CHAPTER THIRTIETH.
DEATH OF THE SOLDIER'S WIFE.
The presence of his child lightened but did not remove the grief of Alfred Wentworth.

The love he bore his wife may be likened to the love of the eagle for liberty.

Cage it, and the noble bird pines away; no longer allowed to soar on high, but fettered by man, it sickens and dies, nor can it be tamed sufficiently to become satisfied with the wires of a cage.

So it was with the soldier.

His love for his wife was of so deep and fathomless a nature, that the knowledge of her being a maniac, and only returning to reason to die, changed the current of his nature, and from being a friendly and communicative man, he became a silent and morose being.