crorie--oh, how she
cried!"

And Jack, having stammered out this gave way completely, and, burying
his face in his hands, he sobbed aloud.

Then followed a long, long silence.

At last Jack roused himself.

"You see, Macrorie," he continued, "I had been acting like the devil to
her. All her chaff, and nonsense, and laughter, had been a mask. Oh,
Louie! She had grown fond of me--poor miserable devil that I am--and
this is the end of it all!

"She got away," said Jack, after another long silence--"she got away
somehow; and, after she had gone, I sat for a while, feeling like a man
who has died and got into another world. Paralyzed, bewildered--take
any word you like, and it will not express what I was. I got off
somehow--I don't know how--and here I am. I haven't seen her since.

"I got away," he continued, throwing back his head, and looking
vacantly at the ceiling--"I got away, and came here, and the next day I
got a letter about my uncle's death and my legacy. I had no sorrow for
my poor dear old uncle, and no joy over my fortune. I had no thought
for any thing but Louie. Seven thousand a year, or ten thousand, or a
hundred thousand, whatever it might be, it amounts to nothing. What I
have gained is nothing to what I have lost. I'd give it all for Louie,
I'd give it all to undo what has been done. I'd give it all, by Heaven,
for one more sight of her! But that sight of her I can never have. I
dare not go near the house. I am afraid to hear about her. My legacy! I
wish it were at the bottom of the Atlantic. What is it all to me, if I
have to give up Louie forever? And that's what it is!"

There was no exaggeration in all this. That was evident Jack's misery
was real, and was manifest in his pale face and general change of
manner. This accounted for it all. This was the blow that had struck
him down. All his other troubles had been laughable compared with this.
But from this he could not rally. Nor, for my part, did I know of any
consolation that could be offered. Now, for the first time, I saw the
true nature of his sentiments toward Louie, and learned from him the
sentiments of that poor little thing toward him. It was the old story.
They had been altogether too much with one another. They had been great
friends, and all that sort of thing. Louie had teased and given good
advice. Jack had sought consolation for all his troubles. And now--lo
and behold!--in one moment each had made the awful discovery that their