self-will, you have no one to blame but yourself."
+
+He waited a moment, then said: "Once more I ask you, Elsie, will you obey
+me?"
+
+"Oh, papa, always, if--"
+
+"Hush!" he said sternly; "you _know_ that will not do;" and setting her
+down, he rose to go.
+
+But she clung to him with desperate energy. "Oh, papa," she sobbed, "when
+will you come back?"
+
+"That depends upon _you_, Elsie," he said. "Whenever my little daughter
+writes to me the words I have so vainly endeavored to induce her to
+speak, that _very day_, if possible, I will start for home."
+
+He laid his hand on the handle of the door as he spoke.
+
+But clinging to him, and looking up beseechingly into his face, she
+pleaded, in piteous tones, amid her bitter sobs and tears, "Papa, dear,
+_dear_ papa, kiss me once before you go; just _once_, papa; perhaps you
+may never come back--perhaps I may die. Oh, papa, papa! will you go away
+without kissing me?--me, your own little daughter, that you used to love
+so dearly? Oh, papa, my heart will break!"
+
+His own eyes filled with tears, and he stooped as if to give her the
+coveted caress, but hastily drawing back again, said with much of his
+accustomed sternness--
+
+"No, Elsie, I cannot break my word; and if you are determined to break
+your own heart and mine by your stubbornness, on your own head be the
+consequences,"
+
+And putting her forcibly aside, he opened the door and went out, while,
+with a cry of despair, she sank half-fainting upon the floor.
+
+She was roused ere long by the sound of a carriage driving up to the
+door, and the thought flashed upon her, "He is not gone yet, and I may
+see him once more;" and springing to her feet, she ran downstairs, to
+find the rest of the family in the hall, taking leave of her father.
+
+He was just stooping to give Enna a farewell kiss, as his little daughter
+came up. He did not seem to notice her, but was turning away, when Enna
+said, "Here is Elsie; aren't you going to kiss _her_ before you go?"
+
+He turned round again, to see those soft, hazel eyes, with their
+mournful, pleading gaze, fixed upon his face. He never forgot that
+look; it haunted him all his life.
+
+He stood for an instant looking down upon her, while that mute, appealing
+glance still met his, and she ventured to take his hand in both of hers
+and press it to her lips.
+
+But he turned resolutely away, saying, in his calm, cold tone, "No! Elsie
+is a stubborn, disobedient child. I have no caress for her."
+
+A moan of heart-breaking anguish burst from Elsie's pale and trembling
+lips; and covering her face with her hands, she sank down upon the
+door-step, vainly struggling to suppress the bitter, choking sobs that
+shook her whole frame.
+
+But her father was already in the carriage, and hearing it begin to move,
+she hastily dashed away her tears, and strained her eyes to catch the
+last glimpse of it, as it whirled away down the avenue.
+
+It was quite gone; and she rose up and sadly re-entered the house.
+
+"I don't pity her at all," she heard her grandfather say, "for it is all
+her own fault, and serves her just right."
+
+But so utterly crushed and heart-broken was she already, that the cruel
+words fell quite unheeded upon her ear.
+
+She went directly to her father's deserted room, and shutting herself in,
+tottered to the bed, and laying her face on the pillow where his head had
+rested a few hours before, clasped her arms around it, and wetted it with
+her tears, moaning sadly to herself the while, "Oh, _papa_, my own dear,
+darling papa! I shall never, _never_ see you again! Oh, how can I live
+without you? who is there to love me now? Oh, papa, papa, will you never,
+never come back to me? Papa, papa, my heart is breaking! I shall die."
+
+From that time the little Elsie drooped and pined, growing paler and
+thinner day by day--her step more languid, and her eye more dim--till no
+one could have recognized in her the bright, rosy, joyous child, full of
+health and happiness, that she had been six months before. She went about
+the house like a shadow, scarcely ever speaking or being spoken to. She
+made no complaint, and seldom shed tears now; but seemed to have lost her
+interest in everything and to be sinking into a kind of apathy.
+
+"I wish," said Mrs. Dinsmore one day, as Elsie passed out into the
+garden, "that Horace had sent that child to boarding-school, and stayed
+at home himself. Your father says he needs him, and as to her--she has
+grown so melancholy of late, it is enough to give one the vapors just to
+look at her."
+
+"I am beginning to feel troubled about her," replied Adelaide, to whom
+the remark had been addressed; "she seems to be losing flesh, and
+strength, too, so fast. The other day I went into her room, and found
+Fanny crying heartily over a dress of Elsie's which she was altering.
+'Oh! Miss Adelaide,' she sobbed, 'the chile gwine die for sartain!' 'Why
+no, Fanny,' I said, 'what makes you think so? she is not sick.' But she
+shook her head, saying, 'Just look a here, Miss Adelaide,' showing me how
+much she was obliged to take the dress in to make it fit, and then she
+told me Elsie had grown so weak that the least exertion overcame her. I
+think I must write to Horace."
+
+"Oh, nonsense, Adelaide!" said her mother, "I wouldn't trouble him
+about it. Children are very apt to grow thin and languid during the hot
+weather, and I suppose fretting after him makes it affect her rather more
+than usual; and just now in the holidays she has nothing else to occupy
+her thoughts. She will do well enough."
+
+So Adelaide's fears were relieved, and she delayed writing, thinking that
+her mother surely knew best.
+
+Mrs. Travilla sat in her cool, shady parlor, quietly knitting. She was
+alone, but the glance she occasionally sent from the window seemed to say
+that she was expecting some one.
+
+"Edward is unusually late to-day," she murmured half aloud. "But there he
+is at last," she added, as her son appeared, riding slowly up the avenue.
+He dismounted and entered the house, and in another moment had thrown
+himself down upon the sofa, by her side. She looked at him uneasily; for
+with the quick ear of affection she had noticed that his step lacked its
+accustomed elasticity, and his voice its cheerful, hearty tones. His
+orders to the servant who came to take his horse had been given in a
+lower and more subdued key than usual, and his greeting to herself,
+though perfectly kind and respectful, was grave and absent in manner; and
+now his thoughts seemed far away, and the expression of his countenance
+was sad and troubled.
+
+"What ails you, Edward--is anything wrong, my son?" she asked, laying her
+hand on his shoulder, and looking into his face with her loving, motherly
+eyes.
+
+"Nothing with _me_ mother," he answered affectionately; "but," he added,
+with a deep-drawn sigh, "I am sorely troubled about my little friend. I
+called at Roselands this afternoon, and learned that Horace Dinsmore has
+gone North--to be absent nobody knows how long--leaving her at home. He
+has been gone nearly a week, and the child is--heart-broken."
+
+"Poor darling! is she really so much distressed about it, Edward?" his
+mother asked, taking off her spectacles to wipe them, for they had
+suddenly grown dim. "You saw her, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, for a moment," he said, struggling to control his feelings.
+"Mother, you would hardly know her for the child she was six months ago!
+she is so changed, so thin and pale--but that is not the worst; she seems
+to have lost all her life and animation. I felt as though it would be a
+relief even to see her cry. When I spoke to her she smiled, it is true;
+but ah! such a sad, hopeless, dreary sort of smile--it was far more
+touching than tears, and then she turned away, as if she had scarcely
+heard or understood what I said. Mother, you must go to her; she needs
+just the sort of comfort you understand so well how to give, but which I
+know nothing about. You will go, mother, will you not?"
+
+"Gladly, Edward! I would go this moment, if I thought I would be
+permitted to see her, and could do her any good."
+
+"I hardly think," said her son, "that even Mrs. Dinsmore would refuse you
+the privilege of a private interview with the child should you request
+it, mother; but, no doubt, it would be much pleasanter for all parties if
+we could go when Elsie is at home alone; and fortunately such will be the
+case to-morrow, for, as I accidentally learned, the whole family, with
+the exception of Elsie and the servants, are expecting to spend the day
+abroad. So if it suits you, mother, we will drive over in the morning."
+
+Mrs. Travilla expressed her readiness to do so; and about the middle of
+the forenoon of the next day their carriage might have been seen turning
+into the avenue at Roselands.
+
+Pomp came out to receive the visitors. "Berry sorry, Massa and Missus,"
+he said, making his best bow to them as they alighted from the carriage,
+"dat de family am all from home with the single 'ception of little Miss
+Elsie. But if you will be pleased to walk into the drawin'-room, an' rest
+yourselves, I will call for suitable refreshments, and Fanny shall be
+instantly despatched to bring de young lady down."
+
+"No, thank you, Pomp," replied Mr. Travilla pleasantly, "we are not at
+all in want of refreshments, and my mother would prefer seeing Miss Elsie
+in her own room. I will step into the drawing-room, mother, until you
+come down again," he added in an undertone to her.
+
+Pomp was about to lead the way, but Mrs. Travilla gently put him aside,
+saying that she would prefer to go alone, and had no need of a guide.
+
+She found the door of Elsie's room standing wide to admit the air--for
+the weather was now growing very warm indeed--and looking in, she
+perceived the little girl half reclining upon a sofa, her head resting on
+the arm, her hands clasped in her lap, and her sad, dreamy eyes, tearless
+and dry, gazing mournfully into vacancy, as though her thoughts were far
+away, following the wanderings of her absent father. She seemed to have
+been reading, or trying to read, but the book had fallen from her hand,
+and lay unheeded on the floor.
+
+Mrs. Travilla, stood for several minutes gazing with tearful eyes at the
+melancholy little figure, marking with an aching heart the ravages that
+sorrow had already made in the wan child face; then stealing softly in,
+sat down by her side, and took the little forlorn one into her kind
+motherly embrace, laying the weary little head down on her breast.
+
+Elsie did not speak, but merely raised her eyes for an instant to Mrs.
+Travilla's face, with the dreary smile her son had spoken of, and then
+dropped them again with a sigh that was half a sob.
+
+Mrs. Travilla pressed her quivering lips on the child's forehead, and a
+scalding tear fell on her cheek.
+
+Elsie started, and again raising her mournful eyes, said, in a husky
+whisper, "Don't, dear Mrs. Travilla _don't_ cry. I never _cry_ now."
+
+"And why not, darling? Tears are often a blessed relief to an aching
+heart, and I think it would do you good; these dry eyes need it."
+
+"No--no--I _cannot_; they are all dried up--and it is well, for they
+always displeased my papa,"
+
+There was a dreary hopelessness in her tone, and in the mournful shake of
+her head, that was very touching.
+
+Mrs. Travilla sighed, and pressed the little form closer to her heart.
+
+"Elsie, dear," she said, "you must not give way to despair. Your troubles
+have not come by chance; you know, darling, who has sent them; and
+remember, it is those whom the Lord _loveth_ he chasteneth, and he will
+not _always_ chide, neither will he keep his anger forever."
+
+"Is he angry with me?" she asked fearfully.
+
+"No, dearest, it is all sent in _love_; we cannot see the reason now,
+but one day we shall--when we get home to our Father's house, for then
+everything will be made plain; it may be, Elsie dear, that you, by your
+steady adherence to the right, are to be made the honored instrument in
+bringing your father to a saving knowledge of Christ. You would be
+willing to suffer a great deal for that, dear child, would you not?
+even all you are suffering now?"
+
+"Ah, yes, indeed!" she said earnestly, clasping her hands together; "but
+I am afraid it is _not that_! I am afraid it is because I loved my papa
+_too_ well, my dear, _dear_ papa--and God is angry with me--and now I
+shall never, never see him again,"
+
+She groaned aloud, and covered her face with her hands; and now the tears
+fell like rain, and her whole frame shook with convulsive sobs.
+
+Mrs. Travilla hailed this outburst of grief with deep thankfulness,
+knowing that it was far better for her than that unnatural apathy, and
+that when the first violence of the storm had subsided, the aching heart
+would find itself relieved of half its load.
+
+She gently soothed the little weeper until she began to grow calm again,
+and the sobs were almost hushed, and the tears fell softly and quietly.
+
+Then she said, in low, tender tones, "Yes, my darling, you will see him
+again; I feel quite sure of it. God is the hearer of prayer, and he will
+hear yours for your dear father."
+
+"And will he send my papa hack to me I oh, will he come _soon_? do you
+think he will, dear Mrs. Travilla?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"I don't know, darling; I cannot tell _that_; but one thing we do know,
+that it is _all_ in God's hands, and he will do just what is best both
+for you and your father. He may see fit to restore you to each other in a
+few weeks or months, and I hope and trust he will; but however _that_ may
+be, darling, remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 'Your
+Father knoweth that ye have _need_ of _all_ these things.' He will not
+send you any unnecessary trial, nor allow you to suffer one pang that you
+do not need. It may be that he saw you were loving your earthly father
+too well, and has removed him from you for a time, that thus he may draw
+you nearer to himself; but never doubt for one moment, dear one, that it
+is all done in _love_. 'As many as I _love_, I rebuke and chasten.' They
+are the dear Saviour's own words."
+
+When Mrs. Travilla at length rose to go, Elsie clung to her tearfully,
+entreating that she would stay a little longer.
+
+"I will, dear child, since you wish it so much," said the lady, resuming
+her seat, "and I will come again very soon, if you think there will be no
+objection. But, Elsie, dear, can you not come to Ion, and spend the rest
+of your holidays with us? Both Edward and I would be delighted to have
+you, and I think we could make you happier than you are here."
+
+"I cannot tell you how very much I should like it, dear Mrs. Travilla,
+but it is quite impossible," Elsie answered, with a sorrowful shake of
+the head. "I am not allowed to pay or receive visits any more; papa
+forbade it some time ago."
+
+"Ah, indeed! I am very sorry, dear, for I fear that cuts me off from
+visiting you," said Mrs. Travilla, looking much disappointed. "However,"
+she added more cheerfully, "I will get my son to write to your papa, and
+perhaps he may give you permission to visit us."
+
+"No, ma'am, I cannot hope that he will," replied Elsie sadly; "papa never
+breaks his word or changes his mind."
+
+"Ah! well, dear child," said her friend tenderly, "there is one precious
+blessing of which no one can deprive you--the presence and love of your
+Saviour; and if you have that, no one can make you wholly miserable. And
+now, dear child, I must go," she added, again clasping the little girl to
+her heart, and kissing her many times. "God bless and keep you, darling,
+till we meet again, and we will hope that time will come ere long."
+
+Mr. Travilla was waiting to hand his mother into the carriage.
+
+Neither of them spoke until they had fairly left Roselands behind them,
+but then he turned to her with an anxious, inquiring look, to which she
+replied:
+
+"Yes, I found her in just the state you described, poor darling! but I
+think I left her a little happier; or rather, I should say, a little less
+wretched than I found her. Edward, Horace Dinsmore does not know what he
+is doing; that child's heart is breaking."
+
+He gave an assenting nod, and turned away to hide his emotion.
+
+"Can you not write to him, Edward, and describe the state she is in, and
+beg him, if he will not come home, at least to permit us to take her to
+Ion for a few weeks?" she asked, laying her hand on his arm.
+
+"I will do so, mother, if you think it best," Mr. Travilla replied;
+"but I think I know Horace Dinsmore better than you do, and that such a
+proceeding would do more harm than good. He is very jealous of anything
+that looks like interference, especially between him and his child, and
+I fear it would only irritate him, and make him, if possible, still more
+determined. Were I asked to describe his character in a few words, I
+should say he is a man of indomitable will."
+
+"Well, my son, perhaps you are right," said his mother, heaving a deep
+sigh; "and if so, I can see nothing more we can do but pray for the
+little girl."
+
+Mrs. Travilla was right in thinking that her visit had done Elsie good;
+it had roused her out of the torpor of grief into which she had sunk; it
+had raised her from the depths of despair, and shown her the beacon light
+of hope still shining in the distance.
+
+This last blow had come with such crushing weight that there had seemed
+to be no room left in her heart for a thought of comfort; but now her
+kind friend had reminded her of the precious promises, and the tender
+love that were still hers; love far exceeding that of any earthly
+parent--love that was able even to bring light out of all this thick
+darkness; love which was guiding and controlling all the events of her
+life, and would never allow her to suffer one unnecessary pang, but
+would remove the trial as soon as its needed work was done; and she was
+now no longer altogether comfortless.
+
+When Mrs. Travilla had left, she took up her Bible--that precious little
+volume, her never-failing comforter--and in turning over its leaves her
+eye fell upon these words: "Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ,
+not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake."
+
+They sent a thrill of joy to her heart; for was not _she_ suffering for
+_his_ sake? was it not because she loved him too well to disobey his
+commands, even to please her dearly beloved earthly father, that she
+was thus deprived of one privilege, and one comfort after another, and
+subjected to trials that wrung her very heart?
+
+Yes, it was because she loved Jesus. She was bearing suffering for his
+dear sake, and here she was taught that even to be permitted to _suffer_
+for him, was a privilege. And she remembered, too, that in another place
+it is written: "If we _suffer_, we shall also reign with him."
+
+Ah! those are tears of joy and thankfulness that are falling now. She has
+grown calm and peaceful, even happy, for the time, in the midst of all
+her sorrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+"Heaven oft in mercy smites, e'en when the blow
+Severest is."
+
+JOANNA BAILLIE'S ORRA.
+
+
+"The heart knoweth his own bitterness."
+
+PROV. 14:10.
+
+
+
+But only a few days after Mrs. Travilla's visit, an event occurred,
+which, by exciting Elsie's sympathy for the sorrows of another, and thus
+preventing her from dwelling so constantly upon her own, was of great
+benefit to her.
+
+Adelaide received a letter bringing tidings of the death of one who had
+been very dear to her. The blow was very sudden--entirely unexpected--and
+the poor girl was overwhelmed with grief, made all the harder to endure
+by the want of sympathy in her family.
+
+Her parents had indeed given their consent to the contemplated union,
+but because the gentleman, though honorable, intelligent, educated and
+talented, was neither rich nor high-born, they had never very heartily
+approved of the connection, and were evidently rather relieved than
+afflicted by his death.
+
+Elsie was the only one who really felt deeply for her aunt; and her
+silent, unobtrusive sympathy was very grateful.
+
+The little girl seemed almost to forget her own sorrows, for the time, in
+trying to relieve those of her bereaved aunt. Elsie knew--and this made
+her sympathy far deeper and more heartfelt--that Adelaide had no
+consolation in her sore distress, but such miserable comfort as may be
+found in the things of earth. She had no compassionate Saviour to whom
+to carry her sorrows, but must bear them all alone; and while Elsie was
+permitted to walk in the light of his countenance, and to her ear there
+ever came the soft whispers of his love--"Fear not: thou art mine"--"_I_
+have loved thee with an _everlasting_ love"--"_I_ will _never_ leave thee
+nor forsake thee," to Adelaide all was darkness and silence.
+
+At first Elsie's sympathy was shown in various little kind offices;
+sitting for hours beside her aunt's couch, gently fanning her, handing
+her a drink of cold water, bringing her sweet-scented flowers, and
+anticipating every want. But at last she ventured to speak.
+
+"Dear Aunt Adelaide," she whispered, "I am so sorry for you. I wish I
+knew how to comfort you."
+
+"Oh, Elsie!" sobbed the mourner, "there is no comfort for me, I have lost
+my dearest treasure--my all--and no one cares."
+
+"Dear Aunt Adelaide," replied the child timidly, "it is true I am only a
+little girl, but I do care very much for your grief; and surely your papa
+and mamma are very sorry for you."
+
+Adelaide shook her head mournfully. "They are more glad than sorry," she
+said, bursting into tears.
+
+"Well, dear aunty," said Elsie softly, "there is One who does feel for
+you, and who is able to comfort you if you will only go to him. One who
+loved you so well that he died to save you."
+
+"No, no, Elsie! not me! He cannot care for me! He cannot love me, or he
+would never have taken away my Ernest," she sobbed.
+
+"Dear Aunt Adelaide," said Elsie's low, sweet voice, "we cannot always
+tell what is best for us, and will make us happiest in the end.
+
+"I remember once when I was a very little child, I was walking with mammy
+in a part of my guardian's grounds where we seldom went. I was running on
+before her, and I found a bush with some most beautiful red berries; they
+looked delicious, and I hastily gathered some, and was just putting them
+to my mouth when mammy, seeing what I was about, suddenly sprang forward,
+snatched them out of my hand, threw them on the ground, and tramped upon
+them; and then tearing up the bushes treated them in the same manner,
+while I stood by crying and calling her a naughty, cross mammy, to take
+my nice berries from me."
+
+"Well," asked Adelaide, as the little girl paused in her narrative, "what
+do you mean by your story? You haven't finished it, but, of course, the
+berries were poisonous."
+
+"Yes," said Elsie; "and mammy was wiser than I, and knew that what I so
+earnestly coveted would do me great injury."
+
+"And now for the application," said Adelaide, interrupting her; "you mean
+that just as mammy was wiser than you, and took your treasure from you in
+kindness, so God is wise and kind in taking mine from me; but ah! Elsie,
+the analogy will not hold good; for my good, wise, kind Ernest could
+never have harmed me as the poisonous berries would you. No, no, no, he
+always did me good!" she cried with a passionate burst of grief.
+
+Elsie waited until she grew calm again, and then said gently, "The Bible
+says, dear aunty, that God 'does not willingly afflict nor grieve the
+children of men.' Perhaps he saw that you loved your friend too well,
+and would never give your heart to Jesus unless he took him away, and
+so you could only live with him for a little while in this world. But
+now he has taken him to heaven, I hope--for Lora told me Mr. St. Clair
+was a Christian--and if you will only come to Jesus and take him for
+your Saviour, you can look forward to spending a happy eternity there
+with your friend.
+
+"So, dear Aunt Adelaide, may we not believe that God, who is infinitely
+wise, and good, and kind, has sent you this great sorrow in love and
+compassion?"
+
+Adelaide's only answer was a gentle pressure of the little hand she held,
+accompanied by a flood of tears. But after that she seemed to love Elsie
+better than, she ever had before, and to want her always by her side,
+often asking her to read a chapter in the Bible, a request with which the
+little girl always complied most gladly.
+
+Adelaide was very silent, burying her thoughts almost entirely in her
+own bosom; but it was evident that the blessed teachings of the holy book
+were not altogether lost upon her, for the extreme violence of her grief
+gradually abated, and the expression of her countenance, though still
+sad, became gentle and patient.
+
+And could Elsie thus minister consolation to another, and yet find no
+lessening of her own burden of sorrow? Assuredly not.
+
+She could not repeat to her aunt the many sweet and precious promises of
+God's holy word, without having them brought home to her own heart with
+renewed power; she could not preach Jesus to another without finding him
+still nearer and dearer to her own soul; and though there were yet times
+when she was almost overwhelmed with grief, she could truly say that the
+"consolations of God were not small with her." There was often a weary,
+weary aching at her heart--such an unutterable longing for her father's
+love and favor as would send her weeping to her knees to plead long and
+earnestly that this trial might be removed; yet she well knew who had
+sent it, and was satisfied that it was one of the "_all_ things which
+shall work together for good to them that love God," and she was at
+length enabled to say in reference to it: "Thy will, not mine, be done,"
+and to bear her cross with patient submission.
+
+But ah! there was many a bitter struggle, first! She had many sad and
+lonely hours; and there were times when the yearning of the poor little
+heart for her father's presence, and her father's love, was almost more
+than weak human nature could endure.
+
+Sometimes she would walk her room, wringing her hands and weeping
+bitterly.
+
+"Oh, papa! papa!" she would exclaim, again and again, "how can I bear it?
+how _can_ I bear it? will you never, never come back? will you never,
+never love me again?"
+
+And then would come up the memory of his words on that sad, sad day, when
+he left her--"Whenever my little daughter writes to me the words I have
+so vainly endeavored to induce her to speak, that very day, if possible,
+I will start for home"--and the thought that it was in her power to
+recall him at any time; it was but to write a few words and send them
+to him, and soon he would be with her--he would take her to his heart
+again, and this terrible trial would be over.
+
+The temptation was fearfully strong; the struggle often long and
+terrible; and this fierce battle had to be fought again and again,
+and once the victory had wellnigh been lost.
+
+She had struggled long; again and again had she resolved that she would
+not, could not, _dare_ not yield! but vainly she strove to put away the
+sense of that weary, aching void in her heart--that longing, yearning
+desire for her father's love.
+
+"I cannot bear it! oh, I _cannot_ bear it!" she exclaimed, at length; and
+seizing a pen, she wrote hastily, and with trembling fingers, while the
+hot, blinding tears dropped thick and fast upon the paper--"Papa, come
+back! oh, come to me, and I will be and do all you ask, all you require."
+
+But the pen dropped from her fingers, and she bowed her face upon her
+clasped hands with a cry of bitter anguish.
+
+"How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" The words
+darted through her mind like a flash of lightning, and then the words of
+Jesus seemed to come to her ear in solemn tones: "He that loveth father
+and mother more than me, is not worthy of me!"
+
+"What have I done?" she cried. "Has it come to this, that I must choose
+between my father and my Saviour? and _can_ I give up the love of Jesus?
+oh, never, _never_!--
+
+'Jesus, I my cross have taken
+_All_ to leave and follow thee.'"
+
+she repeated, half aloud, with clasped hands, and an upward glance of her
+tearful eyes. Then, tearing into fragments what she had just written, she
+fell on her knees and prayed earnestly for pardon, and for strength to
+resist temptation, and to be "faithful unto death," that she might
+"receive the crown of life."
+
+When Elsie rapped at her aunt's dressing-room door the next morning, no
+answer was returned, and after waiting a moment, she softly opened it,
+and entered, expecting to find her aunt sleeping. But no, though extended
+upon a couch, Adelaide was not sleeping, but lay with her face buried in
+the pillows, sobbing violently.
+
+Elsie's eyes filled with tears, and softly approaching the mourner, she
+attempted to soothe her grief with words of gentle, loving sympathy.
+
+"Oh! Elsie, you cannot feel for me; it is impossible!" exclaimed her aunt
+passionately. "_You_ have never known sorrow to be compared to mine! You
+have never loved, and lost--you have known none but mere childish
+griefs."
+
+"'The heart knoweth his own bitterness!'" thought Elsie, silent tears
+stealing down her cheeks, and her breast heaving with emotion.
+
+"Dear Aunt Adelaide," she said in tremulous tones, "_I_ think I _can_
+feel for you. Have I not known _some_ sorrow? Is it nothing that I have
+pined all my life long for a mother's love? nothing to have been
+separated from the dear nurse, who had almost supplied her place? Oh,
+Aunt Adelaide!" she continued, with a burst of uncontrollable anguish,
+"is it nothing, _nothing_ to be separated from my beloved father, my
+dear, only parent, whom I love better than my life--to be refused even a
+parting caress--to live month after month, and year after year under his
+frown--and to fear that his love may be lost to me forever? Oh! papa,
+papa, will you never, _never_ love me again?" she cried, sinking on her
+knees, and covering her face with her hands, while the tears trickled
+fast between the slender fingers.
+
+Her aunt's presence was for the moment entirely forgotten, and she was
+alone with her bitter grief.
+
+Adelaide looked at her with a good deal of surprise. She had never before
+seen her give way to such a burst of sorrow, for Elsie was usually calm
+in the presence of others.
+
+"Poor child!" she said, drawing the little girl towards her, and gently
+pushing back the hair from her forehead, "I should not have said that;
+you have your own troubles, I know; hard enough to bear, too. I think
+Horace is really cruel, and if I were you, Elsie, I would just give up
+loving him entirely, and never care for his absence or his displeasure."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Adelaide! not love my own dear papa? I _must_ love him! I could
+not help it if I would--no, not even if he were going to kill me; and
+please don't blame him; he does not mean to be cruel. But oh! if he would
+only love me!" sobbed the little girl.
+
+"I am sure he does, Elsie, if that is any comfort; here is a letter from
+him; he speaks of you in the postscript; you may take it to your room and
+read it, if you like," replied her aunt, putting a letter into Elsie's
+hand. "Go now, child, and see if you can extract any comfort from it."
+
+Elsie replied with a gush of tears and a kiss of thanks, for her little
+heart was much too full for speech. Clasping the precious letter tightly
+in her hand, she hastened to her own room and locked herself in. Then
+drawing it from the envelope, she kissed the well-known characters again
+and again, dashing away the blinding tears ere she could see to read.
+
+It was short; merely a letter of condolence to Adelaide, expressing a
+brother's sympathy in her sorrow; but the postscript sent one ray of joy
+to the little sad heart of his daughter.
+
+"Is Elsie well? I cannot altogether banish a feeling of anxiety regarding
+her health, for she was looking pale and thin when I left home. I trust
+to _you_, my dear sister, to send _immediately_ for a physician, and also
+to write at once should she show any symptoms of disease. Remember she is
+my _only_ and darling child--very near and dear to me still, in spite of
+the sad estrangement between us."
+
+"Ah! then papa has not forgotten me! he does love me still--he calls me
+his darling child," murmured the little girl, dropping her tears upon the
+paper. "Oh, how glad, how glad I am! surely he will come back to me some
+day;" and she felt that she would be very willing to be sick if that
+would hasten his return.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+"In this wild world the fondest and the best
+Are the most tried, most troubled, and distress'd."
+
+CRABBE.
+
+
+It was about a week after this that Elsie's grandfather handed her a
+letter directed to her in her father's handwriting, and the little girl
+rushed away to her room with it, her heart beating wildly between hope
+and fear. Her hand trembled so that she could scarcely tear it open, and
+her eyes were so dimmed with tears that it was some moments before she
+could read a line.
+
+It was kind, yes, even affectionate, and in some parts tender. But ah! it
+has brought no comfort to the little girl! else why does she finish with
+a burst of tears and sobs, and sinking upon her knees, hide her face in
+her hands, crying with a bitter, wailing cry, "Oh, papa! papa! papa!"
+
+He told her of the estate he had purchased, and the improvements he had
+been making; of a suite of rooms he had had prepared and furnished
+expressly for her, close to his own apartments--and of the pleasant home
+he hoped they would have there together, promising to dispense with a
+governess and teach her himself, for that he knew she would greatly
+prefer.
+
+He drew a bright picture of the peaceful, happy life they might lead;
+but finished by telling her that the condition was entire, unconditional
+submission on her part, and the alternative a boarding-school, at a
+distance from home and friends.
+
+He had, on separating her from her nurse, forbidden her to hold any
+communication with her, or even to ride in the direction of the Oaks--as
+his estate was called--and Elsie had scrupulously obeyed him; but now he
+bade her go and see the lovely home and beautiful apartments he had
+prepared for her, and judge for herself of the happiness she might enjoy
+there--loved, and caressed, and taught by him--and then decide.
+
+"If she were ready to give up her wilfulness," he wrote, "she might
+answer him immediately; and he would then return and their new home
+should receive them, and their new life begin at once. But if she were
+still inclined to be stubborn and rebellious, she must take a month to
+consider, ere he would receive her reply."
+
+Ah! to little Elsie it was a most enchanting picture he had drawn. To
+live in her father's house--his own home and hers--to be his constant
+and loved companion--to exchange Miss Day's teaching for his--to walk,
+to ride, to sit with him--in a word, to live in the sunshine of his
+love--oh, it would be paradise upon earth!
+
+And then the alternative! Oh, how dreadful seemed to the shrinking,
+sensitive child, the very thought of being sent away amongst entire
+strangers, who could not be expected to care for her, or love her; who
+would have no sympathy with her highest hopes and desires, and instead of
+assisting her to walk in the narrow way, would strive to turn her feet
+aside into the paths of worldly conformity and sin: for, alas! she well
+knew it was only to the care of such persons her father would be likely
+to commit her, wishing, as he did, to root out of her mind what he was
+pleased to call the "narrow prejudices of her unfortunate early
+training." Poor child! she shrank from it in terror and dismay.
