can be
till I find,--"

He stopped there; then went on, with a glance into the room,--

"I'm glad I didn't do it, an' I thank yer, Ma'am, fer hinderin'
me,--thank yer hearty; but I'm afraid I hate him jest the same."

Of course he did; and so did I; for these faulty hearts of ours cannot
turn perfect in a night, but need frost and fire, wind and rain, to
ripen and make them ready for the great harvest-home. Wishing to divert
his mind, I put my poor mite into his hand, and, remembering the magic
of a certain little book, I gave him mine, on whose dark cover whitely
shone the Virgin Mother and the Child, the grand history of whose life
the book contained. The money went into Robert's pocket with a
grateful murmur, the book into his bosom with a long took and a
tremulous--

"I never saw my baby, Ma'am."

I broke down then; and though my eyes were too dim to see, I felt the
touch of lips upon my hands, heard the sound of departing feet, and
knew my contraband was gone.

When one feels an intense dislike, the less one says about the subject
of it the better; therefore I shall merely record that the captain
lived,--in time was exchanged; and that, whoever the other party was, I
am convinced the Government got the best of the bargain. But long
before this occurred, I had fulfilled my promise to Robert; for as soon
as my patient recovered strength of memory enough to make his answer
trustworthy, I asked, without any circumlocution,--

"Captain Fairfax, where is Lucy?"

And too feeble to be angry, surprised, or insincere, he straightway
answered,--

"Dead, Miss Dane."

"And she killed herself, when you sold Bob?"

"How the Devil did you know that?" he muttered, with an expression
half-remorseful, half-amazed; but I was satisfied, and said no more.

Of course, this went to Robert, waiting far away there in a lonely
home,--waiting, working, hoping for his Lucy. It almost broke my heart
to do it; but delay was weak, deceit was wicked; so I sent the heavy
tidings, and very soon the answer came,--only three lines; but I felt
that the sustaining power of the man's life was gone.

"I thought I'd never see her any more; I'm glad to know she's out of
trouble. I thank yer, Ma'am; an' if they let us, I'll fight fer yer
till I'm killed, which I hope will be 'fore long."

Six months later he had his wish, and kept his word.

Every one knows the story of the attack on Fort Wagner; but we should
not tire yet of recallin