, "I do." Then reaching forth, he
took Zillah's hand, and instead of giving it to the clergyman, he
himself placed it within Guy's, and for a moment held both hands in
his, while he seemed to be praying for a blessing to rest on their
union.

The service proceeded. Solemnly the priest uttered the warning:
"Those whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder."
Solemnly, too, he pronounced the benediction--"May ye so live
together in this life that in the world to come ye shall have life
everlasting."

And so, for better or worse, Guy Molyneux and Zillah Pomeroy rose
up--_man and wife_!

After the marriage ceremony was over the clergyman administered the
Holy Communion--all who were present partaking with the General; and
solemn indeed was the thought that filled the mind of each, that ere
long, perhaps, one of their number might be--not figuratively, but
literally--"with angels and archangels, and all the company of
heaven."

After this was all over the doctor gave the General a soothing
draught. He was quite calm now; he took it without objection; and it
had the effect of throwing him soon into a quiet sleep. The clergyman
and the lawyer now departed; and the doctor, motioning to Guy and
Zillah to leave the room, took his place, with an anxious
countenance, by the General's bedside. The husband and wife went into
the adjoining room, from which they could hear the deep breathing of
the sick man.

[Illustration: "The Clergyman Began The Marriage Service."]

It was an awkward moment. Guy had to depart in a short time. That
sullen stolid girl who now sat before him, black and gloomy as a
thunder-cloud, was _his wife_. He was going away, perhaps forever. He
did not know exactly how to treat her; whether with indifference as a
willful child, or compassionate attention as one deeply afflicted. On
the whole he felt deeply for her, in spite of his own forebodings of
his future; and so he followed the more generous dictates of his
heart. Her utter loneliness, and the thought that her father might
soon be taken away, touched him deeply; and this feeling was evident
in his whole manner as he spoke.

"Zillah," said he, "our regiment sails for India several days sooner
than I first expected, and it is necessary for me to leave in a short
time. You, of course, are to remain with your father, and I hope that
he may soon be restored to you. Let me assure you that this whole
scene has been, under the circumstances,