+
+But should she choose that which her poor, hungry heart so yearned
+for--the home with her father--she must pledge herself to take as her
+rule of faith and practice, _not_ God's holy word, which had hitherto
+been her guide-book, but her father's wishes and commands, which she well
+knew would often be entirely opposed to its teachings.
+
+It was indeed a hard choice; but Elsie could not hesitate where the path
+of duty was so plain. She seemed to hear a voice saying to her: "This is
+the way, walk ye in it." "We ought to obey God rather than men."
+
+"Ah!" she murmured, "I _cannot_ do this great wickedness and sin against
+God, for if my earthly father's frown is so dreadful, so _very_ hard to
+bear, how much worse would be my heavenly Father's? But, oh, that
+boarding-school! How can I ever endure its trials and temptations? I am
+so weak and sinful! Ah! if papa would but spare me this trial--if he
+would only let me stay at home--but he will not--for he has _said_ I must
+go, and never breaks his word;" and again her tears fell fast, but she
+dashed them away and took up her Bible.
+
+It opened at the fiftieth chapter of Isaiah, and her eye fell upon
+these words: "For the Lord God will help me: therefore shall I not be
+confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that
+I shall not be ashamed. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that
+obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no
+light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God."
+
+Ah! here was comfort. "The Lord God will help me!" she repeated; and
+bowing her face over the holy book she gave thanks for the precious
+promise, and earnestly, tearfully pleaded that it might be fulfilled
+unto her.
+
+Then rising from her knees, she bathed her eyes and rang for Fanny to
+prepare her for her ride. It was the usual hour for it, her horse was
+already at the door, and very soon the little girl might have been seen
+galloping up the road towards the Oaks, quite alone, excepting that Jim,
+her constant attendant, rode some yards in the rear.
+
+It was a pleasant summer morning; there had been just rain enough the
+night before to cool the air and lay the dust, and everything was looking
+fresh and beautiful--and had the little Elsie's heart been as light and
+free from care as would have seemed natural to one of her age, she would
+no doubt have enjoyed her ride extremely. It was but a short one, and the
+place well known to her, for she had often passed it, though she had
+never yet been in the grounds.
+
+In a few moments she reached the gate, and Jim having dismounted and
+opened it for her, she rode leisurely up a broad, gravelled carriage-way,
+which wound about through the grounds, giving the traveller a number of
+beautiful views ere he reached the house, a large building of dark-gray
+stone, which stood so far back, and was so entirely hidden by trees and
+shrubbery, as to be quite invisible from the highway. Now the road was
+shaded on either hand by large trees, their branches almost meeting
+overhead, and anon, an opening in their ranks afforded a glimpse of some
+charming little valley, some sequestered nook amongst the hills, some
+grassy meadow, or field of golden wheat, or a far-off view of the sea.
+
+"Oh, how lovely!" murmured the little girl, dropping the reins on her
+horse's neck and gazing about her with eyes now sparkling with pleasure,
+now dimmed with tears; for, alas! these lovely scenes were not for her;
+at least not now, and it might be, never; and her heart was very sad.
+
+At length she reached the house. Chloe met her at the door, and clasped
+her to her bosom with tears of joy and thankfulness.
+
+"Bless de Lord for his goodness in sendin' my chile back to her ole mammy
+again," she said; "I'se so glad, darlin', so berry glad!"
+
+And as she spoke she drew the little girl into a pleasant room, fitted up
+with books and pictures, couches and easy-chairs and tables, with every
+convenience for writing, drawing, etc.
+
+"Dis am Massa Horace's study," she said, in answer to the eager,
+inquiring glance Elsie sent round the room, while she removed her hat
+and habit, and seated her in one of the softly-cushioned chairs; "an'
+de next room is your own little sittin' room, an' jes de prettiest ever
+was seen, your ole mammy tinks; and now dat she's got her chile back
+again she'll be as happy as de day am long."
+
+"Oh, mammy," sobbed the child, "I am not to stay."
+
+Chloe's look of delight changed to one of blank dismay.
+
+"But you are comin' soon, darlin'?" she said inquiringly. "I tink Massa
+Horace 'tends to be here 'fore long, sartain, kase he's had de whole
+house fixed up so fine; an' I'se sure he never take so much trouble, an'
+spend such loads ob money fixin' up such pretty rooms for you, ef he
+didn't love you dearly, an' 'tend to have you here 'long with himself."
+
+Elsie shook her head sorrowfully. "No, mammy, he says not unless I give
+up my wilfulness, and promise to do exactly as he bids me; and if I will
+not do that, I am to be sent away to boarding-school."
+
+The last words came with a great sob, as she flung herself into Chloe's
+outstretched arms, and hid her face on her bosom.
+
+"Poor darlin'! poor little pet!" murmured the nurse, hugging her tight,
+while her own tears fell in great drops on the golden curls. "I thought
+your troubles were all over. I s'posed Massa Horace had found out you
+wasn't bad after all, an' was comin' right home to live with you in dis
+beautiful place. But dere, don't, don't you go for to break your little
+heart 'bout it, dear; I'se sure de good Lord make um all come right in
+de end."
+
+Elsie made no reply, and for a little while they mingled their tears in
+silence. Then she raised her head, and gently releasing herself from
+Chloe's embrace, said, "Now, mammy, I must go all about and see
+everything, for that was papa's command."
+
+Chloe silently led the way through halls, parlors, drawing-room,
+library, dining, sitting and bed-rooms, servants' apartments, kitchen,
+pantry, and all; then out into the grounds, visiting in turn vegetable
+and flower gardens, lawn, hot-houses and grapery; and finally, bringing
+the little girl back to her papa's study, she led her from there into
+his bed-room and dressing-room, and then to her own apartments, which
+she had reserved to the last. These were three--bed-room, sitting-room,
+and dressing-room--all beautifully furnished with every comfort and
+convenience.
+
+Elsie had gazed on all with a yearning heart, and eyes constantly
+swimming in tears. "Ah! mammy," she exclaimed more than once, "what a
+lovely, _lovely_ home! how happy we might be here!"
+
+The sight of her father's rooms and her own affected her the most, and
+the tears fell fast as she passed slowly from one to another. Her own
+little sitting-room was the last; and here sinking down in an easy-chair,
+she gazed about her silently and tearfully. On one side the windows
+looked out upon a beautiful flower-garden, while beyond were hills and
+woods; on the other, glass doors opened out upon a grassy lawn, shaded by
+large trees, and beyond, far away in the distance, rolled the blue sea;
+all around her she saw the evidences of a father's thoughtful love; a
+beautiful piano, a harp, a small work-table, well furnished with every
+requisite; books, drawing materials--everything to give pleasure and
+employment; while luxurious couches and easy-chairs invited to rest and
+repose. Several rare pictures, too, adorned the walls.
+
+Elsie was very fond of paintings, and when she had gazed her fill upon
+the lovely landscape without, she turned from one of these to another
+with interest and pleasure; but one was covered, and she was in the act
+of raising her hand to draw aside the curtain, when her nurse stopped
+her, saying, "Not now, darlin', try de piano first."
+
+She opened the instrument as she spoke, and Elsie, running her fingers
+over the keys, remarked that it was the sweetest-toned she had ever
+heard.
+
+Chloe begged her to play, urging her request on the plea that it was so
+very long since she had heard her, and she might not have another
+opportunity soon.
+
+Just at that instant a little bird on a tree near the door poured forth
+his joy in a gush of glad melody, and Elsie, again running her fingers
+lightly over the keys, sang with touching sweetness and pathos--
+
+"Ye banks an' braes o' bonny Doon,
+How can ye look sae bright an' fair?
+How can you sing, ye little bird,
+An' I sae weary, full of care?" etc.
+
+The words seemed to come from her very heart, and her voice, though sweet
+and clear, was full of tears.
+
+Chloe sobbed aloud, and Elsie, looking lovingly at her, said softly,
+"Don't, dear mammy! I will sing a better one;" and she played and sang--
+
+"He doeth all things well."
+
+Then rising, she closed the instrument, saying, "Now, mammy, let me see
+the picture."
+
+Chloe then drew aside the curtain; and Elsie, with clasped hands and
+streaming eyes, stood for many minutes gazing upon a life-sized and
+speaking portrait of her father.
+
+"Papa! papa!" she sobbed, "my own darling, precious papa! Oh! could you
+but know how dearly your little Elsie loves you!"
+
+"Don't now, darlin'! don't take on so dreadful! It jes breaks your ole
+mammy's heart to see her chile so 'stressed," Chloe said, passing her arm
+around the little girl's waist, and laying her head on her bosom.
+
+"Oh, mammy, will he ever smile on me again? Shall I ever live with him in
+this dear home?" sobbed the poor child. "Oh! it is hard, hard to give it
+all up--to have papa always displeased with me. Oh, mammy, there is such
+a weary aching at my heart--is it _never_ to be satisfied?"
+
+"My poor, poor chile! my poor little pet, I'se _sure_ it'll all come
+right by-an'-by," replied Chloe soothingly, as soon as emotion would
+suffer her to speak. "You know it is de Lord that sends all our
+'flictions, an' you must 'member de pretty words you was jes a singin',
+'He doeth _all_ things well.' He says, 'What I do thou knowest not now,
+but thou shalt know here after.' De great God can change your father's
+heart, and 'cline him to 'spect your principles, and I _do_ blieve he
+will do it."
+
+Elsie sobbed out her dread of the boarding-school, with its loneliness
+and its temptations.
+
+"Now don't you go for to be 'fraid of all dat, darlin'," replied her
+nurse. "Has you forgotten how it says in de good book, 'Lo, I am with you
+_always_, even unto the end of the world'? an' if _he_ is with you, who
+can hurt you? Jes _nobody_."
+
+A text came to Elsie's mind: "The eternal God is thy refuge, and
+underneath are the everlasting arms!" and lifting her head, she dashed
+away her tears.
+
+"No," she said, "I will _not_ be afraid; at least I will _try_ not to
+be. 'The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord
+is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?' But, oh! mammy,
+I must go now, and I feel as if I were saying farewell to you and
+this sweet home forever; as if I were never to live in these pretty
+rooms--never to see them again."
+
+"Hush! hush, darlin'! 'tain't never best to borrow trouble, an' I'se sure
+you'll come back one ob dese days," replied Chloe, forcing herself to
+speak cheerfully, though her heart ached as she looked into the soft,
+hazel eyes, all dimmed with tears, and marked how thin and pale the dear
+little face had grown.
+
+Elsie was passing around the room again, taking a farewell look at each
+picture and piece of furniture; then she stood a moment gazing out over
+the lawn, to the rolling sea beyond.
+
+She was murmuring something to herself, and Chloe started as her ear
+faintly caught the words: "In my Father's house are many mansions."
+
+"Mammy!" said the child, suddenly turning and taking her hand, "look
+yonder!" and she pointed with her finger. "Do you see that beautiful,
+tall tree that casts such a thick shade? I want to be buried right there,
+where papa can see my grave when he sits in here, and think that I am
+with him yet. When I am gone, mammy, you must tell him that I told you
+this. It would be so pleasant to be there--it is such a lovely spot, and
+the distant murmur of the sea seems like a lullaby to sing the weary one
+to rest." She added, dreamily, "I would like to lie down there now."
+
+"Why, what you talkin' 'bout, Miss Elsie? My chile musn't say such
+tings!" exclaimed Chloe in great alarm. "Your ole mammy 'spects to die
+long 'nough 'fore you do. You's berry young, an? 'tain't worth while to
+begin talkin' 'bout dyin' yet."
+
+Elsie smiled sadly.
+
+"But you know, mammy," she said, "that death often comes to the youngest.
+Mamma died young, and so may I. I am afraid it isn't right, but sometimes
+I am so sad and weary that I cannot help longing very much to die, and go
+to be with her and with Jesus; for they would always love me, and I
+should never be lonely any more. Oh! mammy, mammy, must we part?--shall
+I ever see you again?" she cried, throwing herself into her nurse's arms.
+
+"God bless an' keep you, darlin'!" Chloe said, folding her to her heart;
+"de good Lord take care ob my precious lamb, an' bring her back to her
+ole mammy again, 'fore long."
+
+Elsie shut herself into her own room on her return to Roselands, and was
+not seen again that day by any one but her maid, until just at dusk
+Adelaide rapped softly at her door.
+
+Elsie's voice, in a low, tremulous tone, answered, "Come in," and
+Adelaide entered.
+
+The little girl was just in the act of closing her writing-desk, and her
+aunt thought she had been weeping, but the light was so uncertain that
+she might have been mistaken.
+
+"My poor darling!" she said in low, pitiful accents, as, passing her arm
+around the child's waist, she drew her down to a seat beside herself upon
+the sofa.
+
+Elsie did not speak, but dropping her head upon Adelaide's shoulder,
+burst into tears.
+
+"My poor child! don't cry so; better days will come," said her aunt
+soothingly, running her fingers through Elsie's soft curls.
+
+"I know what has been the trial of to-day," she continued, still using
+the same gentle, caressing tone, "for I, too, had a letter from your
+papa, in which he told me what he had said to you. You have been to see
+your new home. I have seen it several times and think it very lovely, and
+some day I hope and expect you and your papa will be very happy there."
+
+Elsie shook her head sorrowfully.
+
+"Not _now_, I know," said Adelaide, "for I have no need to ask what your
+decision has been; but I am hoping and praying that God may work the same
+change in your father's views and feelings which has been lately wrought
+in mine; and then he will love you all the better for your steadfast
+determination to obey God rather than man."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Adelaide! will it _ever_ be?" sighed the poor child; "the time
+seems so very long! It is so dreadful to live without my papa's love!"
+
+"He does love you, Elsie, and I really think he suffers nearly as much
+as you do; but he thinks he is right in what he requires of you, and he
+is so very determined, and so anxious to make a gay, fashionable woman
+of you--cure you of those absurd, puritanical notions, as he expresses
+it--that I fear he will never relent until his heart is changed; but God
+is able to do that."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Adelaide!" said the little girl mournfully, "pray for me, that
+I may be enabled to wait patiently until that time shall come, and never
+permitted to indulge rebellious feelings towards papa."
+
+Adelaide kissed her softly. "Poor child!" she whispered, "it is a hard
+trial; but try, dearest, to remember who sends it."
+
+She was silent a moment; then said, reluctantly, "Elsie, your papa has
+entrusted me with a message to you, which I was to deliver after your
+visit to the Oaks, unless you had then come to the resolution to comply
+with his wishes, or rather, his commands."
+
+She paused, and Elsie, trembling, and almost holding her breath, asked
+fearfully, "What is it, Aunt Adelaide?"
+
+"Poor darling!" murmured Adelaide, clasping the little form more closely,
+and pressing her lips to the fair brow; "I wish I could save you from it.
+He says that if you continue obdurate, he has quite determined to send
+you to a convent to be educated."
+
+As Adelaide made this announcement, she pitied the child from the bottom
+of her heart; for she knew that much of Elsie's reading had been on the
+subject of Popery and Papal institutions; that she had pored over
+histories of the terrible tortures of the Inquisition and stories of
+martyrs and captive nuns, until she had imbibed an intense horror and
+dread of everything connected with that form of error and superstition.
+Yet, knowing all this, Adelaide was hardly prepared for the effect of
+her communication.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Adelaide!" almost shrieked the little girl, throwing her arms
+around her aunt's neck, and clinging to her, as if in mortal terror,
+"Save me! save me! Oh! tell papa I would rather he would kill me at once,
+than send me to such a place."
+
+And she wept and sobbed, and wrung her hands in such grief and terror,
+that Adelaide grew absolutely frightened.
+
+"They will not dare to hurt you, Elsie," she hastened to say.
+
+"Oh, they will! they will!--they will try to make me go to mass, and
+pray to the Virgin, and bow to the crucifixes; and when I refuse, they
+will put me in a dungeon and torture me."
+
+"Oh, no, child," replied Adelaide soothingly, "they will not _dare_ to do
+so to _you_, because you will not be a nun, but only a boarder, and your
+papa would be sure to find it all out."
+
+"No, no!" sobbed the little girl, "they will hide me from papa when he
+comes, and tell him that I want to take the veil, and refuse to see him;
+or else they will say that I am dead and buried. Oh, Aunt Adelaide, beg
+him not to put me there! I shall go crazy! I feel as if I were going
+crazy now!" and she put her hand to her head.
+
+"Poor, poor child!" said Adelaide, weeping. "I wish it was in my power to
+help you. I would once have advised you to submit to all your father
+requires. I cannot do that now, but I will return some of your lessons to
+me. It is God, my poor darling, who sends you this trial, and he will
+give you strength according to your day. _He_ will be with you, wherever
+you are, even should it be in a convent; for you know he says: '_I_ will
+_never_ leave thee, nor forsake thee;' and 'not a hair of your head shall
+fall to the ground without your Father.'"
+
+"Yes, I know! I know!" Elsie answered, again pressing her hands to her
+head; "but I cannot think, and everything seems so dreadful."
+
+Adelaide was much alarmed, for Elsie looked quite wild for a moment; but
+after staying with her for a considerable time, saying all she could to
+soothe and comfort her--reminding her that it would be some weeks ere the
+plan could be carried out, and that in that time something might occur to
+change her father's mind, she left her, though still in deep distress,
+apparently calm and composed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+"In vain she seeks to close her weary eyes,
+Those eyes still swim incessantly in tears--
+Hope in her cheerless bosom fading dies,
+Distracted by a thousand cruel fears,
+While banish'd from his love forever she appears."
+
+MRS. TIGHE'S PSYCHE.
+
+
+When thus alone the little Elsie fell upon her knees, weeping and
+sobbing. "Oh!" she groaned, "I cannot, _cannot_ bear it!"
+
+Then she thought of the agony in the garden, and that bitter cry,
+"Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me!" followed by the
+submissive prayer, "If this cup may not pass from me except I drink it,
+thy will, not mine be done."
+
+She opened her Bible and read of his sufferings, so meekly and patiently
+borne, without a single murmur or complaint; borne by One who was free
+from all stain of sin; born not for himself, but for others; sufferings
+to which her own were not for a moment to be compared; and then she
+prayed that she might bear the image of Jesus; that like him she might be
+enabled to yield a perfect submission to her heavenly Father's will, and
+to endure with patience and meekness whatever trial he might see fit to
+appoint her.
+
+Elsie was far from well, and for many long hours after she had sought
+her pillow she lay tossing restlessly from side to side in mental and
+physical pain, her temples throbbing, and her heart aching with its
+intense longing for the love that now seemed farther from her than ever.
+And thought--troubled, anxious, distracting thought--was busy in her
+brain; all the stories of martyrs and captive nuns which she had ever
+read--all the descriptions of the horrible tortures inflicted by Rome
+upon her wretched victims, came vividly to her recollection, and when at
+length she fell asleep, it was but to wake again, trembling with fright
+from a dream that she was in the dungeons of the Inquisition.
+
+Then again she slept, but only to dream of new horrors which seemed
+terribly real even when she awoke; and thus, between sleeping and waking,
+the hours dragged slowly along, until at last the day dawned, after what
+had seemed to the little girl the longest night she had ever known.
+
+Her maid came in at the usual hour, and was surprised and alarmed to find
+her young mistress still in bed, with cheeks burning and eyes sparkling
+with fever, and talking in a wild, incoherent manner.
+
+Rushing out of the room, Fanny hastened in search of Miss Adelaide, who,
+she had long since discovered, was the only one of the family that cared
+for Elsie; and in a few moments the young aunt was standing at the
+bedside, looking with tearful eyes at the little sufferer.
+
+"Oh, Miss Adelaide!" whispered the girl, "I tink she's _berry_ sick;
+shan't we send for de doctah?"
+
+"Yes, tell Jim to go for him _immediately_, and to stop on his way back
+and tell Aunt Chloe that she is wanted here just as soon as she can
+possibly come," replied Adelaide quickly, and then she set herself to
+work to make the child as comfortable as possible, remaining beside her
+until Chloe came to take her place, which was in less than an hour after
+she had received the summons, and just as the breakfast-bell rang at
+Roselands.
+
+"So Elsie has taken a fever, and there is no knowing what it is, or
+whether it is contagious or not," remarked Mrs. Dinsmore. "It is really
+fortunate that we were just going away for our summer trip. I shall take
+all the children now, and we will start this very day; what a good thing
+it is that Elsie has kept her room so constantly of late! Can you pack
+in time for the afternoon train, Adelaide?"
+
+"I shall not go now, mamma," replied Adelaide quietly.
+
+"Why not?" asked her mother in a tone of surprise.
+
+"Because I prefer to stay with Elsie."
+
+"What absurd folly!" exclaimed Mrs. Dinsmore. "Aunt Chloe will do
+everything that is necessary, and you don't know to what infection you
+may be exposing yourself."
+
+"I don't think there is any danger, mamma; and if Elsie should be very
+ill Aunt Chloe will need assistance; and I am not willing to leave
+Horace's child to the care of servants. Elsie has been a great comfort
+to me in my sorrow," she added, with tears in her eyes, "and I will not
+forsake her now; and you know, mamma, it is no self-denial, for I have
+no heart for gayety. I would _much_ rather stay."
+
+"Certainly; stay if you like," answered her father, speaking for the
+first time. "I do not imagine that Elsie's disease is contagious; she has
+doubtless worried herself sick, and it would not look well to the
+neighbors for us all to run away and leave the child so ill. Ah! there is
+the doctor, and we will have his opinion," he exclaimed, as through the
+half-open door he caught a glimpse of the family physician descending the
+stairs. "Ask him in to breakfast, Pomp. Good-morning, doctor! how do you
+find your patient?"
+
+"I think her quite a sick child, sir, though of the precise nature of her
+disease I am not yet able to form a decided opinion," replied the
+physician, accepting the offered seat at the table.
+
+"Is it anything contagious?" inquired Mrs. Dinsmore anxiously.
+
+"I cannot yet say certainly, madam, but I think not."
+
+"Shall we send for Horace? that is, would you advise it?" asked Mr.
+Dinsmore hesitatingly.
+
+"Oh, no," was the reply; "not until we have had more time to judge
+whether she is likely to be very ill; it may prove but a slight attack."
+
+"I shall write this very day," was Adelaide's mental resolve, though she
+said nothing.
+
+Mrs. Dinsmore hurried her preparations, and the middle of the afternoon
+found Adelaide and Elsie sole occupants of the house, with the exception
+of the servants. Adelaide watched the carriage as it rolled away, and
+then, with feelings of sadness and desolation, and a mind filled with
+anxious forebodings, returned to her station at Elsie's bedside.
+
+The child was tossing about, moaning, and talking incoherently, and
+Adelaide sighed deeply at the thought that this was perhaps but the
+beginning of a long and serious illness, while she was painfully
+conscious of her own inexperience and want of skill in nursing.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed half aloud, "if I only had some kind, experienced
+friend to advise and assist me, what a blessed relief it would be!"
+
+There was a sound of carriage-wheels on the gravel walk below, and
+hastily turning to Chloe, she said, "Go down and tell them I must be
+excused. I cannot see visitors while my little niece is so very ill."
+
+Chloe went, but returned almost immediately, followed by Mrs. Travilla.
+
+With a half-smothered exclamation of delight, Adelaide threw herself into
+the kind, motherly arms extended to receive her, and burst into tears.
+Mrs. Travilla let them have their way for a moment, while she stroked
+her hair caressingly, and murmured a few soothing words. Then she said,
+softly, "Edward called at the gate this morning, and learned all about
+it; and I knew you were but young, and would feel lonely and anxious, and
+I love the dear child as if she were my own, and so I have come to stay
+and help you nurse her, if you will let me."
+
+_"Let_ you! dear Mrs. Travilla; I can never repay your kindness."
+
+Mrs. Travilla only smiled, and pressed the hand she held; and then
+quietly laying aside her bonnet and shawl, took up her post at the
+bedside, with the air of one quite at home, and intending to be useful.
+
+"It is such an inexpressible relief to see you sitting there," whispered
+Adelaide. "You don't know what a load you have taken off my mind."
+
+But before Mrs. Travilla could reply, Elsie started up in the bed, with
+a wild outcry: "Oh, don't, papa! don't send me there! They will kill me!
+they will torture me! Oh, let me stay at home with you, and I will be
+very good."
+
+Mrs. Travilla spoke soothingly to her, and persuaded her to lie down
+again.
+
+Elsie looked at her quite rationally, and holding out her hand, with a
+faint smile, said: "Thank you, Mrs. Travilla; you are very kind to come
+to see me; I am very sick; my head hurts me so;" and she put her hand up
+to it, while again her eyes rolled wildly, and she shrieked out, "Oh,
+Aunt Adelaide! save me! save me! don't let them take me away to that
+dreadful place! Must I go now? to-day?" she asked in piteous accents.
+"Oh! I don't want to go!" and she clung shuddering to her aunt, who was
+bending over her, with eyes swimming in tears.
+
+"No, darling, no," she said, "no one shall take you away; nobody shall
+hurt you." Then in answer to Mrs. Travilla's inquiring look, she
+explained, speaking in an undertone: "He had decided to place her in a
+convent, to complete her education. I told her of it last night," she
+added mournfully, "as he requested, and I very much fear that the fright
+and terror she suffered on that account have helped to bring on this
+attack."
+
+"Poor, dear, precious lamb!" sighed Chloe, who stood at the foot of the
+bed, gazing sadly at her nursling, and wiping away tear after tear, as
+they chased each other down her sable cheek. "I wish Massa Horace could
+see her now. I'se sure he nebber say such cruel tings no more."
+
+"He ought surely to be here! You have sent for him, Adelaide?" Mrs.
+Travilla said inquiringly. "She is very ill, and it is of great
+importance that her mind should be set at rest, if indeed it _can_ be
+done at present."
+
+"I wrote this morning," Adelaide said, "and I shall write every day until
+he comes."
+
+Elsie caught the words, and turning with an eager look to her aunt, she
+again spoke quite rationally, "Are you writing to papa, Aunt Adelaide?"
+she asked. "Oh! _beg_ him to come home soon, _very_ soon; tell him I want
+to see him once more. Oh, Aunt Adelaide, he _will_ kiss me when I am
+dying, won't he? Oh, say you think he will."
+
+"I am _sure_ of it, darling," replied Adelaide soothingly, as she bent
+down and kissed the little feverish cheek; "but we are not going to let
+you die yet."
+
+"But will you ask papa? will you _beg_ him to come?" pleaded the little
+voice still more eagerly.
+
+"I will, I _have_, darling," replied the aunt; "and I doubt not that he
+will start for home immediately on receiving my letter."
+
+Day after day the fever raged in Elsie's veins, and when at length it was
+subdued, it left her very weak indeed; but the doctor pronounced her free
+from disease, and said she only needed good nursing and nutritious diet
+to restore her to health; and Mrs. Travilla and Chloe, who had watched
+day and night by her couch with intense anxiety, wept for joy and
+thankfulness that their precious one was yet spared to them.
+
+But alas! their hopes faded again, as day after day the little girl lay
+on her bed, weak and languid, making no progress toward recovery, but
+rather losing strength.
+
+The doctor shook his head with a disappointed air, and drawing Adelaide
+aside, said, "I cannot understand it, Miss Dinsmore; has she any mental
+trouble? She seems to me like one who has some weight of care or sorrow
+pressing upon her, and sapping the very springs of life. She appears to
+have no desire to recover; she needs something to rouse her, and revive
+her love of life. _Is_ there anything on her mind? If so, it must be
+removed, or she will certainly die."
+
+"She is very anxious to see her father," said Adelaide, weeping. "Oh,
+_how_ I wish he would come! I cannot imagine what keeps him. I have
+written again and again."
+
+"I wish he was here, indeed," replied the doctor, with a look of great
+anxiety. "Miss Adelaide," he suddenly exclaimed, "if she were ten years
+older I should say she was dying of a broken heart, but she is so young
+the idea is absurd."
+
+"You are right, doctor! it is nothing but that. Oh! how I wish Horace
+would come!" cried Adelaide, walking up and down the room, and wringing
+her hands. "Do you notice, doctor," she asked, stopping before him, "how
+she watches the opening of the door, and starts and trembles at every
+sound? It is killing her, for she is too weak to bear it. Oh! If Horace
+would only come, and set her mind at rest! He has been displeased with
+her, and threatened to send her to a convent, of which she has a great
+horror and dread--and she idolizes him; and so his anger and his threats
+have had this sad effect upon her, poor child!"
+
+"Write again, Miss Adelaide, and tell him that her _life_ depends upon
+his speedy return and a reconciliation with him. If he would not lose
+her he must at _once_ relieve her of every fear and anxiety," said the
+physician, taking up his hat. "_That_ is the medicine she needs, and the
+_only_ one that will do her much good. Good-morning. I will be in again
+at noon."
+
+And Adelaide, scarcely waiting to see him off, rushed away to her room to
+write to her brother exactly what he had told her, beseeching him, if he
+had any love for his child, to return immediately. The paper was all
+blistered with her tears, for they fell so fast it was with difficulty
+she could see to write.
+
+"_She_ has spoken from the first as though it were a settled thing that
+this sickness was to be her last; and now a great, a terrible dread is
+coming over me that she is right. Oh, Horace, will you not come and
+save her?"
+
+Thus Adelaide closed her note; then sealing and despatching it, she
+returned to the bedside of her little niece.
+
+Elsie lay quietly with her eyes closed, but there was an expression of
+pain upon her features. Mrs. Travilla sat beside her, holding one little
+hand in hers, and gazing with tearful eyes upon the little wan face she
+had learned to love so well.
+
+Presently those beautiful eyes unclosed, and turned upon her with an
+expression of anguish that touched her to the very heart.
+
+"What is it, darling--are you in pain?" she asked, leaning over her, and
+speaking in tones of the tenderest solicitude.
+
+"Oh! Mrs. Travilla," moaned the little girl, "my sins--my sins--they are
+so many--so black. 'Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.' God says
+it; and I--I am _not_ holy--I am _vile_--oh, _so_ vile, so sinful! Shall
+I ever see his face? how can I dare to venture into his presence!"
+
+She spoke slowly, gaspingly--her voice sometimes sinking almost to a
+whisper; so that, but for the death-like stillness of the room, her words
+would scarcely have been audible.
+
+Mrs. Travilla's tears were falling very fast, and it was a moment ere she
+could command her voice to reply.
+
+"My precious, _precious_ child," she said, "_He_ is able to save to the
+_uttermost_. 'The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from _all_ sin.' He
+will wash you in that precious fountain opened for sin, and for all
+uncleanness. He will clothe you with the robe of his own righteousness,
+and present you faultless before the throne of God, without spot or
+wrinkle, or any such thing. _He_ has said it, and shall it not come
+to pass, my darling? Yes, dear child, I am confident of this very thing,
+that he who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day
+of Jesus Christ."
+
+"Oh, yes, he will, I know he will. Precious Jesus! _my_ Saviour,"
+murmured the little one, a smile of heavenly peace and joy overspreading
+her features; and, closing: her eyes, she seemed to sleep, while
+Adelaide, unable longer to control her feelings, stole softly from
+the room, to seek a place where she might weep without restraint.
+
+An hour later Adelaide sat alone by the bedside, Mrs. Travilla having
+found it necessary to return to Ion for a few hours, while Chloe had gone
+down to the kitchen to see to the preparation of some new delicacy with
+which she hoped to tempt Elsie's failing appetite.
+
+Adelaide had been sitting for some moments gazing sadly at the little
+pale, thin face, so fair, so sad, yet so full of meekness and
+resignation. Her eyes filled as she looked, and thought of all
+that they feared.
+
+"Elsie, darling! precious little one," she murmured in low, tremulous
+tones, as she leant over the child in tender solicitude.
+
+"Dear Aunt Adelaide, how kind you are to me," said the little girl,
+opening her eyes and looking up lovingly into her aunt's face.
