, broken voice.

She was lying in bed. Laubepin, a priest, and a doctor were standing on
one side, and Marguerite and her mother were kneeling down in prayer on
the other. I saw at once that she was at the point of death, and knelt
down beside Marguerite. The poor dying woman smiled faintly, and groped
for my hand and put it in Marguerite's, and then fell back on the
pillow. She was dead.

Laubepin led me out of the room, and put a document in my hand. It was a
will, and the ink on it was hardly dry. Mlle. de Porhoet had made me her
heir.

"How good of her!" I said to Laubepin. "I shall treasure her testament
as a mark of her love for me. I will settle her little estate on my
sister. It will at least keep Helene from having to go out into the
world as a governess."

"And it will keep you, my friend, from having to go out into the world
as a steward," said Laubepin, with a smile. "Don't you remember that
document about the Spanish succession which you discovered and sent to
me? We have won the law-suit, and you are the heir to an estate in Spain
which will make you one of the richest men in France."

I went into the garden to think over my strange fortune. How long I sat
there in the darkness I do not know. On rising up, I heard a faint sound
beneath one of the trees, and a beloved form emerged from the foliage,
and stood against the starry sky.

"Marguerite!" I cried, running up to her with outstretched arm.

She murmured my name, and as I clasped her her lips sought mine, and we
poured our souls out in a kiss.

* * * * *

I have given Helene half of my fortune. Marguerite is my wife, and I
close these pages for ever, having nothing more to confide to them. It
can be said of men, as it has been said of nations, "Happy are those
that have no story."

* * * * *

HENRY FIELDING

Amelia

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park, near Glastonbury,
England, April 12, 1707. His father, a grandson of the Earl of
Desmond, and great-grandson of the first Earl of Denbigh,
settled in England shortly after the battle of Ramillies as a
country squire. In due course, Fielding was sent to Eton, and
afterwards to Leyden, where he remained for two years studying
civil law. Financial difficulties, however, put a temporary
end to his intention of entering the Bar, and in 1727 he
solved the problem of a career