the white brow, bade Annie good-night, and sought her
pillow.

It was long ere Annie slept, and when at last she did so, hideous shapes
and direful omens floated through her dreams. Once she awoke, when all
was dark and still, to find a burning fever on her cheek, and dull,
throbbing pain in her temples. At peep of dawn the old woman rose and
stole into the apartment. She wanted to see her little pet sleeping in
her cot-bed, as she used to years before. There she lay, her arms thrown
above her head as when a child, and the rich chestnut curls lying in
dark relief on the snowy pillow. But the deep, sweet respirations, and
the healthful glow of childhood were not there. A blue circle surrounded
the closed lids, and a fever-flush burned in the centre of each cheek.
The aunt saw her darling was ill. She took one thin, hot hand in hers,
and felt the pulse fluttering fast and wild. The sleeper woke and
started up, turning her eyes quickly round the apartment.

"Don't you know where you are, Annie?" asked the aunt. "This is your old
room at Scraggiewood, and I'm your aunty."

"O, yes! I remember now; but I think I'm sick, my poor head aches and
throbs so badly. You used to cure all my pains, aunty."

"I hope I can cure you now, hinney. I'll go and prepare you a cooling
drink of herbs. You must be very quiet, and I trust you will be well in
a few days."

Annie submitted patiently. A week passed by ere she was able to make her
aunt fully acquainted with her woful tale. The poor woman seemed as much
afflicted as Annie, but she strove by every means in her power to soothe
and comfort the suffering heart. Netta Gray had been married to George
Wild a few weeks before her return, and was now absent on a visiting
tour, and Annie's health continued feeble. It could hardly be otherwise
with a mind so heavy and depressed. For several months she remained in
seclusion at the lowly cot in Scraggiewood.

CHAPTER XV.

"For the weak heart that vainly yearned
For human love its life to cheer,
Baffled and bleeding has returned,
To stifle down its crying here."

* * *

"Thou shalt go forth in prouder might
And firmer strength e'er long."

Up to the clear blue sky, when the sun was gone down on the silent
earth, clad in the pure white snow-mantle, and away over th