o fatigue themselves with such long walks.
She begged hard to take her share of nursing. Every spare moment
she went to Mr Bradshaw's, and asked, with earnest humility, to be
allowed to pass them with Elizabeth; and, as it was often a relief
to have her assistance, Mrs Bradshaw received these entreaties very
kindly, and desired her to go upstairs, where Elizabeth's pale
countenance brightened when she saw her, but where Jemima sat in
silent annoyance that her own room was now become open ground for
one, whom her heart rose up against, to enter in and be welcomed.
Whether it was that Ruth, who was not an inmate of the house, brought
with her a fresher air, more change of thought to the invalid, I do
not know, but Elizabeth always gave her a peculiarly tender greeting;
and if she had sunk down into languid fatigue, in spite of all
Jemima's endeavours to interest her, she roused up into animation
when Ruth came in with a flower, a book, or a brown and ruddy pear,
sending out the warm fragrance it retained from the sunny garden-wall
at Chapel-house.

The jealous dislike which Jemima was allowing to grow up in her heart
against Ruth was, as she thought, never shown in word or deed. She
was cold in manner, because she could not be hypocritical; but her
words were polite and kind in purport; and she took pains to make
her actions the same as formerly. But rule and line may measure out
the figure of a man; it is the soul that gives it life; and there
was no soul, no inner meaning, breathing out in Jemima's actions.
Ruth felt the change acutely. She suffered from it some time before
she ventured to ask what had occasioned it. But, one day, she took
Miss Bradshaw by surprise, when they were alone together for a few
minutes, by asking her if she had vexed her in any way, she was so
changed? It is sad when friendship has cooled so far as to render
such a question necessary. Jemima went rather paler than usual, and
then made answer:

"Changed! How do you mean? How am I changed? What do I say or do
different from what I used to do?"

But the tone was so constrained and cold, that Ruth's heart sank
within her. She knew now, as well as words could have told her, that
not only had the old feeling of love passed away from Jemima, but
that it had gone unregretted, and no attempt had been made to recall
it. Love was very precious to Ruth now, as of old time. It was one of
the faults of her nature to be ready to make any sacrifices for