I trust they have not been spoken in vain." His hand rested lightly on her head for a moment as though in blessing, but no word escaped his lips.

Then he rose, and after a moment Elizabeth joined him, and they walked back silently together.
"You are not vexed with me, my dear ?" he asked anxiously, when they parted at the gate of Rowan Cottage.

Then Elizabeth raised her sad eyes to his.
"Why should I be vexed?
You are always so kind--so kind; but you have said things that have troubled me;" and she left him, and walked on rapidly until she found herself in the familiar woodland path, and then she unconsciously slackened her pace.
She felt strangely shaken and agitated.

The words her old friend had spoken had thrilled her as though by an electric shock.

It was a message from the dead.