it not so,
mother?"

"You think wisely, my child. God grant that your true thoughts may
sustain you in the trials to come!" replied Mrs. Darlington.

The door-bell rang as the family were rising from the tea-table. The
visitor was Mr. Ellis. He had come to advise with and assist the
distressed mother and her children; and his words were listened to with
far more deference than was the case a year before. Nine or ten months'
experience in keeping a boarding-house had corrected many of the false
views of Mrs. Darlington, and she was now prepared to make an effort
for her family in a different spirit from that exhibited in the
beginning. The plan proposed by her brother--a matter-of-fact kind of
person--was the taking of a house at a more moderate rent, and opening
a school for young children. Many objections and doubts were urged; but
he overruled them all, and obtained, in the end, the cordial consent of
every member of the family. During the argument which preceded the
final decision of the matter, Mrs. Darlington said--

"Suppose the girls should not be able to get scholars?"

"Let them see to this beforehand."

"Many may promise to send, and afterwards change their minds."

"Let them," replied the brother. "If, at the end of the first, second,
and third years, you have not made your expenses, I will supply the
deficiency."

"You!"

"Yes. The fact is, sister, if you will be guided in some respects by my
judgment, I will stand by you, and see you safely over every
difficulty. Your boarding-house experiment I did not approve. I saw
from the beginning how it would end, and I wished to see the end as
quickly as possible. It has come, and I am glad of it; and, still
further, thankful that the disaster has not been greater. If you only
had now the five or six hundred dollars wasted in a vain experiment
during the past year, how much the sum might do for you! But we will
not sigh over this. As just said, I will stand by you in the new
experiment, and see that you do not fall again into embarrassment."

Henry was present at this interview, but remained silent during the
whole time. Since the day of Miriam's departure with Burton, and safe
return, a great change had taken place in the young man. He was like
one starting up from sleep on the brink of a fearful precipice, and
standing appalled at the danger he had escaped almost by a miracle. The
way in which he had begun to walk he saw to be the way to sure
destruct