+
+There was a sound of carriage-wheels.
+
+"Is it my papa?" asked Elsie, starting and trembling.
+
+Adelaide sprang to the window. No, it was only a kind neighbor, come to
+inquire how the invalid was.
+
+A look of keen disappointment passed over the expressive countenance of
+the little girl--the white lids drooped over the soft eyes, and large
+tears stole from beneath the long dark lashes, and rolled silently
+down her cheeks.
+
+"He will not come in time," she whispered, as if talking to herself. "Oh,
+papa, I want to hear you say you forgive all my naughtiness. I want one
+kiss before I go. Oh, take me in your arms, papa, and press me to your
+heart, and say you love me yet!"
+
+Adelaide could bear it no longer; the mournful, pleading tones went to
+her very heart. "Dear, _dear_ child," she cried, bending over her with
+streaming eyes, "he _does_ love you! I _know_ it. _You_ are the very idol
+of his heart; and you must not die. Oh, darling, live for his sake, and
+for mine. He will soon, be here, and then it will be all right; he will
+be so thankful that he has not lost you, that he will never allow you to
+be separated from him again."
+
+"No, oh, no! he said he did not love a rebellious child," she sobbed; "he
+said he would never kiss me again until I submit; and you know I cannot
+do that; and oh, Aunt Adelaide, _he never breaks his word_!"
+
+"Oh, Horace! Horace! will you _never_ come? will you let her die? so
+young, so sweet, so fair!" wept Adelaide, wringing her hands.
+
+But Elsie was speaking again, and she controlled herself to listen.
+
+"Aunt Adelaide," she murmured, in low, feeble tones, "I am too weak to
+hold a pen; will you write something for me?"
+
+"I will, darling; I will do anything I can for you," she replied.
+
+Then turning to the maid, who had just entered the room: "Fanny," she
+said, "bring Miss Elsie's writing-desk here, and set it close to the
+bedside. Now you may take that waiter down-stairs, and you need not
+come in again until I ring for you."
+
+Elsie had started and turned her head on the opening of the door, as she
+invariably did, looking longingly, eagerly toward it--then turned away
+again with a sigh of disappointment.
+
+"Poor papa! poor, dear papa!" she murmured to herself; "he will be so
+lonely without his little daughter. My heart aches for you, my own papa."
+
+"I am quite ready now, Elsie, dear. What do you wish me to write?" asked
+her aunt.
+
+"Aunt Adelaide," said the little girl, looking earnestly at her, "do you
+know how much mamma was worth? how much money I would have if I lived
+to grow up?"
+
+"No, dear," she replied, much surprised at the question, for even in
+health Elsie had never seemed to care for riches; "I cannot say exactly,
+but I know it is a great many thousands."
+
+"And it will all be papa's when I am gone, I suppose. I am glad of that.
+But I would like to give some of it away, if I might. I know I have no
+_right_, because I am so young--papa has told me that several times--but
+I think he will like to do what I wish with a part of it; don't you think
+so, too, Aunt Adelaide?"
+
+Adelaide nodded assent; she dared not trust herself to speak, for she
+began to comprehend that it was neither more nor less than the last will
+and testament of her little niece, which she was requesting her to write.
+
+"Well, then, Aunt Adelaide," said the feeble little voice, "please write
+down that I want my dear papa to support one missionary to the heathen
+out of my money. Now say that I know he will take care of my poor old
+mammy as long as she lives, and I hope that, for his little Elsie's sake,
+he will be very, _very_ kind to her, and give her everything she wants.
+And I want him to do something for Mrs. Murray, too. Mamma loved her, and
+so do I; for she was very kind to me always, and taught me about Jesus;
+and so I want papa to give her a certain sum every year; enough to keep
+her quite comfortable, for she is getting old, and I am afraid she is
+very poor."
+
+"I have written all that, Elsie; is there anything more?" asked Adelaide,
+scarcely able to command her voice.
+
+"Yes, if you please," replied the little girl; and she went on to
+name every member of the family, from her grandfather down--servants
+included--setting apart some little gift for each; most of them things
+already in her possession, though some few were to be bought, if her
+papa was willing. Even Miss Day was not forgotten, and to her Elsie
+bequeathed a valuable ring. To her Aunt Adelaide she gave her papa's
+miniature, a lock of her own hair, and a small Testament.
+
+"Are you really willing to part with your papa's picture, Elsie, dear?"
+asked Adelaide. "I thought you valued it very highly."
+
+"I cannot take it with me, dear Aunt Adelaide," was the quiet reply, "and
+he will not want it himself, and I believe you love him better than any
+one else. Oh, Aunt Adelaide, comfort my poor papa when I am gone, and he
+is left _all alone_!" she exclaimed, the big tears chasing each other
+down her cheeks. "It is so sad to be alone, with nobody to love you; my
+poor, poor papa! I am all he has."
+
+"You have given nothing to him, Elsie," said Adelaide, wiping away her
+tears, and glancing over what she had just written.
+
+"Yes, there is a little packet in my desk directed to him. Please give
+him that, and my dear, precious little Bible. I can't part with it yet,
+but when I am gone."
+
+She then mentioned that she had pointed out to her nurse the spot where
+she wished to be buried, and added that she did not want any monument,
+but just a plain white stone with her name and age, and a text of
+Scripture.
+
+"That is all, and thank you very much, dear auntie," she said, when
+Adelaide had finished writing down her directions; "now, please put the
+pen in my fingers and hold the paper here, and I think I can sign my
+name."
+
+She did so quite legibly, although her hand trembled with weakness; and
+then, at her request, the paper was folded, sealed, and placed in her
+desk, to be given after her death to her father, along with the packet.
+
+It was evidently a great relief to Elsie to get these things off her
+mind, yet talking so long had exhausted all her little strength, and
+Adelaide, much alarmed at the death-like pallor of her countenance,
+and the sinking of her voice, now insisted that she should lie quiet and
+try to sleep.
+
+Elsie made an effort to obey, but her fever was returning, and she was
+growing very restless again.
+
+"I cannot, Aunt Adelaide," she said at length, "and I want to tell you a
+little more to say to papa, for I may not be able again. I am afraid he
+will not come until I am gone, and he will be so sorry; my poor, poor
+papa! Tell him that I loved him to the very last; that I longed to ask
+him to forgive me for all the naughty, rebellious feelings I have ever
+had towards him. Twice, since he has been displeased with me, I have
+rebelled in my heart--once when he refused to give me Miss Allison's
+letter, and again when he sent mammy away; it was only for a few moments
+each time; but it was very wicked, and I am very sorry."
+
+Sobs choked her utterance.
+
+"Poor darling!" said Adelaide, crying bitterly. "I don't think an angel
+could have borne it better, and I know he will reproach himself for his
+cruelty to you."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Adelaide, _don't_ say that; don't _let_ him reproach himself,
+but say all you can to comfort him. I am his child--he had a right--and
+he only wanted to make me good--and I needed it all, or God would not
+have permitted it."
+
+"Oh, Elsie, darling, I _cannot_ give you up! you _must not_ die!" sobbed
+Adelaide, bending over her, her tears falling fast on Elsie's bright
+curls. "It is too hard to see you die so young, and with so much to live
+for."
+
+"It is very _sweet_ to go home so soon," murmured the soft, low voice of
+the little one, "so sweet to go and live with Jesus, and be free from sin
+forever!"
+
+Adelaide made no reply, and for a moment her bitter sobbing was the only
+sound that broke the stillness of the room.
+
+"Don't cry so, dear auntie," Elsie said faintly. "I am very happy--only
+I want to see my father." She added something incoherently, and Adelaide
+perceived, with excessive alarm, that her mind was again beginning to
+wander.
+
+She hastily summoned a servant and despatched a message to the physician,
+urging him to come immediately, as there was an alarming change in his
+patient.
+
+Never in all her life had Adelaide suffered such anxiety and distress as
+during the next half-hour, which she and the faithful Chloe spent by the
+bedside, watching the restless tossings of the little sufferer, whose
+fever and delirium seemed to increase every moment. Jim had not been able
+to find the doctor, and Mrs. Travilla was staying away longer than she
+had intended.
+
+But at length she came, and, though evidently grieved and concerned at
+the change in Elsie, her quiet, collected manner calmed and soothed
+Adelaide.
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Travilla," she whispered, "do you think she will die?"
+
+"We will not give up hope yet, my dear," replied the old lady, trying to
+speak cheerfully; "but my greatest comfort, just at present, is the sure
+knowledge that she is prepared for any event. No one can doubt that she
+is a lamb of the Saviour's fold, and if he is about to gather her into
+his bosom--" She paused, overcome by emotion, then added in a tremulous
+tone, "It will be a sad thing to _us_, no doubt, but to her--dear little
+one--a blessed, _blessed_ change."
+
+"I cannot bear the thought," sobbed Adelaide, "but I have scarcely any
+hope now, because--" and then she told Mrs. Travilla what they had been
+doing in her absence.
+
+"Don't let that discourage you, my dear," replied her friend soothingly.
+"I have no faith in presentiments, and while there is life there is
+hope."
+
+Dr. Barton, the physician, came in at that moment, looked at his young
+patient, felt her pulse, and shook his head sorrowfully.
+
+Adelaide watched his face with the deepest anxiety.
+
+He passed his hand over Elsie's beautiful curls.
+
+"It seems a sad pity," he remarked in a low tone to her aunt, "but they
+will have to be sacrificed; they must be cut off immediately, and her
+head shaved."
+
+Adelaide shuddered and trembled. "Is there any hope, doctor?" she
+faltered almost under her breath.
+
+"There is _life_ yet, Miss Adelaide," he said, "and we must use all the
+means within our reach; but I wish her father was here. Have you heard
+nothing yet?"
+
+"No, nothing, nothing!" she answered, in a tone of keen distress; then
+hastily left the room to give the necessary orders for carrying out the
+doctor's directions.
+
+"No, no, you must not! Papa will not allow it--he will be very angry--he
+will punish me if you cut off my curls!" and Elsie's little hand was
+raised in a feeble attempt to push away the remorseless scissors that
+were severing the bright locks from her head.
+
+"No, darling, he will not be displeased, because it is quite necessary to
+make you well." said Mrs. Travilla in her gentle, soothing tones; "and
+your papa would bid us do it, if he were here."
+
+"No, no, don't cut it off. I _will_ not, I _cannot_ be a nun! Oh, papa,
+save me! save me!" she shrieked.
+
+"Dear child, you are safe at home, with none but friends around you."
+
+It was Mrs. Travilla's gentle voice again, and for a moment the child
+seemed calmed; but only for a moment; another wild fancy possessed her
+brain, and she cried out wildly, "Don't! don't!--take it away! I will not
+bow down to images! No, no, I will not." Then, with a bitter, wailing
+cry, that went to the heart of every one who heard it: "Oh, papa, don't
+be angry! I will be good! Oh, I am all alone, nobody to love me."
+
+"Elsie, darling, we are all here, and we love you dearly, _dearly_," said
+Adelaide in quivering tones, while her scalding tears fell like rain upon
+the little hand she had taken in hers.
+
+"My papa--I want my papa; but he said he would never kiss me till I
+submit;" the tone was low and plaintive, and the large mournful eyes were
+fixed upon Adelaide's face.
+
+Then suddenly her gaze was directed upward, a bright smile overspread
+her features, and she exclaimed in joyous accents, "Yes, mamma, yes; I
+am coming! I will go with you!"
+
+Adelaide turned away and went weeping from the room, unable to bear any
+more.
+
+"Oh, Horace! Horace, what have you done!" she sobbed, as she walked up
+and down the hall, wringing her hands.
+
+The doctor came out, but she was too much absorbed in her grief to notice
+him. He went to her, however, and took her hand.
+
+"Miss Adelaide," he said kindly, "it is true your little niece is very
+ill, but we will not give up all hope yet. It is possible her father's
+presence may do something, and surely he will be here ere long. But try
+to calm yourself, my dear young lady, and hope for the best, or I fear I
+shall have another patient on my hands. I will stay with the little girl
+myself to-night, and I wish I could prevail upon you to lie down and take
+some rest, for I see you need it sadly. Have you had your tea?"
+
+Adelaide shook her head. "I _could_ not eat," she said sadly.
+
+"You ought at least to _try_; it would do you good," he urged.
+
+"No, you will not? well, then, you will lie down; indeed, you must; you
+will certainly be ill."
+
+Adelaide looked the question she dared not ask.
+
+"No," he said, "there's no _immediate_ danger, and if there should be any
+important change I will call you."
+
+And, reassured on that point, she yielded to his persuasions and went to
+bed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+                                  "I drink
+So deep of grief, that he must only think,
+Not dare to speak, that would express my woe:
+Small rivers murmur, deep gulfs silent flow."
+
+MARSTON'S SOPHONIESA.
+
+
+It was no want of love for his child that had kept Mr. Dinsmore from at
+once obeying Adelaide's summons. He had left the place where she supposed
+him to be, and thus it happened that her letters did not reach him nearly
+so soon as she had expected.
+
+But when at length they were put into his hands, and he read of Elsie's
+entreaty that he would come to her, and saw by the date how long she had
+been ill, his distress and alarm were most excessive, and within an hour
+he had set out on his return, travelling night and day with the greatest
+possible despatch.
+
+Strangers wondered at the young, fine-looking man, who seemed in such
+desperate haste to reach the end of his journey--sat half the time with
+his watch in his hand, and looked so despairingly wretched whenever the
+train stopped for a moment.
+
+Elsie was indeed, as Adelaide had said, the very idol of his heart;
+and at times he suffered but little less than she did; but his will was
+stronger even than his love, and he had fondly hoped that this separation
+from him would produce the change in her which he so much desired; and
+had thus far persuaded himself that he was only using the legitimate
+authority of a parent, and therefore acting quite right; and, in fact,
+with the truest kindness, because, as he reasoned, she would be happier
+all her life if once relieved from the supposed necessity of conforming
+to rules so strict and unbending. But suddenly his eyes seemed to have
+been opened to see his conduct in a new light, and he called himself a
+brute, a monster, a cruel persecutor, and longed to annihilate time and
+space, that he might clasp his child in his arms, tell her how dearly he
+loved her, and assure her that never again would he require her to do
+aught against her conscience.
+
+Again and again he took out his sister's letters and read and re-read
+them, vainly trying to assure himself that there was no danger; that she
+_could_ not be so very ill. "She is so young," he said to himself, "and
+has always been healthy, it _cannot_ be that she will die." He started
+and shuddered at the word. "Oh, no! it is impossible!" he mentally
+exclaimed. "God is too merciful to send me so terrible an affliction."
+
+He had not received Adelaide's last, and was therefore quite unprepared
+to find his child so near the borders of the grave.
+
+It was early on the morning of the day after her fearful relapse, that a
+carriage drove rapidly up the avenue, and Horace Dinsmore looked from its
+window, half expecting to see again the little graceful figure that had
+been wont to stand upon the steps of the portico, ready to greet his
+arrival with such outgushings of joy and love.
+
+But, "Pshaw!" he exclaimed to himself, "of course she is not yet able to
+leave her room; but my return will soon set her up again--the darling! My
+poor little pet!" he added, with a sigh, as memory brought her vividly
+before him as he had last seen her, and recalled her sorrowful, pleading
+looks and words; "my poor darling, you shall have all the love and
+caresses now that your heart can desire." And he sprang out, glancing up
+at the windows above, to see if she were not looking down at him; but she
+was not to be seen; yet it did not strike him as strange that all the
+shutters were closed, since it was the east side of the house, and a warm
+summer's sun was shining full upon them.
+
+A servant met him at the door, looking grave and sad, but Mr. Dinsmore
+waited not to ask any questions, and merely giving the man a nod,
+sprang up the stairs, and hurried to his daughter's room, all dusty
+and travel-stained as he was.
+
+He heard her laugh as he reached the door. "Ah! she must be a great deal
+better; she will soon be quite well again, now that I have come," he
+murmured to himself, with a smile, as he pushed it open.
+
+But alas! what a sight met his eye. The doctor, Mrs. Travilla, Adelaide,
+and Chloe, all grouped about the bed, where lay his little daughter,
+tossing about and raving in the wildest delirium; now shrieking with
+fear, now laughing an unnatural, hysterical laugh, and so changed that
+no one could have recognized her; the little face so thin, the beautiful
+hair of which he had been so proud all gone, the eyes sunken deep in
+her head, and their soft light changed to the glare of insanity. Could it
+be Elsie, his own beautiful little Elsie? He could scarcely believe it,
+and a sickening feeling of horror and remorse crept over him.
+
+No one seemed aware of his entrance, for all eyes were fixed upon the
+little sufferer. But as he drew near the bed, with a heart too full for
+speech, Elsie's eye fell upon him, and with a wild shriek of mortal
+terror, she clung to her aunt, crying out, "Oh, save me! save me! he's
+coming to take me away to the Inquisition! Go away! go away!" and she
+looked at him with a countenance so full of fear and horror, that the
+doctor hastily took him by the arm to lead him away.
+
+But Mr. Dinsmore resisted.
+
+"Elsie! my daughter! it is I! your own father, who loves you dearly!" he
+said in tones of the keenest anguish, as he bent over her, and tried to
+take her hand. But she snatched it away, and clung to her aunt again,
+hiding her face, and shuddering with fear.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore groaned aloud, and no longer resisted the physician's
+efforts to lead him from the room. "It is the delirium of _fever_," Dr.
+Barton said, in answer to the father's agonized look of inquiry; "she
+will recover her reason--if she lives."
+
+The last words were added in a lower, quicker tone.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore covered his face, and uttered a groan of agony.
+
+"Doctor, is there _no_ hope?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.
+
+"Do you wish me to tell you precisely what I think?" asked the physician.
+
+"I do! I do! let me know the worst!" was the quick, passionate rejoinder.
+
+"Then, Mr. Dinsmore, I will be frank with you. Had you returned one week
+ago, I think she _might_ have been saved; _possibly_, even had you been
+here yesterday morning, while she was still in possession of her reason;
+but now, I see not one ray of hope. I never knew one so low to recover."
+
+He started, as Mr. Dinsmore raised his face again, so pale, so haggard,
+so grief-stricken had it become in that one moment.
+
+"Doctor," he said in a hollow, broken voice, "save my child, and you may
+take all I am worth. I cannot live without her."
+
+"I will do all I can," replied the physician in a tone of deep
+compassion, "but the Great Physician alone can save her. We must look
+to him."
+
+"Doctor," said Mr. Dinsmore hoarsely, "if that child dies, I must go to
+my grave with the brand of Cain upon me, for I have killed her by my
+cruelty; and oh! doctor, she is the very light of my eyes--the joy of
+my heart! How _can_ I give her up? Save her, doctor, and you will be
+entitled to my everlasting gratitude."
+
+"Surely, my dear sir, you are reproaching yourself unjustly," said the
+physician soothingly, replying to the first part of Mr. Dinsmore's
+remark. "I have heard you spoken of as a very fond father, and have
+formed the same opinion from my own observation, and your little girl's
+evident affection for you."
+
+"And I _was_, but in _one_ respect. I insisted upon obedience, even when
+my commands came in collision with her conscientious scruples; and she
+was firm; she had the spirit of a martyr--and I was very severe in my
+efforts to subdue what I called wilfulness and obstinacy," said the
+distracted father in a voice often, scarcely audible from emotion. "I
+thought I was right, but now I see that I was fearfully wrong."
+
+"There is _life_ yet, Mr. Dinsmore," remarked the doctor compassionately;
+"and though human skill can do no more, he who raised the dead child of
+the ruler of the synagogue, and restored the son of the widow of Nain to
+her arms, can give back your child to your embrace; let me entreat you to
+go to _him_, my dear sir. And now I must return to my patient. I fear it
+will be necessary for you to keep out of sight until there is some
+change, as your presence seems to excite her so much. But do not let that
+distress you," he added kindly, as he noticed an expression of the
+keenest anguish sweep over Mr. Dinsmore's features; "it is a common thing
+in such cases for them to turn away from the very one they love best when
+in health."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore replied only by a convulsive grasp of the friendly hand
+held out to him, and hurrying away to his own apartments, shut himself
+up there to give way to his bitter grief and remorse where no human eye
+could see him.
+
+For hours he paced backward and forward, weeping and groaning in such
+mental agony as he had never known before.
+
+His usual fastidious neatness in person and dress was entirely forgotten,
+and it never once occurred to his recollection that he had been
+travelling for several days and nights in succession, through heat and
+dust, without making any change in his clothing. And he was equally
+unconscious that he had passed many hours without tasting any food.
+
+The breakfast-bell rang, but he paid no heed to the summons. Then John,
+his faithful servant, knocked at his door, but was refused admittance,
+and went sorrowfully back to the kitchen with the waiter of tempting
+viands he had so carefully prepared, hoping to induce his master to eat.
+
+But Horace Dinsmore could not stay away from his child while she yet
+lived; and though he might not watch by her bed of suffering, nor clasp
+her little form in his arms, as he longed to do, he must be where he
+could hear the sound of that voice, so soon, alas! to be hushed in death.
+
+He entered the room noiselessly, and took his station in a distant
+corner, where she could not possibly see him.
+
+She was moaning, as if in pain, and the sound went to his very heart.
+Sinking down upon a seat, he bowed his head upon his hands, and struggled
+to suppress his emotion, increased tenfold by the words which the next
+instant fell upon his ear, spoken in his little daughter's own sweet
+voice.
+
+"Yes, mamma; yes," she said, "I am coming! Take me to Jesus."
+
+Then, in a pitiful, wailing tone, "I'm _all alone_! There's nobody to
+love me. Oh, papa, kiss me just once! I will be good; but I must love
+Jesus best, and obey him always."
+
+He rose hastily, as if to go to her, but the doctor shook his head, and
+he sank into his seat again with a deep groan.
+
+"Oh, papa!" she shrieked, as if in mortal terror, "don't send me there!
+they will kill me! Oh, papa, have mercy on your own little daughter!"
+
+It was only by the strongest effort of his will that he could keep his
+seat.
+
+But Adelaide was speaking soothingly to her.
+
+"Darling," she said, "your papa loves you; he will not send you away."
+
+And Elsie answered, in her natural tone, "But I'm going to mamma. Dear
+Aunt Adelaide, comfort my poor papa when I am gone."
+
+Her father started, and trembled between hope and fear. Surely she was
+talking rationally now; but ah! those ominous words! Was she indeed about
+to leave him, and go to her mother?
+
+But she was speaking again in trembling, tearful tones: "He wouldn't kiss
+me! he said he never would till I submit; and oh! he never breaks his
+word. Oh! papa, papa, will you _never_ love me any more? I love _you_ so
+_very_ dearly. You'll kiss me when I'm dying, papa dear, won't you?"
+
+Mr. Dinsmore could bear no more, but starting up he would have approached
+the bed, but a warning gesture from the physician prevented him, and he
+hurried from the room.
+
+He met Travilla in the hall.
+
+Neither spoke, but Edward wrung his friend's hand convulsively, then
+hastily turned away to hide his emotion, while Mr. Dinsmore hurried to
+his room, and locked himself in.
+
+He did not come down to dinner, and Adelaide, hearing from the anxious
+John how long he had been without food, began to feel seriously alarmed
+on his account, and carried up a biscuit and a cup of coffee with her
+own hands.
+
+He opened the door at her earnest solicitation, but only shook his head
+mournfully, saying that he had no desire for food. She urged him, even
+with tears in her eyes, but all in vain; he replied that "he could not
+eat; it was impossible."
+
+Adelaide had at first felt inclined to reproach him bitterly for his
+long delay in returning home, but he looked so very wretched, so utterly
+crushed by the weight of this great sorrow, that she had not the heart to
+say one reproachful word, but on the contrary longed to comfort him.
+
+He begged her to sit down and give him a few moments' conversation. He
+told her why he had been so long in answering her summons, and how he
+had travelled night and day since receiving it; and then he questioned
+her closely about the whole course of Elsie's sickness--every change in
+her condition, from first to last--all that had been done for her--and
+all that she had said and done.
+
+Adelaide told him everything; dwelling particularly on the child's
+restless longing for him, her earnest desire to receive his forgiveness
+and caress before she died, and her entreaties to her to comfort her
+"dear papa" when she was gone. She told him, too, of her last will and
+testament, and of the little package which was, after her death, to be
+given to him, along with her dearly loved Bible.
+
+He was deeply moved during this recital, sometimes sitting with his head
+bowed down, hiding his face in his hands; at others, rising and pacing
+the floor, his breast heaving with emotion, and a groan of anguish ever
+and anon bursting from his overburdened heart, in spite of the mighty
+effort he was evidently making to control himself.
+
+But at last she was done; she had told him all that there was to tell,
+and for a few moments both sat silent, Adelaide weeping quietly, and he
+striving in vain to be calm.
+
+At length he said, in a husky tone, "Sister Adelaide, I can never thank
+you as you deserve for your kindness to her--my precious child."
+
+"Oh, brother!" replied Adelaide, sobbing, "I owe her a debt of gratitude
+I can never pay. She has been all my comfort in my great sorrow; she has
+taught me the way to heaven, and now she is going before." Then, with a
+burst of uncontrollable grief, she exclaimed: "Oh, Elsie! Elsie! darling
+child! how _can_ I give you up?"
+
+Mr. Dinsmore hid his face, and his whole frame shook with emotion.
+
+"My punishment is greater than I can bear!" he exclaimed in a voice
+choked with grief. "Adelaide, do you not despise and hate me for my
+cruelty to that angel-child?"
+
+"My poor brother, I am very sorry for you," she replied, laying her hand
+on his arm, while the tears trembled in her eyes.
+
+There was a light tap at the door. It was Doctor Barton. "Mr. Dinsmore,"
+he said, "she is begging so piteously for her papa that, perhaps, it
+would be well for you to show yourself again; it is just possible she
+may recognize you"
+
+Mr. Dinsmore waited for no second bidding, but following the physician
+with eager haste, was the next moment at the bedside.
+
+The little girl was moving restlessly about, moaning, "Oh! papa, papa,
+will you never come?"
+
+"I am here, darling," he replied in tones of the tenderest affection. "I
+_have_ come back to my little girl"
+
+She turned her head to look at him. "No, no," she said, "I want my papa."
+
+"My darling, do you not know me?" he asked in a voice quivering with
+emotion.
+
+"No, no, you shall not! I will never do it--_never_. Oh! make him go
+away," she shrieked, clinging to Mrs. Travilla, and glaring at him with a
+look of the wildest affright, "he has come to torture me because I won't
+pray to the Virgin."
+
+"It is quite useless," said the doctor, shaking his head sorrowfully;
+"she evidently does not know you."
+
+And the unhappy father turned away and left the room to shut himself up
+again alone with his agony and remorse.
+
+No one saw him again that night, and when the maid came to attend to his
+room in the morning, she was surprised and alarmed to find that the bed
+had not been touched.
+
+Mr. Travilla, who was keeping a sorrowful vigil in the room below, had he
+been questioned, could have told that there had been scarcely a cessation
+in the sound of the footsteps pacing to and fro over his head. It had
+been a night of anguish and heart-searching, such as Horace Dinsmore had
+never passed through before. For the first time he saw himself to be what
+he really was in the sight of God, a guilty, hell-deserving sinner--lost,
+ruined, and undone. He had never believed it before, and the prayers
+which he had occasionally offered up had been very much in the spirit of
+the Pharisee's, "God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are!"
+
+He had been blessed with a pious mother, who was early taken from him;
+yet not too early to have had some influence in forming the character of
+her son; and the faint but tender recollection of that mother's prayers
+and teachings had proved a safeguard to him in many an hour of
+temptation, and had kept him from falling into the open vices of some
+of his less scrupulous companions. But he had been very proud of his
+morality and his upright life, unstained by any dishonorable act. He had
+always thought of himself as quite deserving of the prosperity with which
+he had been blessed in the affairs of this world, and just as likely as
+any one to be happy in the next.
+
+The news of Elsie's illness had first opened his eyes to the enormity
+of his conduct in relation to her; and now, as he thought of her pure
+life, her constant anxiety to do right, her deep humility, her love to
+Jesus, and steadfast adherence to what she believed to be her duty, her
+martyr-like spirit in parting with everything she most esteemed and
+valued rather than be guilty of what seemed to others but a very slight
+infringement of the law of God--as he thought of all this, and contrasted
+it with his own worldly-mindedness and self-righteousness, his utter
+neglect of the Saviour, and determined efforts to make his child as
+worldly as himself, he shrank back appalled at the picture, and was
+constrained to cry out in bitterness of soul: "God be merciful to me, a
+sinner."
+
+It was the first _real_ prayer he had ever offered. He would fain have
+asked for the life of his child, but dared not; feeling that he had so
+utterly abused his trust that he richly deserved to have it taken from
+him. The very thought was agony; but he dared not ask to have it
+otherwise.
+
+He had given up all hope that she would be spared to him, but pleaded
+earnestly that one lucid interval might be granted her, in which he could
+tell her of his deep sorrow on account of his severity toward her, and
+ask her forgiveness.
+
+He did not go down to breakfast, but Adelaide again brought him some
+refreshment, and at length he yielded to her entreaties that he would try
+to eat a little.
+
+She set down the salver, and turned away to hide the tears she could not
+keep back. Her heart ached for him. She had never seen such a change in a
+few hours as had passed over him. He seemed to have grown ten years older
+in that one night--he was so pale and haggard--his eyes so sunken in his
+head, and there were deep, hard lines of suffering on his brow and around
+his mouth.
+
+His meal was soon concluded.
+
+"Adelaide, how is she?" he asked in a voice which he vainly endeavored to
+make calm and steady.
+
+"Much the same; there seems to be very little change," replied his
+sister, wiping away her tears. Then drawing Elsie's little Bible from her
+pocket, she put it into his hand, saying, "I thought it might help to
+comfort you, my poor brother;" and with a fresh burst of tears she
+hastily left the room and hurried to her own, to spend a few moments in
+pleading for him that this heavy affliction might be made the means of
+leading him to Christ.
+
+And he--ah! he could not at first trust himself even to look at the
+little volume that had been so constantly in his darling's hands, that
+it seemed almost a part of herself.
+
+He held it in a close, loving grasp, while his averted eyes were dim with
+unshed tears; but at length, passing his hand over them to clear away the
+blinding mist, he opened the little book and turned over its pages with
+trembling fingers, and a heart swelling with emotion.
+
+There were many texts marked with her pencil, and many pages blistered
+with her tears. Oh, what a pang that sight sent to her father's heart! In
+some parts these evidences of her frequent and sorrowful perusal were
+more numerous than in others. Many of the Psalms, the Lamentations of
+Jeremiah, and the books of Job and Isaiah, in the Old Testament, and St.
+John's gospel, and the latter part of Hebrews, in the New.
+
+Hour after hour he sat there reading that little book; at first
+interested in it only because of its association with her--his loved one;
+but at length beginning to feel the importance of its teachings and their
+adaptedness to his needs. As he read, his convictions deepened the
+inspired declaration that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord,"
+and the solemn warning, "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if
+they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not
+we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven," filled
+him with fear of the wrath to come; for well he remembered how all his
+life he had turned away from the Saviour of sinners, despising that blood
+of sprinkling, and rejecting all the offers of mercy; and he trembled
+lest he should not escape.
+
+Several times during the day and evening he laid the book aside, and
+stole softly into Elsie's room to learn if there had been any change;
+but there was none, and at length, quite worn out with fatigue and
+sorrow--for he had been several nights without any rest--he threw himself
+down on a couch, and fell into a heavy slumber.
+
+About midnight Adelaide came and woke him to say that Elsie had become
+calm, the fever had left her, and she had fallen asleep.
