occurred to him to ask how the clothes which he had sold for drink came to be hanging over the footboard of his bed when he became sober.

Having delivered himself to meditation for a day, he came out as a professor of moral virtues and as the careful paternal head of the family. Shaven, neat, and well dressed, though with a hand somewhat trembling, he seated himself at the breakfast table.

I have taken unusual pains with my dress, my daughters, for your sakes. The beauty of the weather reminds us that summer is here, and with summer will come summer guests. I do not wish you to be uneasy, my children; I know what is due to you. Faith, you can be as cheerful as you please. Rely upon me to do nothing to mar your prospects."

Faith flamed crimson. Her prospects! What prospects had she? Oh, how could he speak so? Why could she not be let alone? This was too detestable! If by chance anyone spoke to her on the beach, must it be taken for granted that she had prospects? She sprang up, ran away to her room, and there cried with vexation, disgust and mortification.

Please, father, do not speak so. Faith and I cannot think of such things," remonstrated poor Letty.

"And why not?" demanded father. "Because I am prohibited by my misfortunes, and Faith by your fault!" said Letty, exasperated in behalf of her sister. And that was the severest thing Letty ever said to her father.

"Sed redeo ad formulam," said father magisterially. "I shall do nothing to mar Faith's prospects. She shall be made happy in spite of herself."

An ill-done good, I judge an evil deed.' Do not be alarmed. I surely have your sister's happiness more at heart than you have. Come, Letty, call your sister down to help you, and then seat yourself by the open window. I will go out and bring you a bouquet. Air, light, the wildflowers are to us free gifts of God. What more do we wish? Our home is lowly, our lot is poor; but with free minds the universe is ours. For what in human affairs,' says Cicero, may seem great to him to whom all eternity and all the magnificence of the universe is known?' In the realm of thought, my child, we may reign as kings. Happy is the mind fed on the marvels of nature and the glorious developments of philosophy; happy the heart like yours, my child, at peace with itself; happy the young maid, like your sister, whose beautiful face reflects a beautiful mind."

After a day or two, the sisters, as usual, fell in with father's changed state, and listened without amazement or irritation while he praised self-control, self-sacrifice, family love, prudence, charity, temperance — all the virtues. He should in that state have been a professor of morals.

When Faith grew weary of the house she could now go to the rocks, with the better grace that father was as pleasant as could be wished, and was making himself agreeable to Letty in the house. So to her granite throne went Faith, and, cheered by the beauty that was all around her, smiled and sang.

Letty and father walked down there to call her home to tea. They saw her as they came, her shining

golden hair lit by the sunset against the cold gray rock, her face and figure so full of bloom and life and beauty, like an arbutus blossom upon the dull stone. And they heard her singing a verse that she loved :

"And I thought I heard Him say,
As He passed along His way,
'O silly soul, keep near me,
My sheep should never fear me ;
I am the Shepherd true.''

It made Letty think of the angels singing in heaven.

And when June was yet in its first flush of beauty, one day the merry shouts of a little boy echoed up the sands, and Richard Parvin thrust his bonny countenance into the door of the house on the beach.

Where

"Is that you, Miss Letty? is my mermaid? Down at the rocks? There, then, that old Kenneth has got ahead of me! He went to the rocks and I came here, to see which should be first. Oh, dear!"

"Do you want to be first?" said Letty with a benevolence that Kenneth might have called malevolence. "Then run across the edge of the dune, just where you see a little path, and it will take you to the rocks the shortest way and you will be first after all."

Away bounded Richard; but perhaps he did not find the right path, for when he reached the grotto there sat Faith making lace, and there sat Kenneth on a boulder trying to be agreeable.

But Richard got much the warmer reception, if that was any comfort to him. As for Kenneth

"I'm afraid you'd not have spoken at all to me, Miss Faith, if you had not hoped for news from your brother." "Oh, yes; maybe I might," said Faith, carelessly.

CHAPTER XII.

LETTY HAS HER HANDS FULL.

