to bid her good by. She was running across
the lawn, but stopped abruptly on hearing her name called.

'Little maiden,' said the young man, 'I am going away. We shall have no
more races together. When I see you again, it won't do for either of us
to romp and run about.'

'Why? Are you not coming to see us till you are old?'

'I don't know that, but I shall not come very soon. After a while I
shall go across the ocean, and you will grow up to be a young woman. So
I must say a long good-by now to my little patient.'

Sarah was twelve, Egerton scarcely twenty. For the instant, young as she
was, there was actually established between them a sentimental relation.
They stood a moment looking at each other.

'Good-by,' said Egerton, taking her hand. 'I think I must have this for
a keepsake.' It was a straggling curl, detached from its companions,
which the student laid hold of. Sarah said not one word, but took a neat
little morocco 'housewife' from her pocket, produced a small pair of
scissors, and clipped the curl quickly, leaving it in Egerton's hand.

'You won't forget me,' he said.

'No.'

In an instant more she was bounding over the green grass, while the
other walked slowly into the house. In a few minutes he was off. I do
not think this scene produced any impression on Sarah Burns beyond the
passing moment; but to Egerton, who was just of an age to cherish such
an incident, it furnished material for a romantic idea, which he
nourished until it came to be a part of his life plans. Whatever was the
reason which actuated him, it is a fact that he wrote Mr. Burns, not
often, to be sure, but quite regularly. After two or three years he went
abroad, still keeping up his correspondence. Mr. Burns, for some reason
we will not conjecture, was not in the habit of speaking to his daughter
about Egerton. Possibly he did not wish her to remember him as a
grown-up man while she was still a little girl. Possibly, he desired,
should they ever meet, that their acquaintance might commence afresh. At
any rate, Sarah was left quite to forget the existence of the young
fellow who watched by her so faithfully; or if by some chance some
recollection of him, as connected with that dreadful season, came into
her mind, it was purely evanescent and without consequence. Mr. Burns,
however, always cherished certain hopes. The reader will recollect his
sadness of heart when he discovered how matters stood between Sarah and
Hiram Meeker. T