s; and while I do not imagine you would
think me a burden, nevertheless your very best energies could not be
exerted, and this time they must be."

She seemed very resolute as she spoke, though her face was sadder than
Sedgwick had ever seen it. She continued:

"I shall be brave when the hour comes, my love. I shall not vex you with
a tear when we separate. You shall carry a smile as my last gift away
with you."

Sedgwick was enchanted. He thought her the grandest, noblest woman on
earth, and thanked God for his treasure.

After awhile he told her of Jordan, and all that he had learned from him.
When he rehearsed Jordan's love episode, she kept exclaiming: "Poor, true
man! Poor, honest fellow!" But when it was finished, she said: "Why,
love, he is a ninny; that woman would never have left him had he but had
more faith in himself, and pressed his suit a little. I am glad he is
going with you. You will be a comfort to him, and his mind will have an
object to work upon. Poor fellow!" she added with a sad smile. "You men
are very brave and bright. You tear down mountains, exalt valleys, fight
battles, navigate great ships, tame wild horses and lasso wild oxen, but
you do not--the majority of you--know any more about a woman's heart than
a Fiji islander does of Sanscrit."

To all of which Sedgwick responded by calling her an angel.

Then the matter of their marriage was talked over, and Sedgwick advised
that in case her step-father should be angry upon learning of the event,
she should take up her home with Jack and Rose.

"My father will not show much vexation," she said. "If he begins that
way, I will remind him of the fortune he has taken from your friend, his
own step-son, and explain that it was his and Jenvie's work that made
necessary what we shall have done."

But it was agreed that all letters to her should be sent to a private box
in the post-office, to which Sedgwick gave her the key. It was agreed,
moreover, that even Jack should not know he had not gone to America,
because, as he explained, if Jack once suspected he was going to Africa,
he, too, would insist upon going, which would break Rose's heart, who had
already waited for years; and then his going would be altogether
unnecessary, as he and Jordan could do as well as three could. Moreover,
to go would be to lose what he had advanced on the Devonshire estate.

They both tried to be cheerful, but it was a sad night. When they came to
separate, Grace