"Again the happy days, now gone forever, came back to her childish memory; and the soft song of her mother stole into her soul with a charming lullaby. Again she felt the warm, fervent kiss on her cheek, as in fancy she heard her mother whisper a last 'Good night.'
"A sob burst from her sweet lips. A tear rose to her eye and stood trembling upon the long black lashes. Another followed and crowded it from its place to the ground.
"The Queen drew back horror-struck, for the Heaven-forbidden drop of water had at last fallen upon Beauty Valley.
"A sudden chorus of wild screams rent the air. There was a terrible shock, an upheaval, as if from an earthquake. The very ground trembled as if in a fit of convulsions. Sharp, darting pains struck the children mercilessly down into a state of insensibility. All then grew silent as death and pitch dark.
"In a few moments the shrill whistle of a train resounded through the Shenandoah Valley, as it dashed out of the tunnel in the mountain and on over the great steel bridge into Harpers Ferry.
"Little Maud, wakened by the echoing tumult, gazed in a bewildered manner about her. There lay her brother asleep upon the green mound, under the same tree where they had first met 'Aunt Twaddles.' She placed her hand tenderly upon him, and he awoke with a sudden start.
"'Oh, Maudie!' he exclaimed, 'what happened that it grew dark so suddenly?'
"The boy half arose as he received only a sob in reply, and you can well imagine his surprise as he gazed about; for there at his side lay a huge pile of freshly picked pennyroyal on the very top of which was a snow-white card. The card was most beautifully embossed with a picture of the Village of Hide and Seek, and, in the handwriting of 'Aunt Twaddles,' it bore the following inscription:
"To my darling Children:
Remember always that, as you saw a tear