tch her develop in a higher atmosphere and see her happiness in her
proud position. But he knew it could not be; and overcome, for the
moment, with the thought of the separation which must soon come, he turned
abruptly away and went feebly back to the cottage.

Chapter VIII.

Mr. Abbot Desires an Immediate Marriage.

Whether it was owing to the excitement of the previous evening, or to a
feeling of relief from care and anxiety upon Virgie's account which made
Mr. Abbot feel that at last he might safely lay down his burdens, it would
be impossible to say, but he was alarmingly ill the morning after the
betrothal, and unable to rise from his bed.

His strength seemed to have left him, and he lay weak as a child, panting
with every breath, a deadly faintness and sinking sensation frequently
seizing him and making him feel as if the world was rapidly slipping from
his grasp.

Virgie was in an agony of fear.

She had never seen her father so ill before, and it seemed to her that he
must die if he did not soon have relief.

"What shall I do?" she asked, in a helpless, appealing way, of Sir
William.

He had been summoned as soon as Mr. Abbot's condition had been discovered,
and he, too, feared that the end was very near, while, being wholly
unaccustomed to sickness of any kind, he felt very useless and
inefficient.

He bent and kissed his darling's pale, upturned face, and then went
swiftly out of the house.

Presently, however, he returned with a foreign looking flask or bottle in
his hand.

"Here is some brandy," he said, giving it to Virgie. "Mix some of it with
two-thirds as much water, and feed your father a teaspoonful at a time
every few minutes until he begins to rally, and call all your courage to
your aid, dear. Meantime, I will go to the nearest telegraph station and
send a message to Virginia City for a skillful physician."

Virgie looked up at him with quivering lips.

"Oh, what a comfort it is to have you to help me at this time!" she said.

He drew her into his arms and held her for a moment while she laid her
lips, softly and gracefully, to his cheek, in the first voluntary caress
that she had ever given him.

The act touched him, and told him how trustfully she relied upon him.

"My darling, I wish I could save you from every pang," he said, tenderly.
"But I must not linger--we must have help for your father as soon as
possible. Good-by, my love, for a little while, and be sure th