!' she whispered. 'Be brave for love of me.'

"I drew her to me and kissed her. Beads of cold perspiration started
in the roots of my hair, but I clenched my teeth and entered the room
alone. The room was dark and I stood silent, not knowing where to
turn, fearful lest I step on my aunt! Then, through the dreary
silence, I called, 'Aunty!'

"A faint noise broke upon my ear, and my heart grew sick, but I strode
into the darkness, calling, hoarsely:

"'Aunt Tabby! It is your nephew!'

"Again the faint sound. Something was stirring there among the
shadows--a shape moving softly along the wall, a shade which glided by
me, paused, wavered, and darted under the bed. Then I threw myself on
the floor, profoundly moved, begging, imploring my aunt to come to
me.

"'Aunty! Aunty!' I murmured. 'Your nephew is waiting to take you to
his heart!'

"At last I saw my great-aunt's eyes shining in the dark."

The young man's voice grew hushed and solemn, and he lifted his hand
in silence:

"Close the door. That meeting is not for the eyes of the world! Close
the door upon that sacred scene where great-aunt and nephew are united
at last."

* * * * *

A long pause followed; deep emotion was visible in Miss Barrison's
sensitive face. She said:

"Then--you are married?"

"No," replied Mr. Kensett, in a mortified voice.

"Why not?" I asked, amazed.

"Because," he said, "although my fiancee was prepared to accept a cat
as her great-aunt, she could not endure the complications that
followed."

"What complications?" inquired Miss Barrison.

The young man sighed profoundly, shaking his head.

"My great-aunt had kittens," he said, softly.

* * * * *

The tremendous scientific importance of these experiences excited me
beyond measure. The simplicity of the narrative, the elaborate
attention to corroborative detail, all bore irresistible testimony to
the truth of these accounts of phenomena vitally important to the
entire world of science.

We all dined together that night--a little earnest company of
knowledge-seekers in the vast wilderness of the unexplored; and we
lingered long in the dining-car, propounding questions, advancing
theories, speculating upon possibilities of most intense interest.
Never before had I known a man whose relatives were cats and kittens,
but he did not appear to share my enthusiasm in the matter.

"You see," he said, looking at Mis