en about a girl, a picture, and a child's story there
in the darkness of the place which was as terrible to him as Dante's
Inferno, till he found his Beatrice.

'I couldn't sleep, and had to think about something, so I used to fancy
I was Folko, and see the shining of Aslauga's hair in the sunset on
the wall, the gum of the watchman's lamp, and the light that came in at
dawn. My cell was high. I could see a bit of sky; sometimes there was
a star in it, and that was most as good as a face. I set great store by
that patch of blue, and when a white cloud went by, I thought it was the
prettiest thing in all this world. I guess I was pretty near a fool; but
those thoughts and things helped me through, so they are all solemn true
to me, and I can't let them go. The dear shiny head, the white gown, the
eyes like stars, and sweet, calm ways that set her as high above me as
the moon in heaven. Don't take it away! it's only a fancy, but a man
must love something, and I'd better love a spirit like her than any of
the poor common girls who would care for me.'

The quiet despair in Dan's voice pierced Mrs Jo to the heart; but there
was no hope and she gave none. Yet she felt that he was right, and that
his hapless affection might do more to uplift and purify him than any
other he might know. Few women would care to marry Dan now, except such
as would hinder, not help, him in the struggle which life would always
be to him; and it was better to go solitary to his grave than become
what she suspected his father had been--a handsome, unprincipled, and
dangerous man, with more than one broken heart to answer for.

'Yes, Dan, it is wise to keep this innocent fancy, if it helps and
comforts you, till something more real and possible comes to make you
happier. I wish I could give you any hope; but we both know that the
dear child is the apple of her father's eye, the pride of her mother's
heart, and that the most perfect lover they can find will hardly seem to
them worthy of their precious daughter. Let her remain for you the high,
bright star that leads you up and makes you believe in heaven.' Mrs Jo
broke down there; it seemed so cruel to destroy the faint hope Dan's
eyes betrayed, that she could not moralize when she thought of his hard
life and lonely future. Perhaps it was the wisest thing she could have
done, for in her hearty sympathy he found comfort for his own loss, and
very soon was able to speak again in the manly tone of resig