He might die,"-- she shuddered at that,--"die, as other men die, in the heat and flame of battle.

My God! my God! how shall I bear it?
Dead! and without a word! Gone, and he will never know how well I love him! O Willie, Willie! my life, my love, my darling, come back, come back to me." Vain cry!--he cannot hear.

Vain lifting of an agonized face, beautiful in its agony!--he cannot see.

Vain stretching forth of longing hands and empty arms!--he is not there to take them to his embrace.

Carry thy burden as others have carried it before thee, and learn what multitudes, in times past and in time present, have learned,--the lesson of endurance when happiness is denied, and of patience and silence when joy has been withheld.