i don t think there is any danger now but had rushed into the sick room and was bending over the cradle trying in vain to choke back her sobs as she lifted her little one in her arms i � i can t help it she said to oh my poor little babies i and then she was kissing and crying softly over him and patting s pillow and her and talking to all at once what should i have done without you she said how can i thank you and oh i my best patient dear look at your pale cheeks after her excitement was somewhat she insisted on in a soft shawl and making her lie down on the sofa to rest to tell the truth now that the burden of was taken from her this before b an to feel and when she was fairly on the sofa fell asleep and slept with most it was late when she awakened and hy the light of the fire she saw sitting by her in the rocking chair rocking to and fro and evidently waiting impatiently for her awakening i am glad you have finished your sleep she said i am so impatient to talk everything over what did you think when you got s letter i always told him it would turn out so it is like a romance only there was so little mystery about it they say mr was killed on the spot he had always been a fast man yoa know � miss sat up in her with a little extra color on her cheeks and not a little extra beating at her heart what did all this mean i beg your pardon mrs she said but i don t understand i never received any letter from mr i never � broke in upon her you don t understand she echoed you never received a letter wrote to you the day we left washington just then and not till then did something of flash across s mind what about the envelope she had laid aside and forgotten in her anxiety she got up and went to the mantel piece yes there it was just as she had left it without breaking the seal she did not sit down she stood up just where she was and tore it open and glanced at the signature alfred and then she read the letter through when she had finished she looked up at blood in her cheeks rising a great flash of something in her eyes at last at last fortune had turned the tables once more her father s brother who had never even seen her had died from a fall from his horse died without children and without a will and she was his heir oddly enough the thought that rose highest in the tumult of her mind was the most commonplace of thoughts she was not to be a middle aged after all she was not to grow old and bitter and over music lessons and french this of course but permit me to say it was very natural if she wished now she might go away from this terrible and humiliation and perhaps forget it all i never read this letter before she said to i was so anxious that i laid it down and forgot it i don t know what to say i can hardly believe it is my uncle was so angry with pa for ma that he would never even see me got up quietly and went to her and kissed her on both cheeks i hope it will make you happy my dear she said i must congratulate you but i cannot congratulate myself i shall lose my friend and my twice in four years had fate flung a golden into s hands the first time it had only added fresh bitterness to her lot this second time it brought her relief not happiness mr was dead � killed by a fall from a wild horse and whether she deserved it or not miss was an again representing twenty thousand a year and two there was no excitement in her manner as she sat by mr at the table in the library that night and entered into the particulars of her business her was quite calm and business like and while she listened to his statements and replied to his inquiries she was playing with a pen and smiling now and then faintly mr had heard all the points of the case and only some few legal must be gone through before she could take possession it was ten o clock before their work was finished and then the gentleman congratulated her warmly had been sitting with them and as his brother in law spoke he glanced up quickly and looked at miss she was standing by the table resting one hand upon it and with the pen her downcast eyes a little thoughtful the bright was concentrated upon her and showed the white face and head poised half half carelessly her long black dress made her look white and slender with its sombre the great waves of hair were twisted in a massive knot on the slim neck and there was a deep scarlet spot on either cheek she was a beautiful woman as much the as ever she was a beautiful picture and the touching tenderness of her smile made her dazzling does money make people happy she asked lifting her soft eyes if it does you know i shall be happy for i can buy twenty thousand dollars worth of happiness every year but then if it don i might only be a rich after all in spite of your kind wish � and the thousands she only spoke half seriously but when she ended her shook a little in the face of her smiles and there was a touch of truth in the almost 