426

She bent down, and with firm, icy lips, lightly touched the forehead of the governess, and walked away, unheeding the burst of tears with which the frigid caress was welcomed.

“And I think, in the lives of most women and men,
There’s a moment when all would go smooth and even,
If only the dead could find out when
To come back, and be forgiven.”

CHAPTER XXXI.

“Madam, are you aware that you breathe an infected atmosphere?—that this building is assigned to small-pox cases? Pray do not cross the threshold.”

The superintendent of the hospital laid aside his pipe, and advanced to meet the stranger whose knock had startled him from a post-prandial doze.

“I am not afraid of contagion, and came to see the patient who was brought here yesterday from No. 139 Elm Street.”

“Have you a permit to visit here?”