and then just opposite to me was Miss Temple's room. A light shone through the keyhole and from under the door; a profound stillness pervaded the vicinity. Coming near, I found the door slightly ajar; probably to admit some fresh air into the close abode of sickness. Indisposed to hesitate, and full of impatient impulses—soul and senses quivering with keen throes—I put it back and looked in. My eye sought Helen, and feared to find death.
Close by Miss Temple's bed, and half covered with its white curtains, there stood a little crib. I saw the outline of a form under the clothes, but the face was hid by the hangings. The nurse I had spoken to in the garden sat in an easy-chair asleep; an unsnuffed candle burnt dimly on the table. Miss Temple was not to be seen; I knew afterwards that she had been called to a delirious patient in the fever-room. I advanced; then paused by the crib side. My hand was on the curtain, but I preferred speaking before I withdrew it. I still recoiled at the dread of seeing a corpse.
"Helen!" I whispered softly, "are you awake?"
She stirred herself, put back the curtain, and I saw her face, pale, wasted, but quite composed. She looked so little changed that my fear was instantly dissipated.
"Can it be you, Jane?" she asked, in her own gentle voice.
"Oh!" I thought, "she is not going to die; they are mistaken; she could not speak and look so calmly if she were."
I got on to her crib and kissed her. Her forehead was cold, and her cheek both cold and thin, and so were her hand and wrist; but she smiled as of old.
"Why are you come here, Jane? It is past eleven o'clock; I heard it strike some minutes since."
"I came to see you, Helen; I heard you were very ill, and I could not sleep till I had spoken to you."
"You came to bid me goodbye, then; you are just in time probably."
"Are you going somewhere, Helen? Are you going home?"
"Yes; to my long home—my last home."
"No, no, Helen!" I stopped, distressed. While I tried to devour my tears, a fit of coughing seized Helen; it did not, however, wake the nurse; when it was over, she lay some minutes exhausted; then she whispered:
"Jane, your little feet are bare; lie down and cover yourself with my quilt."
I did so; she put her arm over me, and I nestled close to her. After a long silence, she resumed, still whispering:
"I am very happy, Jane; and when you hear that I am dead, you must be sure and not grieve; there is nothing to grieve about. We all must die one day, and the illness which is removing me is not painful; it is gentle and gradual; my mind is at rest. I leave no one to regret me much; I have only a father; and he is lately married, and will not miss me. By dying