+
+"The doctor," she added, "says this is the crisis, and he begins to have
+a _little_ hope--very faint, indeed, but still a _hope_--that she may
+awake refreshed from this slumber; yet it might be--he is fearful it
+is--only the precursor of death."
+
+The last word was almost inaudible.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore trembled with excitement.
+
+"I will go to her," he said in an agitated tone. "She will not know of
+my presence, now that she is sleeping, and I may at least have the sad
+satisfaction of looking at her dear little face."
+
+But Adelaide shook her head.
+
+"No, no," she replied, "that will never do; for we know not at what
+moment she may awake, and the agitation she would probably feel at the
+sight of you would be almost certain to prove fatal. Had you not better
+remain here? and I will call you the moment she wakes."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore acquiesced with a deep sigh, and she went back to her post.
+
+Hour after hour they sat there--Mrs. Travilla, Adelaide, the doctor, and
+poor old Chloe--silent and still as statues, watching that quiet slumber,
+straining their ears to catch the faint sound of the gentle breathing--a
+sound so low that ever and anon their hearts thrilled with the sudden
+fear that it had ceased forever; and one or another, rising noiselessly,
+would bend over the little form in speechless alarm, until again they
+caught the low, fitful sound.
+
+The first faint streak of dawn was beginning in the eastern sky when
+the doctor, who had been bending over her for several minutes, suddenly
+laid his finger on her pulse for an instant; then turned to his
+fellow-watchers with a look that there was no mistaking.
+
+There was weeping and wailing then in that room, where death-like
+stillness had reigned so long.
+
+"Precious, precious child! dear lamb safely gathered into the Saviour's
+fold," said Mrs. Travilla in quivering tones, as she gently laid her hand
+upon the closed eyes, and straightened the limbs as tenderly as though it
+had been a living, breathing form.
+
+"Oh, Elsie! Elsie! dear, _dear_ little Elsie!" cried Adelaide, flinging
+herself upon the bed, and pressing her lips to the cold cheek. "I have
+only just learned to know your value, and now you are taken from me.
+Oh! Elsie, darling, precious one; oh! that I had sooner learned your
+worth! that I had done more to make your short life happy!"
+
+Chloe was sobbing at the foot of the bed, "Oh! my child! my child! Oh!
+now dis ole heart will break for sure!" while the kind-hearted physician
+stood wiping his eyes and sighing deeply.
+
+"Her poor father!" exclaimed Mrs. Travilla at length.
+
+"Yes, yes, I will go to him," said Adelaide quickly. "I promised to call
+him the moment she waked, and _now_--oh, _now_, I must tell him she will
+never wake again."
+
+"No!" replied Mrs. Travilla, "rather tell him that she has waked in
+heaven, and is even now singing the song of the redeemed."
+
+Adelaide turned to Elsie's writing-desk, and taking from it the packet
+which the child had directed to be given to her father as soon as she was
+gone, she carried it to him.
+
+Her low knock was instantly followed by the opening of the door, for he
+had been awaiting her coming in torturing suspense.
+
+She could not look at him, but hastily thrusting the packet into his
+hand, turned weeping away.
+
+He well understood the meaning of her silence and her tears, and with a
+groan of anguish that Adelaide never could forget, he shut and locked
+himself in again; while she hurried to her room to indulge her grief in
+solitude, leaving Mrs. Travilla and Chloe to attend to the last sad
+offices of love to the dear remains of the little departed one.
+
+The news had quickly spread through the house, and sobs and bitter
+weeping were heard in every part of it; for Elsie had been dearly loved
+by all.
+
+Chloe was assisting Mrs. Travilla.
+
+Suddenly the lady paused in her work, saying, in an agitated tone,
+"Quick! quick! Aunt Chloe, throw open that shutter wide. I thought I felt
+a little warmth about the heart, and--yes! yes! I was not mistaken; there
+_is_ a slight quivering of the eyelid. Go, Chloe! call the doctor! she
+may live yet!"
+
+The doctor was only in the room below, and in a moment was at the
+bedside, doing all that could be done to fan into a flame that little
+spark of life.
+
+And they were successful. In a few moments those eyes, which they had
+thought closed forever to all the beauties of earth, opened again, and
+a faint, weak voice asked for water.
+
+The doctor was obliged to banish Chloe from the room, lest the noisy
+manifestation of her joy should injure her nursling, yet trembling upon
+the very verge of the grave; and as he did so, he cautioned her to
+refrain from yet communicating the glad tidings to any one, lest some
+sound of their rejoicing might reach the sick-chamber, and disturb the
+little sufferer.
+
+And then he and the motherly old lady took their stations at the bedside
+once more, watching in perfect silence, and administering every few
+moments a little stimulant, for she was weak as a new-born infant, and
+only in this way could they keep the flickering flame of life from dying
+out again.
+
+It was not until more than an hour had passed in this way, and hope began
+to grow stronger in their breasts, until it became almost certainty that
+Elsie would live, that they thought of her father and aunt, so entirely
+had their attention been engrossed by the critical condition of their
+little patient.
+
+It was many minutes after Adelaide left him ere Mr. Dinsmore could think
+of anything but the terrible, crushing blow which had fallen upon him,
+and his agonized feelings found vent in groans of bitter anguish, fit to
+melt a heart of stone; but at length he grew somewhat calmer; and as his
+eye fell upon the little packet he remembered that it was her dying gift
+to him, and with a deep sigh he took it up and opened it.
+
+It contained his wife's miniature--the same that Elsie had always worn
+suspended from her neck--one of the child's glossy ringlets, severed from
+her head by her own little hands the day before she was taken ill--and a
+letter, directed in her handwriting to himself.
+
+He pressed the lock of hair to his lips, then laid it gently down, and
+opened the letter.
+
+"Dear, dear papa," it began, "my heart is very sad to-night! There is
+such a weary, aching pain there, that will never be gone till I can lay
+my head against your breast, and feel your arms folding me tight, and
+your kisses on my cheek. Ah! papa, how often I wish you could just look
+down into my heart and see how _full_ of love to you it is! I am always
+thinking of you, and longing to be with you. You bade me go and see the
+home you have prepared, and I have obeyed you. You say, if I will only be
+submissive we will live there, and be so very happy together, and I
+cannot tell you how my heart longs for such a life with you in that
+lovely, lovely home; nor how happy I could be there, or _anywhere_ with
+you, if you would only let me make God's law the rule of my life; but, my
+own dear father, if I have found your frown so dreadful, so _hard_ to
+bear, how much more terrible would my Heavenly Father's be! Oh, papa,
+_that_ would make me wretched indeed! But oh, I cannot _bear_ to think of
+being sent away from you amongst strangers! Dear, _dear_ papa, will you
+not spare your little daughter this trial? I will try to be so very good
+and obedient in everything that my conscience will allow. I am so sad,
+papa, so very sad, as if something terrible was coming, and my head feels
+strangely. I fear I am going to be ill, perhaps to die! Oh, papa, will I
+never see you again? I want to ask you to forgive me for all the naughty
+thoughts and feelings I have ever had towards you. I think I have never
+disobeyed you in _deed_, papa--except the few times you have known of,
+when I forgot, or thought you bade me break God's law--but twice I have
+rebelled in my heart. Once when you took Miss Rose's letter from me, and
+again when mammy told me you had said she must go away. It was only for a
+little while each time, papa, but it was very wicked, and I am very,
+_very_ sorry; will you please forgive me? and I will try never to indulge
+such wicked feelings again."
+
+The paper was blistered with Elsie's tears, and _other_ tears were
+falling thick and fast upon it now.
+
+"_She_ to ask forgiveness of me, for a momentary feeling of indignation
+when I so abused my authority," he groaned. "Oh, my darling! I would give
+all I am worth to bring you back for one hour, that I might ask _your_
+forgiveness, on my knees."
+
+But there was more of the letter, and he read on:
+
+"Dear papa," she continued, "should I die, and never see you again in
+this world, don't ever feel vexed with yourself, and think that you have
+been too severe with me. I know you have only done what you had a right
+to do--for am I not your own? Oh, I _love_ to belong to you, papa! and
+you meant it all to make me good; and I needed it, for I was loving you
+_too_ dearly. I was getting away from my Saviour. But when you put me
+away from your arms and separated me from my nurse, I had no one to go
+to but Jesus, and he drew me closer to him, and I found his love very
+sweet and precious; it has been all my comfort in my great sorrow. Dear
+papa, when I am gone, and you feel sad and lonely, will not _you_ go to
+Jesus, too? I will leave you my dear little Bible, papa. Please read
+it for Elsie's sake, and God grant it may comfort you as it has your
+little daughter. And, dear papa, try to forget these sad days of our
+estrangement, and remember only the time when your little girl was always
+on your knee, or by your side. Oh! it breaks my heart to think of those
+sweet times, and that they will never come again! Oh, for one kiss, one
+caress, one word of love from you! for oh, how _I love_ you, my own dear,
+be loved, precious papa!
+
+"Your little daughter,
+"ELSIE."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore dropped his head upon his hands, and groaned aloud. It was
+his turn now to long, with an _unutterable_ longing, for one caress, one
+word of love from those sweet lips that should never speak again. A long
+time he sat there, living over again in memory every scene in his life in
+which his child had borne a part, and repenting, oh, so bitterly! of
+every harsh word he had ever spoken to her, of every act of unjust
+severity; and, alas! how many and how cruel they seemed to him now!
+Remorse was eating into his very soul, and he would have given worlds
+to be able to recall the past.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+"Joy! the lost one is restored!!
+Sunshine comes to hearth and board."
+
+MRS. HEMANS.
+
+
+                "O remembrance!
+Why dost thou open all my wounds again?"
+
+LEE'S THEODOSIUS.
+
+
+             "I am a fool,
+To weep at what I am glad of."
+
+SHAKS. TEMPEST.
+
+
+"But these are tears of joy! to see you thus, has filled
+My eyes with more delight than they can hold."
+
+
+CONGREVE.
+
+
+Mr. Dinsmore was roused from the painful reverie into which he had
+fallen by a light rap on his dressing-room door; and, supposing it to
+be some one sent to consult him concerning the necessary arrangements
+for the funeral, he rose and opened it at once, showing to the doctor,
+who stood there, such a grief-stricken countenance as caused him to
+hesitate whether to communicate his glad tidings without some previous
+preparation, lest the sudden reaction from such despairing grief to joy
+so intense should be too great for the father to bear.
+
+"You wish to speak to me about the--"
+
+Mr. Dinsmore's voice was husky and low, and he paused, unable to finish
+his sentence.
+
+"Come in, doctor," he said, "it is very kind in you, and--"
+
+"Mr. Dinsmore," said the doctor, interrupting him, "are you prepared for
+good news? can you bear it, my dear sir?"
+
+Mr. Dinsmore caught at the furniture for support, and gasped for breath.
+
+"What is it?" he asked hoarsely.
+
+"_Good_ news, I said," Dr. Barton hastened to say, as he sprang to his
+side to prevent him from falling. "Your child yet lives, and though her
+life still hangs by a thread, the crisis is past, and I have some hope
+that she may recover."
+
+"Thank God! thank God!" exclaimed the father, sinking into a seat; and
+burying his face in his hands, he sobbed aloud.
+
+The doctor went out and closed the door softly; and Horace Dinsmore,
+falling upon his knees, poured out his thanksgivings, and then and there
+consecrated himself, with all his talents and possessions, to the service
+of that God who had so mercifully spared to him his heart's best
+treasure.
+
+Adelaide's joy and thankfulness were scarcely less than his, when to her,
+also, the glad and wondrous tidings were communicated. And Mr. Travilla
+and his mother shared their happiness, as they had shared their sorrow.
+Yet they all rejoiced with trembling, for that little life was still for
+many days trembling in the balance; and to the father's anxiety was also
+added the heavy trial of being excluded from her room.
+
+The physician had early informed him that it would be risking her life
+for him to enter her presence until she should herself inquire for him,
+as they could not tell how great might be the agitation it would cause
+her. And so he waited, day after day, hoping for the summons, but
+constantly doomed to disappointment; for even after she had become strong
+enough to look about her, and ask questions, and to notice her friends
+with a gentle smile, and a word of thanks to each, several days passed
+away, and she had neither inquired for him nor even once so much as
+mentioned his name.
+
+It seemed passing strange, and the thought that perhaps his cruelty had
+so estranged her from him that she no longer cared for his presence or
+his love, caused him many a bitter pang, and at times rendered him so
+desperate that, but for the doctor's repeated warnings, he would have
+ended this torturing suspense by going to her, and begging to hear from
+her own lips whether she had indeed ceased to love him.
+
+Adelaide tried to comfort and encourage him to wait patiently, but
+she, too, thought it very strange, and began to have vague fears that
+something was wrong with her little niece.
+
+She wondered that Dr. Barton treated the matter so lightly.
+
+"But, then," thought she, "he has no idea how strongly the child was
+attached to her father, and therefore her strange silence on the subject
+does not strike him as it does us. I will ask if I may not venture to
+mention Horace to her."
+
+But when she put the question, the doctor shook his head.
+
+"No," he said; "better let her broach the subject herself; it will be
+much the safer plan."
+
+Adelaide reluctantly acquiesced in his decision, for she was growing
+almost as impatient as her brother. But fortunately she was not kept
+much longer in suspense.
+
+The next day Elsie, who had been lying for some time wide awake, but
+without speaking, suddenly asked: "Aunt Adelaide, have you heard from
+Miss Allison since she went away?"
+
+"Yes, dear, a number of times," replied her aunt, much surprised at the
+question; "once since you were taken sick, and she was very sorry to hear
+of your illness."
+
+"Dear Miss Rose, how I want to see her," murmured the little girl
+musingly. "Aunt Adelaide," she asked quickly, "has there been any letter
+from papa since I have been sick?"
+
+"Yes, dear," said Adelaide, beginning to tremble a little; "one, but it
+was written before he heard of your illness."
+
+"Did he say when he would sail for America, Aunt Adelaide?" she asked
+eagerly.
+
+"No, dear," replied her aunt, becoming still more alarmed, for she feared
+the child was losing her reason.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Adelaide, do you think he will _ever_ come home? Shall I ever
+see him? And do you think he will love me?" moaned the little girl.
+
+"I am sure he _does_ love you, darling, for indeed he mentions you very
+affectionately in his letters," Adelaide said, bending down to kiss the
+little pale cheek. "Now go to sleep, dear child," she added, "I am afraid
+you have been talking quite too much, for you are very weak yet."
+
+Elsie was, in fact, quite exhausted, and closing her eyes, fell asleep
+directly.
+
+Then resigning her place to Chloe, Adelaide stole softly from the room,
+and seeking her brother, repeated to him all that had just passed between
+Elsie and herself. She simply told her story, keeping her doubts and
+fears confined to her own breast; but she watched him closely to see
+if he shared them.
+
+He listened at first eagerly; then sat with folded arms and head bent
+down, so that she could not see his face; then rising up hastily, he
+paced the floor to and fro with rapid strides, sighing heavily to
+himself.
+
+"Oh, Adelaide! Adelaide!" he exclaimed, suddenly pausing before her,
+"are _my_ sins thus to be visited on my innocent child? better death a
+thousand times!" And sinking shuddering into a seat, he covered his face
+with his hands, and groaned aloud.
+
+"Don't be so distressed, dear brother, I am sure it cannot be so bad as
+you think," whispered Adelaide, passing her arm around his neck and
+kissing him softly. "She looks bright enough, and seems to perfectly
+understand all that is said to her."
+
+"Dr. Barton!" announced Pompey, throwing open the door of the parlor
+where they were sitting.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore rose hastily to greet him.
+
+"What is the matter? is anything wrong with my patient?" he asked
+hurriedly, looking from one to the other, and noticing the signs of
+unusual emotion in each face.
+
+"Tell him, Adelaide," entreated her brother, turning away his head to
+hide his feelings.
+
+Adelaide repeated her story, not without showing considerable emotion,
+though she did not mention the nature of their fears.
+
+"Don't be alarmed," said the physician, cheerfully; "she is _not_ losing
+her mind, as I see you both fear; it is simply a failure of memory for
+the time being; she has been fearfully ill, and the mind at present
+partakes of the weakness of the body, but I hope ere long to see them
+both grow strong together.
+
+"Let me see--Miss Allison left, when? a year ago last April, I think you
+said, Miss Adelaide, and this is October. Ah! well, the little girl has
+only lost about a year and a half from her life, and it is altogether
+likely she will recover it; but even supposing she does not, it is no
+great matter after all."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore looked unspeakably relieved, and Adelaide hardly less so.
+
+"And this gives you one advantage, Mr. Dinsmore," continued the doctor,
+looking smilingly at him; "you can now go to her as soon as Miss Adelaide
+has cautiously broken to her the news of your arrival."
+
+When Elsie waked, Adelaide cautiously communicated to her the tidings
+that her father had landed in America, in safety and health, and hoped to
+be with them in a day or two.
+
+A faint tinge of color came to the little girl's cheek, her eyes
+sparkled, and, clasping her little, thin hands together, she exclaimed,
+"Oh! can it really be true that I shall see my own dear father? and do
+you think he will _love_ me, Aunt Adelaide?"
+
+"Yes, indeed, darling; he _says_ he loves you dearly, and longs to have
+you in his arms."
+
+Elsie's eyes filled with happy tears.
+
+"Now you must try to be very calm, darling, and not let the good news
+hurt you," said her aunt kindly; "or I am afraid the doctor will say
+you are not well enough to see your papa when, he comes."
+
+"I will try to be very quiet," replied the little girl; "but, oh! I
+_hope_ he will come soon, and that the doctor will let me see him."
+
+"I shall read to you now, dear," remarked Adelaide, taking up Elsie's
+little Bible, which had been returned to her some days before; for she
+had asked for it almost as soon as she was able to speak.
+
+Adelaide opened to one of her favorite passages in Isaiah, and read in a
+low, quiet tone that soon soothed the little one to sleep.
+
+"Has my papa come?" was her first question on awaking.
+
+"Do you think you are strong enough to see him?" asked Adelaide, smiling.
+
+"Oh, yes, Aunt Adelaide; is he here?" she inquired, beginning to tremble
+with agitation.
+
+"I am afraid you are not strong enough yet," said Adelaide doubtfully;
+"you are trembling very much."
+
+"Dear Aunt Adelaide, I will try to be very calm; _do_ let me see him,"
+she urged beseechingly; "it won't hurt me half so much as to be kept
+waiting."
+
+"Yes, Adelaide, she is right. My precious, precious child! they shall
+keep us apart no longer." And Elsie was gently raised in her father's
+arms, and folded to his beating heart.
+
+She looked up eagerly into his face.
+
+It was full of the tenderest love and pity.
+
+"Papa, papa, my _own_ papa," she murmured, dropping her head upon his
+breast.
+
+He held her for some moments, caressing her silently; then laid her
+gently down upon her pillow, and sat by her side with one little hand
+held fast in his.
+
+She raised her large, soft eyes, all dim with tears, to his face.
+
+"Do you love me, my own papa?" she asked in a voice so low and weak he
+could scarcely catch the words.
+
+"Better than life," he said, his voice trembling with emotion; and he
+leaned over her, passing his hand caressingly over her face.
+
+"Does my little daughter love me?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, so very, _very_ much," she said, and closing her eyes wearily, she
+fell asleep again.
+
+And now Mr. Dinsmore was constantly with his little girl. She could
+scarcely bear to have him out of her sight, but clung to him with the
+fondest affection, which he fully returned; and he never willingly
+left her for an hour. She seemed to have entirely forgotten their first
+meeting, and everything which had occurred since, up to the beginning of
+her illness, and always talked to her father as though they had but just
+begun their acquaintance; and it was with feelings half pleasurable, half
+painful, that he listened to her.
+
+It was certainly a relief to have her so unconscious of their
+estrangement, and yet such an utter failure of memory distressed him
+with fears of permanent and serious injury to her intellect; and thus
+it was, with mingled hope and dread, that he looked forward to the
+fulfilment of the doctor's prophecy that her memory would return.
+
+She was growing stronger, so that she was able to be moved from her bed
+to a couch during the day; and when she was very weary of lying, her
+father would take her in his arms and carry her back and forth, or,
+seating himself in a large rocking-chair, soothe her to sleep on his
+breast, holding her there for hours, never caring for the aching of his
+arms, but really enjoying the consciousness that he was adding to her
+comfort by suffering a little himself.
+
+Mrs. Travilla had some time since found it absolutely necessary to give
+her personal attention to her own household, and Adelaide, quite worn out
+with nursing, needed rest; and so, with a little help from Chloe, Mr.
+Dinsmore took the whole care of his little girl, mixing and administering
+her medicines with his own hand, giving her her food, soothing her in her
+hours of restlessness, reading, talking, singing to her--exerting all his
+powers for her entertainment, and never weary of waiting upon her. He
+watched by her couch night and day; only now and then snatching a few
+hours of sleep on a sofa in her room, while the faithful old nurse took
+his place by her side.
+
+One day he had been reading to Elsie, while she lay on her sofa.
+Presently he closed the book, and looking at her, noticed that her eyes
+were fixed upon his face with a troubled expression.
+
+"What is it, dearest?" he asked.
+
+"Papa," she said in a doubtful, hesitating way, "it seems as if I had
+seen you before; have I, papa?"
+
+"Why, surely, darling," he answered, trying to laugh, though he trembled
+inwardly, "I have been with you for nearly two weeks, and you have seen
+me every day."
+
+"No, papa; but I mean before. Did I _dream_ that you gave me a doll once?
+Were you ever vexed with me? Oh, papa, help me to think," she said in a
+troubled, anxious tone, rubbing her hand across her forehead as she
+spoke.
+
+"Don't try to think, darling," he replied cheerfully, as he raised her,
+shook up her pillows, and settled her more comfortably on them. "I am not
+in the least vexed with you; there is nothing wrong, and I love you very,
+_very_ dearly. So shut your eyes and try to go to sleep."
+
+She looked only half satisfied, but closed her eyes as he bade her, and
+was soon asleep. She seemed thoughtful and absent all the rest of the
+day, every now and then fixing the same troubled, questioning look on
+him, and it was quite impossible to interest her in any subject for more
+than a few moments at a time.
+
+That night, for the first time, he went to his own room, leaving her
+entirely to Chloe's care. He had watched by her after she was put in bed
+for the night, until she had fallen asleep; but he left her, feeling a
+little anxious, for the same troubled look was on her face, as though
+even in sleep memory was reasserting her sway.
+
+When he entered her room again in the morning, although it was still
+early, he found her already dressed for the day, in a pretty, loose
+wrapper, and laid upon the sofa.
+
+"Good-morning, little daughter; you are quite an early bird to-day, for a
+sick one," he said gayly.
+
+But as he drew near, he was surprised and pained to see that she was
+trembling very much, and that her eyes were red with weeping.
+
+"What is it, dearest?" he asked, bending over her in tender solicitude;
+"what ails my little one?"
+
+"Oh, papa," she said, bursting into tears, "I remember it all now. Are
+you angry with me yet? and must I go away from you as soon as--"
+
+But she was unable to finish her sentence.
+
+He had knelt down by her side, and now raising her gently up, and laying
+her head against his breast, he kissed her tenderly, saying in a moved
+tone, in the beautiful words of Ruth, the Moabitess, "The Lord do so to
+me, and more also, if aught but death part me and thee." He paused a
+moment, as if unable to proceed; then, in tones tremulous with emotion,
+said: "Elsie, my dear, my _darling_ daughter, I have been a very cruel
+father to you; I have most shamefully abused my authority; but never
+again will I require you to do anything contrary to the teachings of
+God's word. Will you forgive your father, dearest, for all he has made
+you suffer?"
+
+"Dear papa, don't! oh, _please_ don't say such words to me!" she said;
+"I cannot bear to hear them. You had a right to do whatever you pleased
+with your own child."
+
+"No, daughter; not to force you to disobey God," he answered with deep
+solemnity. "I have learned to look upon you now, not as absolutely my
+own, but as belonging first to him, and only lent to me for a time; and
+I know that I will have to give an account of my stewardship."
+
+He paused a moment, then went on: "Elsie, darling, your prayers for me
+have been answered; your father has learned to know and love Jesus, and
+has consecrated to his service the remainder of his days. And now, dear
+one, we are travelling the same road at last."
+
+Her happiness was too deep for words--for anything but tears; and putting
+her little arms around his neck, she sobbed out her joy and gratitude
+upon his breast.
+
+Aunt Chloe had gone down to the kitchen, immediately upon Mr. Dinsmore's
+entrance, to prepare Elsie's breakfast, and so they were quite alone. He
+held her to his heart for a moment; then kissing away her tears, laid her
+gently back upon her pillow again, and took up the Bible, which lay
+beside her.
+
+"I have learned to love it almost as well as you do, dearest," he said.
+"Shall we read together, as you and Miss Rose used to do long ago?"
+
+Her glad look was answer enough; and opening to one of her favorite
+passages, he read it in his deep, rich voice, while she lay listening,
+with a full heart, to the dearly loved words, which sounded sweeter
+than ever before.
+
+He closed the book. He had taken one of her little hands in his ere he
+began to read, and still holding it fast in a close, loving grasp, he
+knelt down and prayed.
+
+He thanked God for their spared lives, and especially for the recovery of
+his dear little one, who had so lately been tottering upon the very verge
+of the grave--and his voice trembled with emotion as he alluded to that
+time of trial--and confessed that it was undeserved mercy to him, for he
+had been most unfaithful to his trust. And then he asked for grace and
+wisdom to guide and guard her, and train her up aright, both by precept
+and example. He confessed that he had been all his days a wanderer from
+the right path, and that if left to himself he never would have sought
+it; but thanked God that he had been led by the gracious influences of
+the Holy Spirit to turn his feet into that straight and narrow way; and
+he prayed that he might be kept from ever turning aside again into the
+broad road, and that he and his little girl might now walk hand in hand
+together on their journey to the celestial city.
+
+Elsie's heart swelled with emotion, and glad tears rained down her
+cheeks, as thus, for the first time, she heard her father's voice in
+prayer. It was the happiest hour she had ever known.
+
+"Take me, papa, please," she begged, holding out her hands to him, as he
+rose from his knees, and drawing his chair close to her couch sat down by
+her side.
+
+He took her in his arms, and she laid her head on his breast again,
+saying, "I am _so_ happy, so _very_ happy! Dear papa, it is worth all
+the sickness and everything else that I have suffered."
+
+He only answered with a kiss.
+
+"Will you read and pray with me every morning, papa?" she asked,
+
+"Yes, darling," he said, "and when we get into our own home we will call
+in the servants morning and evening, and have family worship. Shall you
+like that?"
+
+"_Very_ much, papa! Oh, how nice it will be! and will we go _soon_ to our
+own home, papa?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"Just as soon as you are well enough to be moved, dearest. But here is
+Aunt Chloe with your breakfast, so now we must stop talking, and let you
+eat."
+
+"May I talk a little more now, papa?" she asked, when she had done
+eating.
+
+"Yes, a little, if it is anything of importance," he answered smilingly.
+
+"I wanted to say that I think our new home is very, very lovely, and that
+I think we shall be _so_ happy there. Dear papa, you were so very kind to
+furnish those pretty rooms for me! thank you _very_ much," she said,
+pressing his hand to her lips. "I will try to be so good and obedient
+that you will never regret having spent so much money, and taken so much
+trouble for me."
+
+"I know you will, daughter; you have always been a dutiful child," he
+said tenderly, "and I shall never regret anything that adds to your
+happiness."
+
+"And will you do all that you said in that letter, papa? will you teach
+me yourself?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"If you wish it, my pet; but if you prefer a governess, I will try to
+get one who will be more kind and patient than Miss Day. One thing is
+certain, _she_ shall never teach you again."
+
+"Oh, no, papa, please teach me yourself. I will try to be very good, and
+not give you much trouble," she said coaxingly.
+
+"I will," he said with a smile. "The doctor thinks that in a day or two
+you may be able to take a short ride, and I hope it will not be very
+long before we will be in our own home. Now I am going to wrap you up,
+and carry you to my dressing-room to spend the day; for I know you are
+tired of this room."
+
+"How pleasant!" she exclaimed; "how kind you are to think of it, papa! I
+feel as glad as I used to when I was going to take a long ride on my
+pony."
+
+He smiled on her a pleased, affectionate smile, and bade Chloe go and see
+if the room was in order for them.
+
+Chloe returned almost immediately to say that all was in readiness; and
+Elsie was then raised in her father's strong arms, and borne quickly
+through the hall and into the dressing-room, where she was laid upon a
+sofa, and propped up with pillows. She looked very comfortable; and very
+glad she was to have a little change of scene, after her long confinement
+to one room.
+
+Just as she was fairly settled in her new quarters, the breakfast-bell
+rang, and her father left her in Chloe's care for a few moments, while he
+went down to take his meal.
+
+"I have brought you a visitor, Elsie," he said when he returned.
+
+She looked up, and, to her surprise, saw her grandfather standing near
+the door.
+
+He came forward then, and taking the little, thin hand she held out to
+him, he stooped and kissed her cheek.
+
+"I am sorry to see you looking so ill, my dear," he said, not without a
+touch of feeling in his tone--"but I hope you will get well very fast
+now."
+
+"Yes, grandpa, thank you; I am a great deal better than I was," she
+answered, with a tear in her eye; for it was the first caress she ever
+remembered having received from him, and she felt quite touched.
+
+"Have the others come, grandpa?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, my dear, they are all at home now, and I think Lora will be coming
+to speak to you presently, she has been quite anxious to see you."
+
+"Don't let her come until afternoon, father? if you please," said his
+son, looking anxiously at his little girl. "Elsie cannot bear much yet,
+and I see she is beginning to look exhausted already." And he laid his
+finger on her pulse.
+
+"I shall caution her on the subject," replied his father, turning to
+leave the room. Then to Elsie, "You had better go to sleep now, child!
+sleep and eat all you can, and get strong fast."
+
+"Yes, sir," she said faintly, closing her eyes with a weary look.
+
+Her father placed her more comfortably on the pillows, smoothed the
+cover, closed the blinds to shut out the sunlight, and sat down to
+watch her while she slept.
+
+It was a long, deep sleep, for she was quite worn out by the excitement
+of the morning; the dinner-hour had passed, and still she slumbered on,
+and he began to grow uneasy. He was leaning over her, with his finger on
+her slender wrist, watching her breathing and counting her pulse, when
+she opened her eyes, and looking up lovingly into his face, said "Dear
+papa, I feel so much better."
+
+"I am very glad, daughter," he replied; "you have had a long sleep; and
+now I will take you on my knee, and Aunt Chloe will bring up your
+dinner."
+
+Elsie's appetite was poor, and her father spared neither trouble nor
+expense in procuring her every dainty that could be thought of which was
+at all suited to her state of health, and he was delighted when he could
+tempt her to eat with tolerable heartiness. She seemed to enjoy her
+dinner, and he watched her with intense pleasure.
+
+"Can I see Lora now, papa?" she asked, when Chloe had removed the dishes.
+
+"Yes," he said. "Aunt Chloe, you may tell Miss Lora that we are ready to
+receive her now."
+
+Lora came in quite gay and full of spirits; but when she caught sight of
+Elsie, lying so pale and languid in her father's arms, she had hard work
+to keep from bursting into tears, and could scarcely command her voice to
+speak.
+
+"Dear Lora, I am so glad to see you," said the little girl, holding out
+her small, thin hand.
+
+Lora took it and kissed it, saying, in a tremulous tone, "How ill you
+look!"
+
+Elsie held up her face, and Lora stooped and kissed her lips; then
+bursting into tears and sobs, she ran out of the room.
+
+"Oh, Adelaide!" she cried, rushing into her sister's room, "how she is
+changed! I should never have known her! Oh! do you think she can ever
+get well?"
