nation
to the inevitable that showed how honest was his effort to give up
everything but the pale shadow of what, for another, might have been a
happy possibility.

They talked long and earnestly in the twilight; and this second secret
bound them closer than the first; for in it there was neither sin nor
shame--only the tender pain and patience which has made saints and
heroes of far worse men than our poor Dan. When at length they rose at
the summons of a bell, all the sunset glory had departed, and in the
wintry sky there hung one star, large, soft, and clear, above a snowy
world. Pausing at the window before she dropped the curtains, Mrs Jo
said cheerfully:

'Come and see how beautiful the evening star is, since you love it so.'
And as he stood behind her, tall and pale, like the ghost of his former
self, she added softly: 'And remember, dear, if the sweet girl is denied
you, the old friend is always here--to love and trust and pray for you.'

This time she was not disappointed; and had she asked any reward for
many anxieties and cares, she received it when Dan's strong arm came
round her, as he said, in a voice which showed her that she had not
laboured in vain to pluck her firebrand from the burning:

'I never can forget that; for she's helped to save my soul, and make me
dare to look up there and say:

"God bless her!"'

Chapter 22. POSITIVELY LAST APPEARANCE

'Upon my word, I feel as if I lived in a powder-magazine, and don't
know which barrel will explode next, and send me flying,' said Mrs Jo
to herself next day, as she trudged up to Parnassus to suggest to her
sister that perhaps the most charming of the young nurses had better
return to her marble gods before she unconsciously added another wound
to those already won by the human hero. She told no secrets; but a hint
was sufficient; for Mrs Amy guarded her daughter as a pearl of great
price, and at once devised a very simple means of escape from danger.
Mr Laurie was going to Washington on Dan's behalf, and was delighted to
take his family with him when the idea was carelessly suggested. So the
conspiracy succeeded finely; and Mrs Jo went home, feeling more like a
traitor than ever. She expected an explosion; but Dan took the news so
quietly, it was plain that he cherished no hope; and Mrs Amy was sure
her romantic sister had been mistaken. If she had seen Dan's face when
Bess went to say good-bye, her maternal eye would have discovered far
more