"America!" The word was uttered in a quick, earnest voice.
"Yes."
"Agnes, I thank you for this suggestion! Return to the pleasant home you left for one who cannot procure for you even the plainest comforts of life, and I will cross the ocean to seek a better fortune in that land of promise. The separation, painful to both, will not, I trust, be long."
"Edward," replied the young wife with enthusiasm, as she drew her arm more tightly about his neck, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee! Where thou goest I will go, and where thou liest I will lie. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."
"Would you forsake all," said Edward, in surprise, "and go far away with me into a strange land?"
"It will be no stranger to me than it will be to you, Edward."
"No, no, Agnes! I will not think of that," said Edward Marvel, in a positive, voice. "If I go to that land of promise, it must first be alone."
"Alone!" A shadow fell over the face of Agnes. "Alone! It cannot—it must not be!"
"But think, Agnes. If I go alone, it will cost me but a small sum to live until I find some business, which may not be for weeks, or even months after I arrive in the New World."
"What if you were to be sick?" The frame of Agnes slightly quivered as she made this suggestion.