r and lower; and that he called on you, Gabriella, to save him, in a
voice that might have rent the heavens; and then they seemed to open,
and you appeared distant as a star, yet distinct and fair as an angel,
slowly descending right over the yawning chasm. You stretched out your
arms towards him, and drew him upward as if by an invisible chain. As he
rose, the dark abyss was transformed to beds of roses, whose fragrance
was so intensely sweet it waked me. It was but a dream, my Gabriella,
but it may be that God destined you to fulfil a glorious mission: to
lead your erring father back to the God he has forsaken. It may be, that
through you, an innocent and injured child, the heart sundered on earth
may be reunited in heaven.

"One more charge, my best beloved. In whatever situation of life you may
be placed, remember our boundless obligations to the faithful Peggy, and
never, never, be separated from her. Repay to her as far as possible the
long, long debt of love and devotion due from us both. She has literally
forsaken all to follow me and mine; and if there is a crown laid up in
heaven for the true, self-sacrificing heart, that crown will one day be
hers.

"The pen falls from my hand. Farewell trembles on my lips. Oh! at this
moment I feel the triumph of faith, the glory of religion.

"'Other refuge have I none;
Hangs my helpless soul on _thee_;
Leave, oh, leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me.'

"Not me alone, O compassionate and blessed Saviour! but the dear, the
precious, the only one I leave behind. To thine exceeding love, to the
care of a mighty God, the blessed influences of the Holy Spirit, I now
commit her. 'Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is naught on
earth which I desire beside thee.'"

CHAPTER XXVII.

Edith came in, as usual, before she retired for the night, and expressed
affectionate concern for my indisposition; but there was an air of
constraint, which I could not help perceiving. My eyes fell before hers,
with conscious guilt. For had I not robbed her of that first place in
her brother's heart, which she had so long claimed as her inalienable
right?

I had one duty to perform, and I resolved to do it before I laid my head
on the pillow. With the manuscript in my hand, I sought the chamber of
Mrs. Linwood. She sat before a small table, her head resting
thoughtfully on her hand, with an open Bible before her. She looked up
at my entrance, with