+
+"If you had seen her two or three weeks ago, you would be quite
+encouraged by her appearance now," replied her sister. "The doctor
+considers her out of danger now, though he says she must have careful
+nursing; and that I assure you she gets from her father. He seems to
+feel that he can never do enough for her, and won't let me share the
+labor at all, although I would often be very glad to do it."
+
+"He _ought_ to do all he can for her! he would be a _brute_ if he
+didn't, for it was all his doing, her being so ill!" exclaimed Lora
+indignantly. "No, no; I ought not to say that," she added, correcting
+herself immediately, "for we were _all_ unkind to her; I as well as the
+rest. Oh, Adelaide! what a bitter thought that was to me when I heard she
+was dying! I never realized before how lovely, and how very different
+from all the rest of us she was."
+
+"Yes, poor darling! she has had a hard life amongst us," replied
+Adelaide, sighing, while the tears rose to her eyes. "You can never know,
+Lora, what an agonizing thought it was at the moment when I believed that
+she had left us forever. I would have given worlds to have been able to
+live the last six years over again. But Horace--oh, Lora! I don't believe
+there was a more wretched being on the face of the earth than he! I was
+very angry with him at first, but when I saw how utterly crushed and
+heartbroken he was, I couldn't say one word."
+
+Adelaide was crying now in good earnest, as well as Lora.
+
+Presently Lora asked for a full account of Elsie's illness, which
+Adelaide was beginning to give, when a servant came to say that Elsie
+wanted to see her; so, with a promise to Lora to finish her story another
+time, she hastened to obey the summons.
+
+She found the little girl still lying languidly in her father's arms.
+
+"Dear Aunt Adelaide," she said, "I wanted to see you; you haven't been in
+to-day to look at your little patient."
+
+Adelaide smiled, and patted her cheek.
+
+"Yes, my dear," she said, "I have been in twice, but found you sleeping
+both times, and your father keeping guard over you, like a tiger watching
+his cub."
+
+"No, no, Aunt Adelaide; papa isn't a bit like a tiger," said Elsie,
+passing her small, white hand caressingly over his face. "You mustn't
+say that."
+
+"I don't know," replied Adelaide, laughing and shaking her head; "I think
+anybody who should be daring enough to disturb your slumbers would find
+there was considerable of the tiger in him."
+
+Elsie looked up into her father's face as if expecting him to deny the
+charge.
+
+"Never mind," said he, smiling; "Aunt Adelaide is only trying to tease us
+a little."
+
+A servant came in and whispered something to Adelaide.
+
+"Mr. and Mrs. Travilla," she said, turning to her brother; "is Elsie able
+to see them?"
+
+"Oh, yes, papa, please," begged the little girl in a coaxing tone.
+
+"Well, then, for a few moments, I suppose," he answered rather
+doubtfully; and Adelaide went down and brought them up.
+
+Elsie was very glad to see them; but seeing that she looked weak and
+weary they did not stay long, but soon took an affectionate leave of her,
+expressing the hope that it would not be many weeks before she would be
+able to pay a visit to Ion.
+
+Her father promised to take her to spend a day there as soon as she was
+well enough, and then they went away.
+
+Elsie's strength returned very slowly, and she had many trying hours of
+weakness and nervous prostration to endure. She was almost always very
+patient, but on a few rare occasions, when suffering more than usual,
+there was a slight peevishness in her tone. Once it was to her father she
+was speaking, and the instant she had done so, she looked up at him with
+eyes brimful of tears, expecting a stern rebuke, or, at the very least, a
+look of great displeasure.
+
+But he did not seem to have heard her, and only busied himself in trying
+to make her more comfortable; and when she seemed to feel easier again,
+he kissed her tenderly, saying softly: "My poor little one! papa knows
+she suffers a great deal, and feels very sorry for her. Are you better
+now, dearest?"
+
+"Yes, papa, thank you," she answered, the tears coming into her eyes
+again. "I don't know what makes me so cross; you are very good not to
+scold me."
+
+"I think my little girl is very patient," he said, caressing her again;
+"and if she were not, I couldn't have the heart to _scold_ her after all
+she has suffered. Shall I sing to you now?"
+
+"Yes, papa; please sing 'I want to be like Jesus.' Oh, I _do_ want to be
+like him! and then I should never even _feel_ impatient."
+
+He did as she requested, singing in a low, soothing tone that soon lulled
+her to sleep. He was an indefatigable nurse, never weary, never in the
+least impatient, and nothing that skill and kindness could do for the
+comfort and recovery of his little daughter was left undone. He carried
+her in his arms from room to room; and then, as she grew stronger, down
+into the garden. Then he sent for a garden chair, in which he drew her
+about the gardens with his own hands; or if he called a servant to do it,
+he walked by her side, doing all he could to amuse her, and when she was
+ready to be carried indoors again, no one was allowed to touch her but
+himself. At last she was able to take short and easy rides in the
+carriage--not more than a quarter of a mile at first, for he was very
+much afraid of trying her strength too far--but gradually they were
+lengthened, as she seemed able to bear it.
+
+One day he was unusually eager to get her into the carriage, and after
+they had started, instead of calling her attention to the scenery, as he
+often did, he began relating a story which interested her so much that
+she did not notice in what direction they were travelling until the
+carriage stopped, the foot-man threw open the door, and her father,
+breaking off in the middle of a sentence, sprang out hastily, lifted her
+in his arms, and carried her into the house.
+
+She did not know where she was until he had laid her on a sofa, and,
+giving her a rapturous kiss, exclaimed--
+
+"Welcome home, my darling! welcome to your father's house."
+
+Then she looked up and saw that she was indeed in the dear home he had
+prepared for her months before.
+
+She was too glad to speak a word, or do anything but gaze about her
+with eyes brimming over with delight; while her father took off her
+bonnet and shawl, and setting her on her feet, led her across the room to
+an easy-chair, where he seated her in state.
+
+He then threw open a door, and there was another pleasant surprise; for
+who but her old friend, Mrs. Murray, should rush in and take her in her
+arms, kissing her and crying over her.
+
+"Dear, _dear_ bairn," she exclaimed, "you are looking pale and ill, but
+it does my auld heart gude to see your winsome wee face once more. I hope
+it will soon grow as round and rosy as ever, now that you've won to your
+ain home at last. But where, darling, are all your bonny curls?" she
+asked suddenly.
+
+"In the drawer, in my room at grandpa's," replied the little girl with a
+faint smile. "They had to be cut off when I was so sick. You were not
+vexed, papa?" she asked, raising her eyes timidly to his face.
+
+"No, darling, not _vexed_ certainly, though very sorry indeed that it was
+necessary," he said in a kind, gentle tone, passing his hand caressingly
+over her head.
+
+"Ah, well," remarked Mrs. Murray cheerfully, "we winna fret about it;
+it will soon grow again, and these little, soft rings of hair are very
+pretty, too."
+
+"I thought you were in Scotland, Mrs. Murray; when did you come back?"
+asked the little girl.
+
+"I came to this place only yesterday, darling; but it is about a week
+since I landed in America."
+
+"I am so glad to see you, dear Mrs. Murray," Elsie said, holding fast to
+her hand, and looking lovingly into her face. "I haven't forgotten any
+of the good things you taught me." Then turning to her father, she said,
+very earnestly, "Papa, you won't need now to have me grow up for a long
+while, because Mrs. Murray is such an excellent housekeeper."
+
+He smiled and patted her cheek, saying pleasantly, "No, dear, I shall
+keep you a little girl as long as ever I can; and give Mrs. Murray plenty
+of time to make a good housekeeper of you."
+
+"At what hour will you have dinner, sir?" asked the old lady, turning to
+leave the room.
+
+"At one, if you please," he said, looking at his watch. "I want Elsie to
+eat with me, and it must be early, on her account."
+
+Elsie's little face was quite bright with pleasure. "I am so glad, papa,"
+she said, "it will be very delightful to dine together in our own house.
+May I always dine with you?"
+
+"I hope so," he said, smiling. "I am not fond of eating alone."
+
+They were in Mr. Dinsmore's study, into which Elsie's own little
+sitting-room opened.
+
+"Do you feel equal to a walk through your rooms, daughter, or shall I
+carry you?" he asked, bending over her.
+
+"I think I will try to walk, papa, if you please," she said, putting her
+hand in his.
+
+He led her slowly forward, but her step seemed tottering, and he passed
+his arm around her waist, and supported her to the sofa in her own pretty
+little boudoir.
+
+Although it was now quite late in the fall, the weather was still
+warm and pleasant in that southern clime--flowers were blooming in
+the gardens, and doors and windows stood wide open.
+
+Elsie glanced out of the window, and then around the room.
+
+"What a lovely place it is, papa!" she said; "and everything in this dear
+little room is so complete, so very pretty. Dear papa, you are very,
+_very_ kind to me! I will have to be a very good girl to deserve it all."
+
+"Does it please you, darling? I am very glad," he said, drawing her
+closer to him. "I have tried to think of everything that would be useful
+to you, or give you pleasure; but if there is anything else you want,
+just tell me what it is, and you shall have it."
+
+"Indeed, papa," she said, smiling up at him, "I could never have thought
+of half the pretty things that are here already; and I don't believe
+there is anything else I could possibly want. Ah! papa, how happy I am
+to-day; so very much happier than when I was here before. Then I thought
+I should never be happy again in this world. There is your picture. I
+cried very much when I looked at it that day, but it does not make me
+feel like crying now, and I am so _glad_ to have it. Thank you a thousand
+times for giving it to me."
+
+"You are very welcome, darling; you deserve it all, and more than all,"
+replied her father tenderly. "And now," he asked, "will you look at the
+other rooms, or are you too tired?"
+
+"I want to try the piano first, if you please, papa," she said; "it is so
+long since I touched one."
+
+He opened the instrument, and then picked her up and seated her on the
+stool, saying, "I am afraid you will find yourself hardly equal to the
+exertion; but you may try."
+
+She began a little piece which had always been a favorite of his--he
+standing beside her, and supporting her with his arm--but it seemed hard
+work; the tiny hands trembled so with weakness and he would not let her
+finish.
+
+"You must wait until another day, dearest," he said, taking her in his
+arms; "you are not strong enough yet, and I think I will have to _carry_
+you through the other rooms, if you are to see them at all. Shall I?"
+
+She assented, laying her head down languidly on his shoulder, and had
+very little to say, as he bore her along through the dressing-room, and
+into the bed-room beyond.
+
+The bed looked very inviting with its snowy drapery, and he laid her
+gently down upon it, saying, "You are too much fatigued to attempt
+anything more, and must take a nap now, my pet, to recruit yourself
+a little before dinner."
+
+"Don't leave me, papa! _please_ don't!" she exclaimed, half starting up
+as he turned toward the door.
+
+"No, dearest," he said, "I am only going to get your shawl to lay over
+you, and will be back again in a moment."
+
+He returned almost immediately, but found her already fast asleep.
+
+"Poor darling! she is quite worn out," he murmured, as he spread the
+shawl carefully over her. Then taking a book from his pocket, he sat down
+by her side, and read until she awoke.
+
+It was the sound of the dinner-bell which had roused her, and as she sat
+up looking quite bright and cheerful again, he asked if she thought she
+could eat some dinner, and would like to be taken to the dining-room.
+She assented, and he carried her there, seated her in an easy-chair,
+wheeled it up to the table, and then sat down opposite to her, looking
+supremely happy.
+
+The servants were about to uncover the dishes, but motioning them to
+wait a moment, Mr. Dinsmore bowed his head over his plate, and asked a
+blessing on their food. It sent a glow of happiness to Elsie's little,
+pale face, and she loved and respected her father more than ever. She
+seemed to enjoy her dinner, and he watched her with a pleased look.
+
+"The change of air has done you good already, I think," he remarked; "you
+seem to have a better appetite than you have had since your sickness."
+
+"Yes, papa, I believe everything tastes good because it is home," she
+answered, smiling lovingly up at him.
+
+After dinner he held her on his knee a while, chatting pleasantly with
+her about their plans for the future; and then, laying her on the sofa
+in her pretty boudoir, he brought a book from his library, and read
+to her.
+
+It was a very interesting story he had chosen; and he had been reading
+for more than an hour, when, happening to look at her he noticed that her
+eyes were very bright, and her cheeks flushed, as if with fever. He
+suddenly closed the book, and laid his finger on her pulse.
+
+"Oh! papa, please go on," she begged; "I am so much interested."
+
+"No, daughter, your pulse is very quick, and I fear this book is entirely
+too exciting for you at present--so I shall not read you any more of it
+to-day," he said, laying it aside.
+
+"Oh! papa, I want to hear it so much; do please read a _little_ more, or
+else let me have the book myself," she pleaded in a coaxing tone.
+
+"My little daughter must not forget old lessons," he replied very
+gravely.
+
+She turned away her head with almost a pout on her lip, and her eyes full
+of tears.
+
+He did not reprove her, though, as he once would have done; but seeming
+not to notice her ill-humor, exerted himself to soothe and amuse her, by
+talking in a cheerful strain of other matters; and in a very few moments
+all traces of it had disappeared, and she was answering him in her usual
+pleasant tone.
+
+They had both been silent for several minutes, when she said, "Please,
+papa, put your head close down to me, I want to say something to you."
+
+He complied, and putting her little arm around his neck, she said, in a
+very humble tone, "Dear papa, I was very naughty and cross just now; and
+I think I have been cross several times lately; and you have been so good
+and kind not to reprove or punish me, as I deserved. Please, papa,
+forgive me; I am very sorry, and I will try to be a better girl."
+
+He kissed her very tenderly.
+
+"I do forgive you freely, my little one," he said, "I know it seemed hard
+to give up the story just there, but it was for your good, and you must
+try always to believe that papa knows best. You are very precious to your
+father's heart, Elsie, but I am not going to _spoil_ my little girl
+because I love her so dearly; nor because I have been so near losing
+her."
+
+His voice trembled as he pronounced the last words, and for a moment
+emotion kept him silent. Then he went on again.
+
+"I shall never again bid you do violence to your conscience, my daughter,
+but to all the commands which I _do_ lay upon you I shall still expect
+and require the same ready and cheerful obedience that I have heretofore.
+It is my duty to require, and yours to yield it."
+
+"Yes, papa, I know it is," she said with a little sigh, "but, it is very
+difficult sometimes to keep from wanting to have my own way."
+
+"Yes, darling, I know it, for I find it so with myself," replied her
+father gently; "but we must, ask God to help us to give up our own wills,
+and be satisfied to do and have what we _ought_, rather than what we
+would _like_."
+
+"I will, papa," she whispered, hugging him tighter and tighter. "I am so
+glad you teach me that."
+
+They were quite quiet again for a little while. She was running her
+fingers through his hair.
+
+"Oh, papa!" she exclaimed, "I see two or three white hairs! I am so
+sorry! I don't want you to get old. What made these come so soon, papa?"
+
+He did not reply immediately, but, taking her in his arms, held her close
+to his heart. It was beating very fast.
+
+Suddenly she seemed to comprehend.
+
+"Was it because you were afraid I was going to die, papa?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, dearest, and because I had reason, to think that my own cruelty had
+killed you."
+
+The words were almost inaudible, but she heard them.
+
+"Dear _dear_ papa, how I love you!" she said, putting her arms around his
+neck again; "and I am so glad, for your sake, that I did not die."
+
+He pressed her closer and closer, caressing her silently with a heart too
+full for words.
+
+They sat thus for some time, but were at length interrupted by the
+entrance of Chloe, who had been left behind at Roselands to attend to the
+packing and removal of Elsie's clothes, and all her little possessions.
+She had finished her work, and her entrance was immediately followed by
+that of the men-servants bearing several large trunks and boxes, the
+contents of which she proceeded at once to unpack and rearrange in the
+new apartments.
+
+Elsie watched this operation with a good deal of interest, occasionally
+directing where this or that article should be put; but in the midst of
+it all was carried off by her father to the tea-table.
+
+Soon after tea the servants were all called together, and Mr. Dinsmore,
+after addressing a few words to them on the importance of calling upon
+God--the blessings promised to those who did, and the curses pronounced
+upon those individuals and families who did not--read a chapter from the
+Bible and offered up a prayer.
+
+All were solemn and attentive, and all seemed pleased with the
+arrangement--for Mr. Dinsmore had told them it was to be the regular
+custom of the house, morning and evening--but Elsie, Mrs. Murray, and
+Chloe fairly wept for joy and thankfulness.
+
+Elsie begged for another chapter and prayer in the privacy of her own
+rooms, and then Chloe undressed her, and her father carried her to her
+bed and placed her in it with a loving good-night kiss. And thus ended
+the first happy day in her own dear home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+"Her world was ever joyous;
+  She thought of grief and pain
+As giants in the olden time,
+  That ne'er would come again."
+
+MRS. HALE'S ALICE RAY.
+
+
+      "Then all was jollity,
+Feasting, and mirth."
+
+ROWE'S JANE SHORE.
+
+
+It was with a start, and a momentary feeling of perplexity as to her
+whereabouts, followed almost instantly by the glad remembrance that she
+was indeed at _home_, that the little Elsie awoke the next morning. She
+sat up in the bed and gazed about her. Everything had a new, fresh look,
+and an air of simple elegance, that struck her as very charming.
+
+A door on her right, communicating with her father's sleeping apartment,
+was slightly ajar, and she could hear him moving about.
+
+"Papa!" she called, in her sweet, silvery tones.
+
+"Good-morning, daughter," he said, appearing in answer to her summons.
+"Why, how bright my little girl is looking this morning!"
+
+"Yes, papa, I feel so well and strong I do believe I can walk to the
+dining-room. Please, may I get up now?"
+
+"Yes; Aunt Chloe may dress you, and call me when you are ready," he
+replied, bending down to give her a kiss.
+
+Chloe was just coming in from a small adjoining room which had been
+appropriated to her use, and exclaimed with delight at her darling's
+bright looks.
+
+"Dress her very nicely, Aunt Chloe," said Mr. Dinsmore, "for I think it
+is quite possible we may have visitors to-day; and besides, I want her to
+look her best for my own enjoyment," he added, with a loving look and
+smile directed toward his little girl.
+
+Chloe promised to do her best; and he seemed entirely satisfied with the
+result of her labors, as well he might, for Elsie looked very lovely in
+her simple white dress, and little embroidered pink sacque, which seemed
+to lend a faint tinge of color to her pale cheeks. She was tired, though,
+with the dressing, and quite willing to give up her plan of walking to
+the dining-room, and let her father carry her.
+
+After breakfast he sat with her on his knee for a little while, and then,
+laying her on the sofa and giving her a kiss, he told her he must leave
+her with Chloe for an hour or two, as he had some business matters to
+arrange with her grandfather, after which he would take her to ride.
+
+"I wish you didn't have to go, papa; but please come back as soon as you
+can," she said coaxingly.
+
+"I will, darling. And now, Aunt Chloe, I leave her in your care; don't
+let her do anything to tire herself," he said as he went out.
+
+Elsie listened until she heard the sound of his horse's hoofs as he
+galloped down the avenue, and then turning to her nurse, she exclaimed
+eagerly,
+
+"Now, mammy, please hand me my work-box and that unfinished slipper."
+
+"You's not fit to sew, darlin' chile," objected the careful old woman,
+doing as she was asked, nevertheless.
+
+"Well, mammy, I want to try, and I'll stop directly if it tires me,"
+replied the little girl. "Please put me in my rocking-chair. They are
+for papa, you see, and I want to get them done before Christmas."
+
+"Dere's plenty ob time yet 'fore Christmas, darlin', to do dat little
+bit," Chloe said; "'tain't comin' dis four or five weeks; better wait
+till you git stronger."
+
+Elsie was not to be dissuaded, however, from making the attempt; but
+a very few moments' work satisfied her that she was still too weak for
+such an employment; and she readily consented to let Chloe put away her
+work-box and lay her on her sofa again, where she spent the rest of the
+time in reading her Bible until her father returned. Then came her ride,
+and then a nap, which took up all the morning until near dinner-time.
+
+She found Mr. Travilla sitting there, talking with her father, when she
+awoke. She was very glad to see him, and to hear that he was going to
+stay to dinner; and they had quite a little chat together about the new
+home and its surroundings.
+
+After dinner, her Aunt Adelaide, Lora, and Walter called to see them and
+the house; but both they and Mr. Travilla went away early--he promising
+to bring his mother to see her very soon--and then she was left alone
+with her father again.
+
+"Would you like now to hear the remainder of the story we were reading
+yesterday, daughter?" he asked.
+
+"Very much, papa; I have been wanting it all day."
+
+"Why did you not ask for it, then?" he inquired.
+
+"Because, papa, I was ashamed, after being so naughty about it
+yesterday," she answered, hanging her head and blushing deeply.
+
+"Well, you shall have it now, daughter," he said luridly, pressing his
+lips to the little blushing cheek. "I had forgotten about it, or I would
+have given you the book to read while I was out this morning."
+
+A very pleasant, happy life had now begun for our little Elsie: all her
+troubles seemed to be over, and she was surrounded by everything that
+heart could wish. Her father watched over her with the tenderest love
+and care; devoting the greater part of his time to her entertainment and
+instruction, sparing neither trouble nor expense to give her pleasure,
+and though still requiring unhesitating, cheerful obedience to his wishes
+and commands--yet ruling her not less gently than firmly. He never spoke
+to her now in his stern tone, and after a while she ceased to expect and
+dread it.
+
+Her health improved quite rapidly after their removal to the Oaks, and
+before Christmas came again she was entirely equal to a little stroll in
+the grounds, or a short ride on her favorite pony.
+
+Her cheeks were becoming round and rosy again, and her hair had grown
+long enough to curl in soft, glossy little ringlets all over her head,
+and her father thought her almost prettier than ever. But he was very
+careful of her still, scarcely willing to have her a moment out of his
+sight, lest she should become over-fatigued, or her health be injured
+in some way; and he always accompanied her in her walks and rides, ever
+watching over her with the most unwearied love. As her health and
+strength returned he permitted her, in accordance with her own wishes,
+gradually to resume her studies, and took great pleasure in instructing
+her; but he was very particular to see that she did not attempt too much,
+nor sit poring over her books when she needed exercise and recreation,
+as she was sometimes rather inclined to do.
+
+"Massa, dere's a gentleman wants to speak to you," said a servant,
+looking in at the study door one afternoon a few days before Christmas.
+
+"Very well, John, show him into the library, and I will be there in a
+moment," replied Mr. Dinsmore, putting down his book.
+
+He glanced at Elsie's little figure, half buried in the cushions of a
+great easy-chair near one of the windows, into which she had climbed
+more than an hour before, and where she had been sitting ever since,
+completely lost to all that might be going on about her, in the deep
+interest with which she was following the adventures of FitzJames in
+Scott's "Lady of the Lake."
+
+"Daughter, I am afraid you are reading more to-day than is quite good for
+you," he said, looking at his watch. "You must put up your book very soon
+now, and go out for a walk. I shall probably be down in ten or fifteen
+minutes; but if I am not, you must not wait for me, but take Aunt Chloe
+with you."
+
+"Yes, papa," she replied, looking up from her book for an instant, and
+then returning to it again as he left the room.
+
+She had not the least intention of disobeying, but soon forgot everything
+else in the interest of her story.
+
+The stranger detained Mr. Dinsmore much longer than he had expected, and
+the short winter day was drawing rapidly to a close when he returned to
+his study, to find Elsie--much to his surprise and displeasure--precisely
+where he had left her.
+
+She was not aware of his entrance until he was close beside her; then,
+looking up with a start, she colored violently.
+
+He gently took the book from her hand and laid it away, then, lifting her
+from the chair, led her across the room, where he seated himself upon the
+sofa, and drawing her in between his knees, regarded her with a look of
+grave, sad displeasure.
+
+"Has my little daughter any idea how long it is since her father bade her
+put up her book?" he asked in a gently reproving tone.
+
+Elsie hung her head in silence, and a tear rolled quickly down her
+burning cheek.
+
+"It grieves me very much," he said, "to find that my little girl can be
+so disobedient! it almost makes me fear that she does not love me very
+much."
+
+"Oh, papa, don't! oh, don't say that! I can't bear to hear it!" she
+cried, bursting into an agony of tears and sobs, and hiding her face on
+his breast. "I do love you _very_ much, papa, and I can't bear to think
+I've grieved you," she sobbed. "I know I am very naughty, and deserve
+to be punished--but I didn't mean to disobey, only the book was so
+interesting I didn't know at all how the time went."
+
+He sighed, but said nothing; only drew her closer to him, pulling his arm
+around her, and stroking her hair in a gentle, caressing way.
+
+There was no sound for some moments but Elsie's sobs.
+
+Then she asked in a half whisper, "Are you going to punish me, papa?"
+
+"I shall take the book from you for a few days; I hope that will be
+punishment enough to make you pay better attention to my commands in
+future," he said very gravely.
+
+"Dear papa how kind you are! I am sure I deserve a great deal worse
+punishment than that," she exclaimed, raising her head and looking up
+gratefully and lovingly into his face, "but I am very, very sorry for
+my disobedience; will you please forgive me?"
+
+"I will, daughter," and he bent down and kissed her lips.
+
+"Now go," he said, "and get your cloak and hood. I think we will still
+have time for a little stroll through the grounds before dark."
+
+Elsie had very little to say during their walk, but moved silently along
+by her father's side, with her hand clasped in his; and he, too, seemed
+unusually abstracted.
+
+It was quite dusk when they entered the house again, and when the little
+girl returned to the study, after Chloe had taken off her wrappings,
+she found her father seated in an easy-chair, drawn up on one side of
+a bright wood fire that was blazing and crackling on the hearth.
+
+Elsie dearly loved the twilight hour, and it was one of her greatest
+pleasures to climb upon her father's knee and sit there talking or
+singing, or perhaps, oftener, just laying her head down on his breast
+and watching the play of the fire-light on the carpet, or the leaping
+of the flame hither and thither.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore sat leaning back in his chair, apparently in deep thought,
+and did not hear Elsie's light step.
+
+She paused for one instant in the doorway, casting a wistful, longing
+look at him, then, with a little sigh, walked softly to the other side of
+the fire-place, and seated herself in her little rocking-chair.
+
+For several minutes she sat very quietly gazing into the fire, her little
+face wearing a very sober, thoughtful look. But she was startled out of
+her reverie by the sound of her father's voice.
+
+"Why am I not to have my little girl on my knee to-night?" he was asking.
+
+She rose instantly, in a quick, eager way, and ran to him.
+
+"If you prefer the rocking-chair, stay there, by all means," he said.
+
+But she had already climbed to her accustomed seat, and, twining her arms
+around his neck, she laid her cheek to his, saying, "No, indeed, papa;
+you know I don't like the rocking-chair half so well as your knee; so
+please let me stay here."
+
+"Why did you not come at first, then?" he asked in a playful tone.
+
+"Because I was afraid, papa," she whispered,
+
+"_Afraid_!" he repeated, with an accent of surprise, and looking as if he
+felt a little hurt.
+
+"Yes, papa," she answered in a low tone, "because I have been so very
+naughty this afternoon that I know I don't deserve to come."
+
+"Did you not hear me say I forgave you?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, papa."
+
+"Very well, then, if you are forgiven you are taken back into favor, just
+as if you had not transgressed; and if you had quite believed me, you
+would have come to me at once, and claimed a daughter's privilege, as
+usual," he said very gravely.
+
+"I do believe you, papa; I know you always speak the truth and mean just
+what you say," she replied in half-tearful tones, "but I know I don't
+deserve a place on your knee to-night."
+
+"What you _deserve_ is not the question at present; we are talking about
+what you can _have_, whether you _deserve_ it or not.
+
+"Ah!" he continued in a low, musing tone, more as if thinking aloud than
+speaking to her, "just so it is with us all in reference to our Heavenly
+Father's forgiveness; when he offers us a full and free pardon of all our
+offences, and adoption into his family, we don't more than half believe
+him, but still go about groaning under the burden of our sins, and afraid
+to claim the privileges of children.
+
+"It hurts and displeases me when my child doubts my word, and yet how
+often I dishonor my Father by doubting his. 'He that believeth not God,
+maketh him a liar.' 'Without faith it is impossible to please him.'"
+
+He relapsed into silence, and for some moments neither of them spoke.
+
+He was passing his hand caressingly over her hair, and she resting in his
+arms and gazing thoughtfully into the fire.
+
+"What is my little one thinking of?" he asked at last.
+
+"I was thinking what a very naughty girl I have been this afternoon,
+and what a dear, kind papa I have," she said, looking up lovingly into
+his face. "You were so kind, papa, not to punish me as I deserved. I was
+afraid you would send me directly to bed, and I should miss my pleasant
+evening with you."
+
+"I hope, my darling," he answered gently, "that you do not think, when
+I punish you, it is from anything like a feeling of revenge, or because
+I take pleasure in giving you pain? Not at all. I do it for your own
+good--and in this instance, as I thought you were sorry enough for having
+grieved and displeased me to keep you from repeating the offence, I
+did not consider any further punishment necessary. But perhaps I was
+mistaken, and it was only fear of punishment that caused your tears,"
+he added, looking keenly at her.
+
+"Oh, no, papa! no indeed!" she exclaimed earnestly, the tears rushing
+into her eyes again; "it is worse than any punishment to know that I have
+grieved and displeased you, because I love you so very, _very_ dearly!"
+and the little arm crept round his neck again, and the soft cheek was
+laid to his.
+
+"I know it, darling," he said, "I fully believe that you would prefer any
+physical suffering to the pain of my displeasure."
+
+"Papa," she said, after a few moments' silence, "I want to tell you
+something."
+
+"Well, daughter, I am ready to listen," he answered pleasantly; "what is
+it?"
+
+"I was looking in my desk to-day, papa, for a letter that I wrote to you
+the evening before I was taken sick, and I couldn't find it. Did Aunt
+Adelaide give it to you?"
+
+"Yes, dear, I have it, and one of your curls," he said, pressing her
+closer to him.
+
+"Yes, papa, _that_ was what I wanted to tell you about. I am afraid I was
+very naughty to cut it off after all you said about it last Christmas;
+but everything was so strange that night--it seems like a dreadful dream
+to me now. I don't think I was quite in my right mind sometimes, and I
+thought I was going to die, and something seemed to tell me that you
+would want some of my hair when I was gone, and that nobody would save
+it for you; and so I cut it off myself. You do not mind about it, papa,
+dear, do you? You don't think it was _very_ naughty in me?" she asked
+anxiously.
+
+"No, darling, no; it was very right and kind, and much more than I
+deserved," he answered with emotion.
+
+"I am glad you are not angry, papa," she said in a relieved tone, "and,
+indeed, I did not mean to be naughty or disobedient."
+
+John was just bringing in the lights, and Mr. Dinsmore took a note from
+his pocket, saying, "I will read this to you, daughter, as it concerns
+you as well as myself."
+
+It was an invitation from Mrs. Howard--the mother of Elsie's friend,
+Caroline--to Mr. Dinsmore and his little girl, to come and spend the
+Christmas holidays with them.
+
+"Well, my pet, what do you say to it? would you like to go?" he asked, as
+he refolded the note and returned it to his pocket.
+
+"I don't know, papa; it seems as if it would be pleasant, as we are both
+invited; but home is so sweet, and I am so happy just alone with you that
+I hardly want to go away; so if you please, papa, I would much rather
+just leave it all to you."
+
+"Well, then, we will stay quietly at home," he said, with a gratified
+look; "and I think it will be much the better plan, for you are not
+strong enough yet for gayety, and it would be very little pleasure for
+you to be there while unable to join in the sports, and obliged always
+to keep early hours.
+
+"But we might have a Christmas dinner at home, and invite a few friends
+to help us eat it. Whom would you like to have?"
