e minute her life of
poverty had changed to one of ecstatic hope. She caressed her brother.
He smiled contentedly, and sank into coma or heavy sleep. She remained
a few minutes watching him. Picture after picture of future contentment
passed before her eyes; phantasmagoria of joy which held her enthralled
till chance drew her eyes towards the window, and she found herself
looking out upon what for the moment seemed the continuation of her
dream. This was the figure of her nephew, standing in the doorway of the
adjoining house. This entrance into the alley is closed up now, but in
those days it was a constant source of communication between the two
houses, and, being directly opposite the left-hand library window,
would naturally fall under her eye as she looked up from her brother's
bedside. Her nephew! the one person of whom she was dreaming, for whom
she was planning, older by many years than when she saw him last, but
recognizable at once, as the best, the handsomest--but I will spare you
her ravings. She was certainly in her dotage as concerned this man.

"He was not alone. At his side stood her sister, eagerly pointing
across the alley to herself. It was the appearance of the sister which
presently convinced her that what she saw was reality and no dream.
Charity had risen from her bed to greet the newcomer, and her hasty
toilet was not one which could have been easily imagine, even by her
sister. The long-absent one had returned. He was there, and he did not
know what these last five minutes had done for them all. The joy of
what she had to tell him was too much for her discretion. Noting how
profoundly her brother slept, she slipped out of the room to the side
door and ran across the alley to her own house. Her nephew was no longer
in the doorway where she had seen him, but he had left the door ajar and
she rushed in to find him. He was in the parlor with Miss Charity, and
no sooner did her eyes fall on them both than her full heart overflowed,
and she blurted out their good fortune. Their wonder was immense and in
the conversation which ensued unnoted minutes passed. Not till the clock
struck did she realize that she had left her brother alone for a good
half-hour: This was not right and she went hurrying back, the happiest
woman in town. But it was a short-lived happiness. As she reentered the
sick-room she realized that something was amiss. Her brother had moved
from where she had left him, and now lay stretche