bling saloon and bar-room in a southern city, but I know not
how true the statement was. My uncle occupied the cottage till his
death, five years after my mother's arrival. I saw him occasionally, and
I had reason to believe that he repented his crime, and found the true
peace. In his last sickness, my mother, forgetting the wrongs of the
past, was an angel at his bedside. She not only nursed him, but she read
the Bible to him, and prayed with him; and finally she closed his eyes
in his last sleep.

The Splash was moored in the lake by my mother's cottage, and I cruised
about in her with Bob Hale, and often with my mother.

Mr. Windleton procured the appointment of Mr. Loraine as Kate's
guardian, and I did not often see her, though she spent a month with us
every summer. Two years after Mr. Hale had paid over to me the money,
when I was twenty-one, according to my father's will, we made it
perpetual summer at the cottage, for Kate was duly installed as the
mistress of the house. The interesting occasion came off in Madison
Place, and we were delighted by the presence of Mr. and Mrs. Macombe,
Mr. Solomons, and Mr. Carmichael. Of course Bob Hale "stood up" with me.

As this last event properly ends our story, I shall only add, I believe
in Kate, and so does my mother. She always calls me Ernest Thornton, in
full. Though the Splash is now a little shaky in her timbers, she is
still a good boat; and almost every pleasant afternoon in summer we sail
over to Cannondale in her, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Hale being often passengers.
We try to be faithful to each other, and strive to be good and true.
Though we hope we grow better and wiser with each year that is
mercifully added to our span, there is still always something of truth
and goodness for us to SEEK AND FIND.

OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS

=All-Over-the-World Library.= By OLIVER OPTIC. First Series.
Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25.

=1. A Missing Million=; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF LOUIS BELGRADE.
=2. A Millionaire at Sixteen=; OR, THE CRUISE OF THE "GUARDIAN
MOTHER."
=3. A Young Knight Errant=; OR, CRUISING IN THE WEST INDIES.
=4. Strange Sights Abroad=; OR, ADVENTURES IN EUROPEAN WATERS.

No author has come before the public during the
present generation who has achieved a larger and
more deserving popularity among young people than
"Oliver Optic." His stories have been very
numerous, but they have b