“‘Get up, old sluggard,’ she said, ‘you have slept long enough; I have been waiting over an hour for you to wake, but I think you would have slept here all night if I had not tickled your nose with my handkerchief.’
“‘Oh, Lottie, I have had such a delicious dream; I have been in Heaven; I cannot realize the fact that I am on earth; you were there, too; you were an angel with wings so white and beautiful!’
“‘I hope your dream will come true, when old Time shall settle accounts with us.’
“‘So do I; and I think my dream is a good omen. Sit down, and let me take a good look at you. You appear so fresh and beautiful this evening.’
“‘I notice that you have not forsaken your old inclinations to flatter me.’
“‘No, it is no flattery, I assure you. Pardon me, but I must be permitted to give expression to my happiness in some way, else I could not endure it.’
“She took a seat by my side, while her beautiful eyes looked up into my face; a joyful tear trembled on the long lashes.
“‘How is it, darling,’ I at last inquired, as I pressed her hand to my lips, ‘that you are looking so fresh and bright, when you have been constantly in attendance at the jail? I was afraid it would make you ill.’
“‘The performance of a duty always gives me health and happiness, no matter how much the labor is.’
“‘How is Miss Bramlett to-day?’