Now, then, out with it! How might Frank do better ?" "He might marry Me." If the summer scene which then spread before Mr.Vanstone's eyes had suddenly changed to a dreary winter view--if the trees had lost all their leaves, and the green fields had turned white with snow in an instant--his face could hardly have expressed greater amazement than it displayed when his daughter's faltering voice spoke those four last words.

He tried to look at her--but she steadily refused him the opportunity: she kept her face hidden over his shoulder.

Was she in earnest?
His cheek, still wet with her tears, answered for her.

There was a long pause of silence; she waited--with unaccustomed patience, she waited for him to speak.

He roused himself, and spoke these words only: "You surprise me, Magdalen; you surprise me more than I can say." At the altered tone of his voice--altered to a quiet, fatherly seriousness--Magdalen's arms clung round him closer than before.
"Have I disappointed you, papa ?" she asked, faintly.