ard what the doctor had said, and approved of
his recommendation. She knew, better than any one else, the true
nature of the disease from which her daughter was suffering; and,
although she did not hope for much from a change of scene, yet she
believed the effect would be salutary rather than otherwise. So she
went to see her immediately. She found her, as usual, alone in her
chamber, with a sad countenance, and a drooping, listless air. After
inquiring, tenderly, about her health, she said--

"I understand that Doctor R--recommends a change of air."

"What all doctors recommend when they do not know the cause and
nature of a disease," replied Kate, with a faint smile.

"But I think, with Doctor R--, that a few weeks at the sea-shore
will be of great benefit. The change will interest your mind as well
as invigorate your body."

"A temporary benefit may be derived from such a change," said Kate;
"but it cannot be permanent. When I return, I will sink again; and,
perhaps, lower, from the unnatural excitement to which I have been
subjected."

"Kate, my child, it is wrong for you to give up in this way. Your
disease is more of the mind than of the body; and you have the power
to arouse yourself and throw it off, if you will."

"The power, mother! I, the power!" exclaimed Kate, in a voice that
made her mother start.

"Have you not?" inquired Mrs. Harrison calmly.

"Has the bird, whose wing is broken, the power to fly?" asked Kate.

"Unless you make an effort to throw off your present state of mind,
you cannot live. And are you willing to die, and leave this dear
child in the hands of those who cannot love it as you do?"

"Has it not already been taken from me? Does it not draw its
existence from another breast?"

"But your health required--"

"My health! mother! My very life depended upon the privilege you
have all denied me. Do you want the proof? Look at that shadowy
hand"--and she held up the thin white member against the light,
which almost shone through it--"and at this shrunken face," and she
laid her hand upon her colourless cheek. "Restore the fountain that
has been dried, and let my babe drink at it, and there is some hope.
None without."

"That is impossible, Kate"--

"And just as impossible is my return to health through the means
proposed."

"But, for the sake of your friends, you ought to be willing to try
the means of restoration prescribed by a physician in whom we all
have confidence."