Beulah - Page 323/348

"I do not always succeed very well. My flowers are a great resource;

I don't know how I should live without them. My books, too, serve to

occupy my attention." She was making a great effort to seem

cheerful, but he saw that her smile was forced; and, with an

assurance that he would see her again before he went to Washington,

he shook hands cordially, and left her. She tied her bouquet, and

dispatched it to the sick child, with a few lines of kind

remembrance; then took the letter which Mr. Lindsay had thrown on

the steps, and opened it with trembling fingers.

"MR. R. LINDSAY "Dear Sir: Yours of the 3d came to hand yesterday. As I wrote you

before, I accidentally learned that Dr. Hartwell had been in Canton;

but since that have heard nothing from him, and have been unable to

trace him further. Letters from Calcutta state that he left that

city, more than a year since, for China. Should I obtain any news of

him, rest assured it shall be immediately transmitted to you.

"Very respectfully, "R. A. FIELDS."

She crumpled the sheet, and threw it from her; and if ever earnest,

heartspoken prayer availed, her sobbing cry to the God of travelers

insured his safety.