+
+"Mr. and Mrs. Travilla, and Aunt Adelaide, and Lora, if you please, papa,
+and anybody else you like," she replied, looking very much pleased. "I
+should like to have Carry Howard, but of course I can't--as she is going
+to have company of her own; and I believe nearly all the little girls I
+am acquainted with are to be there."
+
+"Yes, I suppose so. Well, we will ask those you have mentioned, and I
+hope they will come. But there is the tea-bell, and I shall carry my
+dolly out to the dining-room," he said, rising with her in his arms.
+
+"Papa," she said, when they had returned to their seats by the study
+fire, "may I give mammy a nice present this Christmas?"
+
+"Yes," he replied kindly, "I supposed you would want to give some
+presents, and I have just been thinking how it might be managed,
+as you are not fit to shop for yourself. As you have not had any
+pocket-money for several months, I will allow you now to spend as
+much as you choose--provided you keep within tolerably reasonable
+bounds," he added, smiling; "so you may make out a list of all the
+articles you want, and I will purchase them for you. Will that do?"
+
+"Oh, nicely, papa!" she cried, clapping her hands with delight, "it
+was very good of you to think of all that."
+
+"De slippers is come, darlin'; Bill, he fotched 'em from de city dis
+afternoon," remarked Chloe, as she was preparing her little charge for
+bed that night.
+
+"Oh, have they, mammy? let me see them!" was Elsie's eager exclamation.
+
+Chloe went to her room and was back again in a moment with a bundle in
+her hand, which Elsie immediately seized and opened with eager haste.
+
+"Oh, how pretty!" she cried, capering about with them in her hands,
+"aren't they, mammy? Won't papa be pleased?"
+
+Then starting at the sound of his step in the adjoining room, she threw
+them into a drawer which Chloe had hastily opened for the purpose.
+
+"Elsie," said her father, opening the door and putting in his head, "why
+are you not in bed, my daughter? you will take cold standing there half
+undressed. Go to bed immediately."
+
+"Yes, papa, I will," she replied submissively; and he drew back his head
+again and shut the door.
+
+"'Mighty narrow 'scape dat," remarked Chloe, laughing; "ef Massa had come
+jes a minute sooner, de cat been out de bag sure 'nough."
+
+Elsie made out her list the next day, with the help of some suggestions
+from her father, and by Christmas eve all the purchases had been made,
+and one of the closets in her bed-room was quite filled with packages
+of various sizes and shapes.
+
+The little girl was all excitement, and did not want to go to bed when
+the hour came.
+
+"Please, papa, let me stay up a little longer," she pleaded coaxingly.
+"I am not a bit sleepy."
+
+"No, my daughter; you must go at once," he said; "early hours are of
+great importance in your present state of health, and you must try to put
+away all exciting thoughts, and go to sleep as soon as you can. You will
+try to obey me in this?"
+
+"Yes, papa; I am sure I ought to be very good when you are so kind and
+indulgent to me," she replied, as she put up her face for the usual
+good-night kiss.
+
+"God bless and keep my little one, and give her many happy returns of
+this Christmas eve," said Mr. Dinsmore, folding her to his heart.
+
+Elsie had intended to stay awake until her father should be in bed and
+asleep, and then to steal softly into his room and take away the slippers
+he usually wore, replacing them with the new ones which she had worked.
+But now she engaged Chloe to do this for her, and in obedience to his
+directions endeavored to put away all exciting thoughts and go to sleep,
+in which she succeeded much sooner than she could have believed possible.
+
+She was up and dressed, and saying "Merry Christmas!" at her papa's door,
+quite early the next morning.
+
+"Come in," said he, "and tell me what fairy has been here, changing my
+old slippers to new ones."
+
+"No fairy at all, papa; but just dear old mammy," she cried, springing
+into his arms with a merry, ringing laugh.
+
+"Ah, but I know very well it wasn't Aunt Chloe's fingers that worked
+them," he said, kissing her first on one cheek, then on the other. "I
+wish you a very merry Christmas, and a _very happy_ New Year, my darling.
+Thank you for your gift; I like it very much, indeed; and now see what
+papa has for _you_."
+
+And opening a pretty little box that stood on his dressing-table, he took
+from it a beautiful pearl necklace and bracelets, and clasped them round
+her neck and arms.
+
+"Oh, how beautiful! dear papa, thank you very much," she exclaimed,
+delighted.
+
+"Your Aunt Adelaide thought you didn't care much for ornaments," he
+remarked, looking much pleased.
+
+"I do when _you_ give them to me, papa," she answered, raising her eyes
+to his face with one of her sweet, loving smiles.
+
+"I am very glad my present pleases you," he said, "but for fear it
+should not, I have provided another," and he placed in her hand a very
+handsomely bound volume of Scott's poems.
+
+"I don't deserve it, papa," she said, coloring deeply, and dropping her
+eyes on the carpet.
+
+"You shall have it, at any rate," he replied, laying his hand gently on
+her drooping head; "and now you can finish the 'Lady of the Lake' this
+afternoon, if you like. His prose works I may perhaps give you at some
+future day; but I do not choose you should read them for some years to
+come. But now we will lay this book aside for the present, and have
+our morning chapter together."
+
+They had finished their devotions, and she was sitting on his knee,
+waiting for the breakfast-bell to ring.
+
+"When did you find an opportunity to work these without letting me into
+the secret?" he asked, extending his foot, and turning it from side to
+side to look at his slipper. "It puzzles me to understand it, since I
+know that for weeks past you have scarcely been an hour out of my sight
+during the day--not since you were well enough to sew," he said, smiling
+down at her.
+
+There was an expression of deep gravity, almost amounting to sadness, on
+Elsie's little face, that surprised her father a good deal.
+
+"All, papa!" she murmured, "it makes me feel sad, and glad, too, to look
+at those slippers."
+
+"Why, darling?" he asked in a tender tone.
+
+"Because, papa, I worked almost the whole of them last summer, in those
+sorrowful days when I was all alone. I thought I was going to die, papa,
+for I was sure I could not live very long without you to love me, and I
+wanted to make something for you that would remind you of your little
+girl when she was gone, and perhaps convince you that she did really
+love you, although she seemed so naughty and rebellious,"
+
+The tears were streaming down her cheeks, and there was a momentary
+struggle to keep down a rising sob; and then she added--
+
+"I finished them since I came here, papa, a little at a time, whenever
+you were not with me."
+
+He was deeply moved. "My poor darling!" he sighed, drawing her closer to
+him, and caressing her tenderly, "those were sad days to us both, and
+though I _then_ persuaded myself that I was doing my duty toward you, if
+you had been taken away from me I could never have forgiven myself, or
+known another happy moment. But God has treated me with undeserved
+mercy."
+
+After breakfast the house-servants were all called in to family
+worship, as usual; and when that had been attended to, Elsie uncovered
+a large basket which stood on a side-table, and with a face beaming
+with delight, distributed the Christmas gifts--a nice new calico dress,
+or a bright-colored hand-kerchief to each, accompanied by a paper of
+confectionery.
+
+They were received with bows and courtesies, broad grins of satisfaction,
+and many repetitions of "Tank you, Miss Elsie! dese berry handsome--berry
+nice, jes de ting for dis chile."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore stood looking on highly gratified, and coming in for a share
+of the thanks.
+
+An hour or two later, Elsie's little pony, and her father's larger but
+equally beautiful steed, were brought up to the door, and they rode down
+to the quarter, followed by Jim and Bill, each carrying a good-sized
+basket; and there a very similar scene was gone through with--Elsie
+finishing up the business by showering sugar-plums into the outstretched
+aprons of the little ones, laughing merrily at their eagerness, and
+highly enjoying their delight.
+
+She half wished for an instant, as she turned her horse's head to ride
+away again, that she was one of them, so much did she want a share of the
+candy, which her father refused to let her taste, saying it was not fit
+for her when she was well, and much less now while she had yet hardly
+recovered from severe illness.
+
+But it was a lovely morning, the air pure and bracing, and everything
+else was speedily forgotten in the pleasure of a brisk ride with her
+father. They rode several miles, and on their return were overtaken
+by Mr. Travilla, who remarked that Elsie had quite a color, and was
+looking more like herself than he had seen her since her sickness. He was
+on horseback, and his mother arrived a little later in the carriage,
+having called at Roselands on the way, and picked up Adelaide. Lora did
+not come, as she had accepted an invitation to spend the holidays at Mr.
+Howard's, where a little girl about her own age, a cousin of Carry's,
+from the North, was spending the winter.
+
+Mr. Travilla put a beautiful little pearl ring on Elsie's finger, which
+she gracefully thanked him for, and then showing it to her father, "See,
+papa," she said, "how nicely it matches the bracelets."
+
+"Yes, daughter, it is very pretty," he replied, "and one of these days,
+when you are old enough to wear it, you shall have a pin to match."
+
+Mrs. Travilla and Adelaide each gave her a handsome book--Adelaide's was
+a beautifully bound Bible--and Elsie was delighted with all her presents,
+and thought no little girl could be richer in Christmas gifts than
+herself.
+
+The day passed very pleasantly, for they were quite like a family party,
+every one seeming to feel perfectly at home and at ease.
+
+The negroes were to have a grand dinner at the quarter, and Elsie, who
+had been deeply interested in the preparations--cake-baking, etc.--was
+now very anxious to see them enjoying their feast; so about one o'clock
+she and her father invited their guests to walk down there with them to
+enjoy the sight.
+
+"_I_, for one, would like nothing better," said Mr. Travilla, offering
+his arm to Adelaide, while Mr. Dinsmore took Mrs. Travilla, Elsie walking
+on the other side and keeping fast hold of his hand.
+
+They found it a very merry scene; and the actors in it scarcely enjoyed
+it more than the spectators.
+
+Their own dinner was served up somewhat later in the day, and with
+appetites rendered keen by their walk in the bracing air, they were ready
+to do it full justice.
+
+Adelaide, at her brother's request, took the head of the table, and
+played the part of hostess very gracefully.
+
+"Ah, Dinsmore," remarked Travilla, a little mischievously, glancing from
+one to the other, "you have a grand establishment here, but it still
+lacks its chief ornament. Miss Adelaide fills the place _to-day_, most
+gracefully, it is true; but then we all know she is only borrowed for
+the occasion."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore colored a little and looked slightly annoyed.
+
+"Elsie will supply that deficiency in a few years," he said, "and until
+then, I think I can depend upon the kindness of my sisters. Besides,
+Travilla," he added laughingly, "you must not forget the old proverb
+about people who live in glass houses."
+
+"Ah," replied Travilla, looking affectionately at his mother, "_I have_ a
+mistress for my establishment, and so can _afford_ to wait for Elsie."
+
+The child looked up quickly, with a slight flush on her face.
+
+"You needn't, Mr. Travilla!" she said, "for I am _never_ going to leave
+my father; and you know he promised not to give me away, so if you want a
+little girl you will have to look somewhere else."
+
+"Ah! well, I will not despair yet," he replied laughingly, "for I have
+learned that ladies, both little and large, very often change their
+minds, and so I shall still live in hopes."
+
+"You know I like you very much indeed, Mr. Travilla--next best to
+papa--but then I couldn't leave him for _anybody_, you see," Elsie
+said in a deprecating tone, and looking affectionately up into his face.
+
+"No, my dear, that is quite right, and I don't feel at all hurt," he
+answered with a good-natured smile, which seemed to relieve her very
+much.
+
+Tea was over, the guests had returned to their homes, and Mr. Dinsmore
+sat by the fire, as usual, with his little girl upon his knee.
+
+"We have had a very pleasant day, papa, haven't we?" she remarked.
+
+"Yes, darling, I have enjoyed it, and I hope you have, too."
+
+"Very much indeed, papa; and I do like all my presents so much."
+
+"If I should ask you to give me something of yours, would you be willing
+to do it?" he inquired in a grave tone.
+
+"Why, papa!" she said, looking up quickly into his face, "doesn't
+everything I have belong to you?"
+
+"In some sense it does, certainly," he replied, "and yet I like you to
+feel that you have some rights of property. But you did not answer my
+question."
+
+"I can't think what it can be, papa; but I am sure there is nothing of
+mine that I wouldn't be very glad to give you, if you wanted it," she
+said earnestly.
+
+"Well, then," said he, "your aunt gave you a new Bible to-day, and as you
+don't need two, will you give the old one to me?"
+
+A slight shade had come over the little girl's face, and she sat for a
+moment apparently in deep thought; then, looking up lovingly into his
+face, she replied, "I love it very much, papa, and I don't know whether
+any other Bible could ever seem _quite_ the same to me--it was mamma's,
+you know--and it has been with me in all my troubles, and I don't think
+I could be quite willing to give it to anybody else; but I am very glad
+to give it to you, my own dear, dear papa!" and she threw her arms around
+his neck.
+
+"Thank you very much, my darling. I know it is a very strong proof of
+your affection, and I shall value it more than its weight in gold," he
+said, pressing her to his heart, and kissing her tenderly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+"Wide flush the fields; the softening air is balm;
+Echo the mountains round; the forest smiles;
+And every sense, and every heart, is joy."
+
+THOMSON.
+
+
+It was spring again; early in April; the air was filled with the melody
+of birds, and balmy with the breath of flowers. All nature was awaking to
+renewed life and vigor; but not so with our little friend. She had never
+fully recovered her strength, and as the season advanced, and the weather
+became warmer she seemed to grow more languid.
+
+Her father was very anxious about her, and sending for Dr. Barton one
+morning, held a long consultation with him, the result of which was a
+determination on Mr. Dinsmore's part that he would take his little girl
+travelling for some months. They would go North immediately; for the
+doctor said it was the best thing that could be done; in fact the only
+thing that would be likely to benefit her.
+
+When the doctor had gone, Mr. Dinsmore went into Elsie's little
+sitting-room, where she was busily engaged with her lessons.
+
+"I am not quite ready yet, papa," she said, looking up as he entered;
+"isn't it a little before the time?"
+
+"Yes, a little," he replied, consulting his watch, "but you needn't mind
+that lesson, daughter; I'm afraid I have been working you too hard."
+
+"Oh, no, papa! and if you please, I would rather finish the lesson."
+
+"Very well, then, I will wait for you," he said, taking up a book.
+
+She came to him in a few moments, saying that she was quite ready
+now, and when he had heard her recitations, and praised her for their
+excellence, he bade her put her books away and come and sit on his
+knee, for he had something to tell her.
+
+"Is it good news, papa?" she asked, as he lifted her to her accustomed
+seat.
+
+"Yes, I hope you will think so: it is that you and I, and mammy, and John
+are about to set out upon our travels. I am going to take you North to
+spend the summer, as the doctor thinks that is the best thing that can be
+done to bring back your health and strength."
+
+Elsie's eyes were dancing with joy. "Oh, how delightful that will be!"
+she exclaimed. "And will you take me to see Miss Rose, papa?"
+
+"Yes, anywhere that you would like to go. Suppose we make out a list of
+the places we would like to visit," he said, taking out pencil and paper.
+
+"Oh, yes, papa," she answered eagerly; "I would like to go to Washington,
+to see the Capitol, and the President's house, and then to Philadelphia
+to see Independence Hall, where they signed the Declaration, you know,
+and then to New York, and then to Boston; for I want to see Bunker Hill,
+and Faneuil Hall, and all the places that we read so much about in the
+history of the Revolution, and--but, papa, may I _really_ go _wherever_
+I want to?" she asked, interrupting herself in the midst of her rapid
+enumeration, to which he was listening with an amused expression.
+
+"I said so, did I not?" he replied, smiling at her eagerness.
+
+"Well, then, papa, I want to see Lakes Champlain and Ontario; yes, and
+all those great lakes--and Niagara Fails; and to sail up or down the
+Hudson River and the Connecticut, and I would like to visit the White
+Mountains, and--I don't know where else I would like to go, but--"
+
+"That will do pretty well for a beginning, I think," he said, laughing,
+"and by the time we are through with all those, if you are not ready to
+return home, you may be able to think of some more. Now for the time of
+starting. This is Wednesday--I think we will leave next Tuesday morning."
+
+"I am glad it is so soon," Elsie said, with a look of great satisfaction,
+"for I am in such a hurry to see Miss Rose. Must I go on with lessons
+this week, papa?"
+
+"With your music and drawing; but that will be all, except that we will
+read history together for an hour every day. I know a little regular
+employment will make the time pass much more quickly and pleasantly to
+you."
+
+Elsie could now talk of very little but her expected journey, and thought
+that time moved much more slowly than usual; yet when Monday evening came
+and she and her father walked over the grounds, taking leave of all her
+favorite haunts, everything was looking so lovely that she half regretted
+the necessity of leaving her beautiful home even for a few months.
+
+They started very early in the morning, before the sun was up, travelling
+to the city in their own carriage, and then taking the cars.
+
+They visited Baltimore and Washington, staying just long enough in each
+place to see all that was worth seeing; then went on to Philadelphia,
+where they expected to remain several weeks, as it was there Miss Rose
+resided. Mr. Allison was a prosperous merchant, with a fine establishment
+in the city, and a very elegant country-seat a few miles out of it.
+
+On reaching the city Elsie was in such haste to see her friend, that she
+entreated her father to go directly to Mr. Allison's, saying she was
+certain that Miss Rose would wish them to do so.
+
+But Mr. Dinsmore would not consent. "It would never do," he said, "to
+rush in upon our friends in that way, without giving them any warning;
+we might put them to great inconvenience."
+
+So John was sent for a carriage, and they drove to one of the first
+hotels in the city, where Mr. Dinsmore at once engaged rooms for himself,
+daughter, and servants.
+
+"You are looking tired, my child," he said, as he led Elsie to her room
+and seated her upon a sofa; "and you are warm and dusty. But mammy must
+give you a bath, and put on your loose wrapper, and I will have your
+supper brought up here, and then you must go early to bed, and I hope
+you will feel quite bright again in the morning."
+
+"Yes, papa, I hope so; and then you will take me to see Miss Rose, won't
+you?" she asked coaxingly.
+
+"I will send them our cards to-night, my dear, since you feel in such
+haste," he replied in a pleasant tone, "and probably Miss Rose will be
+here in the morning if she is well, and cares to see us."
+
+John and the porter were bringing up the trunks. They set them down and
+went out again, followed by Mr. Dinsmore, who did not return until half
+an hour afterwards, when he found Elsie lying on the sofa, seeming much
+refreshed by her bath and change of clothing. "You look better already,
+dearest," he said, stooping to press a kiss on her lips.
+
+"And you, too, papa," she answered, smiling up at him. "I think it
+improves any one to get the dust washed off. Won't you take your tea
+up here with me? I should like it so much."
+
+"I will, darling," he said kindly; "it is a great pleasure to me to
+gratify you in any harmless wish." And then he asked her what she would
+like for her supper, and told Chloe to ring for the waiter, that she
+might order it.
+
+After their tea they had their reading and prayer together; then he bade
+her good-night and left her, telling Chloe to put her to bed immediately.
+Chloe obeyed, and the little girl rose the next morning, feeling quite
+rested, and looking very well and bright.
+
+"How early do you think Miss Rose will come, papa?" was the first
+question she put to him on his entrance into her room.
+
+"Indeed, my child, I do not know, but I certainly should not advise you
+to expect her before ten o'clock, at the very earliest."
+
+"And it isn't eight yet," murmured Elsie, disconsolately. "Oh, papa, I
+wish you would take me to see her as soon as breakfast is over."
+
+He shook his head. "You must not be so impatient, my little daughter,"
+he said, drawing her towards him. "Shall I take you to Independence Hall
+to-day?"
+
+"Not until Miss Rose has been here, if you please, papa; because I am so
+afraid of missing her."
+
+"Very well, you may stay in this morning, if you wish," he replied
+in an indulgent tone, as he took her hand to lead her down to the
+breakfast-table.
+
+So Elsie remained in her room all the morning, starting at every
+footstep, and turning her head eagerly every time the door opened:
+but no Miss Rose appeared, and she met her father at dinner-time with
+a very disconsolate face. He sympathized in her disappointment, and
+said all he could to raise her drooping spirits.
+
+When dinner was over, he did not ask if he should take her out, but
+quietly bade her go to Chloe and get her bonnet put on. She obeyed, as
+she knew she must, without a word, but as he took her hand on her return,
+to lead her out, she asked, "Is there no danger that Miss Rose will come
+while we are gone, papa?"
+
+"If she does, my dear, she will leave her card, and then we can go to
+see her; or very possibly she may wait until we return," he answered
+in a kind, cheerful tone. "But at any rate, you must have a walk this
+afternoon."
+
+Elsie sighed a little, but said no more, and her father led her along,
+talking so kindly, and finding so many pretty things to show her, that
+after a little she almost forgot her anxiety and disappointment.
+
+They were passing a confectioner's, where the display of sweetmeats in
+the window was unusually tempting. Elsie called his attention to it.
+
+"See, papa, how _very_ nice those candies look!"
+
+He smiled a little, asking, "Which do you think looks the most inviting?"
+
+"I don't know, papa, there is such a variety."
+
+"I will indulge you for once--it isn't often I do," he said, leading her
+into the store; "so now choose what you want and I will pay for it."
+
+"Thank you, papa!" and the smile that accompanied the words was a very
+bright one.
+
+When they returned to their hotel Elsie eagerly inquired of Chloe if Miss
+Rose had been there, and was again sadly disappointed to learn that she
+had not.
+
+"Oh, papa!" she said, bursting into tears, "what _can_ be the reason she
+doesn't come?"
+
+"I don't know, darling," he answered soothingly; "but never mind; she is
+probably away from home, and perhaps will return in a day or two."
+
+The next morning Mr. Dinsmore would not hear of staying in to wait for
+a call that was so uncertain, but ordered a carriage immediately after
+breakfast, and had Elsie out sight-seeing and shopping all day. One of
+their visits--one which particularly pleased and interested the little
+girl--was to Independence Hall, where they were shown the bell which in
+Revolutionary days had, in accordance with its motto, "Proclaimed liberty
+throughout all the land, to all the inhabitants thereof."
+
+"I am so glad to have seen it, papa," Elsie said. "I have always felt so
+interested in its story, and shall never forget it so long as I live."
+
+"Yes," he said, with a pleased smile, "I was sure you would enjoy seeing
+it; for I know my little girl is very patriotic."
+
+Other historical scenes were visited after that, and thus several days
+passed very pleasantly. Still there were no tidings of Miss Allison,
+and at last Elsie gave up expecting her; for her father said it must
+certainly be that the family had left the city for the summer, although
+it was so early in the season; so he decided that they would go on and
+visit Boston, and the White Mountains; and perhaps go up the Hudson
+River, too, and to Niagara Falls, and the lakes, stopping in Philadelphia
+again on their return; when their friends would probably be in the city
+again.
+
+It was on Saturday morning that he announced this decision to Elsie,
+adding that they would remain where they were over the Sabbath, and leave
+for New York early Monday morning.
+
+Elsie sighed at the thought of giving up for so long a time all hope of
+seeing Miss Rose, and looked very sober for a little while, though she
+said nothing.
+
+"Well, I believe we have seen all the sights in this city of Brotherly
+Love, so what shall we do with ourselves to-day?" her father asked gayly,
+as he drew her towards him, and playfully patted her cheek.
+
+"I should like to go back to the Academy of Fine Arts, if you will take
+me, papa; there are several pictures there which I want very much to see
+again."
+
+"Then get your bonnet, my pet, and we will go at once," he said; and
+Elsie hastened to do his bidding.
+
+There were very few other visitors in the Academy when Mr. Dinsmore and
+his little girl entered. They spent several hours there, almost too much
+absorbed in studying the different paintings to notice who were coming or
+going, or what might be passing about them. They themselves, however,
+were by no means unobserved, and more than once the remark might have
+been heard from some one whose eyes were turned in that direction, "What
+a very fine-looking gentleman!" or, "What a lovely little girl!"
+
+One young lady and gentleman watched them for some time.
+
+"What a very handsome and distinguished-looking man he is," remarked the
+lady in an undertone, "His face looks familiar, too, and yet I surely
+cannot have met him before."
+
+"Yes, he is a fine, gentlemanly looking fellow," replied her companion in
+the same low tone, "but it is the little girl that attracts my attention.
+She is perfectly lovely! his sister, I presume. There, Rose, now you can
+see her face," he added, as at that moment Elsie turned toward them.
+
+"Oh, it is a dear little face! But can it be? no, surely it is
+impossible! yes, yes, it _is_, my own little Elsie!"
+
+For at that instant their eyes met, and uttering a joyful exclamation,
+the little girl darted across the room, and threw herself into the lady's
+arms, crying, "Oh, Miss Rose! dear, dear Miss Rose, how glad I am!"
+
+"Elsie! darling! why, where did you come from?" and Rose's arms were
+clasped about the little girl's waist, and she was showering kisses upon
+the sweet little face.
+
+"I did not even know you were in the North," she said presently,
+releasing her from her embrace, but still keeping fast hold of her hand,
+and looking down lovingly into her face. "When did you come? and who is
+with you? but I need scarcely ask, for it must be your papa, of course."
+
+"Yes, ma'am," replied Elsie, looking round, "there he is, and see! he is
+coming toward us. Papa, this is Miss Rose."
+
+Rose held out her hand with one of her sweetest smiles. "I am very glad
+to see you, Mr. Dinsmore, especially as you have brought my dear little
+friend with you. This is my brother Edward," she added, turning to her
+companion. "Mr. Dinsmore, Edward, and little Elsie, of whom you have so
+often heard me speak."
+
+There was a cordial greeting all around; then questions were asked and
+answered until everything had been explained; Mr. Dinsmore learning that
+Mr. Allison's family were out of the city, passing the summer at their
+country-seat, and had never received his cards; but that to-day, Rose and
+her brother had come in to do a little shopping, and finding that they
+had an hour to spare, had fortunately decided to pay a visit to the
+Academy.
+
+When these explanations had been made, Edward and Rose urged Mr. Dinsmore
+to return with them to their home and pay them a long visit, saying that
+they knew nothing else would at all satisfy their parents, and at length
+he consented to do so, on condition that they first dined with him at his
+hotel, to which they finally agreed.
+
+Elsie was delighted with the arrangement, and looked happier, her father
+laughingly affirmed, than she had done for a week.
+
+She was seated by Miss Rose at dinner, and also in the carriage during
+their ride, which was a beautiful one, and just long enough to be
+pleasant.
+
+They had passed a number of very handsome residences, which Rose had
+pointed out to Elsie, generally giving the name of the occupant, and
+asking how she liked the place. "Now, Elsie, we are coming to another,"
+she said, laying her hand on the little girl's arm, "and I want you to
+tell me what you think of it. See! that large, old-fashioned house
+built of gray stone; there, beyond the avenue of elms."
+
+"Oh, I like it so much! better than any of the others! I think I should
+like to live there."
+
+"I am very glad it pleases you," Rose answered with a smile, "and I hope
+you will live there, at least for some weeks or months."
+
+"Oh, it is your home? how glad I am!" exclaimed the little girl as the
+carriage turned into the avenue.
+
+"This is a very fine old place, Miss Allison," remarked Mr. Dinsmore,
+turning toward her; "I think one might well be content to spend his days
+here."
+
+Rose looked gratified, and pointed out several improvements her father
+had been making. "I am very proud of my home," she said, "but I do not
+think it more lovely than Roselands."
+
+"Ah! Miss Rose, but you ought to see the Oaks--papa's new place," said
+Elsie, eagerly. "It is much handsomer than Roselands, I think. Miss Rose
+must visit us next time, papa, must she not?"
+
+"If she will, daughter, Miss Allison, or any other member of her father's
+family, will always find a warm welcome at my house."
+
+Rose had only time to say "Thank you," before the carriage had stopped,
+and Edward, springing out, was ready to assist the others to alight.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore and Elsie were left standing upon the piazza, looking about
+them, while Edward was engaged for a moment in giving some directions to
+the coachman, and Rose was speaking to a servant who had come out on
+their approach.
+
+"Mamma is lying down with a bad headache, Mr. Dinsmore, and papa has
+not yet returned from the city," said Rose, turning to her guests; "but
+I hope you will excuse them, and Edward will show you to your room, and
+try to make you feel at home."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore politely expressed his regret at Mrs. Allison's illness, and
+his hope that their arrival would not be allowed to disturb her.
+
+Miss Allison then left him to her brother's care, and taking Elsie's
+hand, led her to her own room. It was a large, airy apartment, very
+prettily furnished, with another a little smaller opening into it.
+
+"This is my room, Elsie," said Miss Rose, "and that is Sophy's. You will
+sleep with her, and so I can take care of you both, for though Chloe can
+attend you morning and evening as usual, she will have to sleep in one of
+the servants' rooms in the attic."
+
+She had been taking off Elsie's bonnet, and smoothing her hair as she
+spoke, and now removing her own, she sat down on a low seat, and taking
+the little girl on her lap, folded her in her arms, and kissed her over
+and over again, saying softly, "My darling, darling child! I cannot tell
+you how glad and thankful I am to have you in my arms once more. I love
+you very dearly, little Elsie."
+
+Elsie was almost too glad to speak, but presently she whispered, "Not
+better than I love you, dear Miss Rose. I love you next to papa."
+
+"And you are very happy now?"
+
+"Very, very happy. Do you like my papa, Miss Rose?"
+
+"Very much, dear, so far," Rose replied with simple truthfulness; "he
+seems to be a very polished gentleman, and I think is extremely handsome;
+but what is best of all, I can see he is a very fond father," she added,
+bestowing another kiss upon the little rosy cheek.
+
+"I am so glad!" exclaimed the little girl, her eyes sparkling with
+pleasure. Then she added, in a deprecating tone, "But he doesn't spoil
+me, Miss Rose; indeed he does not. I always know I must obey, and
+promptly and cheerfully, too."
+
+"No, dearest, I did not think you had been spoiled; indeed, I doubt if it
+would be possible to spoil you," Rose answered in a tone of fondness.
+
+"Ah! you don't know me, Miss Rose," said Elsie, shaking her head. "If
+papa were not very firm and decided with me, I know I should be very
+wilful sometimes, and he knows it, too; but he is too really kind to
+indulge me in naughtiness. My dear, dear papa! Miss Rose, I love him
+so much."
+
+"I am so glad for you, my poor little one," murmured Rose, drawing the
+little girl closer to her. "It seemed so sad and lonely for you, with
+neither father nor mother to love you. And you were very ill last summer,
+darling? and very unhappy before that? Your Aunt Adelaide wrote me all
+about it, and my heart ached for my poor darling; oh, how I longed to
+comfort her!"
+
+"Yes, Miss Rose, that was a dreadful time; but papa only did what he
+thought was right, and you cannot think how kind he was when I was
+getting better." Elsie's eyes were full of tears.
+
+"I know it, darling, and I pitied him, too, and often prayed for you
+both," said Rose. "But tell me, dearest, was Jesus near to you in your
+troubles?"
+
+"Yes, Miss Rose, very near, and very precious; else how could I have
+borne it at all? for oh, Miss Rose, I thought sometimes my heart would
+break!"
+
+"It was a bitter trial, dearest, I know; and certain I am that you must
+have had much more than your own strength to enable you to be so firm,"
+said Rose, tenderly.
+
+"Ah, there is Sophy!" she added quickly, as a mass of flaxen curls,
+accompanied by a pair of dancing blue eyes, appeared for an instant at
+the door, and then as suddenly vanished. "Sophy! Sophy, come here!" she
+called, and again the door opened and the owner of the blue eyes and
+flaxen ringlets--a little girl about Elsie's age, came in, and moved
+slowly towards them, looking at the stranger in her sister's lap with a
+mingled expression of fun, curiosity, and bashfulness.
