"No, no; we shall take care to prevent that."

"Could I ever look my father or sisters in the face"Oh yes; after a while-perfectly well."

"My own dead mother

"Dear Kate, she

"And the end and object of all this," proceeded Kate, unheeding, "what a mean and cowardly one it is! We are to flinch from a momentary disagreeable at the expense of our honour! Think, Rupert, how foolish, how blind;-a mere momentary disagreeable!"

"All very fine. Yes, my dear Kate, you lay a most excellently scornful accent on the words; but a mere momentary disagreeable' sounds a thousand times less charming from Lady Olivia's lips than from yours; I can assure you of that, from the experience of a lifetime. Such 'momentary disagreeables' have a trick of lengthening out ad infinitum on these occasions. I know what it would be." "And to escape it you would degrade us both? Whatever you dread, it could not be so bad as that."

"Dread? Nonsense. That is, you really do not know what you are talking about, you silly child, and need some one to take you in hand. Come, don't pout; I see I shall have to lecture you again, as I did last time I was at the farm. I thought I had brought you fairly well into subjection on that occasion, but you are a tough little customer. Why, I declare, she's in the pet already!"

It was the last thing he ought to have said.

"That is enough; that will do," cried Kate, passionately. "I see we shall never understand each other. Is this the happiness you promised me? I thank you, Rupert, but it -it-" struggling for composure, "it is not such as I care to possess. Is this what is to make me forget the past? The past would haunt me day and night. Don't speak to me, don't touch me,-I will never listen to you again.”

"Kate! My child!" His tone changed to one of tender

remonstrance.

"I am not your child. Take away your hand. could this hand deal me such misery!"

"Kate, Kate, what are you saying?"

Oh, how

"That which I will never unsay. I have been deceived in you,—in you who seemed to me so good, so noble. You made me love you,-I did not want to love you. You found me out, I never asked you to come. And I thought, I

I am

thought-but it does not matter; I see it all now; blind no longer. God forgive you, Rupert, for all this!" "My darling!

"Hush!-not now. I am nothing to you now. You renounced me as a sister, and I will not be your wife." "You will, Kate, when you hear me

"And therefore I will not hear you," said she, springing to her feet. "Let me go. We are only wasting time now;

let me go, Rupert."

("Well," thought Evelyn, "here is an ado! Who would have thought that her devil of a temper would have stepped in in this way? It's ridiculous. I shan't give in; so she must; and that's all about it.") "I should not have supposed you were a person to be tormented by an over-scrupulous conscience," he could not resist saying at last: "leave that for others, Kate; it is not for you.'

The emphasis on the "you," slight though it was, was too much. It stung the high-souled girl to the quick. "What!" she cried out; "you mean that I am already undutiful and miserable enough? That I am ready enough to yield to temptation of any kind, be it what it may? That I have been turned away from my father's doors because I was a disgrace and a trouble to them? And you thought that I

-whom you yourself reproached for my evil passions and temper-was ripe for any revenge? Was that what you meant, Rupert? Oh, Rupert, did you really mean that?" she sobbed aloud.

"I scarcely know what I mean, Kate. You will not attend to what I say

-“No, I will not.”

"And you are transported out of yourself, by giving way to these ungovernable fancies. You are not in a fit state to consider any question calmly; believe me, you are not. You yourself acknowledge that your-your excitable temperament is apt to mislead you. It never did so more than in the present instance. Then why will you not put yourself in my hands?"

"Rupert, I fear God. I have disobeyed Him, dishonoured Him, rebelled against Him, and forsaken Him—but still I am His. 'I will arise and go to my Father, and will say unto Him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before Thee, and am no more worthy-no more worthy——" her voice was lost in weeping.

No other sound broke the silence of the cave; for Evelyn, awed by the extent of the emotions he had himself awakened, and hopeless of regaining the ascendancy he had lost during the first half-hour, was now gloomily silent, whilst debating what course he should next pursue.

It was still raining heavily without; but Kate, apparently without being aware of what she was doing, presently began to move towards the entrance of the cave, as though intending to escape from the presence of her companion.

