"And now, is there anything I can get for you ?" "No," replied the strange, weak voice.

"I will ask when I want anything; for the present I only desire to be alone." Mrs.Hirste withdrew, and her lodger immediately locked the door.

Then she threw off the gray cloak and thick veil.
"I am alone," she said--"alone and safe.

Oh, if my wretched life be worth gratitude, thank God! thank God!" She repeated the words with a burst of hysterical weeping.

She knelt by the little white bed and buried her face in her hands.