+
+"Come, Sophy, this is Elsie Dinsmore, whom you have so often wished to
+see," said Rose. "Elsie, this is my little sister Sophy. I want you to be
+friends, and learn to love one another dearly. There, Sophy, take her
+into your room, and show her all your toys and books, while I am changing
+my dress; that will be the way for you to get acquainted."
+
+Sophy did as she was desired, and, as Rose had foreseen, the first
+feeling of bashfulness soon wore off, and in a few moments they were
+talking and laughing together as though they had been acquainted as
+many months. Sophy had brought out a number of dolls, and they were
+discussing their several claims to beauty in a very animated way when
+Rose called to them to come with her.
+
+"I am going to carry you off to the nursery, Elsie, to see the little
+ones," she said, taking her young visitor's hand; "should you like to see
+them?"
+
+"Oh, so much!" Elsie exclaimed eagerly; "if Sophy may go, too."
+
+"Oh, yes, Sophy will come along, of course," Miss Rose said, leading the
+way as she spoke.
+
+Elsie found the nursery, a beautiful, large room, fitted up with every
+comfort and convenience, and abounding in a variety of toys for the
+amusement of the children, of whom there were three--the baby crowing in
+its nurse's arms, little May, a merry, romping child of four, with flaxen
+curls and blue eyes like Sophy's, and Freddie, a boy of seven.
+
+Harold, who was thirteen, sat by one of the windows busily engaged
+covering a ball for Fred, who with May stood intently watching the
+movements of his needle.
+
+Elsie was introduced to them all, one after another.
+
+Harold gave her a cordial shake of the hand, and a pleasant "Welcome to
+Elmgrove," and the little ones put up their faces to be kissed.
+
+Elsie thought Harold a kind, pleasant-looking boy, not at all like
+Arthur, Fred and May, dear little things, and the baby perfectly
+charming, as she afterwards confided to her father.
+
+"May I take the baby, Miss Rose?" she asked coaxingly.
+
+Miss Rose said "Yes," and the nurse put it in her arms for a moment.
+
+"Dear, pretty little thing!" she exclaimed, kissing it softly. "How old
+is it, Miss Rose? and what is its name?"
+
+"She is nearly a year old, and we call her Daisy."
+
+"I'm sure your arms must be getting tired, miss, for she's quite heavy,"
+remarked the nurse presently, taking the child again.
+
+Miss Rose now said it was time to go down-stairs, and left the room,
+followed by Elsie, Harold, and Sophy, the last-named putting her arm
+around Elsie's waist, saying what a delightful time they would have
+together, and that she hoped she would stay all summer.
+
+They had not quite reached the end of the hall when Elsie saw her father
+come out of the door of another room, and hastily releasing herself from
+Sophy's arm, she ran to him, and catching hold of his hand, looked up
+eagerly into his face, saying, "Oh, papa, do come into the nursery and
+see the dear little children and the baby! it is so pretty."
+
+He looked inquiringly at Miss Allison.
+
+"If you care to see it, Mr. Dinsmore," she said, smiling, "there is no
+objection; we are very proud of our baby."
+
+"Then I should like to go," he replied, "both to gratify Elsie and
+because I am fond of children."
+
+Rose led the way and they all went back to the nursery, where Mr.
+Dinsmore kissed the little folks all round, patted their heads and talked
+kindly to them, then took the babe in his arms, praising its beauty, and
+tossing it up till he made it laugh and crow right merrily.
+
+"I often wish I had seen my baby," he remarked to Rose, as he returned
+it to the nurse. Then laying his hand on Elsie's head, "Do you know, Miss
+Allison," he asked, "that I never saw my little girl until she was nearly
+eight years old?"
+
+"Yes," she replied, "I knew her before you did, and sympathized strongly
+in her longing for a father's love."
+
+"Ah! we both lost a good deal in those years, and if I could live them
+over again it should be very different," he said, with a loving glance
+at his daughter's face; "nothing should keep me from my child. Though no
+doubt it has all been for the best," he added, with a slight sigh, as he
+thought of the worldly wisdom he would have taught her.
+
+They all now went down to the parlor, where Mr. Dinsmore and Elsie were
+introduced to Richard Allison, a wild boy full of fun and frolic, between
+Rose and Harold in age.
+
+Edward was the eldest of the family, and quite sober and sedate.
+
+Richard took a great fancy to Elsie from the first moment, and very
+soon had coaxed her out to the lawn, where he presently engaged her in
+a merry game of romps with Sophy, Harold, and himself, which was finally
+brought to a conclusion by the arrival of the elder Mr. Allison, almost
+immediately followed by the call to supper.
+
+Mr. Allison had a pleasant face, and was a younger looking man than might
+have been expected in the father of such a family. He welcomed his guests
+with the greatest cordiality, expressing the hope that they intended
+paying a long visit to Elmgrove, which he said they owed him in return
+for Rose's lengthened sojourn at Roselands.
+
+Mrs. Allison also made her appearance at the tea-table, saying that she
+had nearly recovered from her headache; although she still looked pale
+and languid.
+
+She had a kind, motherly look, and a gentle, winning address that quite
+took Elsie's fancy; and was evidently pleased at their arrival, and
+anxious to entertain them in the most hospitable manner.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore and his little girl were the only guests, and all the
+children, excepting the baby, were allowed to come to the table.
+
+They seemed to be well-bred children, behaved in a quiet, orderly way,
+and asked politely for what they wanted, but were rather too much
+indulged, Mr. Dinsmore thought, as he observed that they all ate and
+drank whatever they fancied, without any remonstrance from their parents.
+
+Elsie was seated between her father and Miss Rose.
+
+"Will your little girl take tea or coffee, Mr. Dinsmore?" asked Mrs.
+Allison.
+
+"Neither, thank you, madam: she will take a glass of milk if you have it;
+if not, cold water will do very well,"
+
+"Why, Elsie, I thought I remembered that you were very fond of coffee,"
+Rose remarked, as she filled a tumbler with milk and set it down beside
+the little girl's plate.
+
+"Elsie is a good child, and eats and drinks just whatever her father
+thinks best for her, Miss Allison," said Mr. Dinsmore, preventing Elsie's
+reply. "No, no; not any of those, if you please," for Rose was putting
+hot, buttered waffles upon Elsie's plate; "I don't allow her to eat hot
+cakes, especially at night."
+
+"Excuse me, Mr. Dinsmore, but are you not eating them yourself?" asked
+Rose, with an arch smile.
+
+"Yes, Miss Rose; and so may she when she is my age," he answered in a
+pleasant tone, accompanied by an affectionate glance and smile bestowed
+upon his little daughter.
+
+"I think you are quite right, Mr. Dinsmore," remarked Mrs. Allison.
+"I know we pamper our children's appetites entirely too much, as I have
+often said to their father; but he does not agree with me, and I have not
+sufficient firmness to carry out the reform by myself."
+
+"No, I like to see them enjoy themselves, and whatever I have, I want my
+children to have, too," said Mr. Allison, bluntly.
+
+"It would seem the kindest treatment at first sight, but I don't think
+it is in the end," replied Mr. Dinsmore. "To buy present enjoyment at
+the expense of an enfeebled constitution is paying much too dear for it,
+I think."
+
+"Ah! young people are full of notions," said the elder gentleman, shaking
+his head wisely, "and are very apt to be much more strict with the first
+child than with any of the rest. You are bringing this one up by rule,
+I see; but mark my words: if you live to be the father of as many as I
+have, you will grow less and less strict with each one, until you will
+be ready to spoil the youngest completely."
+
+"I hope not, sir; I am very sure I could not possibly love another better
+than I do this," Mr. Dinsmore said with a smile, and coloring slightly,
+too; then adroitly changed the subject by a remark addressed to Edward.
+
+Immediately after tea the whole family adjourned to the sitting-room, the
+servants were called in, and Mr. Allison read a portion of Scripture and
+prayed; afterwards remarking to Mr. Dinsmore that it was his custom to
+attend to this duty early in the evening, that the younger children might
+have the benefit of it without being kept up too late.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore expressed his approval, adding that it was his plan also.
+
+"Papa," whispered Elsie, who was close to him, "I am to sleep with
+Sophy."
+
+"Ah! that will be very pleasant for you," he said, "but you must be a
+good girl, and not give any unnecessary trouble."
+
+"I will try, papa. There, Sophy is calling me; may I go to her?"
+
+"Certainly;" and he released her hand, which he had been holding in his.
+
+"I want to show you my garden," said Sophy, whom Elsie found in the hall;
+and she led the way out through a back door which opened into a garden
+now gay with spring flowers and early roses.
+
+Sophy pointed out the corner which was her especial property, and
+exhibited her plants and flowers with a great deal of honest pride.
+
+"I planted every one of them myself," she said. "Harold dug up the ground
+for me, and I did all the rest, I work an hour every morning pulling up
+the weeds and watering the flowers."
+
+"Oh? won't you let me help you while I am here?" asked Elsie, eagerly.
+
+"Why, yes, if you like, and your papa won't mind I think it would be real
+fun. But he's very strict, isn't he, Elsie? I feel quite afraid of him."
+
+"Yes, he is strict, but he is very kind, too."
+
+"Let's go in now," said Sophy; "I've got a beautiful picture-book that
+I want to show you; and to-morrow's Sunday, you know, so if you don't see
+it to-night, you'll have to wait till Monday, because it isn't a Sunday
+book."
+
+"What time is it?" asked Elsie. "I always have to go to bed at half-past
+eight."
+
+"I don't know," said Sophy, "but we'll look at the clock in the
+dining-room," and she ran in, closely followed by her little guest.
+
+"Just eight! we've only got half an hour; so come along. But won't your
+papa let you stay up longer?"
+
+"No," Elsie answered in a very decided tone; and they hurried to the
+parlor, where they seated themselves in a corner, and were soon eagerly
+discussing the pictures in Sophy's book.
+
+They had just finished, and Sophy was beginning a very animated
+description of a child's party she had attended a short time before,
+when Elsie, who had been anxiously watching her father for the last
+five minutes, saw him take out his watch and look at her.
+
+"There, Sophy," she said, rising, "I know papa means it is time for me
+to go to bed."
+
+"Oh, just wait one minute!"
+
+But Elsie was already half way across the room.
+
+"It is your bedtime, daughter," said Mr. Dinsmore, smiling affectionately
+on her.
+
+"Yes, papa; good-night," and she held up her face for the accustomed
+kiss.
+
+"Good-night, daughter," he replied, bestowing the caress. Then laying his
+hand gently on her head, he said softly, "God bless and keep my little
+one."
+
+Rose, who was seated on the sofa beside him, drew Elsie to her, saying,
+"I must have a kiss, too, darling."
+
+"Now go, daughter," said Mr. Dinsmore, as Rose released her from her
+embrace, "go to bed as soon as you can, and don't lie awake talking."
+
+"Mayn't I talk at all, after I go to bed, papa?"
+
+"No, not at all."
+
+Seeing that Elsie was really going, Sophy had put away her book, and was
+now ready to accompany her. She was quite a talker, and rattled on very
+fast until she saw Elsie take out her Bible; but then became perfectly
+quiet until Elsie was through with her devotions, and Chloe had come to
+prepare her for bed. Then she began chatting again in her lively way,
+Elsie answering very pleasantly until she was just ready to step into
+bed, when she said gently, "Sophy, papa said, before I came up, that I
+must not talk at all after I got into bed, so please don't be vexed if
+I don't answer you, because you know I _must_ obey my father."
+
+"Pshaw! how provoking. I thought we were going to have such a good time,
+and I've got ever so much to say to you."
+
+"I'm just as sorry as you are, Sophy, but I can't disobey papa."
+
+"He'd never know it," suggested Sophy in a voice scarcely above a
+whisper.
+
+Elsie started with astonishment to hear Miss Rose's sister speaking thus.
+
+"Oh, Sophy! you can't mean to advise me to deceive and disobey my
+father?" she said. "God would know it, and papa would soon know it, too,
+for I could never look him in the face again until I had confessed it."
+
+Sophy blushed deeply. "I didn't think about its being deceitful. But
+would your papa punish you for such a little thing?"
+
+"Papa says disobedience is never a little thing, and he always punishes
+me when I disobey him; but I wouldn't care so much for that, as for
+knowing that I had grieved him so; because I love my papa very dearly.
+But I must not talk any more; so good-night;" and she climbed into bed,
+laid her head on the pillow, and in a very few moments was fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+"Hail, Holy Day! the blessing from above
+Brightens thy presence like a smile of love,
+Smoothing, like oil upon a stormy sea,
+The roughest waves of human destiny--
+Cheering the good, and to the poor oppresse'd
+Bearing the promise of their heavenly rest."
+
+MRS. HALE'S PRIME OF LIFE.
+
+
+When Chloe came in to dress her young charge the next morning, she found
+her already up and sitting with her Bible in her hand.
+
+"Don't make a noise, mammy," she whispered; "Sophy is still asleep."
+
+Chloe nodded acquiescence, and moving softly about, got through the
+business of washing and dressing her nursling, and brushing her curls,
+without disturbing the sleeper. Then they both quietly left the room, and
+Elsie, with her Bible in her hand, rapped gently at her father's door.
+
+He opened it, and giving her a kiss and a "Good-morning, darling," led
+her across the room to where he had been sitting by a window looking into
+the garden. Then taking her on his knee, and stroking her hair fondly, he
+said with a smile, "My little girl looks very bright this morning, and as
+if she had had a good night's rest. I think she obeyed me, and did not
+lie awake talking."
+
+"No, papa, I did not, though I wanted to very much," she answered with a
+slight blush.
+
+"We did not have our chapter together last night," he said, opening the
+Bible, "but I hope we will not miss it very often."
+
+Their plan was to read verse about, Elsie asking questions about
+anything she did not understand, and her father explaining and making
+remarks, he having read it first in the original, and generally consulted
+a commentator also. Then Elsie usually had one or two texts to recite,
+which she had learned while Chloe was dressing her; after that they knelt
+down and Mr. Dinsmore prayed. They never read more than a few verses, and
+his prayer was always short, so that there was no room for weariness, and
+Elsie always enjoyed it very much. They had still a little time to talk
+together before the breakfast-bell rang, of which Elsie was very glad,
+for she had a great deal to say to her father.
+
+"It is such a sweet, sweet Sabbath-day, papa," she said, "is it not? and
+this is such a nice place, almost as pretty as our own dear home; and are
+they not pleasant people? I think they seem so kind to one another, and
+to everybody."
+
+"Which must mean you and me, I suppose; there is no one else here," he
+answered smilingly.
+
+"Oh! the servants, you know, papa, and the people at the hotel: but don't
+you think they are kind?"
+
+"Yes, dear, they certainly seem to be, and I have no doubt they are."
+
+"And the baby, papa! isn't it pretty, and oh, papa, _don't_ you like Miss
+Rose?"
+
+"I hardly know her yet, daughter, but I think she is very sweet looking,
+and seems to be gentle and amiable."
+
+"I am glad you like her, papa; and I knew you would," Elsie said in a
+tone of great satisfaction.
+
+The church the Allisons attended was within easy walking distance of
+Elmgrove, and service was held in it twice a day; the whole family, with
+the exception of the very little children and one servant, who stayed at
+home to take care of them, went both morning and afternoon, and Mr.
+Dinsmore and Elsie accompanied them.
+
+The interval between dinner and afternoon service Elsie spent in her
+father's room, sitting on a stool at his feet quietly reading. When they
+had returned from church Miss Allison gathered all the little ones in the
+nursery and showed them pictures, and told them Bible stories, until the
+tea-bell rang; after which the whole family, including children and
+servants, were called together into the sitting-room to be catechized
+by Mr. Allison; that was succeeded by family worship, and then they sang
+hymns until it was time for the children to go to bed.
+
+As Elsie laid her head on her pillow that night, she said to herself that
+it had been a very pleasant day, and she could be quite willing to live
+at Elmgrove, were it not for the thought of her own dear home in the
+"sunny South."
+
+The next morning her father told her they would be there for
+several weeks, and that he would expect her to practise an hour every
+morning--Miss Rose having kindly offered the use of her piano--and every
+afternoon to read for an hour with him; but all the rest of the day she
+might have to herself, to spend just as she pleased; only, of course, she
+must manage to take sufficient exercise, and not get into any mischief.
+
+Elsie was delighted with the arrangement, and ran off at once to tell
+Sophy the good news.
+
+"Oh! I am ever so glad you are going to stay!" exclaimed Sophy joyfully.
+"But why need your papa make you say lessons at all? I think he might
+just as well let you play all the time."
+
+"No," replied Elsie, "papa says I will enjoy my play a great deal better
+for doing a little work first, and I know it is so. Indeed, I always find
+papa knows best."
+
+"Oh, Elsie!" Sophy exclaimed, as if struck with a bright thought, "I'll
+tell you what we can do! let us learn some duets together."
+
+"Yes, that's a good thought," said Elsie; "so we will."
+
+"And perhaps Sophy would like to join us in our reading, too," said Mr.
+Dinsmore's voice behind them.
+
+Both little girls turned round with an exclamation of surprise, and
+Elsie, taking hold of his hand, looked up lovingly into his face, saying,
+"Oh, thank you, papa; that will be so pleasant."
+
+He held out his other hand to Sophy, asking, with a smile, "Will you
+come, my dear?"
+
+"If you won't ask me any questions," she answered a little bashfully.
+
+"Sophy is afraid of you, papa," whispered Elsie with an arch glance at
+her friend's blushing face.
+
+"And are not you, too?" he asked, pinching her cheek.
+
+"Not a bit, papa, except when I've been naughty," she said, laying her
+cheek lovingly against his hand.
+
+He bent down and kissed her with a very gratified look. Then patting
+Sophy's head, said pleasantly, "You needn't be afraid of the questions,
+Sophy; I will make Elsie answer them all."
+
+Elsie and her papa stayed for nearly two months at Elmgrove, and her life
+there agreed so well with the little girl that she became as strong,
+healthy and rosy as she had ever been. She and Sophy and Harold spent the
+greater part of almost every day in the open air--working in the garden,
+racing about the grounds, taking long walks in search of wild flowers,
+hunting eggs in the barn, or building baby-houses and making tea-parties
+in the shade of the trees down by the brook.
+
+There was a district school-house not very far from Elmgrove, and in
+their rambles the children had made acquaintance with two or three of
+the scholars--nice, quiet little girls--who, after a while, got into
+the habit of bringing their dinner-baskets to the rendezvous by the
+brook-side, and spending their noon-recess with Elsie and Sophy; the
+dinner hour at Mr. Allison's being somewhat later in the day.
+
+Sophy and Elsie were sitting under the trees one warm June morning
+dressing their dolls. Fred and May were rolling marbles, and Harold lay
+on the grass with a book in his hand.
+
+"There come Hetty Allen and Maggie Wilson," said Sophy, raising her head.
+"See how earnestly they are talking together! I wonder what it is all
+about. What's the matter, girls?" she asked, as they drew near.
+
+"Oh, nothing's the matter," replied Hetty, "but we are getting up a party
+to go strawberrying. We've heard of a field only two miles from here--or
+at least not much over two miles from the school-house--where the berries
+are very thick. We are going to-morrow, because it's Saturday, and
+there's no school, and we've come to ask if you and Elsie and Harold
+won't go along."
+
+"Yes, indeed!" exclaimed Sophy, clapping her hands; "it will be such fun,
+and I'm sure mamma will let us go."
+
+"Oh, that's a first-rate idea!" cried Harold, throwing aside his book;
+"to be sure we must all go."
+
+"Will you go, Elsie?" asked Maggie; adding, "we want you so very much."
+
+"Oh, yes, if papa will let me, and I think he will, for he allows me
+to run about here all day, which I should think was pretty much the
+same thing, only there will be more fun and frolic with so many of us
+together, and the berries to pick, too; oh, I should like to go very much
+indeed!"
+
+Hetty and Maggie had seated themselves on the grass, and now the
+whole plan was eagerly discussed. The children were all to meet at
+the school-house at nine o'clock, and proceed in a body to the field,
+taking their dinners along so as to be able to stay all day if they
+chose.
+
+The more the plan was discussed, the more attractive it seemed to our
+little friends, and the stronger grew their desire to be permitted to go.
+
+"I wish I knew for certain that mamma would say yes," said Sophy.
+"Suppose we go up to the house now and ask."
+
+"No," objected Harold, "mamma will be busy now, and less likely to say
+yes, than after dinner. So we had better wait."
+
+"Well, then, you all ask leave when you go up to dinner, and we will call
+here on our way home from school to know whether you are going or not,"
+said Hetty, as she and Maggie rose to go.
+
+Harold and Sophy agreed, but Elsie said that she could not know then,
+because her father had gone to the city and would not be back until near
+tea-time.
+
+"Oh, well, never mind! he'll be sure to say yes if mamma does," said
+Harold, hopefully. And then, as Hetty and Maggie walked away, he began
+consulting with Sophy on the best plan for approaching their mother on
+the subject. They resolved to wait until after dinner, and then, when she
+had settled down to her sewing, to present their request.
+
+Mrs. Allison raised several objections; the weather was very warm, the
+road would be very dusty, and she was sure they would get overheated and
+fatigued, and heartily wish themselves at home long before the day was
+over.
+
+"Well, then, mamma, we can come home; there is nothing to prevent us,"
+said Harold.
+
+"Oh, mamma, do let us go just this once," urged Sophy; "and if we find it
+as disagreeable as you think, you know we won't ask again."
+
+And so at last Mrs. Allison gave a rather reluctant consent, but only on
+condition that Mr. Dinsmore would allow Elsie to go, as she said it would
+be very rude indeed for them to go and leave their little guest at home
+alone.
+
+This conversation had taken place in Mrs. Allison's dressing-room, and
+Elsie was waiting in the hall to learn the result of their application.
+
+"Mamma says we may go if your papa says yes," cried Sophy, rushing out
+and throwing her arms round Elsie's neck. "Oh, aren't you glad? Now,
+Elsie, coax him hard and make him let you go."
+
+"I wouldn't dare to do it; I should only get punished if I did, for papa
+never allows me to coax or tease, nor even to ask him a second time,"
+Elsie said, with a little shake of her head.
+
+"Oh, nonsense!" exclaimed Sophy, "I often get what I want by teasing.
+I guess you never tried it."
+
+"My papa is not at all like your father and mother," replied Elsie, "and
+it would be worse than useless to coax after he has once said no."
+
+"Then coax him before he has a chance to say it," suggested Sophy,
+laughing.
+
+"Perhaps that might do if I can manage it," said Elsie, thoughtfully.
+"I wish he would come!" she added, walking to the window and looking out.
+
+"He won't be here for an hour or two, at any rate, if he dined in the
+city," said Sophy. "Oh, how warm it is! let's go to our room, Elsie, and
+take off our dresses and have a nap. It will help to pass away the time
+until your papa comes."
+
+Elsie agreed to the proposal, and before long they were both sound
+asleep, having tired themselves out with romping and running.
+
+When Elsie awoke she found Chloe standing over her. "You's had a berry
+good nap, darlin', an' you's berry warm," she whispered, as she wiped the
+perspiration from the little girl's face. "Let your ole mammy take you up
+an' give you a bath an' dress you up nice an' clean, 'fore Miss Sophy
+gits her blue eyes open."
+
+"Oh, yes, that will make me feel so much better," agreed the little girl,
+"and you must make me look very nice, mammy, to please papa. Has he come
+yet?"
+
+"Yes, darlin'; master's been home dis hour, an' I 'specs he's in de
+parlor dis minute talkin' 'long of Miss Rose an' de rest."
+
+"Then hurry, mammy, and dress me quickly, because I want to ask papa
+something," Elsie said in an eager whisper, as she stepped hastily off
+the bed.
+
+Chloe did her best, and in half an hour Elsie, looking as sweet and fresh
+as a new-blown rose in her clean white frock and nicely brushed curls,
+entered the parlor where her father, Mrs. Allison, Miss Rose, and her
+elder brother were seated.
+
+Mr. Dinsmore was talking with Edward Allison, but he turned his head as
+Elsie came in, and held out his hand to her with a proud, fond smile.
+
+She sprang to his side, and, still going on with his conversation, he
+passed his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek, while she leaned
+against his knee, and with her eyes feed lovingly upon his face waited
+patiently for an opportunity to prefer her request.
+
+Miss Rose was watching them, as she often did, with a look of intense
+satisfaction, for it rejoiced her heart to see how her little friend
+revelled in her father's affection.
+
+The gentlemen were discussing some scientific question with great
+earnestness, and Elsie began to feel a little impatient as they talked on
+and on without seeming to come any nearer to a conclusion: but at last
+Edward rose and left the room in search of a book which he thought would
+throw some light on the subject; and then her father turned to her and
+asked, "How has my little girl enjoyed herself to-day?"
+
+"Very much, thank you, papa; but I have something to ask you, and I want
+you to say yes. Please, papa, _do!_ won't you?" she pleaded eagerly, but
+in a low tone only meant for his ears.
+
+"You know I love to gratify you, daughter," he said kindly, "but I cannot
+possibly say yes until I know what you want."
+
+"Well, papa," she replied, speaking very fast, as if she feared he would
+interrupt her, "a good many little girls and boys are going after
+strawberries to-morrow: they are to start from the school-house, at
+nine o'clock in the morning, and walk two miles to a field where the
+berries are very thick; and they've asked us to go--I mean Harold and
+Sophy and me--and we all want to go _so much_; we think it will be
+such fun, and Mrs. Allison says we may if you will only say yes. Oh,
+papa, _do please_ let me go, _won't_ you?"
+
+Her tone was very coaxing, and her eyes pleaded as earnestly as her
+tongue.
+
+He seemed to be considering for a moment, and she watched his face
+eagerly, trying to read in it what his answer would be.
+
+At length it came, gently, but firmly spoken, "No, daughter, you cannot
+go. I do not at all approve of the plan."
+
+Elsie did not utter another word, of remonstrance or entreaty, for she
+knew it would be useless; but the disappointment was very great, and two
+or three tears rolled quickly down her cheeks.
+
+Her father looked at her a moment in some surprise, and then said,
+speaking in a low tone, and very gravely, "This will never do, my
+daughter. Go up to my room and stay there until you can be quite
+cheerful and pleasant; then you may come down again."
+
+Elsie hurried out of the room, the tears coming thick and fast now, and
+almost ran against Edward in the hall.
+
+"Why, what is the matter, my dear?" he asked in a tone of surprise and
+alarm, laying his hand on her shoulder to detain her.
+
+"Please don't ask me, Mr. Edward. Please let me go," she sobbed, breaking
+away from him and rushing up the stairs.
+
+He stood for an instant looking after her, then turning to go back to the
+parlor, encountered Rose, who was just coming out.
+
+"What ails her?" he asked.
+
+"I don't know. Something that passed between her and her father. I rather
+suspect he sent her upstairs as a punishment."
+
+"Pshaw! I've no patience with him. The dear little thing! I don't believe
+she deserved it."
+
+Rose made no reply, but glided up-stairs, and he returned to the parlor
+to finish the discussion with Mr. Dinsmore.
+
+In the meantime Elsie had shut herself into her father's room, where she
+indulged for a few moments in a hearty cry, which seemed to do her a
+great deal of good. But presently she wiped away her tears, bathed her
+eyes, and sat down by the window.
+
+"What a silly little girl I am," she said to herself, "to be crying just
+because I can't have my own way, when I know it will not alter papa's
+determination in the least; and when I know, too, that I have always
+found his way the best in the end! Oh, dear, I have quite disgraced
+myself before Miss Rose and her mother, and the rest, and vexed papa,
+too! I wish I could be good and then I might be down-stairs with the
+others, instead of alone up here. Well, papa said I might come down again
+as soon as I could be pleasant and cheerful, and I think I can now, and
+there is the tea-bell."
+
+She ran down just in time to take her place with the others. She raised
+her eyes to her father's face as he drew her chair up closer to the
+table. The look seemed to ask forgiveness and reconciliation, and the
+answering smile told that it was granted; and the little heart bounded
+lightly once more, and the sweet little face was wreathed in smiles.
+
+Sophy and Harold were watching her from the other side of the table, and
+their hopes rose high, for they very naturally concluded from her beaming
+countenance that she had carried her point, and they would all be allowed
+to go to the strawberry party next day.
+
+Their disappointment was proportionally great, when, after supper, Elsie
+told them what her father's answer had really been.
+
+"How provoking!" they both exclaimed; "why, you looked so pleased we were
+sure he had said yes; and we had quite set our hearts on it."
+
+"What is the matter?" asked Richard, who had just come up to them.
+
+They explained.
+
+"Ah! so that was what you were crying about this afternoon, eh?" he said,
+pinching Elsie's cheek.
+
+"Did you really, Elsie?" asked Sophy, in surprise.
+
+Elsie blushed deeply, and Richard said, "Oh, never mind; I dare say we've
+all cried about more trifling things than that in our day. Let's have a
+good game of romps out here on the lawn. Come, what shall it be, Elsie?"
+
+"I don't care," she replied, struggling to keep down an inclination to
+cry again.
+
+"Puss wants a corner," suggested Harold; "trees for corners."
+
+"Here goes, then!" cried Richard. "Sophy, you stand here; Elsie, you take
+that tree yonder. Here, Fred and May, you can play, too. One here and
+another there: and now I'll be the puss."
+
+So the game commenced, and very soon every disappointment seemed to be
+forgotten, and they were all in the wildest spirits.
+
+But after a while, as one romping game succeeded another, Elsie began to
+grow weary, and seeing that her father was sitting alone upon the piazza,
+she stole softly to his side, and putting her arm round his neck, laid
+her cheek to his.
+
+He passed his arm around her waist and drew her to his knee.
+
+"Which was my little daughter doubting this afternoon," he asked gently,
+as he laid her head against his breast; "papa's wisdom or his love?"
+
+"I don't know, papa; please don't ask me. I'm very sorry and ashamed,"
+she said, hanging her head and blushing deeply.
+
+"I should be very happy," he said, "if my little girl could learn
+to trust me so entirely that she would always be satisfied with my
+decisions--always believe that my reasons for refusing to gratify her
+are good and sufficient, even without having them explained."
+
+"I do believe it, papa, and I am quite satisfied now," she murmured. "I
+don't want to go at all. Please forgive me, dear papa."
+
+"I will, daughter; and now listen to me. I know that you are not very
+strong, and I think that a walk of two miles or more in this hot June
+sun, to say nothing of stooping for hours afterwards picking berries,
+exposed to its rays, would be more than you could bear without injury;
+and if you want strawberries to eat, you may buy just as many as you
+please, and indeed you can get much finer ones in that way than you
+could find in any field. You need not tell me it is the fun you want,
+and not the berries," he said, as she seemed about to interrupt him, "I
+understand that perfectly; but I know it would not be enough to pay you
+for the trouble and fatigue.
+
+"And now to show you that your father does not take pleasure in thwarting
+you, but really loves to see you happy, I will tell you what we have been
+planning. Miss Rose and her brothers tell me there is a very pretty place
+a few miles from here where strawberries and cream can be had; and we are
+going to make up a family party to-morrow, if the weather is favorable,
+and set out quite early in the morning in carriages. Mrs. Allison will
+provide a collation for us to carry along--to which we will add the
+berries and cream after we get there--and we will take books to read,
+and the ladies will have their work, and the little girls their dolls,
+and we will spend the day in the woods. Will not that be quite as
+pleasant as going with the school-children?"
+
+The little arm had been stealing round his neck again while he was
+telling her all this, and now hugging him tighter and tighter, she
+whispered: "Dear papa, you are very kind to me, and it makes me feel
+so ashamed of my naughtiness. I always find in the end that your way is
+best, and then I think I will never want my own way again, but the very
+next time it is just the same thing over. Oh, papa, you will not get out
+of patience with me, and quit loving me, and doing what is best for me,
+because I am foolish enough to wish for what is not?"