Of all King Arthur's knights, Sir Galahad was the one to whom self

control was the easiest,-because he had always exercised it. To him the restraint of the passions had become a second nature; "I could " was yokefellow to "I should," and upon them "I would" waited duteously. But while the habit of rightdoing so upbuilds character that living nobly becomes easiest, and to do evil would be the more difficult, so self-indulgence makes every demand of appetite more imperious, yielding to evil becomes the habit of the mind, and to deny one's self is a herculean task beyond the effort of the weakened will. Of those whom continued indulgence in a vice has made moral weaklings, unable to dwell for any length of time in the strong, bracing air of the regions of virtue, Ralph Kemp was a notable example. Each hastening year made him less able on any terms to govern his depraved desire for strong drink. It was idle for him to say to his proud young daughter that to spare her mortification he would conduct himself with decency while strangers were near. He was soon scheming that he might drink a little, and no one know it; that he might drink all that he craved and keep out of sight; he argued as if he were capable of leaving off when once he had begun, or as if, when possessed by his demon, he could rule its manifestations.

It is true that there are men of such vigorous mental temperament that at any point in a career they can say "I will not," and abide by their own decree. We have known of cases where there was that much iron in the blood. Ralph Kemp was made of other material; and being of that weaker mould he insisted upon considering himself strong and relying upon himself. That was what discouraged his daughters. He never in his efforts reached higher than his own level; he never took hold of the Strong One for strength.

Letty took a little courage from

the thought that perhaps now her father would not be able to get drink anywhere.

"Don't you believe it," said Faith angrily. The devil doesn't mean to be outgeneraled by Kiah Kibble and a girl. We have frightened the druggist, warned the licensed saloons, and shut up the one that had no license. Do you think we are to be left to enjoy the fruits of victory? There will be some other little sneaking den opened where least it is expected. Our only hope is that father will want to stay sober for a while."

"Well, for poor Hugh's sake I hope father will stay sober while Mr. Julian and his aunt are here, for Hugh may question Mr. Julian closely when he goes home, and we should bate for him to have a shameful story to tell. But as far as you and I are concerned, it is no worse for us to see our father doing wrong one time than another, is it, Faith?" No; I suppose not," said Faith.

O Faith, you know what I mean," cried poor Letty in despair. "We are not situated as other girls are. We must do differently. I ought to watch over you; I am the eldest, you know, but you are an awfully hard girl to be a mother to!"

Then Faith sank down on her knees beside the chair of her little elder sister, and hugged the pathetic creature to her heart; her strong, round, white arms clasped Letty firmly; she laid her lovely young face on poor Letty's deformed shoul

der, and she protested that Letty was the dearest little woman in all the world, and they should never be parted, but live together all their days.

But she did not say that she would sit no more on the rocks chatting with Kenneth Julian. Why should she say it? Why not let a little gleam of brightness, a brief vision of the big, brilliant outer world, into her shadowy and contracted existence? Suppose she kept strictly at the house, immuring herself in summer as in winter, what good would it do? If she kept away from the rocks, Kenneth would come up to the house and sit on the threshold; and it was much pleasanter at the rocks. The blue bending skies, the broad shifting opal of the sea, the huge boulders, flung together when the echo of the song of the morning stars yet pealed through heaven, were all so much better environment than the shabby little house on the beach.

Letty sighed Letty sighed often nowadays; she sighed over her father; she sighed over Faith; they were all numbered, those sighs; their sum total was told above, and when the last sigh was breathed, then divine rest should enter Letty's soul and a blissful satisfaction be hers in the city of her God.

Faith, watching her father, detected the signs of relapse. "Father," she said, "you know what you promised; you said on Hugh's account, so that Hugh should have no sad news to hear, you would be very careful and not drink any while Mr. Julian is at the beach."

I never said a word about Hugh -I said on your account." "Whichever account it was, you promised to be good. Now you know if you stop working, if you begin to go over to the town, there will be trouble. Won't you keep your word, father? It seems as if I should die of shame if I saw you coming home wild and noisy, not

knowing what you were doing. Do, father, take some pride in yourself. Bring those books down to the rocks and read to me while I work, and let us talk about them."

