Year: 1861

He let the rudder, which he had been
holding, slip from his grasp, and leaned
with frightened look, toward me.
Why do you say this? he asked, in a
breathless manner.


Because it so appears to my eyes. Ber-
tha has failed sadly since I saw her last
All her color has departed, and all the fine
roundness of face and limb has wasted
away, She eats nothing comparatively,
yet is taxed with duties that would wear
out strong man. You with your vigo-
rous health cold not endure them.


But what can | do? asked my friend,
with alarm in his face. Ny few sentences
had startled him from a pleasant life
dream. She will bury herself as you see
What can | do he said


You can stretch out your hand and save
her before the current that is now floating
her away bears her beyond Your reach,
said I, confidently; and I take the privi-
lege of friend to warn you in time. Not
once since | have been here, has she shar-
ed our recreating drives or refreshing hours
on the river. She does not sit With us in
the library, flowing in with our pleasant
talks, and making thought more beautiful,
as in other days; and when we meet her
at meal-times, looking so pale and spiritu-
ellie, it is plain to see that mind and body
are feeble from excessive weariness Can
this 90 on long, and her delicate organism
not give way? Be assured not, for the
strain is too great


But what can I do? asked my friend a.
gain, looking still more alarmed. She is
welded to these household cares, and en-
slaved to her children.


have not seen, said I, any attempt on
your part to win her away from them
There has been no remonstrance against
her elf-sacrifcing course no manifested
cencern; no urgent invitation to join US in
our rides and ramblcs-I speak Plainly,
for there is life at stake-but dull ac-
quiescence. Now, if you wish to keep her
long, all this must be changed. You must
at any cost of effort, see that she no long
er violates the plainest laws of health


You have awakened me from dreams
said my friend, as he grasped the rudder
again, and headed the boat homewardS
Drifting away he added, few moments
afterward Yes, it is even so. But Twill
catch at her receding garments and hold
her back.


At dinner time we met Bertha, looking
worse than | had ever seen her since my
arrival. I noticed that my friends eyes
wandered every little while to her face,
and that he did not eat with his usual APP
petite. After the dessert, and before we
left the table, he leaned toward her and
said, with tenderness in bis voice that no
Wife's heart could resist


I am sorry to see you looking SO worn
out, Bertha. Last MI ght was a severe tax
upon you, Have you been lying down this
morning?


Part of the time, she answered, looking
at her husband gratefully. 1t was plain to
be seen that she was not used to such ten
der inquiries.


This way of life won't do, Bertha, he
went on, It's destroying you. I see you
drifting away from me, His voice trem-
bled little. And | must put forth hand
to draw you back. Nature will not bear
the burdens you are laying upon her.


Isaw the light coming into her pale faco,
and love beaming out from her eyes, upon
her husband. His interest and concern
were genuine, and she felt it.


We are going to take an easy ride this
afternoon, he added, and want you to go
with US.


I saw objection in her face; and her lips
moved as if she were about putting her
objection in words. But her husbands
Now don't say no ! coming as it did on his
warmly expressed interest and concern,
changed her purpose, and she said,


If it will give you pleasure.


Nothing in the world would give ne more
pleasure, replied my friend with almost
loyerlike warmth.


There was visible, already, new life in
the countenance of Bertha. A soft glow
was family dyeing her cheeks, and mel
low light tempering the unnatural brilliance
of her eyes.


When do you wish me to be ready? she
asked ....


At four o'clock. We will ride until six.
That Will be long enough.


III " do llie D6l tlS VI OtHtI ud}S WIZ
talked 50 pleasantly and looked so bright
and cheerful during that 1ide. At tea
time she was another being from what she
appeared on the evening before, or indeed
any evening since my arrival at Fern Dale.
The ride had quickenod her mind to a new
and healthier impulse She was lover Of
all things beautiful in nature, and this had
given her a pure enjoyment, which could
not soon die out. During the evening my
friend, by little management, drew her
away from her nursery into the library,
where We enjoyed her company for over an
hour. How solicitous my friend was to
keep her mind interested to give her
thoughts new channel. to call back old
themes in art and literature that once graf
fled her taste or charmed her imagination
She felt the change in him, and was, !
could see, half surprised, yet touched there
by.


On the next day she accompanied us
in our morning ride, and in the afternoon
was induced after little persuasion, tc
take sail on the river There was an
unmistakable glow on her cheeks as she
came back from this excursion in fine spfr.
its; and | noticed that she took relish O
tongue, and ate two buscuits at supper
time-an appropriation of food quite be
yond anything I had seen, in her case
since my visit to Fern Dale.