justice I may have
done you in a former letter, and hope you will forgive a too warm
expression of my feelings.

Yours, &c.,

ANDREW HOWLAND."

This letter was dispatched by the Southern mail, and then Mr.
Howland turned his steps homeward. He felt strangely. There was a
pressure on his bosom; but it was not the pressure of trouble that
had rested upon it so long, but a pressure of conflicting emotions,
all tending to soften and subdue his feelings, to bend the iron man,
and to mould his spirit into a new and better form. With a lively
pleasure was he looking forward to the second meeting with Andrew in
the presence of his mother, but he did not know how great a
pleasure, beyond his anticipations, was in store for him.

On arriving at his house, Mr. Howland opened the door and went in.
He had passed along the entry but a few paces, when some one stepped
from the parlor. He paused, and looked up. It was his daughter Mary
who stood before him. In her arms was a sweet little girl, and on
her face was a smile, the warmth and light of which were on his
heart in an instant.

"Father!"

It was the only word she uttered. The tone of her voice, and the
expression of her face told all he wished to know.

"My dear child!" fell warmly from the lips of Mr. Howland, as he
grasped his daughter's hand, and then kissed tenderly both her own
lips and those of her babe.

"Dear father!" murmured Mary, as she leaned her head, in tears, upon
his breast.

At this moment there was a movement of feet in the parlor, and the
husband of Mary presented himself. An open, frank, forgiving
expression was on his face, as he came forward and offered his hand,
which was instantly seized by Mr. Howland, in a hearty pressure.
Andrew and his mother joined the group, and, with smiles and
pleasant words, made perfect the sphere of happiness.

"My children," said Mr. Howland, at length, speaking in a trembling
voice, "my cup is full to-night. I must leave you a little while, or
it will run over."

And saying this, he gently disengaged himself, and passed up to his
chamber, where he remained alone for over half an hour. When he
joined the family, his manner was greatly subdued, and in his speech
there was a softness which none had known before.

In the glad reunion of that evening, how many heart-wounds were
healed, how many old scars covered over and hidden!

CHAPTER XIV.

SHOCKED as was Emily Winters at the sight of Andrew, blee