"Kenneth Julian will be there." "Let him! He will enjoy your talk just as much as I do. I am so proud of you when you read and translate your Latin books and comment upon them, and trace their influence on English literature. Come down there with me, father. I would much rather you did. I don't like to sit there alone—as if— as if I were waiting for people, when I am not, but have always been there the six years that we have lived here; and I hate to stay cooped up in the house. Now, father, you can make beautiful nets and hammocks. I'll order the twine, and you come there and make a net while I work lace, and we'll have a book or two and we can read and discuss a little, and at noon I will run up to the house for Letty and the dinner, and it will be a real family party. Then if anyone else wants to come and sit there and talk, let him—we won't mind. Do try it. I really would like it so much better that way."

Father allowed himself to be persuaded. He sat by Faith, netted several times across a hammock, and discussed to Kenneth the De Senectute.

But appetite was dragging at father as if it had cast mighty lines about him, and was pulling him toward the foul den where he could obtain its indulgence. The tenderness of Letty, the deference of Faith, the attention paid by Kenneth, the reassertion of what little manhood he had left were all feeble compared with the demands of a depraved appetite. To what a hideous bondage do the sons of Ephraim submit their souls!

"If you go to the town, you will be lost," said Faith. "When you get where you can see or taste liquor, all is ended with you. Stay here,

father. If I were you, I'd rather cut off my feet than have them carry me to ruin and shame!"

Oh, vain remonstrances and vainer cares!

Letty was in her usual seat by the window. She was embroidering a table-cover. Mrs. Parvin had been to see her and had brought her several well-paid orders from city friends. Mrs. Parvin had been very, very kind, but Letty felt that Mrs. Parvin had questioned her rather closely about Faith, and that she had cast anxious glances, as became a wise aunt, toward the rocks where might be seen the top of Kenneth's cork helmet.

Letty's thoughts were called from Faith by other cares. As she sat and wrought crimson poppies and yellow heads of wheat, Kiah Kibble's boy came running up.

"Miss Letty! Mr. Kibble ain't down by the boathouse to-day. He's gone over to the yard for lumber." Well, what of that?"

"Your-father's down there, miss." "Is anything the matter?" asked Letty, sticking her needle in the stem of a poppy and rising prescient of evil.

“He's awful—full-an' there's two boys there gaming at him, an' I'm afraid he'll rouse mad and do something. An' 'sides, Kiah's 'fraid to have him there when he's drunk, lest he'll get things set afire. "Tain't safe, Miss Letty, long o' shavin's an' all."

"Run back quickly. I'll come right along and get him home."

And then poor Letty looked toward the rocks. The day was gray, and near the sea, below the grotto, Letty saw seated on the shelving sand her beautiful sister working at her lace, and not far from her Kenneth Julian half reclining on a swath of seaweed; and the two were laughing and chatting merrily together. A mother love for both helpless parent and beautiful sister tugged at Letty's heart. She must go to her

father, and yet she did not want to go off and leave Faith alone.

She stood in the doorway and called her: "Faith! Faith!"

Faith left her work on the beach and came running to the house. The pocket of her white apron was full of French bon bons. It generally was when Kenneth was around; he seemed to consider them her proper diet. As she ran up, Faith took out a handful of candies and held them toward her sister.

Letty took them absently and laid them on the window ledge.

"Faith, it's been of no use. Father's -broken out again. Jerry came for me. He is at the boathouse-and some boys are plaguing him, and Kiah is away. I must go for him." Shall I go with you?"

No; you know he lets me lead him, but he always acts worse if you are around. Besides, if you come, Mr. Julian will offer to come too, and I wouldn't have him see him for anything."

66 No."

"But I don't want to go and leave you down there," Letty said; "it doesn't look just right. Won't you stay up here at the house?"

"Then he'll come up here!"

"Not if you tell him not to. Faith, people will talk if you let him be here so much. Go and get your work and tell him you will be busy the rest of the day."

"Why should I? There's no harm in it, and no pleasure in staying here in this hot little house! I sha'n't enjoy sitting here and listening to father playing the madman in his room. Why are you so absurd, Letty? I'll change our seat round to behind the rocks, and then he'll be sure not to see father when he comes in. I might as well try to distract my mind from father's horrid ways by talking of Hugh and of pleasant things."