ully resolved never to wed a
woman he did not tenderly love; and though quite pretty, Ellen is not
sufficiently intellectual to attract such a man."

"Are you quite sure of this, Dr. Bryant?" said Mary, in a quick, eager
tone.

"Certainly; I had it from his own lips."

"Oh! I"--She stopped short, and her cheek crimsoned, as she met the
piercing glance of his dark eye bent upon her face. Her small hands
trembled so that the reins quivered, and she closed her eyes for a
moment, while the glow fled from her cheeks, leaving them pale as
marble.

He caught her hand, and steadied her in her saddle.

"Forgive my inattention, Miss Irving, you are not strong enough to
extend your ride. Your face is very pale, and you look fatigued."

"Yes, let us go home--home." Her voice was low and faltering, and she
with difficulty restrained the tears which sprung to her eyes.

They turned their horses' heads, and neither attempted to remove the
restraint which both experienced. They entered the town, and then
seeing her hand glide quickly to her side, he gently said:

"I am afraid we are riding too fast for you."

Her lips writhed for a moment with acute pain; but with a faint smile,
which touched him with its sadness, she replied:

"I am better now--the pain has almost left me, I am very sorry to
trouble you so much, Dr. Bryant,"

"Trouble!" he murmured, as if communing with his own heart. "I see
you do not know me, nor ever will; for none have truly read my soul or
sympathized." A look of bitterness passed over his face, and a sterner
expression rested there than Mary had ever marked before. She knew not
what to reply, for she could not comprehend the change, and even as
she pondered, he pointed to the western sky, and, much in his usual
tone, asked:

"Don't you think the sunsets here exceed any you ever beheld
elsewhere?"

"In brilliancy they certainly do. Yet I love still better the soft
tints which often linger till the stars come out. I think they blend
and harmonize more beautifully with the deep blue of the zenith than
any I have seen before, and I have watched sunsets from my childhood."

"You are right; I have noticed in more northern latitudes a very
perceptible difference in the appearance of the firmament. The moon,
for instance, on cold, clear nights, presents a silvery, glittering
disk, but the soft mellow light of a southern clime is wanting."

While he spoke, the figure of a woman emerged from a house nea