search of Arthur. Having seen him bend his course towards
the shrubbery, I followed him thither, and found him just
entering the shadowy walk. I was so light of heart, so
overflowing with affection, that I sprang upon him and
clasped him in my arms. This startling conduct had a;
singular effect upon him: first, he murmured, 'Bless you,
darling!' and returned my close embrace with a fervour like
old times, and then he started, and, in a tone of absolute
terror, exclaimed, 'Helen! what the devil is this?' and I
saw, by the faint light gleaming through the overshadowing
tree, that he was positively pale with the shock.

How strange that the instinctive impulse of affection
should come first, and then the shock of the surprise! It
shows, at least, that the affection is genuine: he is not sick
of me yet.

'I startled you, Arthur,' said I, laughing in my glee.
'How nervous you are!'

'What the deuce did you do it for?' cried he, quite testily,
extricating himself from my arms, and wiping his forehead
with his handkerchief. 'Go back, Helen--go back directly!
You'll get your death of cold!'

'I won't, till I've told you what I came for. They are
blaming you, Arthur, for your temperance and sobriety, and
I'm come to thank you for it. They say it is all "these
cursed women," and that we are the bane of the world; but
don't let them laugh or grumble you out of your good
resolutions, or your affection for me.'

He laughed. I squeezed him in my arms again, and
cried in tearful earnest, 'Do, do persevere! and I'll love you
better than ever I did before!'

'Well, well, I will!' said he, hastily kissing me. 'There,
now, go. You mad creature, how could you come out in
your light evening dress this chill autumn night?'

'It is a glorious night,' said I.

'It is a night that will give you your death, in another
minute. Run away, do!'

'Do you see my death among those trees, Arthur?' said

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