+
+"No, darling, never. I shall always do what seems to me to be for your
+good, even in spite of yourself. I who have so often been guilty of
+murmuring against the will of my heavenly Father, who, I well know,
+is infinite in wisdom and goodness, ought to be very patient with your
+distrust of a fallible, short-sighted earthly parent. But come, darling,
+we will go up-stairs; we have just time for a few moments together before
+you go to bed."
+
+On going to their bedroom after leaving her father, Elsie found Sophie
+already there, impatiently waiting to tell her of the plan for the
+morrow, which she had just learned from Richard.
+
+She was a little disappointed to find that it was no news to Elsie, but
+soon got over that, and was full of lively talk about the pleasure they
+would have.
+
+"It will be so much pleasanter," she said, "than going berrying with
+those school-children, for I dare say we would have found it hot and
+tiresome walking all that distance in the sun; so I'm right glad now that
+your father said no, instead of yes. Aren't you, Elsie?"
+
+"Yes," Elsie said with a sigh.
+
+Sophy was down on the floor, pulling off her shoes and stockings. "Why,
+what's the matter?" she asked, stopping with her shoe in her hand to look
+up into Elsie's face, which struck her as unusually grave.
+
+"Nothing, only I'm so ashamed of crying when papa said I shouldn't go,"
+Elsie answered, with a blush. "Dear papa! I always find he knows best,
+and yet I'm so often naughty about giving up."
+
+"Never mind, it wasn't much. I wouldn't care about it," said Sophy,
+tossing away her shoe, and proceeding to pull off the stocking.
+
+Chloe whispered in Elsie's ear, "Massa not vexed wid you, darlin'?"
+
+Elsie smiled and shook her head. "No, mammy, not now."
+
+The little girls were awake unusually early the next morning, and the
+first thing they did was to run to the window to ascertain the state of
+the weather. It was all they could desire; a little cooler than the
+day before, but without the slightest appearance of rain; so the young
+faces that surrounded the breakfast table were very bright and happy.
+
+The carriages were at the door very soon after they left the table. It
+did not take many minutes to pack them, and then they set off all in high
+glee; more especially the little ones.
+
+Everything passed off well; there was no accident, all were in good
+humor, the children on their best behavior, and they found the
+strawberries and cream very fine; so that when the day was over,
+it was unanimously voted a decided success.
+
+A few days after this the children were again in their favorite spot down
+by the brook. They were sitting on the grass talking, for it was almost
+too warm to play.
+
+"How nice and cool the water looks!" remarked Sophy, "Let's pull off our
+shoes and stockings, and hold up our dresses and wade about in it. It
+isn't at all deep, and I know it would feel so good and cool to our
+feet."
+
+"Bravo! that's a capital idea!" cried Harold, beginning at once to divest
+himself of his shoos and stockings; then rolling his pantaloons up to his
+knees he stepped in, followed by Sophy, who had made her preparations
+with equal dispatch.
+
+"Come, Elsie, aren't you going to get in, too?" she asked, for Elsie
+still sat on the bank making no movement towards following their example.
+
+"I should like to, very much; but I don't know whether papa would approve
+of it."
+
+"Why, what objection could he have? it can't do us any harm, for I'm sure
+we couldn't drown if we tried," said Harold. "Come now, Elsie, don't be
+so silly. I wouldn't ask you to do anything your papa had forbidden, but
+he never said you shouldn't wade in the brook, did he?"
+
+"No, he never said anything about it," she answered, smiling, "for I
+never thought of doing such a thing before."
+
+"Come, Elsie, do," urged Sophy; "it is such fun;" and at length Elsie
+yielded, and was soon enjoying the sport as keenly as the others.
+
+But after a while they grew tired of wading, and began to amuse
+themselves by sailing bits of bark and leaves on the water. Then Harold
+proposed building a dam; and altogether they enjoyed themselves so
+thoroughly, that they quite forgot how time was passing until the
+lengthening shadows warned them that it was long past their usual hour
+for returning home.
+
+"Oh, we must make haste home," exclaimed Harold suddenly; "it can't be
+very far from tea-time, and mamma won't like it if we are late."
+
+They hurried out of the water, dried their feet as well as they could,
+put on their shoes and stockings, and started on a run for the house.
+
+But they had not gone more than half-way when Elsie cried out that she
+had lost her rings.
+
+"Those beautiful rings! Oh, dear! where did you lose them?" asked Sophy.
+
+"I don't know at all; I just missed them this minute, and I am afraid
+they are in the brook;" and Elsie turned and ran back as fast as she
+could; followed by the others.
+
+"We'll all hunt," said Harold, kindly, "and I guess we'll find them; so
+don't cry, Elsie;" for the little girl was looking much distressed.
+
+"O Elsie, I'm afraid your papa will be very angry; and perhaps whip you
+very hard," exclaimed Sophy; "they were such pretty rings."
+
+"No, he won't whip me; he never did in his life," replied Elsie quickly,
+"and he has often told me he would never punish me for an accident, even
+though it should cost the loss of something very valuable. But I am very
+sorry to lose my rings, because, besides being pretty, and worth a good
+deal of money, they were presents, one from papa, and the other from Mr.
+Travilla."
+
+"But, Elsie, I thought your papa was awfully strict, and punished you for
+every little thing,"
+
+"No; for _disobedience_, but not for accidents."
+
+They searched for some time, looking all about the part of the stream
+where they had been playing, and all over the bank, but without finding
+the rings; and at last Elsie gave it up, saying it would not do to stay
+any longer, and they could look again to-morrow.
+
+"O Elsie!" cried Sophy, as they were starting again for home, "you must
+have got your dress in the water, and then on the ground, for it is all
+muddy."
+
+"Oh, dear!" sighed Elsie, examining it, "how very dirty and slovenly I
+must look; and that will vex papa, for he can't bear to see me untidy.
+Can't we get in the back way, Sophy? so that I can get a clean dress on
+before he sees me? I don't mean to _deceive_ him. I will tell him all
+about it afterwards, but I know he wouldn't like to see me looking so."
+
+"Yes, to be sure," Sophy said in reply; "we can go in at the side door,
+and run up the back stairs."
+
+"And we may be in time for tea yet, if papa is as late getting home as he
+is sometimes," remarked Harold; "so let us run."
+
+Mr. Allison was late that evening, as Harold had hoped, and tea was still
+waiting for him, as they learned from a servant whom they met in passing
+through the grounds: but when they reached the porch upon which the side
+door opened, they found, much to their surprise and chagrin, that the
+ladies were seated there with their work, and Mr. Dinsmore was reading to
+them.
+
+He looked up from his book as they approached, and catching sight of his
+little girl's soiled dress, "Why, Elsie," he exclaimed, in a mortified
+tone, "can that be you? such a figure as you are! Where have you been,
+child, to get yourself in such a plight?"
+
+"I was playing in the brook, papa," she answered in a low voice, and
+casting down her eyes, while the color mounted to her hair.
+
+"Playing in the brook! that is a new business for you, I think. Well, run
+up to Aunt Chloe, and tell her I want you made decent with all possible
+haste or you will be too late for tea. But stay," he added as she was
+turning to go, "you have been crying; what is the matter?"
+
+"I have lost my rings, papa," she said, bursting into tears.
+
+"Ah! I am sorry, more particularly because it distresses you, though. But
+where did you lose them, daughter?"
+
+"I don't know, papa, but I am afraid it was in the brook."
+
+"Ah, yes! that comes of playing in the water. I think you had better keep
+out of it in the future: but run up and get dressed, and don't cry any
+more; it is not worth while to waste tears over them."
+
+Elsie hurried upstairs, delivered her father's message, and Chloe
+immediately set to work, and exerting herself to the utmost, soon had
+her nursling looking as neat as usual.
+
+Rose had followed the little girls upstairs, and was helping Sophy to
+dress.
+
+"Dere now, darlin'; now I tink you'll do," said Chloe, giving the glossy
+hair a final smooth. "But what's de matter? what my chile been cryin'
+'bout?"
+
+"Because, mammy, I lost my rings in the brook, and I'm afraid I will
+never find them again."
+
+"No such ting, honey! here dey is safe an' sound," and Chloe opened a
+little jewel-box that stood on the toilet-table, and picking up the
+rings, slipped them upon the finger of the astonished and delighted
+child; explaining as she did so, that she had found them on the bureau
+where Elsie must have laid them before going out, having probably taken
+them off to wash her hands after eating her dinner.
+
+Elsie tripped joyfully downstairs. "See, papa! see!" she cried holding up
+her hand before him, "they were not lost, after all. Oh, I am so glad!
+aren't you, papa?"
+
+"Yes, my dear, and now I hope you will be more careful in future."
+
+"I will try, papa; but must I never play in the brook any more? I like it
+so much."
+
+"No, I don't like to forbid it entirely, because I remember how much I
+used to enjoy such things myself at your age. But you must not stay in
+too long, and must be careful not to go in when you are heated with
+running, and always remember to dip your hands in first. And another
+thing, you must not stay out so late again, or you may give trouble. You
+must always be ready at the usual hour, or I shall have to say you must
+sup on bread and water."
+
+"Oh! I think that would be rather too hard, Mr. Dinsmore," interposed
+Mrs. Allison, "and I hope you will not compel me to be so inhospitable."
+
+"I hope there is not much danger that I shall ever have to put my threat
+into execution, Mrs. Allison, for it is not often that Elsie is twice
+guilty of the same fault; one talking generally does her," he answered
+with an affectionate glance at his little daughter.
+
+"Then I call her a very good child," remarked the lady emphatically; "it
+is no unusual thing for mine to require telling half a dozen times. But
+walk in to tea," she added, folding up her work. "Ah! Sophy, I am glad
+to see you looking neat again. I think you were in no better plight than
+Elsie when you came in."
+
+For some time after this, the young people were very careful to come in
+from their play in good season; but one afternoon they had taken a longer
+walk than usual, going farther down their little brook, and establishing
+themselves in a new spot where they imagined the grass was greener, and
+the shade deeper. The day was cloudy, and they could not judge of the
+time so well as when they could see the sun, and so it happened that they
+stayed much later than they should have done.
+
+Elsie was feeling a little anxious, and had once or twice proposed
+going home, but was always overruled by Harold and Sophy, who insisted
+that it was not at all late. But at length Elsie rose with an air of
+determination, saying she was sure it _must_ be getting late, and if
+they would not go with her, she must go alone.
+
+"Well, then, we will go, and I guess it's about time," said Harold; "so
+come along, Soph, or we'll, leave you behind."
+
+Elsie hurried along with nervous haste, and the others had to exert
+themselves to keep up with her, but just as they reached the door the
+tea-bell rang.
+
+The children exchanged glances of fright and mortification.
+
+"What shall we do?" whispered Elsie.
+
+"Dear! if we were only dressed!" said Sophy. "Let's go in just as we are;
+maybe no one will notice."
+
+"No," replied Elsie, shaking her head, "that would never do for me; papa
+would see it in a moment and send me away from the table. It would be
+worse than waiting to dress."
+
+"Then we will all go upstairs and make ourselves decent, and afterwards
+take the scolding as well as we can," said Harold, leading the way.
+
+Chloe was in Sophy's room, waiting to attend to her child. She did not
+fret the little girl with lamentations over her tardiness, but set about
+adjusting her hair and dress as quickly as possible.
+
+Elsie looked troubled and anxious.
+
+"Papa will be very much vexed, and ashamed of me, too, I am afraid," she
+said with tears in her eyes. "And, Sophy, what will your mamma say? Oh!
+how I wish I had come in sooner!"
+
+"Never mind," replied Sophy; "mamma won't be very angry, and we'll tell
+her the sun wouldn't shine, and so how were we to know the time."
+
+Elsie was ready first, but waited a moment for Sophy, and they went down
+together. Her first sensation on entering the room and seeing that her
+father's chair was empty, was certainly one of relief. When her eye
+sought Mrs. Allison's face, it was quite as pleasant as usual.
+
+"You are rather late, little girls," she said in a cheerful tone, "but as
+you are usually so punctual, we will have to excuse you this once. Come,
+take your places."
+
+"It was cloudy, you know, mamma, and we couldn't see the sun," said
+Harold, who was already at the table.
+
+"Very well, Harold, you must try to guess better next time. Rose, help
+Elsie to some of that omelet and a bit of the cold tongue."
+
+"No, thank you, ma'am; papa does not allow me to eat meat at night," said
+the little girl resolutely, turning her eyes away from the tempting dish.
+
+"Ah! I forgot, but you can eat the omelet, dear," Mrs. Allison said;
+"and help her to the honey, and a piece of that cheese, Rose, and put
+some butter on her plate."
+
+It cost Elsie quite a struggle, for she was as fond of good things as
+other children, but she said firmly, "No, thank you, ma'am, I should like
+the omelet, and the honey and the cheese too, very much, but as I was
+late to-night, I can only have dry bread, because you know my papa said
+so."
+
+Harold spoke up earnestly. "But, mamma, it wasn't her fault; she wanted
+to come home in time, and Sophy and I wouldn't."
+
+"No, mamma, it wasn't her fault at all," said Sophy, eagerly, "and so she
+needn't have just bread, need she?"
+
+"No, Elsie dear, I think not. Do, dear child, let me help you to
+something; here's a saucer of berries and cream; won't you take it?
+I feel quite sure your papa would not insist upon the bread and water
+if he were here, and I am sorry he and Edward happen to be away to tea."
+
+"As it was not your fault, Elsie dear, I think you might venture," said
+Rose, kindly. "I wouldn't want you to disobey your papa, but under the
+circumstances, I don't think that it would be disobedience."
+
+"You are very kind, Miss Rose, but you don't know papa as well as I do,"
+Elsie replied, a little sadly. "He told me I must always be in in time to
+be ready for tea, and he says nothing excuses disobedience; and you know
+I could have come in without the others; so I feel quite sure I should
+get nothing but bread for my supper if he were here."
+
+"Well, dear, I am very sorry, but if you think it is really your duty to
+sup on dry bread, we will all honor you for doing it," Mrs. Allison said.
+
+And then the matter dropped, and Elsie quietly ate her slice of bread and
+drank a little cold water, then went out to play on the lawn with the
+others.
+
+"Did you ever see such a perfectly conscientious child?" said Mrs.
+Allison to Rose. "Dear little thing! I could hardly stand it to see her
+eating that dry bread, when the rest were enjoying all the luxuries of
+the table."
+
+"No, mamma, it fairly made my heart ache. I shall tell her father all
+about it when he comes in. Don't you think, mamma, he is rather too
+strict and particular with her?"
+
+"I don't know, Rose, dear; I'm afraid she is much better trained than
+mine; and he certainly is very fond of her, and quite indulgent in some
+respects."
+
+"Fond of her! yes, indeed he is, and she loves him with her whole heart.
+Ah! mamma, you don't know how glad it makes me to see it. The poor little
+thing seemed to be literally famishing for love when I first knew her."
+
+When Elsie had done anything which she knew would displease her father,
+she never could rest satisfied until she had confessed it and been
+forgiven. Through all her play that evening she was conscious of a
+burden on her heart; and every now and then her eyes were turned
+wistfully in the direction from which she expected him to come. But
+the clock struck eight, and there were no signs of his approach, and
+soon it was half-past, and she found she must go to bed without seeing
+him. She sighed several times while Chloe was undressing her, and just
+as she was about leaving her, said, "If papa comes home before I go to
+sleep, mammy, please ask him to let me come to him for one minute."
+
+"I will, darlin'; but don't you try for to stay awake; kase maybe massa
+ain't gwine be home till berry late, an' den he might be vexed wid you."
+
+It was nearly ten o'clock when Mr. Dinsmore returned, and he was
+talking on the piazza with Mr. and Miss Allison for nearly half an
+hour afterwards; but Chloe was patiently waiting for him, and meeting
+him in the hall on the way to his room, presented Elsie's request.
+
+"Yes," he said, "see if she is awake, but don't disturb her if she is
+not."
+
+Chloe softly opened the door, and the little girl started up, asking in
+an eager whisper, "Did he say I might come, mammy?"
+
+"Yes, darlin'," said Chloe, lifting her in her arms and setting her
+down on the floor. And then the little fairy-like figure in its white
+night-dress stole softly out into the hall, and ran with swift, noiseless
+steps across it, and into the open door of Mr. Dinsmore's room.
+
+He caught her in his arms and kissed her several times with passionate
+fondness. Then sitting down with her on his knee, he asked tenderly,
+"What does my darling want with papa to-night?"
+
+"I wanted to tell you that I was very naughty this afternoon, and didn't
+get home until just as the tea-bell rang."
+
+"And you were very glad to find that papa was not here to make you sup
+upon bread and water, eh?"
+
+"No, papa, I didn't eat anything else," she said in a hurt tone; "I
+wouldn't take such a mean advantage of your absence."
+
+"No, dearest, I know you would not. I know my little girl is the soul
+of honor," he said, soothingly, pressing another kiss on her cheek;
+"and besides, I have just heard the whole story from Miss Rose and her
+mother."
+
+"And you _wouldn't_ have let me have anything but bread, papa, would
+you?" she asked, raising her head to look up in his face.
+
+"No, dear, nothing else, for you know I must keep my word, however trying
+it may be to my feelings."
+
+"Yes, papa; and I am so glad you do, because then I always know just what
+to expect. You are not angry with me now, papa?"
+
+"No, darling, not in the very least; you are entirely forgiven. And now I
+want you to go back to your bed, and try to get a good night's sleep, and
+be ready to come to me in the morning. So good-night, my pet, my precious
+one. God bless and keep my darling. May He ever cause His face to shine
+upon you, and give you peace."
+
+He held her to his heart a moment, then let her go: and she glided back
+to her room, and laid her head on her pillow to sleep sweetly, and dream
+happy dreams of her father's love and tenderness.
+
+She was with him again the next morning, an hour before it was time for
+the breakfast-bell to ring, sitting on his knee beside the open window,
+chatting and laughing as gleefully as the birds were singing on the trees
+outside.
+
+"What do you think of this?" he asked, laying an open jewel-case in her
+lap.
+
+She looked down, and there, contrasting so prettily with the dark blue
+velvet lining, lay a beautiful gold chain and a tiny gold watch set with
+pearls all around its edge.
+
+"Oh, papa!" she cried, "is it for me?"
+
+"Yes, my pet. Do you like it?"
+
+"Indeed I do, papa! it is just as lovely as it can be!" she said, taking
+it up and turning it about in her hands. "It looks like mamma's, only
+brighter, and newer; and this is a different kind of chain from hers."
+
+"Yes, that is entirely new; but the watch is the one she wore. It is an
+excellent one, and I have had it put in order for her daughter to wear.
+I think you are old enough to need it now, and to take proper care of
+it."
+
+"I shall try to, indeed. Dear, darling mamma! I would rather have her
+watch than any other," she murmured, a shade of tender sadness coming
+over her face for a moment. Then, looking up brightly, "Thank you, papa,"
+she said, giving him a hug and a kiss; "it was so kind in you to do it.
+Was that what you went to the city for yesterday?"
+
+"It was my principal errand there."
+
+"And now how sorry and ashamed I should be if I had taken advantage of
+your absence to eat all sorts of good things."
+
+"I think we are never sorry for doing our duty," her father said, softly
+stroking her hair, "and I think, too, that my little girl quite deserves
+the watch."
+
+"And I'm _so_ glad to have it!" she cried, holding it up, and gazing at
+it with a face full of delight. "I must run and show it to Sophy!"
+
+She was getting down from his knee; but he drew her back. "Wait a little,
+daughter; I have something to tell you."
+
+"What, papa?"
+
+"We have paid our friends a very long visit, and I think it is time for
+us to go, if we would not have them grow weary of us: so I have decided
+to leave Elmgrove to-morrow."
+
+"Have you, papa? I like to travel, but I shall be so sorry to leave
+Sophy, and Miss Rose, and all the rest; they are so kind, and I have had
+such a pleasant time with them."
+
+"I have told you the bad news first," he said, smiling; "now I have some
+good. We are going to take a trip through New England and the State of
+New York; and Miss Rose and Mr. Edward have promised to accompany us: so
+you see you will not have to part with them just yet."
+
+Elsie clapped her hands at this piece of good news.
+
+"O papa, how pleasant it will be! Dear, _dear_ Miss Rose; I am so glad
+she is going."
+
+"And Mr. Edward?"
+
+"Yes, papa, I like him too, but I love Miss Rose the best of all. Don't
+you, papa?"
+
+Her father only smiled, and said "Miss Rose was very lovely, certainly."
+
+The breakfast-bell rang, and she ran down, eager to show her watch. It
+was much admired by all; but there was great lamentation, especially
+amongst the younger members of the family, when it was announced that
+their guests were to leave them so soon.
+
+"Why couldn't Elsie stay always?" they asked. "Why couldn't she live with
+them? they would only be too glad to have her."
+
+Mr. Dinsmore laughed, and told them he could not possibly spare Elsie,
+for she was his only child, and he had no one else to share his home.
+
+"But you may stay too, Mr. Dinsmore," said Sophy; "there's plenty of
+room, and mamma and Rose like to have you read to them."
+
+Rose blushed, and shook her head at Sophy, and Mr. Dinsmore replied that
+it would be very pleasant to live at Elmgrove, but that Elsie and he had
+a home of their own to which they must soon return, and where she would
+be very glad to receive a visit from any or all of them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+"Have you arranged your plans in regard to what places you will visit
+and in what order you will take them?" asked Mr. Allison, addressing Mr.
+Dinsmore.
+
+"We have not," he replied; "that is, not very definitely; only that we
+will visit New England and New York."
+
+"Elsie looks as if she could make a suggestion," remarked Miss Rose, with
+a smiling glance at the bright, animated face of the little girl.
+
+"I should like to if I were old enough," said the child, dropping her
+eyes and blushing as she perceived that at that moment she was the object
+of the attention of every one at the table.
+
+"We will consider you so, my dear," laughed Mr. Allison. "Come, give us
+the benefit of your ideas."
+
+Still Elsie hesitated till her father said pleasantly, "Yes, daughter,
+let us have them. We can reject or adopt them as we see fit."
+
+"Yes, papa," she returned. "I was just thinking that Valley Forge and
+Paoli are both in this State, and I should like very much to see them
+both."
+
+"I call that a very good idea," said Mr. Edward Allison. "I have always
+intended to visit those historical places, but have never done so yet."
+
+"Then let us go," said Rose, "for I, too, should like very much to see
+them; if the plan suits you, Mr. Dinsmore," she added, giving him a
+smiling glance.
+
+"Perfectly," he said; "it will be a new and interesting experience to me,
+as I have never visited either spot, though quite familiar with their
+history, as doubtless you all are."
+
+"Then we may consider that matter as settled," remarked Edward with
+satisfaction.
+
+Elsie hardly knew whether to be more glad or sorry when the time came for
+the final leave-taking; but the joyful thought that Miss Rose was to
+accompany them fairly turned the scale in favor of the former feeling;
+and though she brushed away a tear or two at parting from Sophy, she set
+off with a bright and happy face.
+
+They spent several weeks most delightfully in travelling about from place
+to place, going first to Valley Forge--a little valley so called because
+a man named Isaac Potts had a forge there on a creek which empties into
+the Schuylkill River. He was an extensive iron manufacturer. The valley
+is a deep, short hollow, seemingly scooped out from a low, rugged
+mountain.
+
+The Americans had their camp on a range of hills back of the village,
+Washington his quarters at the house of Isaac Potts. It was a stone
+building standing near the mouth of the creek. Our friends were invited
+in by a cheerful old lady living there, and shown Washington's room. It
+was very small, but they found it interesting. The old lady took them
+into it, and, leading-the way to an east window, said: "From here
+Washington could look to those slopes yonder and see a large part of his
+camp." Then, lifting a blue sill, she showed a little trap-door and
+beneath it a cavity, which she said had been arranged by Washington as
+a hiding place for his papers.
+
+On leaving that house, our little party went to view the ruins of an old
+flour-mill near by.
+
+"This was going in those revolutionary days," said the old lady, who was
+still with them, "and soon after the battle of Brandywine, before the
+encampment in this valley, the Americans had a large quantity of stores
+here in this mill. Washington heard that the British General Howe had
+sent troops to destroy them, and he sent some of his men, under Alexander
+Hamilton and Captain Henry Lee, to get ahead of the British; which they
+did. Knowing there was danger of a surprise, they had a flat-bottomed
+boat ready to cross the river in, and two videttes out on the hill to the
+south yonder"--pointing with her finger. "Well, the soldiers had crossed
+the river and were just going to begin the work they had come to do, when
+the guns of the videttes were heard, and they were seen running down the
+hill with the British close after them. Lee, the videttes, and four of
+the other men ran across the bridge--the enemy sending a shower of
+bullets after them--while the others, with Hamilton, took to the boat.
+They were fired upon too, but got away safely. The two parties had got
+separated, and neither one knew just how the other had fared. Lee sent a
+note to Washington telling his fears for Hamilton and his men; and while
+Washington was reading it Hamilton rode up with a face full of distress,
+and began telling the general his fears for Lee; then Washington relieved
+him by handing him Lee's note to read."
+
+Our party thanked the old lady for her story, and Mr. Dinsmore asked what
+more there was to see.
+
+"There's an observatory over yonder on that south hill," she said,
+pointing to it. "It was there a large part of the American army was
+quartered--on the hill, I mean. If you go up to the top of the building
+you can see a good deal of the camping ground from it."
+
+"Thank you," he returned, slipping a silver dollar into her hand. "We
+are all greatly obliged for your kindness in showing us about this
+interesting place and refreshing our memories in regard to its history."
+
+The others thanked her also; then taking a carriage they drove to the
+observatory she had pointed out.
+
+They were told that it stood on the spot where Washington's marquee was
+placed on his arrival at Valley Forge. It was a neat octagonal structure
+about forty feet high, with a spiral staircase in the centre leading up
+to an open gallery on the top. They went up, and found it gave them a
+fine view of the greater part of what had been the camping ground. "Our
+troops came here from Whitemarsh, if my memory serves me right," said
+Edward Allison.
+
+"Yes," assented Mr. Dinsmore. "It was Washington's decision that they
+should do so, as here he would be near enough to watch the movements of
+the British army, then in possession of Philadelphia. He wished, for one
+thing, to keep the foraging parties in check, protecting the people from
+their depredations."
+
+"Wasn't it in the winter they were here, papa?" asked Elsie.
+
+"Yes; and the poor fellows found it terribly cold; especially for men so
+poorly provided as they were with what are esteemed by most civilized
+people as the barest necessities of life--food, clothing, shoes, and
+blankets."
+
+"Yes, I remember reading about it--how their poor feet bled on the ground
+as they marched over it, with neither shoes nor stockings," said Elsie,
+tears springing to her eyes as she spoke. "And didn't they suffer from
+hunger too, papa?"
+
+"Yes, they did, poor fellows!" he sighed. "They endured a great deal in
+the hope of winning freedom for themselves, their children, and their
+country. They had not even material to raise their beds from the ground,
+and in consequence many sickened and died from the dampness."
+
+"It is really wonderful how they bore it all," said Edward. "They
+certainly must have been true and ardent patriots."
+
+"We were told that Washington's marquee stood just here in that time,"
+said Elsie. "What did he want with it when he had a room in Mr. Potts'
+house?"
+
+"He occupied the marquee only while his men were building their huts,"
+explained her father, "then afterward took up his quarters in that
+house."
+
+Our party now returned to their carriage and drove to Paoli--some nine
+miles distant. They were told that the place of the massacre was about
+a quarter of a mile from the highway, and leaving their vehicle at the
+nearest point, they followed a path leading through open fields till they
+came to the monument. They found it a blue clouded marble pedestal,
+surmounted by a white marble pyramid, standing over the broad grave in
+which lie the remains of the fifty-three Americans found in that field
+the morning after the massacre, and buried by the neighboring farmers.
+
+"Papa," said Elsie, "won't you please go over the story?"
+
+"If a short rehearsal will not be unpleasant to our friends," he answered
+kindly.
+
+Both Rose and Edward assured him they would be glad to listen to it, and
+he at once began.
+
+"It was but a few days after the battle of Brandywine that Wayne was here
+with about fifteen hundred men and four pieces of cannon, Washington
+having given him directions to annoy the enemy's rear and try to cut off
+his baggage train. This place was some two or three miles southwest of
+the British lines, away from the public roads, and at that time covered
+with a forest.
+
+"But for the treachery of a Tory the British would have known nothing of
+the whereabouts of these patriots who were struggling to free their
+country from unbearable oppression. But Howe, learning it all from the
+Tory, resolved to attempt to surprise and slaughter the Americans. He
+despatched General Grey (who was afterwards a murderer and plunderer at
+Tappan and along the New England coast) to steal upon the patriot camp at
+night and destroy as many as he could.
+
+"Wayne heard that something of the kind was intended, but did not believe
+it. Still, he took every precaution; ordered his men to sleep on their
+arms with their ammunition under their coats--to keep it dry I suppose,
+as the night was dark and stormy.
+
+"Grey and his men marched stealthily on them in the night, passing
+through the woods and up a narrow defile. It was about one o'clock in the
+morning that they gained Wayne's left. Grey was a most cruel wretch,
+called the no-flint general because of his orders to his soldiers to take
+the flints from their guns; his object being to compel them to use the
+bayonet; his orders were to rush upon the patriots with the bayonet and
+give no quarter. In that way, in the darkness and silence, they killed
+several of the pickets near the highway.
+
+"The patrolling officer missed these men, his suspicions were aroused,
+and he hastened with his news to Wayne's tent. Wayne at once paraded his
+men, but unfortunately in the light of his fires, which enabled the enemy
+to see and shoot them down. Grey and his men came on in silence, but with
+the fierceness of tigers; they leaped from the thick darkness upon the
+Americans, who did not know from which quarter to expect them. The
+Americans fired several volleys, but so sudden and violent was the attack
+that their column was at once broken into fragments, and they fled in
+confusion. One hundred and fifty Americans were killed and wounded in
+this assault. It is said that some of the wounded were cruelly butchered
+after surrendering and asking for quarter. But for Wayne's coolness and
+skill his whole command would have been killed or taken prisoners. He
+quickly rallied a few companies, ordered Colonel Humpton to wheel the
+line, and with the cavalry and a part of the infantry successfully
+covered a retreat."
+
+"Then did all who had not already been killed get away from the British,
+papa?" asked Elsie.
+
+"Not quite all; they captured between seventy and eighty men, taking,
+besides, a good many small arms, two pieces of cannon, and eight
+wagon-loads of baggage and stores."
+
+"Weren't some of the British killed?" she asked.
+
+"Only one captain and three privates; and four men were wounded."
+
+The story was finished, and having seen all there was to see in
+connection with it, our travellers went on their way and pursued their
+journey, not feeling at all hurried, seeing all they wanted to see, and
+stopping to rest whenever they felt the need of it. Elsie enjoyed it all
+thoroughly. There was no abatement of the tender, watchful care her
+father had bestowed upon her in their former journey, and added to that
+was the pleasant companionship of Miss Rose and her brother.
+
+Mr. Edward was very kind and attentive to both his sister and Elsie,
+always thinking of something to please them or add to their comfort; and
+both he and Rose treated the little girl as though she were a dear,
+younger sister.
+
+Elsie was seldom absent from her father's side for many minutes, yet
+sometimes in their walks she found herself left to Mr. Edward's care,
+while Rose had Mr. Dinsmore's arm. But that did not trouble the little
+girl; for loving them both so dearly, she was very anxious that they
+should like each other; and then she could leave Mr. Edward and run to
+her papa whenever she pleased, sure of being always received with the
+same loving smile, and not at all as though they felt that she was in
+the way.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Holidays at Roselands, by Martha Finley
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14280 ***