Common humanity prompted him to call her back, especially as the shawl, which had slipped from her shoulders as she broke from his hold, remained on the ground; and the . thin cotton frock, which had been a part of her wardrobe on coming to the farm in all the mildness of the late summer, was but a poor protection against a smart autumnal shower.

His summons, however, had no effect. It was either unheard or disregarded; and he was obliged to follow ignominiously, and seek to detain the fugitive by other means. She thrust him aside.

The manner of her doing so was such, that even his patience gave way at last, and he frowned contemptuously. "Don't be foolish. You need not be afraid that I shall transgress again. You may permit me to put a covering on you, Miss Newbattle, without feeling anxiety. I have only one thing to say, and that is, that I presume even your candour will hardly think it necessary to inform your parent and mine of this piece of folly? It would not be pleasant for either of us,-probably you will not regard that,—but still, as a personal favour to me,-for their sakes, or on any other grounds you like to consider worthy, I must beg that if you can keep the secret, you will."

"I will."

"What is the matter? You are ill?" cried Evelyn, struck by her tone. "Good Heavens, what a brute I am! Kate, I did not mean it; I did not know what I was saying. Kate, dear Kate, forgive me,-speak to me. O God! what have I done?"

The cheek which had approached hers, as his terrified senses became aware of something strangely, dreadfully wrong, was all at once wetted by something warm,—it was blood, which was flowing from a broken vessel.

Of all that followed that terrible revelation Evelyn could never think in after years without a shudder.

He was, as we have said, by nature benevolent-nay more, he was the last person in the world to behold suffering with indifference; and to have thus, by his own thoughtlessness, wantonly endangered the life of a young and beautiful girl, to all of whose attractions he was keenly alive, and who had returned his affection with an ardour which it had needed greater strength than she possessed to expel from her bosom, filled him with a distress which knew no bounds.

For some minutes he hung over her in speechless agony, expecting every moment to feel the quivering form he held relax, and the heart cease to beat; but although with closed eyes she lay powerless and terrified in his arms, respiration and consciousness remained.

The dark stream, however, which oozed without intermission from between her parted lips, might increase and strangle, were she once to swoon away. He saw the danger, kept her head well up, supported her back, and looked round in despairing quest of assistance.

Unhappily it was next to impossible that any one should go by that way; and even should so unlikely an event come

to pass, there remained the probability, which was, alas! wellnigh a certainty, that he and his helpless burden must still be unperceived from the cliffs above. A short time before, he had noted all this, had exulted in the loneliness of the spot, and in the charm of such a scene for disclosing his love; now he would have given all he possessed for the hope of being overheard. Twice he raised his voice vainly, then with a sickening sense of further effort of the kind being useless, held his peace, and strove to gather together his energies to meet the desperate emergency.

A sea-bird jabbered overhead: he looked up at it with interest; his senses seemed numb.

How should he and Kate ever, unaided, regain the haunts of men?

Whither should he turn, even should he succeed in carrying the unhappy girl, a dead-weight in his arms, across the barren headland ? No cottage nor hut was near. He thought he could be sure that no habitation of any kind had been passed by him and his companion on their way to the cave; and he now recollected, with an additional pang, that the path they had traversed then had been made for the inhabitants of the district, by reason of the old coach road being farther away from the shore at that part than was usually the case. It ran through the hills for a mile or two; and the path-a mere rough, grass-grown track-had been cleared for the country people, who used it as a short cut across the projecting piece of land.

Where the road was,-how near, or how far away,-he knew not.

It was obvious, however, that something must be done, and that speedily. The rain had cleared off, but still the short November day would ere long draw to a close, and there was nothing to be gained by delay. He durst not leave her under shelter of the cave while he went in search of assistance, lest haply he might find her dead on his return; and to remain in a state of inaction when every moment was precious, was sheer pusillanimity.

He rose to his feet, and lifted her in his arms.

Slender though she was, when he came to raise the light figure wholly from the ground, his courage sank at the recollection of the distance he should have to traverse.

Fright, joined to other emotions, rendered the hapless Kate absolutely powerless; and though she retained just