Year: 1870

Dut sun, ne assured himself, "sht


irritated me-"


Thus he reached a point very fal


from soothing or satisfactory in its in


fiuence. He was forced to aeknowledg,


that he had allowed himself. in mo


ment of irritation. to speak hastily ant


unkindly. When he entered the car


took his seat alone, in far corner, and


pulled his hat down over his eyes. He


did not wish to converse. When he


reached his store he was moody and


taeiturn very unlike the Andrew


Thurston whose wont it was to come in


with smiles and cheerful salutat:on.


A little thing it was, to be sure, but
1t gave him great pain. A mote is q
tiny particle, but it becomes thing Of
painful moment when it is lodged in
the eye: and the heart that is made
tender with devoted, living love, is
as sensitive to notes as in the eye
Hitherto the current of Andrews love
had flowed on unbroken and untroubled,
and this incoming of obstruction had
produced a turbulence as destructive
of peace and happiness, for the time,
as though the very fountain of love it
self had been broken up In short,
he was brought to the self-confession
that there could be no more JOY for him
until this cloud had passed away. And
how should that be done? How should
the sunlight be let iE again upon his
hearthstoue? He was proud, and he
did not like to make confession of fault.
Would his wife make the first acknowl-
edgement? He hoped so; for thus the
evil might be put away.


As he sat alone in his counting-roem,
he picked up paper, and sought to
overcome his unhappy thoughts by
reading. He could not fix his mind
upon the thread of long article, so
he read the short paragraphs; and at
length his eye caught the following:


"Where there has been misunder-
standing between near and dear friends,
resulting in mutual unhappiness and
regret, the one who loves most, and
whose sense of right and duty is strong
est, will make the first advance toward
reconciliation


Andrew Thurston dropped the paper,
and arose to his feet 1t was as though
voice from heaven had spoken to
him.


81 do not love the most" he solilo-
quized; "but am the strongest, and
should show my love by my words"


He looked at his watch. 1t was not
his custom to return home till evening,
but he could not remain and bear the
burden through the other hours of the
day. And he marvelled, as he put on
his hat, and drew on his gloves, how
even the resolve to do this simple thing
had let the sunlight into his soul.


y 4


Dollie Thurston, when she knew that
her husband had goue-had gone with
out word or kiss--had gone with
out giving her time to recover her
stricken senses-sank down and wept;
and it was long time before she could |
easily think or reflect. She had been
left alone-alone with pain and sorrow
and she was utterably miserable
She blamed herself for not having
called her husband to her; and she
blamed him for not having come of his
own accord. To her it seemed as
though the death of Joy had come
She had never known such misery be-
fore. By and by, when she could
think, she wondered if her husband
would smile upon her if she should
offer him the first kiss, and speak the
first word of love. She would try it.
1t would be terrible If he should re
pulse her; but she could not live so.


The hours passed, and the young
wife sat like one disconsolate. She
thought not of dinner-she had no ap-
petite. She only thought, could the
warm sunshine come again? Did her
husband love her less than she had
thought?


Thus she sat, with pale cheeks and
swollen eyes, when she heard the outer
door open, and step in the hall
She started up to listen, thinking that
her senses might have deceived her,
when, the door of the sitting-room was
opened, and her husband entered His
eyes filled with tears when he saw how
pale and grief-stricken his wife looked,
and with open arms he moved towards
her.


"Dollie!--my Darling! Don't let us
be unhappy any more!"


He had been thinking on his way
home, what he should say when he
met her; and he had framed in his
mind a speech of confession which he
would make; but he forgot it all when
he saw her, and his heart spoke as it
would. The words burst from his lips,
lovingly, powerfully, beseechingly-


"Dolliei my Darling! Don't let US
be unhappy any more!''


She came to his bosom and twined
her arms about his neck; and for the
kiss that missed in the morning they
took many now; and they wept no more
apart, but wept together.


Thatwas all. The cloud had passed;
and they experienced the exquisite
thrill which all true hearts can feel
when wrong has been made right, and
when The warm Joy beams drive away
the dark shadows of sorrow and re
gret. 1t was a life-lesson to them
both; and they promised themselves
they would pay heed to its teach
T. Ledger.


A JAPANESE MERMAID.-A real mer-