"I would not promise when I should have done so. But won't you return good for evil, Cynthia, and promise me something? Promise me that before many more New-year's eves have come and gone you will be my wife! For I love you—love you, Cynthia! I have loved you ever since that day on the river—indeed, long before that! Hark! the clock is beginning to strike. Promise before it stops."
And Cynthia promised.
And the old clock struck twelve, as it had done thousands of times before, and the old year died, and for us the story is finished. But for Neal and Cynthia a new year and a new life were dawning, and for them the story had but just begun.
THE END.
RATHER ODD.
"Papa," said Jimmieboy, "you are the nicest man in the world."
"And you are the nicest boy in the world," said his father.
"Yes; I guess that's so," said Jimmieboy. "Isn't it queer how we both managed to get into the same family."